John Ive – ACT

John Ive and partner Robyn have transformed their Yass Valley grazing property from an eroded, salt-encrusted basket case to a productive sheep, cattle and farm forestry operation. Using targeted monitoring, John was able to measure groundwater depth and salinity as well as dam salinities and subsurface water flows. Saline seeps on potentially fertile flats occupied 23 percent of the property when John acquired it. He increased native vegetation and conservation areas, excluding domestic stock from almost a third of the property while increasing farm productivity on his most fertile reclaimed flats. John’s monitoring efforts are also helping him prepare for climate change. Using a soil water balance-monitoring tool that mines rainfall and evaporation data from the Bureau of Meteorology, he is able to compare historic soil moisture on the farm with projections to 2100.