It's the ideal time of year for seedlings to be planted in wet soil and Chatfields Tree Nursery's Dustin McCreery has been busy travelling the State delivering seedlings.
When a trip to Corrigin was arranged to deliver donated saltbush seedlings from Chatfields to fire-affected farmers earlier this month, the Corrigin Farm Improvement Group (CFIG) asked Mr McCreery if he would share some tips and tricks to give newly-planted seedlings the best start in life.
The casual afternoon event also gave CFIG and local farmers the opportunity to show their gratitude to Mr McCreery and his wife Lisa and acknowledge their ongoing support and generosity for donating 25,000 saltbush seedlings.
CFIG owns two Chatfields tree planters that have been hired out to local farmers for more than 35 years.
As the next generation of farmers begin to use these tree planters, the CFIG team thought it would be a great opportunity for Mr McCreery to give a demonstration on getting the most out of the planter.
In the initial stages of planning, Mr McCreery asks farmers what their goal is for the area of the farm they want to plant, which then influences species selection and site design.
The design needs to reflect whether a farmer wants to grow trees to aid issues such as saline areas, waterlogging, erosion, poor performing parts of the paddock, shelter for stock or soil protection, fodder shrubs for feed gaps or to enhance biodiversity.
Due to consecutive wet years and a rising water table, salinity and waterlogging were particularly evident in the Corrigin area this season.
Mr McCreery said a fire event, such as the one Corrigin experienced, plus evidence from the Esperance fires, caused waterlogging and salinity to become particularly noticeable.
This is due to the loss of mature trees, which would have previously soaked up much of the excess water.In the continued effort to rehabilitate fire-affected areas, the second round of State NRM funding for fire-affected farmers in the Corrigin and Wickepin fire zones has been released.
Wheatbelt NRM has opened the second round of State NRM funds for up to $15,000 per farmer for fencing off remnant vegetation, and/or for seedlings to re-establish trees back into the fire-affected farming landscape.
Both CFIG and the Facey Group are assisting with facilitation, so if you are interested in this funding opportunity contact CFIG NRM officer Cindy Stevens at nrmo@cfig.org.au.
Submissions are due by Friday, August 11.
This project is supported by the Western Australian Government's State NRM Community Stewardship Program.
