Saltland Recovery and Production | Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development

Saltland Recovery and Production - Tony White

Genocanna farm is 8 km north of Miling, in the northern wheatbelt of Western Australia (WA) and receives an annual rainfall of 300 mm per annum.

This case study video illustrates an impressive transformation of large areas of saline broad valley floor and in a low rainfall area of WA. The property is owned and managed by Tony White and his family. Instead of only fencing off and planting trees on the broad valley floor areas of his farm, Tony has developed a saltland pasture system that is based on targeting four zones of salinity severity and that tap into the invaluable underground water resource.

Over the years Tony has trailed, monitored and assessed different options including saltbushes, salt tolerant perennial grasses, including salt water couch, aerial seeded legumes and a range of native shrubs, trees and oil Mallee trees. Included in this Tony hosted a Sustainable Grazing on Saline Lands (SGSL) farm trial in 2002-5. All of this has given him the confidence to scale up and now he has transformed unproductive areas of his farm to important contributors to the whole system.

These revegetation changes have been able to slow down the spread of further salinity and recover large areas of bare and degraded land. They now support well-adapted thriving perennial-plant based systems providing year-round ground cover, stabilise, improve soil structure and reduce the water table rise; they are aesthetically pleasing and strategically grazed at key times of the year.

They provide an economic boast to the overall farm profitability.

It has been a rewarding process and Tony encourages others to take similar steps and enjoy the rewards too.

Read more at:
https://www.agric.wa.gov.au/soil-sali...

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