#39 The nuances of farm forestry and the opportunities of integrating biodiversity with Campbell Mercer

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

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