Members of the North Central Catchment Management Authority’s (CMA) community committee (the Natural Resource Management Committee) will visit the Hay family’s farm at Kamarooka on the edge of the Riverine Plains, approximately 30km north of Bendigo on Wednesday 18 November.  The committee will see first hand how a degraded saline wasteland has been turned into an oasis in less than five years with the assistance and guidance from the Northern United Forestry Group and financial support from the National Landcare Program.

The Northern United Forestry Group was formed in 1998 by a group of farmers interested in plantation forestry for low-rainfall timber production.  Since then the group’s objective has broadened.  In 2003 the Kamarooka project was initiated to focus on using trees as part of a sustainable farming system.  More than 40 farming families, mostly from Northern Victoria, are now members of the group. 

In 2004 group member Andy Hay made available a 50-hectare area of unproductive land for a research and demonstration project.  The challenge was to restore productivity and ecological function to a degraded saline wasteland that had been in poor condition for more than fifty years.

Through a mixture of native tree plantations, native grasses, shrubs and saltbush the area has been turned around into productive land for farming.  Trees planted in 2004 are now over 6 metres in height with the watertable under the trees falling from levels of 1.5 metres below the surface in 2004 to 5.8 metres in 2009.

“With the planting of saltbush as part of the Kamarooka project, the previously unproductive land now provides my stock with an alternative food source, whilst the grazed lucerne in adjoining paddocks recovers,” said Andy.

Mal Brown, Chairman of the Natural Resource Management Committee is thrilled the committee has been given the opportunity to visit the property.  “The Kamarooka project on the Hay’s farm has shown impressive results.   Research results from the property have been presented at five international conferences and have been responsible for a significant change in the way salinity management is viewed in South Eastern Australia.”

The Natural Resource Management Committee will hold their monthly meeting in Raywood on the same day.

For further information please contact: 

Communications Officer, North Central CMA
PO Box 18, Huntly VIC 3551
t: 03 5448 7124
e: info@nccma.vic.gov.au