news, environment, farming act, gollion farm
Sam Vincent is taking over his family’s farm at the best possible moment. The Sutton farm has just experienced its best spring in 20 years and the land is flourishing. Mr Vincent’s parents Jane and David have moved to their coast home at South Durras but the abundance of the past year made it harder for Ms Vincent to leave the farm. “If it had been last year when everything looked so terrible it would have been easier but of course this year everything looks so good and it’s harder to leave,” Ms Vincent said. As the coronavirus pandemic hit and Australia went into lockdown, Ms Vincent said the farm was a haven. “We were all so thankful that in March, April and May when you really couldn’t go out much we thought how nice it was that we could go for walks on the farm,” she said. “If we had been doing that last year we would have hated it, it was awful to go on the farms last year but this year it has been fantastic.” At the end of 2019 things looked grim and the Vincents made the decision to sell a lot of their cattle. It came only weeks before rainfall that changed the fortune of farmers. “There is an enormous comparison between 2019 and 2020 in terms of rainfall and growth of everything,” Ms Vincent said. “In some ways it has been silly because we sold most of our cattle right at the end of the drought but who was to know it was to rain in a couple of weeks. We have had more grass than we have known what to do with.” But the farm also has a thriving orchard with stone fruit, cherries, apricots, peaches, nectarines, plums, apples, pears, quinces, hazelnuts, walnuts and pomegranates. As well, Mr Vincent has started a massive fig orchard and as he takes on the farm he is examining the various undertakings he would like to adopt. “I’m going to be quite conservative in terms of restocking. I think at one stage we had more than 150 cows and their calves and that was just pushing the land a bit too much,” he said. “I’ll gradually increase the herd size and diversify with the figs.” The farm has been praised by Landcare ACT for and works with the Ginninderra Catchment Group. Many regenerative farming methods are employed on the farm through this work. “Sustainability kind of infers not doing any further damage, like treading water not going backwards whereas regenerative agriculture is trying to actually improve the situation,” Mr Vincent said. “Improving the biodiversity, the shade, the ground cover and kind of adding to the ecological commons. That’s improving the soil quality, the air quality – we’re trying to do that.” Gollion Farm has previously hit the headlines after an Aboriginal ochre quarry was discovered on the property in 2016 and last year the quarry was declared just the 13th Aboriginal Place on a private property in NSW. They were supported in this recognition by the Landcare ACT member organisation, Buru Ngunnawal Aboriginal Corporation. Their farm is featured in a Landcare ACT video that is supported by the federal government’s smart farms small grant scheme.
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Mother and son Jane and Sam Vincent at Gollion Farm in Sutton. Picture: Dion Georgopoulos
Sam Vincent is taking over his family’s farm at the best possible moment.
The Sutton farm has just experienced its best spring in 20 years and the land is flourishing.
Mr Vincent’s parents Jane and David have moved to their coast home at South Durras but the abundance of the past year made it harder for Ms Vincent to leave the farm.
“If it had been last year when everything looked so terrible it would have been easier but of course this year everything looks so good and it’s harder to leave,” Ms Vincent said.
As the coronavirus pandemic hit and Australia went into lockdown, Ms Vincent said the farm was a haven.
“We were all so thankful that in March, April and May when you really couldn’t go out much we thought how nice it was that we could go for walks on the farm,” she said.
“If we had been doing that last year we would have hated it, it was awful to go on the farms last year but this year it has been fantastic.”
At the end of 2019 things looked grim and the Vincents made the decision to sell a lot of their cattle. It came only weeks before rainfall that changed the fortune of farmers.
“There is an enormous comparison between 2019 and 2020 in terms of rainfall and growth of everything,” Ms Vincent said.
“In some ways it has been silly because we sold most of our cattle right at the end of the drought but who was to know it was to rain in a couple of weeks. We have had more grass than we have known what to do with.”
Sam Vincent in his fig orchard. Picture: Dion Georgopoulos
But the farm also has a thriving orchard with stone fruit, cherries, apricots, peaches, nectarines, plums, apples, pears, quinces, hazelnuts, walnuts and pomegranates.
As well, Mr Vincent has started a massive fig orchard and as he takes on the farm he is examining the various undertakings he would like to adopt.
“I’m going to be quite conservative in terms of restocking. I think at one stage we had more than 150 cows and their calves and that was just pushing the land a bit too much,” he said.
“I’ll gradually increase the herd size and diversify with the figs.”
The farm has been praised by Landcare ACT for and works with the Ginninderra Catchment Group. Many regenerative farming methods are employed on the farm through this work.
“Sustainability kind of infers not doing any further damage, like treading water not going backwards whereas regenerative agriculture is trying to actually improve the situation,” Mr Vincent said.
“Improving the biodiversity, the shade, the ground cover and kind of adding to the ecological commons. That’s improving the soil quality, the air quality – we’re trying to do that.”
Gollion Farm has previously hit the headlines after an Aboriginal ochre quarry was discovered on the property in 2016 and last year the quarry was declared just the 13th Aboriginal Place on a private property in NSW.
They were supported in this recognition by the Landcare ACT member organisation, Buru Ngunnawal Aboriginal Corporation.
