Good morning, and welcome to the 20th edition of our monthly newsletter, Reading Landscapes.

Here’s what we’ve got for you today:

Like us to discuss a photo of your landscape? Share it with us here.

Just add water... And no, I'm not talking about the Disney kids' show.

I'm talking about the one simple step that can create a massive change in your landscape. Where did all life on Earth emerge from? If you're thinking of a water body, you'd be right, and the landscape you have around you is no different now. A landscape without adequate water will never function as well as one with adequate water.

This is why the first thing you should think about when managing your landscape is how to manage the water I receive: slow it down, store it in the ground, and keep it for longer. Once it's in the ground, it can be readily supplied to your plants and protected from evaporation.

Getting it into the ground can be the hard part, especially in some landscapes where the ground is hard and has limited organic matter to slow and hold that water for a period, allowing it to infiltrate.

That's where simple, small-scale earthworks like level contours and hill ponds can empower you to make tangible improvements. They capture water moving across the surface, slow it down, and allow it to infiltrate, specifically into the higher parts of your soil profile where it is most available to plants.

Hill ponds provide a really great example of what this simple process can achieve.

Firstly, what's a hill pond? A hill pond is a small depression dug into the ground, much like it sounds and constructed on ridges or spurs. They act like small, perched wetlands, sitting high above the surrounding landscape.

They most often form part of a contour being constructed across the landscape and act as slightly enlarged spillways capable of holding a little more water during extended wet periods. But they can also be built as a one-off implementation, as shown in the images below.

In this example, a small hill pond is built on a high, dry ridge situated many metres above the floodplain below. As you can see in the first photo, it is dry and with minimal plant growth and virtually no diversity. Unfortunately, in this landscape, this ridge loses most of its water before it has a chance to infiltrate.

But as you can see in the second photo, the implementation of this hill pond has transformed that entire landscape. The area below and above it now supports a diversity of life. During the extended wet period, this small pond became a seasonal wetland on the top of a hill, metres above the floodplain! We now have a body of water charging the landscape around it, infiltrating into the soil, and wetland rushes starting to grow on the outside of the pond and in the water. You can't see, but there are tadpoles on the top of a hill, not something you'd usually see.

I really think this is an excellent example of why sometimes we only need to just add water and see over time what a landscape can become when it is finally given an opportunity by implementing some small scale earthworks like we did in this example, and of course like all that we do with the intention that this will now be taken over and managed by plants because they now have access to the missing ingredient - water.

Our second Natural Sequence Farming Champion story takes us to Cona Creek, west of Springsure in Queensland, where Ra and Tina Briggs are proving that every acre can count when you work with the landscape, not against it.

The Scale Question

Cona Creek is 46,000 acres. That's a big property by any measure. But as Ra explains in their story: "It's not about the scale. It's about the project you're working on that day. It's breaking the problem down into small bits, solving that problem, and then moving on to the next one."

This mindset shift — from being overwhelmed by the size of the challenge to focusing on the project at hand — is something many landholders will recognise.

The Journey to NSF

For years, Ra researched ways to improve their land. That search eventually led him to Natural Sequence Farming. After attending a Tarwyn Park Training course, Ra and Tina returned to Cona Creek and, as Tina describes it, "we were looking at the landscape with very different eyes from when we left."

But seeing the landscape differently and knowing where to start are two different things.

"We were still unsure of where to start," Ra admits. "And that's when your analysis paralysis sets in. But that's not an excuse for not starting."

The Approach: Whole of System, Top to Bottom

Ra and Tina took a whole-of-system approach to their landscape work, beginning at the top of their watersheds and working down.

"It's really important that you have a plan," Tina explains. "So our plan was we started at the top, but everything that you do has a flow-on effect, and we are seeing that flow-on effect."

Ra has installed check banks throughout the property to slow water flow. The results? Deposition building in key areas, biodiversity growth — birds, trees, plants flourishing — and noticeably cooler, greener landscapes developing across the property.

Giving Back — and Gaining More

One of the most striking things Tina says in their story is this: "I say the words 'give something back,' but we're gaining much more than we're giving."

This captures something essential about Natural Sequence Farming: it's not about sacrifice. It's about creating systems that work better for everyone — the land, the livestock, the people, and the future.

For Ra and Tina, Natural Sequence Farming has become their major drought reduction strategy. As Ra reflects: "I feel like I've discovered my life's work improving this place, and the results that we're seeing are amazing."

The Universal Patterns

One of the key insights Tina shares is this: "The patterns are all the same. It doesn't matter how big or small the place is; you're looking for the same patterns everywhere in Australia. Whether you're in high rainfall or low rainfall, it's the same patterns, just a different landscape."

This is what makes Natural Sequence Farming scalable and applicable across the entire continent. The principles don't change based on property size or rainfall — you're reading the same patterns and working with the same natural processes.

Every Acre Counts

Ra's philosophy is clear: "By doing this, that's our way to make sure that every acre does count."

Whether you're managing 46,000 acres or 46 acres, the principle holds: break the problem down, make a plan, start at the top, and take it one project at a time.

As Ra says, "It's very easy to get lost in the detail. So having a clear objective — make a decision and start."

👉 Watch Ra and Tina's full story here: Rehydrate Australia with Ra and Tina Briggs, Cona Creek, Springsure

Peter Andrews OAM spent his life trying to show people that there's a better way to work with the landscape. This documentary continues that mission — and it's proof that the work is happening, right now, all across Australia.

Let's Rehydrate Australia — together.

We'd love to hear your thoughts after you watch Ra and Tina's story. Hit reply and let us know what resonates with you.

P.S. If you know someone who needs to see this — a farmer, a land manager, a council member, a friend who cares about the future of our landscapes — please share it with them. The more people who understand Natural Sequence Farming, the more landscapes we can help restore.

🔗 Subscribe to the channel: Tarwyn Park Training

🌏 Learn more: rehydrateaustralia.com

Have a plant you’d like to discuss? Share it with us here.

Common Names: Bluetop, Blue Billygoat Weed, Goat Weed, Ageratum, Flossflower, Todd’s Curse

Scientific Name: Ageratum conyzoides, Ageratum houstonianum

Where in the Succession: Mid Succession Accumulator

Thanks to Madeleine for sharing this month's species, Billygoat Weed.

Billygoat Weed is a small species of aromatic annual weed. It is native to tropical America but is now found across much of the world. It is adaptable but prefers tropical, subtropical, and temperate environments with warm summers.

Billygoat Weed is a mid- to late-succession accumulator.

Billygoat weed will happily grow in a wide range of environments, but it is most prevalent in disturbed ground or landscapes with adequate soil fertility and moisture. It will quickly colonise a site, especially overgrazed or cultivated areas - but given time, it will improve these sites far beyond where they were.

The general trends I see in a landscape displaying where Billygoat weed is dominating include the following;

⬆️ Increase soil organic matter. Given the Billygoat weeds' preference for growing in areas with higher fertility and excess nitrogen, we need to balance our carbon:nitrogen ratio and build up carbon levels. We can do this by increasing the amount of organic matter in the system by following a chop-and-drop pattern, cutting down the billygoat weed and returning it to the surface, or by bringing in external sources of fertility, such as compost, or by applying liquid carbon in the form of humates or humic acid to the area.

🐂 Change our grazing management. Billygoat weed likes to invade landscapes with limited competition and overgrazed areas. We can improve our management of these areas by implementing time-controlled grazing systems and ensuring we provide adequate recovery time after grazing before bringing livestock back in.

We can also work on training our livestock to eat less desirable plants like Billygoat weed through increasing our density of animals in a paddock, so they understand they need to get in and eat or miss out - remembering in this situation that we need to be mindful of toxins if they have only Billygoat weed for extended periods of time.

🍄 Increase your soil fungal levels. Billygoat weed grows in soils with a bacterial dominance that naturally aligns with low organic matter and higher nitrogen levels. This ties in with point one: increasing our soil organic matter. We can also feed our fungi in these areas of the landscape and entice them in. Some fungal food options include: wood chips (preferably partially composted, especially hardwood varieties), biochar, fish hydrolysate, and humic acids.

Additionally, we could add cover crops or plant species to the area that naturally have strong relationships with soil fungi.

🧑‍🌾 Change our land management. In situations where grazing hasn't been the stimulus, but land management has been through cultivation and manual disturbance. We need to look for other ways to manage that piece of land in the long term, or, if that is not achievable, how can we manage our landscape so that Billygoat weed doesn't need to appear to do it for us? We can always keep a green surface area growing, maintain our organic matter levels, and continue feeding the soil even without plants to do it for us.

🪨 As a Soil Indicator: High nitrogen, but low availability, high phosphorus, high potassium, potentially acidic, low humus (organic matter)¹

🐮 Livestock: Livestock will graze Billygoat weed as part of a mixed pasture. It can provide high energy levels and protein content for livestock, with crude protein up to 24% in the plant as a whole². It has also shown potential as an insect repellent for livestock due to the volatile compounds it contains, which are unpleasant to insects³.

Management must always come first with this plant, though, as there have been toxicity concerns with it and animals due to its alkaloids, which can cause liver damage.

💊 Medicinal: Billygoat weed has a wide variety of uses in traditional medicine and is currently being researched for potential uses for today.

Traditionally, it would be used for⁴:

Today it is used⁴;

🍽️ Consumption: Billygoat weed is not edible for humans

A quick list of our favourite things we’ve been watching, reading, listening, and writing.

How grazing cattle breathed new life into army veteran Tim’s farm - and himself - Beef Central: An excellent article about our very own graduate, Tim Lee, sharing his incredible journey of change, working through some very personal and pivotal shifts to where he is now. It's an excellent story, and we're very proud to have Tim as part of our community and to see the outstanding work he's been doing.

How social media fuels useless products: I watched Matt D'Avella's breakdown of society's dopamine-fueled shopping. An in-depth look at all those product videos we regularly see on our social channels, promising to be just what you need, only to forget about them within days of purchase. We really need to step away from this culture of disposable consumerism and constant distractions and instead focus on a less-is-more mindset.

China has planted so many trees it's changed the entire country's water distribution: An interesting piece shared by Tony in our graduate community. The article notes that China's massive tree‑planting and grassland restoration projects have reshaped the country's entire water cycle, boosting rainfall in some regions while reducing it in others. It left me questioning why this was happening, and once again, the importance of always thinking in a whole landscape paradigm and not just individual pieces.

Rock weirs doing their thing.: In this short video, from our very own TPT presenter Shane Joyce. He walks through a series of simple rock and concrete structures he's built in an incised channel to slow, spread and "de-energise" stormwater. It's a great visual example of Natural Sequence Farming in action - turning an eroding drain back into a chain of ponds that pushes water out into the surrounding landscape. Well worth a watch.