The Read's at Woodcote

Our next Natural Sequence Farming Champion story takes us to Perry Bridge in Gippsland, Victoria, where David and Ruth Read manage Woodcote, a 1,163-acre property. They trade cattle here, but the real focus is grass management: growing as much grass as they can with the rainfall and sunlight they receive.

"We have a beautiful country here and a beautiful landscape, and we like to just continue to keep that beauty," they say. "We don't want to destroy it."

Woodcote hasn't always looked the way it does today.

"Growing up, we saw this place blow away more times than we'd care to remember. We had too many stock, and we damaged our landscape. They do say you have to have some pain to make the change."

That change has a clear direction behind it.

"We're focusing on having healthy soils and healthy plants to have healthy animals to have healthy humans. And if we can make a livelihood out of that with the least amount of inputs, then life's good. It's all about living life and enjoying the journey."

The work on Woodcote starts with water.

"We've put in probably three or four kilometres of contours, and it's an ever-evolving thing where we just wanted to slow the flow," they explain. "Any water that comes onto the farm, we want to utilise it a couple of times before it leaves us. So we'll then grow more grass from the rainfall we get."

Natural Sequence Farming gave them the understanding to do this themselves, reading the landscape and putting that knowledge into practice on the ground.

"It's quite pleasing when you've constructed a contour or a leaky weir and then you get your first rainfall and you see that water filled," they say. "There's nothing more magical than having water on the farm. When you rely on water to get your growth, and it spends more time on the farm, it's wonderful."

What leaves Woodcote matters as much as what stays.

"When it does leave us, we want to make sure it's as clean as we can possibly have it. We want to keep the nutrients where we can utilise them, and then the water that goes into the rivers and to the lakes is as pure as we can get it. The end result is it's better for us and it's better for the environment."

For a property sitting above the Gippsland Lakes, every nutrient held in the paddock is one that isn't washing downstream.

For David and Ruth, the journey has changed how they see their own country, and the grandkids have played a part in that too.

"It is like looking at things through new eyes, and that's where the grandkids are lovely. They ask some beautiful questions and make you look at things a little bit differently as well."

The Natural Sequence Farming training opened up the bigger picture.

"Ah okay, I can see where that complete watershed's coming from, rather than just driving down the road with your blinkers on."

There's no single recipe for what David and Ruth are doing at Woodcote, and they're the first to say so.

"I don't think there is one path that fits all. It's a winding path with multiple layers, and being able to observe and know your landscape and where you fit in that makes a big difference."

👉 Watch David and Ruth’s full story here: https://youtu.be/pXCujB3uMEA

Peter Andrews OAM spent his life showing people that there's a better way to work with the landscape. This story continues that mission, proof that the work is happening right now on farms right across Australia.

Let's Rehydrate Australia - together.

This is the latest story in our Rehydrate Australia series, sharing the journeys of farmers and land managers implementing Natural Sequence Farming across Australia.