Campbell Mercer owns 40ha outside Melbourne, Australia where he has set up a world class olive farm - producing award winning organic olive oil. Campbell uses a variety of fascinating agroforestry practices, from windbreaks to farm forestry and silvopastural systems. We have an in-depth conversation on small scale farm forestry, from design considerations to harvest and selling. We also discussed the Keyline cultivation pattern and its implications for tree planting, finishing off with the various functions of his windbreaks and their interaction with neighbouring olive trees. Overall, Campbell has not been shy to make use of tree systems to align his production with the ecology he works in. He has managed to harness the ecosystem services provided by trees whilst ensuring they remain economically productive.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
02:42 Story and context of the farm
11:09 Why go organic?
13:28 Use of black wattle
19:52 Selling small quantities of timber
23:16 Main objectives of agroforestry on the farm
27:56 Design of the systems
39:04 Sawing material
40:56 Drying the wood
43:37 Pruning
46:35 Profitability of timber plantations
57:22 Interactions between grass and trees
01:01:24 Planting along the keyline pattern
01:05:17 Feedback on deep ripping and swales
01:10:46 Would you do keyline again?
01:19:41 Windbreaks
01:28:34 Choice of species in windbreak
01:38:17 Production from them
01:40:28 Interactions between windbreak and olive trees
01:45:00 Improved overall productivity
• RESOURCES
https://mannahillestate.com.au/
https://www.instagram.com/mannahill.estate/
• GET IN TOUCH www.regenerativeagroforestry.org
• SUPPORT US www.gumroad.com/regenagroforestry
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