Luxton black

John Pederson

John describes his farm as ‘a drained swamp’ adjacent to a bird sanctuary, with established shelterbelts at the edge of paddocks. Having been a swamp, the land has heavy soil that is wet in winter and dries hard in summer.

Decisions, and their benefits, that John mentions include:

• Choosing a heritage breed of sheep suited to the climate.


• Extensive revegetation and the creation of 17 acres of wetlands, including seasonal (ephemeral) billabongs as well as deeper billabongs. These encourage breeding birds and a diversity of insect life. A healthy relationship of predator birds and insects has developed that reduces pest insect numbers.


• Creating new shelterbelts in the middle rather than down the edge of paddocks. This creates a gentle microclimate for sheep as well as encouraging biodiversity.


• Biodiversity and shelter benefit John’s livestock, as well as local koalas, indigenous plant and insect populations and birds.

Concepts in this video include:

Microclimates, Design Decisions