NUFG visits the Otway Ranges


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Rowan Reid, farm forester and member of the Otway Agroforestry Network, emerges from his house in the Otways. The building's construction is a showpiece of a range of fine timbers


NUFG members tour Rowan Reid's farm where drainage lines have been stabilised with trees grown for sawlogs A range of species has been planted for both biodiversity benefits and sawlog production along a creekline
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Rowan Reid explains the history of management on his farm in the Otways


11 year old variable spacing trial of Eucalyptus nitens. The trees
are planted along 'spokes of a wheel' with increasing stockings near the
centre. This allows us to see the impact of competition on growth
Remnant trees are E. obliqua (shown) E. ovata, E. viminalis and
Blackwood. The rainfall is around 850mm
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Rowan has developed an innovative tree guard to prevent kangaroos and  wallabies from browsing young Blackwoods (Acacia melanoxylon). The clear plastic is supported by a length of electrical conduit


19 year old Poplars (large trees) with Black Walnut of the same age growing between them. The idea is that the Poplar would be harvested leaving the Black Walnuts to grow on for 50 years or more
NUFG members walk through a stand of Poplar (white trunks) on Rowan
Reid's Otway farm.
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Rowan Reid leaning against a 19-year old American Redwood


Driveway into Rowan Reid's farm in the Otways  
For more information relevant to the farm forestry activities of Rowan Reid and the Master Tree Growers Course program at Melbourne University please visit the following website: http://www.mtg.unimelb.edu.au/BAF.htm