Farm Management Plan - moyne.vic.gov.au

Farm Management Plan

“Killarney Lane” Floriculture, Horticulture, Mixed Farming and a Dwelling

Penshurst- Warrnambool Road Koroit

Report Prepared by Dean Suckling Enprove Pty Ltd

Report Date: 26th July 2021

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EnProve Ag & Environment PO Box 817 Warrnambool Victoria 3280 www.enprove.com.au phone: 0448 866 205

Contents PLAN OBJECTIVE: .................................................................................................................................. 3

PROPERTY DETAILS: ............................................................................................................................ 3

FARN OVERVIEW: .................................................................................................................................. 4

SITE LOCATION AND PROPERTY MAP: ............................................................................................ 6

FARMING FACTORS: ........................................................................................................................... 10 Site Topography: .....................................................................................................................................10 Climate:...................................................................................................................................................10 Water Supply: .........................................................................................................................................10 Weed and Pest Management: .................................................................................................................10 Fire Management: ...................................................................................................................................10 Soils (tests attached at rear): ...................................................................................................................11 Regenerative / Carbon Farming: ..............................................................................................................12 Adverse impacts on adjacent land: ..........................................................................................................12 Adverse impacts from adjacent land:.......................................................................................................12

Infrastructure and Business Management: .........................................................................................13 Infrastructure Investment: ......................................................................................................................13 Polytunnel / Greenhouse:........................................................................................................................13 Flower / Vegetable Rows: ........................................................................................................................13 Fruit Trees: ..............................................................................................................................................13 Poultry and Egg Production: ....................................................................................................................14 Bees and Honey: .....................................................................................................................................14 Cows: ......................................................................................................................................................14 Marketing / Sales: ...................................................................................................................................14 Staffing: ..................................................................................................................................................14 Allowance for possible future expansion: ................................................................................................14 Opportunity Cost: ....................................................................................................................................14

FINANCIAL PROJECTIONS: ............................................................................................................... 15 Indicative Agricultural Revenues:.............................................................................................................15

ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS: ........................................................................................................... 16 Natural Resource Management: ..............................................................................................................16 Erosion and Compaction: ........................................................................................................................16 Groundwater:..........................................................................................................................................16 Drainage: ................................................................................................................................................16 Biosecurity Requirements: ....................................................................................................................16

SITE IMAGES: ....................................................................................................................................... 17

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Plan Objective: This Farm Management Plan is drawn to provide an assessment of current agricultural activities and identify future improvements that will benefit the agricultural production values of the property, and identify the benefits of the proposed dwelling at Penshurst-Warrnambool Road, Koroit.

This plan is for the provision of a mixed farming enterprise, including cut flowers for sale, fruit, vegetables and eggs for sale, and cattle grow out.

Property Details:

Proponents: Brooke and Joel Stewart

Property Address: Penshurst- Warrnambool Road Koroit (Title: 16 Cruise Street Koroit)

Property Description: Lot 1 TP16139

Area: 2.49 Hectares (6.2 acres)

Local Authority: Moyne Shire

Zoning / Overlay(s): Farming Zone Schedule to The Farming Zone Designated Bushfire Prone Area

Current Use: Vacant

Proposed Use: Cut and Potted Flower Production Fruit and Vegetables for Sale Chicken Eggs for Sale

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Farn Overview: This proposal calls for the introduction of a mixed farming enterprise including horticultural activities providing cut flowers, fruit and vegetables for sale. Chicken eggs will also be produced for sale.

The proponents have an established cut flower business and are looking to relocate and expand their “Killarney Lane” business and expand their horticultural enterprise to include vegetables and fruit trees. The proposal moves an agriculturally orphaned property into high production as an artisanal farm with a significant financial return while using an environmentally responsible method.

The proponents want to follow organic and regenerative principles to improve soil quality and ensure safe, high quality produce. Siting a dwelling on the property means that the property can be improved confidently, knowing that those improvements can be effectively utilised to increase productive value. Plants can be constantly monitored for growth, pest issues, weather and irrigation requirements.

Horticulture has significant tasks to complete each day and is labour intensive; all plants need to be constantly monitored for pests, weeds, birds and moisture. Pruning and thinning will be constantly ongoing during the growing season, and fruit will need to be collected each day. The rows may need to be covered with netting to protect against birds and bats. Constant movement is also a deterrent to those animals. The proponents want to go chemical-free which increases the workload, but they maintain a realistic attitude to this if this cannot be achieved.

Local produce is highly marketable and always in short supply in a marketplace increasingly demanding local farm production. These types of farms lend themselves to smaller production as larger producers shy away from the higher labour inputs and greater risks inherent in a low chemical environment.

Currently, the property has fair soil fertility, minor soil acidity issues, no modern agricultural plants, and no agricultural infrastructure. The pastoral production is currently estimated to be 2.5 tonnes of dry matter per hectare per annum.

After the initial development period, the enterprise is expected to produce flower products worth $80,000 per year and fresh produce worth $50,000 per year for total farm revenues of $140,000. It will require an investment in the agricultural infrastructure of over $40,000, the improvement of soils to a productive horticultural level, installing a water network, and investment in the dwelling and shedding.

The proposal is a great example of high quality, high returning agricultural use of a small agricultural lot within the Farming Zone with a well-planned growth strategy. The enterprise is also seen to fit with the Koroit region's developing reputation as an area of high-quality produce and horticulture.

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The justifications for a dwelling on a small lot farm are the same as justifications for any farming property. The management times and tasks can be similar:

Monitor Crops: (typical daily routine) check water, check for pests, check for fungus and brown rot, check supports, check produce quality.

Monitor and secure chickens from pests and particularly foxes Monitor Flowers, Fruit and Vegies for Harvest: Both need to be monitored daily for readiness and

harvested. Monitor and react to weather: Heat, frost, hail and wind can play havoc and responding quickly

with a management decision can save a crop or minimise losses. Pest Animal Control: Probably the biggest issue for horticulture. Crows, lorikeets, blackbirds,

finches, bats, wallabies, rabbits and other animals like fruit too. In this farming region, scare guns and shotguns are not well received, so constant movement of vehicles and people is a good control method, from dawn to dusk and into the nighttime to scare away flying pests.

Biosecurity: New nationally mandated bio-security requirements mean all visitors, vehicles and new plant stock to the property needs to be screened and, if necessary, disinfected. This needs to be monitored constantly.

Security and prevention of theft of produce and equipment Manage storage and drying: Drying plants need to be constantly monitored to ensure dryness and

even drying and rodent exclusion Do the work: Horticulture needs constant attention, weed control, watering, foliar fertilising,

thinning and trimming to ensure even access to sunlight. Wildfire risk prevention and response: In the advent of wildfire, a resident in a dwelling will be

more responsive, animals can be monitored and relocated if required, fire mitigation procedures implemented, and maybe even fire fought.

Good farming is about timeliness and monitoring constantly, and reacting quickly is incredibly important. Failing to do so costs production and, sometimes, viability. The farm size is almost irrelevant, the quality of the farm management is what matters, and it isn’t easy to achieve that remotely.

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Site Location and Property Map: Map 1: Property Location

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Map 2: Farm Map

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Map 3: Proposed Property Layout

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Map 4: Property Dimensions:

Source: https://mapshare.vic.gov.au/mapsharevic/

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Farming Factors: Site Topography: The property is defined as a very gentle slope generally falling from the north to the south at a uniform grade. The total elevation change is under 3 meters across the site. There are no notable topological features on the property.

Climate: Koroit climate statistics:

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Ann

Mean Max (°C) 24.7 24.7 23.2 20.1 16.5 14.1 13.5 14.3 16.0 18.1 20.5 22.7 19.0

Mean Min (°C) 11.8 12.5 11.0 9.0 7.5 5.9 5.6 5.8 6.7 7.4 9.1 10.3 8.5

Mean Rain (mm) 32.9 32.2 47.9 52.5 73.5 78.6 85.7 95.0 73.7 61.8 50.4 46.1 726.1

Median Rain (mm) 24.9 27.2 46.4 40.4 66.0 74.2 85.8 90.0 69.2 57.5 43.6 42.9 717.5

Mean Rain Days 4.7 4.7 6.7 8.1 12.9 12.1 15.2 15.0 11.9 10.4 7.8 6.7 116.2 Data: BOM Warrnambool Airport 090186

The climate is the typical Mediterranean type of warm, dry summers and cool, wet winters. The climate is good for the chosen agricultural activity, although there is potential for wet periods which need to be managed.

Water Supply: Water is a consideration at the property, but it should be well served for water. There is an existing water bore on the site which will need a new water pump. Groundwater quality is fair at 1000-3500 ppm salinity but may not be suitable for irrigating all flowers (it will be okay for the lavender and most fruit trees).

Four new water tanks will be installed, 2 X 30,000-litre tanks attached to the house and 2 X 350,000-litre tanks attached to the shed. Rainfall will be collected from the roofs of the house, shed and the water tanks themselves, and this will be about 600,000 litres of water in an average rainfall year and topped up and shandied with water from the bore if required.

Weed and Pest Management: The property doesn’t have any major weed or pest issues. There is a boxthorn establishment along the cypress hedgerow in the paddock, and this will be controlled as part of the farm management routines. The proponents hope to avoid chemical use; most weeds will be controlled by hand or mechanical methods. Foxes can be expected, and chickens will be enclosed and locked in at night.

Fire Management: The land is in a designated bushfire zone but is not seen to be of greater risk than any normal, cleared farmland. The land use is not seen to contribute to fire risk, and the irrigated areas could be expected to act as firebreaks. The usual fire precautions will apply; no petrol-powered vehicles in long grass, limited mechanical activity on high-risk fire days, reduced fire load before summer, adequate fire fighting water in tanks/dams at all times. Firewater supply will be available from the house tanks if required.

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Soils (tests attached at rear): The property land class is typical of the region, productive well-structured loams over heavy clay classed as duplex soil. The soils will be prone to waterlogging during wet periods and drying and cracking during dry periods. Soil testing should be conducted regularly to ensure that soil chemical parameters are maintained in the optimum range for production values.

Soil Test Observations: (soil test at rear): Good pH CaCl2 (5.5), indicating no soil acidity issues. Very good phosphorus levels (Olsen P 32.6 mg/Kg High potassium levels (534 mg/Kg) Fair sulphur levels (9.4 mg/Kg) Good Organic Carbon (5.5 %) Very good nitrogen levels (at time of testing, nitrogen is seasonably variable) Good trace element levels (iron is naturally high and can reduce phosphorus availability) Cation levels (indicating soil structure) are of good balance with good exchangeable calcium

levels. The total cation exchange capacity is very high, meaning nutrient lock-up may be an issue (nutrients lock to soil and are not freely available to plants).

Low aluminium levels. Aluminium reduces pasture coverage and persistence and encourages weeds.

No salinity (electrical conductivity) or sodicity (exchangeable sodium) issues indicating not salt-affected.

Recommendations: The soil fertility is very good (probably indicating potato or dairy use in the past), and no major capital inputs are required and potentially will not require fertiliser inputs for several seasons for all uses.

The high exchangeable potassium and clay content mean the soils will be prone to losing structure when inundated, restricting traffic to formed tracks in wetter times. The addition of lime or gypsum (calcium) may assist with improving the structure.

Significant grass-root matting means that soil cultivation will need to occur before attempting any plant establishment. Even after initial cultivation (by discing, ploughing or ripping), the soil will still be blocky and root-bound and unsuitable for planting and may need several working passes. It will also require time for that root matter to break down and form a suitable working tilth (this could be several months). It can be worked green, but a complete knockdown with a herbicide is preferable to manage undesirable grasses and weeds.

Molybdenum is an important trace element in the nitrogen cycle and is likely to be deficient as well. Accurate soil testing of molybdenum is not possible as it is present in minuscule quantities (100 grams per hectare is adequate). Plant tissue testing is the only accurate determination.

As always, ongoing soil testing should be conducted to ensure adequate fertility and reduce potential excess and risk to the environment. Plant leaf testing can be conducted on establishing crops to identify any nutritional deficiencies in the developing stages. It is very unlikely that these soils have been used for a crop that would carry soil disease issues, so pre-planting fumigation will not be required.

Small doses of nitrogen can be applied each season before budding and during active growth but never during fruiting; it can split fruit.

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Regenerative / Carbon Farming: Boosting the soil carbon would also be beneficial. A naturalistic approach will be adopted to managing soil quality and general farm health; manufactured chemicals will be avoided as best practical. The property will adopt techniques to increase soil carbon and ultimately be positioned to take advantage of any future soil carbon credits. The reuse of wastewater effluents from the dwelling and composts from the poultry will help provide nutrients for farming and increase carbon percentage. Although initially unavoidable due to the heavy pasture cover, a “no-till” practice for soil management will be used in the future.

Adverse impacts on adjacent land: The adjoining properties are of various uses with horticultural, horse rearing and grazing farms in all directions. There is not seen to be any major change to the amenity of these properties from the activities. The use of sprayed chemicals would be rare and should only be used on appropriate weather days (low wind and not within 24 hours of forecast rainfall).

Adverse impacts from adjacent land: None of the adjacent properties appears to have any use which would impact this land use.

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Infrastructure and Business Management:

Infrastructure Investment: There is no suitable infrastructure on the property for the proposed enterprise. There are no buildings suitable for the enterprise, and the shedding, greenhouse, paddocks, access, and dwelling will need to be constructed. The water network will all need to be constructed.

An irrigation watering system will need to be constructed to deliver water to the trees and flowers. A watering system gravity fed from a tank is the ideal design as this ensures a constant water supply to trees in the advent of any system failures.

An all-weather driveway will be constructed of extracted material to the house site to allow access in all weather conditions. Formed tracks will be constructed to the flowers and orchard, allowing suitable access.

Polytunnel / Greenhouse: The enterprise will have greenhouses to propagate most of the required plants, particularly flowers and vegetables. The greenhouse will also be able to produce potted plants for sale. This is done by taking cuttings at the end of the growing seasons and planting them into seedling trays. This also gives the enterprise the ability to keep some production level over the cooler months and be ready for planting in early spring.

Flower / Vegetable Rows: The flower and vegetable rows will mostly be used for annual crops. There will be 20-24 soil based rows formed along an east-west aspect giving about one thousand linear growing metres. The location has been selected to use the boundary shelterbelt to protect the flowering plants from winds. Flowers and vegetables will be grown in cultivated rows of about 300mm width and spacing of 900 mm apart for serviceability. Each row will have a drip irrigation line running its length. This design will give the potential to grow over 10,000 plants at a time at three plants wide (some plants can be more densely planted). Cultivated row width can be increased to accommodate more plants if required and could accommodate 15,000 plants.

Most of the plants in these rows are seasonal, and potentially 2-3 crops can be grown each year, although winter crops might be best avoided if the area proves too wet. Irrigation requirements will be 4-6 litres per linear metre or 4-6000 litres per watering 2-3 times per week. For a dry summer, 250,000 litres would be the minimum requirement.

Some of the annual flower plantings will include dahlias, tulips, snapdragons, stocks. Vegetables will include pumpkins, green leafy vegetables, garlic, small pumpkins and Asian greens. Plants like strawberries and hydrangeas will also be planted and may be perennial or require annual planting.

A significant lavender planting (about 4,000 plants) is planned for the driveway, and flowering stems will be harvested and dried in the shed for sale as bunches. The lavender planting will be staged over time, with existing plants propagated for replanting each year. Lavender will also be propagated for sale in pots

Fruit Trees: The fruit orchard will be a combination of cool-climate fruit trees such as cherries, apples, and apricots. This will have approximately 300 linear metres of fruit trees planted or 50 individual trees. The target yield here is about 10 tonnes of fruit. Some fruit trees will be planted over the domestic effluent trench, ensuring that

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this resource and land area are not wasted. The remainder of the orchard will be drip irrigated. Fruit trees may need to be covered in netting.

Poultry and Egg Production: There will be 80 laying chickens housed in a free-ranging area incorporated with the fruit tree area, and the chickens will effectively manage the fertility of the orchard (while being excluded from actually eating the fruit). The eggs will be offered for sale. The chickens will also be allowed to range in the fruit trees orchard to control pests in that area.

Bees and Honey: A flower farm is inevitably a paradise for bees, and 4-5 hives will be trialled at the property to encourage honey production and pollination. One hundred and fifty litres of honey might be produced, but this aspect is not resolved yet. An increase of bees in an area where pesticide use is high would be environmentally beneficial, but pesticides for crickets and red-legged earth mite is common, and the bees may not survive it.

Cows: Two or three grow out calves will be kept mostly for domestic purposes and to control excess grass.

Marketing / Sales: The proponents are already producing flowers and vegetables, and they are marketed under their “Killarney Lane” label, but this name may be changed to suit the new locality. Currently, they are supplying to florists, wedding planners and cafes and fulfil all orders. In the longer term, a small road stall or on-farm sales on the property is planned. Local retailers and cafes in Koroit, Port Fairy and Warrnambool will also be approached, and most have always been friendly to selling locally produced products.

Staffing: The enterprise is to be run and managed and constructed by the proponents. Contract picking and pruning staff may be required as the enterprise progresses.

Allowance for possible future expansion: The enterprise has limited opportunity for expansion due to the land size, and adjoining properties are developed.

Opportunity Cost: A property like this is unlikely to be integrated into another farming property due to land size and property value. Horticulture is one of the higher returning agricultural activities, and the presented farming has a very good return per area used. There are few forms of agriculture with better returns from soil-based farming.

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Financial Projections:

The proposal calls for an agricultural investment of $40,000 and the investment in the dwelling and sheds building of $300,000.

After the initial development period, the property could expect revenue of over $111,000 per year. The nature of horticultural crops is the longer the establishment, the greater the returns; these values are likely to be conservative.

This indicative budget demonstrates the expected returns from the agricultural activities and assuming the products are sold at farm gate rate.

Indicative Agricultural Revenues:

Income /Cost Item Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Year 6

Cut Flowers (Average $2 per stem) $7,500 $15,000 $25,000 $35,000 $45,000 $55,000 Vegetable Production ($5 per kilogram) $5,000 $10,000 $15,000 $15,000 $15,000

Dried Lavender ($7 per bunch) $0 $0 $5,000 $10,000 $15,000 $15,000

Potted Plants ($10 per pot) $5,000 $10,000 $10,000 $10,000 $10,000

Egg Production ($5 per dozen) $6,000 $12,000 $12,000 $12,000 $12,000 $12,000

Fruit Production($5 per kilogram) $0 $0 $10,000 $20,000 $30,000 $35,000

Total Revenue $13,500 $37,000 $72,000 $102,000 $127,000 $142,000

Establishment Costs -$20,000 -$10,000 -$10,000 Orchard & Flower Bed Maintenance Costs -$3,000 -$3,000 -$3,000 -$3,000 -$3,000

Apportioned Rates, Insurances Utilities -$2,000 -$2,000 -$2,000 -$2,000 -$2,000 -$2,000

Infrastructure Maintenance $0 $0 -$3,000 -$3,000 -$3,000 -$3,000

Processing / Packing Costs (20%) -$2,700 -$7,400 -$14,400 -$20,400 -$25,400 -$28,400

Net Return -$11,200 $14,600 $39,600 $73,600 $93,600 $105,600 Notes: Farming revenues and costs only This table shows agricultural costs and revenues only. Land holding costs, building and equipment costs are not included. Revenues and costs are indicative and based on Industry averages.

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Environmental Factors: Natural Resource Management: The landscape is typical of highly modified pastoral farming, having been completely cleared for agricultural production. There are no watercourses or areas of remnant vegetation. A new native tree shelterbelt will be planted along the south boundary for wind protects and as an ecology habitat.

Erosion and Compaction: The property is not seen as prone to water erosion, and there is no evidence of erosion occurring. There are no high energy water flows, no waterways, no water run on, the soil is of good structure, and there is good vegetation cover and will remain that way.

The soils have a high clay content which means they could be prone to compaction during wetter periods. Heavy vehicle traffic should be confined to constructed tracks, particularly during wetter seasons.

Groundwater: Groundwater is at a depth of 5 metres and is generally low risk from exposure to any form of nutrients infiltrating from the surface. The high level of plant coverage and minimal fertiliser use will assist in keeping soil nutrient levels lower to minimise any risk further.

Drainage: The property has no constructed drainage relying on overland flow and soil infiltration for water clearance. There are no identified run-on or run-off flows

Biosecurity Requirements: There are no specific biosecurity requirements of this horticulture, but good biosecurity practices will always be applied. The property may require a PIC (Property Identification Code) for chickens and some fruit types.

Only clean certified plants from a certified supplier will be used for planting, and excess plant material should not be sent to other growers. Vehicles entering and leaving the property for work purposes should have clean wheel arches. Shared farm equipment must always be cleaned before entering or leaving the site.

I certify that all the above statements are true and correct to the best of my abilities.

Dean Suckling Agricultural and Environmental Consultant Attached:

Soil Tests

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Site Images: Image 1: Penshurst-Warrnambool Road frontage.

Image 2: Western end of the property from the road.

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Image 3: Hedgerow providing shelter from wind and cold is important for flower beds

Image 4: Existing water bore will need refurbishment and a new pump.

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Image 5: Minor box thorn establishment to be cleaned up.

Image 6: Eastern side of the property

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Image 7: House site looking to proposed flower growing area

Image 8: Looking from the rear to the front of the property

Customer: Brooke StewartSample Date: 21/07/2021Sample Name: PaddockLab. No. 2ES21114Test Type:

Test Depth (cm) 0-10Soil Colour Brown BlackTexture Sandy ClayGravel Content % 5

Unit Level Found Comparison RangePhosphorus Olsen mg/Kg 32.6 25Phosphorus Colwell mg/Kg 135 40 - 63Potassium Colwell mg/Kg 534 150 - 200Sulphate Sulphur mg/Kg 9.4 15Organic Carbon % 5.5 3 - 6Organic Matter % 9.5 5 - 11

Ammonium Nitrogen mg/Kg 30Nitrate Nitrogen mg/Kg 24

Conductivity dS/m 0.16 < 4.0pH Level (H2O) pH 6.4 5.5 - 7.0pH Level (CaCl2) pH 5.5 5.0 - 6.5Aluminium (CaCl2) mg/Kg 0.4 < 2.0

DTPA Copper mg/Kg 6.12 > 1.5DTPA Iron mg/Kg 384 50 - 400DTPA Manganese mg/Kg 21 > 10DTPA Zinc mg/Kg 4.1 > 5Boron (Hot CaCl2) mg/Kg 2.7 > 1.5

Cations Unit Level Found Ideal RangeCation Exchange Capacity meq/100g 41.0 10 - 20Exchangeable Calcium meq/100g 29.72

BSP % 72.5 65 - 80Exchangeable Magnesium meq/100g 8.65

BSP % 21.1 10 - 20Exchangeable Potassium meq/100g 1.36

BSP % 3.3 3 - 8Exchangeable Sodium meq/100g 1.21

BSP % 3.0 < 5Exchangeable Aluminium meq/100g 0.04

BSP % 0.1 < 2.0

Top Soil Particle Sizing Sand Silt Clay% 46.6 11.0 42.4

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Farm Management Plan - moyne.vic.gov.au