Yarra Farm

Luke Sadler

Based in the Yarra Valley and abutting the Yarra River on Luke’s farms in winter there can be too much water, and in summer there can be too little.

Luke discusses the decisions they make about water, including:

• Keeping the soil covered at all times with a living ground cover is important for healthy soil and efficient water cycling.


• In winter, the soil in covered pastures is warmer. In summer it is cooler and evaporation is greatly reduced, enabling plants efficiently to use any precipitation that falls, plus what moisture remains in the soil.


• Designing a diverse pasture plant mix of plants with different growth cycles, root structures and nutrient needs that will not compete with each other. Legumes are a must because they fix nitrogen into the soil that other plants can use.


• Rotational grazing, mindful of the effect of livestock on the soil and of maintaining a living biomass.

Concepts in this video include:

Soil Water, Soil Structure