JIGSAW Farms hosted a whole farm planning workshop and farm tour last week for 20 visiting women from the local Women on Farms network.

The day saw Jigsaw Farms owners, Mark Wootton and Eve Kantor share advice with the women about how to optimise farming systems to make their properties the best they can be.

Mr Wootton said securing farm water supply was one of the first things they should focus on, with their farm containing a large dam of around 34 megalitres that provided reticulated water to paddock troughs.

“Big, deep dams keep the water cool and this helps to reduce evaporation rates compared to small dams that lose 1.4 metre of water each summer,” he said.

“All waterways are fenced off as a biosecurity measure preventing faecal contamination of water.”

Mr Wootton and Ms Kantor said they have fenced depending on soil type and are aiming to maximise utilisation of pastures by having smaller paddocks that are 20-30 hectares in size, as going any smaller would mean moving stock more frequently.

“There isn’t a square paddock on the farm,” Mr Wootton said.

“20 per cent of the farm has been planted to trees and this has achieved landscape change.

“The old, abandoned railway line was planted out and is the main artery of trees for the property and the veins are three-row-wide tree belts extending off them for shade and shelter.”

Mr Wootton said the tree planting was done for a wide array of reasons including establishing tree havens for livestock shelter in poor conditions, waterway plantings, and woodlots.

The trees have also encouraged birdlife, which in turn, have added to the farm’s Integrated Pest Management program.

Ms Kantor said they now have triple the amount of birds as when they purchased the property, including a pair of sea eagles that have made a home at one of their large dams.

“Birds are a bioindicator of a healthy ecosystem,” Ms Kantor said.

“We first identified 46 different types of birds when we took over the property and we now have 172 different species.”

Mr Wootton and Ms Kantor stressed to the visiting women that they are still implementing their plans and observing, monitoring, and learning how to improve their farming processes, emphasising that it is not a process that happens within a year.

They said it took a lot of trial and error to get to where they are now, such as learning to plant trees that can adapt to the weather conditions, such as those that are frost tolerant.

Southern Farming Systems, Lisa Miller organised the Women on Farms visit and said the participants left the day with ideas and inspiration they could take home to their own properties to help improve their farming systems.

Another Women on Farms event focusing on pasture management will be held on June 20, with more details available at sfs.org.au.