THERE'S a power struggle going on in the Challicum hills and it's got nothing to do with politics.

While the nearby peaks host a cluster of wind turbines, the Hartwich family has turned to the sun for power to make their ultra-fine wool enterprise more manageable and sustainable.

    AT A GLANCE
  • Who: Hartwich family
  • What: Merinos
  • What: looking after the hills
  • Where: Ararat
  • Report: JOHN PARRY

They have installed a solar-power pump to deliver water to strategically grazed paddocks on the the higher slopes of their 1200ha property, Mt Challicum, southeast of Ararat.

The aim is to restore and maintain ground cover on the hill tops which were cleared of trees during the gold rush days, leaving them exposed to wind and water erosion and rabbits.

"Our aim is profitable and sustainable use of the hills," Russell Hartwich said.

Russell, his brother Phillip and their father, Noel, are also working with the Department of Primary Industries on a trial to determine the best grazing strategy to preserve the asset that generates their income, the soil.

Together they run 6000 fine and ultra-fine Merinos on 800ha of native grass hill country and 400ha of undulating lower slopes, some sown to improved species including lucerne, and other parts cropped with oats and barley.

The flock consists of 2500 ewes, 2000 wethers and 1500 young stock and is Saxon based, with Rockbank bloodlines introduced 20 years ago.

A long history of soil conservation work has prevailed at Mt Challicum and includes repairing gullies, waterway fencing, planting trees on hilltops and in shelter belts and installing 11km of land-class fencing, according to topography, to control grazing.

Over the past decade, the family has been working closely with the DPI and the Glenelg Hopkins Catchment Management Authority.

Their latest experiment is a series of research plots that are part of the EverGraze Low Input on Native Perennials project, which aims to increase farm profitability by 50 per cent and reduce salinity recharge.

A 2ha site on the northern slopes is comparing traditional set stocking with deferred grazing and strategic deferred grazing in a bid to improve the cover of native grasses, especially over summer.

"It's a case of working with what we've got, which in some cases might be only 5mm of topsoil," Russell said.

"The native grasses are not highly productive but they do persist and respond to summer rain. And they also work well with fine-wool production."

Stocking rate has increased over the years but is still fairly low - about 3.5 sheep per hectare on the hills and about 8.5/ha on the better country.

Getting reticulated water up to the hill paddocks has made the grazing system more flexible but was a challenge in itself.

Two solar panels power a pump that lifts water up to 60m from a dam to a high central point from where it is reticulated to troughs in paddocks covering about 120ha.

The pump is rated at 9000 litres a day and the header tank has a three or four-day reserve.

The project cost about $20,000 and was funded under the Drought Extension Support Project as an example to others, although the Hartwich family did all the installation, which included laying up to 3km of poly pipe.

Philip said the combination of deferred grazing and the reticulated water should save the country from blowing in summer and would encourage the native grasses. "And it will save us carting water to stock," he said.

Russell said the project had opened the family's eyes to what could be done to improve productivity and sustainability.

"It is not rocket science, it is a matter of getting water back there, protecting the soil and getting the pastures to grow," he said.

The grazing trial is being monitored by researchers Zhongnan Nie and Reto Zollinger from DPI Hamilton.

The deferred grazing system the Hartwiches use is designed to protect the predominant kangaroo and wallaby grass.

"Depending on the season, the sheep come off the tops in mid to late spring and don't go back until after the autumn rains to let the natives set seed and recover," Russell said.

"If you let the tops bare off, it takes years just to get back to where you were."

Since the hills have been destocked over dry months the areas of wallaby and kangaroo grass are spreading, with the family confident this will continue if the sheep are kept off the paddocks at crucial times.

"It is just management, you don't flog your hills out too much and you don't overgraze them," Phillip said.

"This system has made us more sustainable. We are much better placed to cope with dry years."

The steep hills project is funded by the DPI, the Glenelg-Hopkins CMA and the Co-operative Research Centre for plant-based management for dryland salinity.

  • For details phone the DPI at Ararat on (03) 5352 2288.