Over 160 years and 5 generations our family have grown the property almost ten fold to now hold 1,300 hectares in the Shelbourne / Eastville area, approximately 30K from both Maldon and Bendigo in Central Victoria.
Our land, or terroir as wine makers call it, ranging from Iron Stone rises through to sandy loam flats, provides us with a range of choices for pastures and cropping.
We manage our land with traditional crop rotation practices using only natural fertilisers on our pastures and the bare minimum 5% (of total fertiliser use) on crops when required for pest and weed control.
Over those years we have diversified to grow wheat, barley, oats, rape & canola and we breed cross Merino / Border Leicester lamb for meat & wool and raise grain finished Black Angus cattle.
Land Care
In 1994 Brian’s parents, Kevin and Leonie Gallagher, formed an alliance with the West Marong Landcare Group and began a program which now has 16 hectares of land given over to wildlife corridors planted with local indigenous tree and shrub species:
- Iron Bark
- Totem Pole Melaleuca
- River Sheoak
- Grey & Yellow Box
- Warilla, Gold Dust, Black, Prickly Moses & Golden Wattle
- Grevillia
These plantings have improved previously eroding land and provide an attractive habitat for Red Robins, Blue Wrens, Finches, Major Mitchell Galahs, Eastern Rosellas and Grass Parrots. The surrounding forest trees are home to pairs of Wedge Tail Eagles.
Over the last 2 years we have intermittently spotted a goanna, noted for the first time in our family history.
http://www.landcareonline.com.au/
http://birdsinbackyards.net/species/Aquila-audax