General News
6 February, 2025
Gates to open at a historic Mortlake farm
A HISTORIC Mortlake district farm will show how it is successfully changing with the times at a field day this month.
The Weatherly family’s Connewarran Lane farm will host a Multispecies Field Day as part of Warrnambool Coastcare Landcare Network’s Building Climate Resilience and Increasing Productivity and Biodiversity on Farms project.
Since taking over management from his father Richard about 12 years ago, fifth-generation farmer Hamish Weatherly and his wife Eli have tried to increase productivity and have found multispecies pastures are making an impact.
The 600-ha commercial and stud merino farm has been in the family since 1895.
“My parents did a lot of work on revegetation; the birds, the bees and the trees,” Mr Weatherly said.
“When I took over, I focused more on soil and sheep and looked to become more efficient in the ways I convert solar energy into product.
“The traditional monoculture system with a single grass species and some clover means that we harvest a huge amount of solar energy but it breaks down when I try to get that energy into the sheep because of degradation of feed quality over time.
“I’ve been tinkering with ways to try to improve that. I wanted to grow more and higher quality feed.
“The more I’ve learnt, the more I’ve found it’s beneficial to have a diversity of plants in the soil. It makes it easier to get energy and protein into my animals and it makes my animals healthier and more productive.”
Mr Weatherly had tried different options, including intensive use of compost, and was gradually exposed to the benefits of a more diverse spread of plants.
“I’ve been tinkering with that ever since,” he said.
“We’re pretty convinced the changes we’re making to the farm are appropriate. Now it’s about how we make those changes and the tools and techniques we use.”
The benefits haven’t been formally measured, but Mr Weatherly said he was seeing a lot of anecdotal improvement in animal health and production.
“We can see the changes and benefits in the paddocks,” he said.
“I’m marching more and more down that path and no doubt I’ll learn others things as I go along, but currently it’s ticking a lot of boxes for me.”
Mr Weatherly works with local experts Jade Killoran from Healthy Farming Systems and Jonathan Town from Notman Pasture Seeds to develop his seed mixes.
He has also learnt from YouTube videos from soil experts like Dr Christine Jones and the Jena Experiment, a German based biodiversity experiment which has been quantifying and measuring the productivity effects of plant diversity since 2002.
“The Jena research has found there is a sweet spot with at least eight species across four plant families,” Mr Weatherly said.
“I use that as a base concept for what I do, then work with Jonathon or Jade to put together a mix that meets my immediate production needs whilst also considering long-term soil health.
“We’re in the early stages of the changes but so far it has been beneficial.”
The field day will run from 10am to 2pm Tuesday, February 18 at 1290 Connewarren Lane, Mortlake.
Ms Killoran will be guest presenter at the event.
To register email Geoff Rollinson at facilitator@wcln.org.au or Danielle Nipe at facilitator2@wcln.org.au.
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