Knowing the lie of the Land

4 different Ag topics, 4 different Ag captioned images, 6 days a week, delivered to your inbox at 5 am. A great way to start your Farming day. Join "The Farmers Club" here.

To receive this newsletter in your inbox each day, just register with Farm Tender here.

By Dwain Duxson

Knowing the lie of the Land - Most Farmers would know every square metre of their Property. It gets a little more difficult when you get into the more remote areas, but they would know most parts.

Whether it be melon Holes, crab holes, old fencelines, drains, gullies, rocks, etc, Farmers know where they're placed. When I was growing up, us and a couple of neighbours would go spotlighting for Foxes. We would cover each other's properties, and all the older members of the fox-hunting crew knew the exact lie of the Land. Us kids learnt alot from the expeditions.

I recently heard a story from a Farmer about how the township of Charlton (Vic) was just about to get flooded again in late 2022. They are on the Avoca River, and one of the local Farmers worked out that the Yeungroon Creek, which takes the overflow from the River when it's in flood, had been dammed and banked by a few Farmers over the years.

In a flood situation, the water would run out of the Avoca River, stop at the first bank of the Creek, and couldn't go any further, and eventually flood the town. So the Farmer worked out that if they dug an opening in each bank, the excess water would get away and run back into the River on the other side of town. It did, and the town flood was averted. Ninety percent of the town went under in the 2011 Flood, which devastated the place. It takes someone to stop and observe what is actually going on. Farmers know the lay of the Land best. Reply to dwaind@farmtender.com.au 

End of message