James Spearpoint, 8, tagging young native trees planted for shade belts as part of restoration work on the family property 'Hilmont', which fronts the Seaham Weir Pool, a section of the Williams River that supplies drinking water to Newcastle. James is working in a section of riverbank planting where the fence line extends further into the paddock to provide a wider riparian zone.

Combining a healthy bank balance with a healthy farm environment is most farmers’ dream.

Lower Hunter farmers, John and Janelle Spearpoint, have written about their experiences achieving this dream in a new booklet, titled Striking the Balance.

"We wanted to inspire other landholders to seek information on how they too can find a comfortable balance," Mr Spearpoint said.

The Spearpoints’ property, "Hilmont", has a three kilometre frontage onto the Seaham Weir Pool, a section of the Williams River that supplies drinking water to Newcastle.

After being involved in a best management practice project funded by Hunter Water and the Environmental Trust, Mr Spearpoint and the project committee soon realised that a whole farm approach was needed to ensure good quality water in the weir pool.

"Good riparian land management includes activities around wetlands, dams, drainage lines and low-lying paddocks," he said.

"Installation of fencing and stock water, weed control and revegetation, erosion and feral animal control, monitoring of soil nutrients and water quality, and a close eye on grazing management all needed to be components of the project.

"Initially we spent a lot of time observing cattle movements around the paddocks, mapping cattle camps and tracks, to understand livestock behaviour," he said.

The family used this information to subdivide the farm into smaller paddocks to allow rotational grazing, and fenced off the riverbank.

This meant an almost total loss of stock water and shade, so they planted native tree lots for shade belts, and installed stock water troughs in each paddock away from the river, and away from the shade to encourage even grazing across the paddocks.

After earlier failures with riparian plantings, they deep-ripped accessible areas to allow water to soak into the compacted soil.

They then rolled out round bales of mulch hay to provide an organic layer for planting, used tree guards to protect the trees from wind and rabbits, and trialled soil conditioners, fertiliser tablets, jute matting and weed suppression mats to encourage establishment.

Once riverbanks are fenced off from grazing cattle, weed control becomes an issue.

In some areas, bush regenerators were employed to clear lantana and morning glory vine weeds; and these areas are now managed with a combination of follow-up weed control, and strategic grazing where suitable.

The Spearpoints have fenced off sensitive areas, such as wetlands and drains for strategic grazing, and improved pasture quality in other poorly drained areas.

Extensive liming has raised their pH from 4.5 to 5, improving pasture growth dramatically.

Fertilisers are also applied strategically.

"We identified which paddocks needed maintenance rates of fertilisers, those that required a soil building program to raise their fertility levels, and those that could be left until later,'' Mr Spearpoint said.

"Fertiliser is only used to build or maintain fertility at a level that is best for the specific land class or soil type.

"We match fertilisers to the potential productivity of paddocks."

The family has been able to more than double stocking rates up to 18 dry sheep equivalent per hectare (averaging 16 DSE/ha), dropping to 12 in winter.

Stocking rates are managed to maintain at least 90 per cent groundcover.

"We also build soil carbon levels by direct drilling extra pasture species into established paddocks and mulching paddocks following grazing.

"We believe that good soil fertility drives all other aspects of improved livestock fertility.

"However, in the drive towards business profitability, we have to find a balance that doesn’t sacrifice the environment or land sustainability."

Free copies of the 28-page colour book, Striking the Balance, can be obtained by contacting Tocal College on 1800 025 520 or email at info@tocal.com.

Contact John and Janelle Spearpoint, 02 4988 6213.