LifeWorks partner in Australia is the NSW based Environmental Information and Research Consortium (ERIC) whose research on soil microbial balancing continues the innovation that will create a new generation of microbial products for soil and water treatment.
LifeWorks CEO Christopher Cooke says: "We're delighted to see how effective this technology can be in a relatively short time and we respect the farming community here for having the courage and vision to adopt it so widely. We're facing food shortages and increasingly inhospitable farming conditions globally and this is a vital, sustainable solution that could help millions of people".
LifeWorks supports the work of pioneers in new science, agriculture and education and is committed to funding projects and technologies that can offer new, more natural and sustainable life support systems in food, energy and water management - globally and at a community level.
The LifeWorks Foundation film team spent 4 days in the Braidwood area and visited the Marshall property at Reidsdale and Tony Coote's permaculture property at Mulloon Creek. They will then visit a range of other farms to document how the microbial balancing technology has benefited mainstream, biological, organic, biodynamic and permaculture farmers in food, fruit and cereal crop production and with the wellbeing and welfare of their animals.
The Marshall property at Sunningdale and Woodford Lagoon was once part of an extensive chain of ponds system that formed the Jembaicumbene Swamp that was first described in the 1840's. When the Marshalls arrived there in December 1997, it was heavily eroded with sheet erosion on all areas. There were major gullies on the slopes, no standing water and a deep, down-cut intermittent creek.
The Marshall family initially dug pits to check the stratigraphy of the soil and get a picture of past erosion and sedimentation cycles (eg. a massive depositional flood in about 1905 that submersed the chain of ponds floodplain and riverine vegetation). They identified old billabongs off the current streamline that were completely filled with eroded soil from upstream.
The Marshall family decided to firstly restore soil health to partly hydrate the farm prior to restoring the chain of ponds system. They removed stock from the streamline and used a Yeomans plough to oxygenate the soils and break through the soil hardpan that stopped the water from percolating deep into the soil profile. This increased the soil carbon and biology, and the capacity to store water deeper into the soil structure.
Peter Marshall says that water storage in the soil is critical to reducing the destruction of floods and this soil water storage feeds the creeks that run longer into the dry times. Also, as creek water leaves the property it is cleaned and oxygenated, and the soil nutrient cycle kicks into life again. The property is now alive with frogs, birds and other wildlife that signifies a healthy, living soil and water system. This is the basis of a productive and profitable farm.
Rob Gourlay, Managing Director of ERIC says: "Having seen what microbial balancing technology has done for our own community, we hope our relationship with LifeWorks means that more people around the world will experience the same benefits and look forward to a better future with healthier and more plentiful food".
Email a friend