COFFS HARBOUR REGIONAL LANDCARE INC.

ABN: 33917626628

Suites 1-3/103-107 West High Street, Coffs Harbour 2450

P O Box 1730, Coffs Harbour NSW 2450

Phone: (02) 6651 1308 Fax: (02) 6651 1305

E-mail:

Web: www.coffsharbourlandcare.org.au

Media Release

Contact: Kara Smith (02) 6651 1308

Date: 19/11/12

Local Farmer Tackles Erosion

When local banana farmer, Dave Tate, started losing banana plants to erosion, he knew something had to be done – and quick. Using a combination of advice from the Northern Rivers Catchment Management Authority, ingenuity, and no small amount of hard work, he created an artificial series of ponds and riffles with concrete and fill.

In doing so, he has saved one of the worst erosion gullies on his farm and dozens of mature, productive banana trees in the process.

“At first I was a bit worried if all the hard work had been worth it. But we’ve had some good rains since the work was done, and it’s held. Better still, I’m not losing any more bananas down the hill!” Dave says.

The combination of the steep slopes and the last several seasons of high rainfall have made their mark on many farms in the area. And we’re not the only ones. Professor Ravi Naidu from Australia’s CRC CARE organisation says soil loss is a ‘sleeping giant’ among threats to food security.

“Millions of tonnes of soil can be lost in minutes in a bad storm or flood event, as we saw only last year in Australia…yet new soil takes from thousands to millions of years to form.”

And if that were not enough, farmers face declining soil fertility rates as well. Studies done on banana farms overseas showed yield reductions of up to 50% due to low nutrient levels.

But Dave isn’t scared – he recently joined Landcare to get support for his planned sustainable farming practices, which include using compost and green mulches to improve soil health and fertility. If you would like more information about erosion control or sustainable farming practices, and funding opportunities to support these, contact Landcare on 6651 1308 or the Northern Rivers Catchment Management Authority on 6653 0150.

Local farmer Dave Tate and Landcare CSO Kara Smith standing on erosion repair works at Dave’s banana farm *

*picture also sent as a separate jpg file