Leaky Weirs completed, fixed the erosion and an unusual fruit has appeared?

[@andrewsteele7663]

Good morning, I love it when a simple plan works. I spent many days working for a chap years ago who wanted to do the same in the black soil country. He used old tyres and star pickets, back filled with tons of loose rock collected from his farm. Which was back breaking work. It looked a treat, and we were very happy with our efforts. But we had a huge rain event, and all the tyres were lifted and deposited in the dam at the bottom of the paddock. So, from that I was taught the KISS principle. Cheers

[@queenslandfarmer]

Hi Andrew, Tires can be a nightmare for the environment but I can see the attraction when you can get them for free. Yes, the low cost, no cost projects are working well on the farm. More to follow 👍

[@brianvittachi6869]

Simple, low-cost solutions working with the natural order of things. I'm looking forward to seeing those weirs doing their job. Thank you for the upload.

[@queenslandfarmer]

Thanks Brian. I try and focus very much on the no cost / low cost solutions. I will definitely do follow up videos on the progress. Thanks for watching.

[@threeriversforge1997]

If there's one thing I enjoy more than building Beaver Dam Analogs, it's seeing the BDA's working! Kudos for a job well done! One thing I might suggest, it's getting yourself a good heavy-duty forestry hoe. Those things work like both a rake and a shovel, allowing you to move material and shape the earth, speeding up the job of moving the stone and wood around. It's a bit like being a sculptor, really, and it's easy to get carried away. Definitely a good tool to have with the tractor, even if it's just to help rearrange all the rocks once you dump them. One of the things we've learned from studying how beavers are so successful with their dams is the fact that they are digging a slight depression just uphill of the dam so that the weight of the water is spread out over the actually ground rather than building up on the dam face and forcing their rather flimsy construction to bear the brunt of the tonnage. They use their paws to dig up the mud and then that becomes a plaster and mortar for the dam itself. The hoe, like offered by Rogue or Bully, works in much the same way, allowing us to efficiently scrape the uphill side of the Leaky Weir just a bit, dragging all that dirt and organic matter into the face of the Leaky Weir while we're assembling it. This ends up filling gaps deep in the structure of the Weir, making it more resistant to water flow, while creating more of a buffer zone behind it that actually prevents the runoff from damaging the Leaky Weir. For the longest time, we thought that the ponds behind a dam were just a result of the dams themselves and no big deal. Then we found that the body of water acts as a shock absorber, taking the energy out of the stream that's flowing in. The beaver dams themselves aren't that strong, so they figured out how to make physics work for them instead of against them! The benefit to opening the area behind the dam, for us, is that it means holding more water on the land for longer. While the Leaky Weirs will eventually fill with silt and organic matter, we're just speeding up the process so we can get maximum benefit right now rather than waiting for mother nature to do the work at her own pace.

[@queenslandfarmer]

Thanks very much for your positive comments and ideas. This gully is one of few I have on the farm so it's a good test area while I develop the skills to make it work. It's been a fascinating experiment and a steep learning curve. All the best @threeriversforge1997

[@insAneTunA]

If it is not considered as an invasive species then you can let the mango tree grow, and when it is a bit larger you could try to clone it with air layering, and use the clones to plant more of the trees at a more suitable location. I mean, you can always cut it down at a later stage if it gets in your way. I think that the leaky weirs are going to do a very good job in slowing down and retaining the water. 👍

[@queenslandfarmer]

These mangos actually came from our orchard to the dinner plate and then into the bush as organic matter. Not invasive at all. I would be fighting the cattle for the mangos if it grew up and bore fruit as cattle love mango too. I'll keep you all update on the progress.

[@tjasasmith1727]

Looking forward to the future videos.

[@queenslandfarmer]

thanks, always appreciate the feedback and thanks for watching.

[@BitsOutTheBackFarm]

Nice to see the progress Chris. Cheers mate.

[@queenslandfarmer]

Thanks Rob. Progress is certainly motivating. Cheers mate.

[@fionamcwilliam8703]

I love seeing farmers working out ways of keeping the water on the farm for longer! Those are a great method for doing so. Love the forest you've got there too. So important to keep it healthy by what you're doing in the gully. Personally I'd move the mangoes out of the gully to a better place while they're still young.

[@queenslandfarmer]

Thanks. It’s a little bit of time and sweat (in the sub tropics) to do this but the effort is far less than the rewards. Thanks for your comment Fiona.

[@kimcook5800]

Great video Chris ....thanks for sharing

[@queenslandfarmer]

My pleasure!! Thanks Kim.

[@SuerteDelMolinoFarm]

Constant maintenance is key. Well done

[@queenslandfarmer]

I'm really very interested in observing where nature takes its path now the weirs are in place. I'm hoping for less maintenance but lets see what happens :-)

[@NoNopeAndNo]

Well done mate

[@queenslandfarmer]

cheers.

[@honeybacres]

It will be interesting to see how this works for you. I am guessing you will get more like the current leaky weir you have. I am considering doing this along a gully that runs parallel to our road boundary. It wont add much to our place but I guess any extra moisture in the soil is doing good.

[@jameswestgate416]

Love this content. Many thanks

[@queenslandfarmer]

Thanks for watching

[@robstafford8306]

Hi Chris, the 3&4 month old leaky weirs seem to be working really well. The plant growth in the main ‘channel’ looks very healthy and vibrant. While the sprouting of the mangoes shows they are storing good organic matter that would otherwise be lost. Appreciate that it is very early days but have you noticed any enhanced growth of vegetation beyond the immediate area of these two weirs on the down slope area?

[@queenslandfarmer]

Hi Rob, it is early days but I do think the surrounding area is looking healthier. I simply have not seen water in these gullies before and grass is growing where it hasn't previously. Fingers crossed, continuing to slow the water and keeping the area moist will have longer term and more obvious effects.

[@robstafford8306]

@@queenslandfarmer Good stuff. Looking forward to your next interventions…..no pressure! On a different note what do you call your dog shown in this video? Is it of collie decent?

[@queenslandfarmer]

@@robstafford8306 Rob, her name is Sam. She’s a kelpie border collie cross. She is perfect for the farm. Sometimes when I’m talking to the camera when I look back at the footage, I see that she’s looking at me while I’m speaking and she also likes to photobomb. :-)

[@robstafford8306]

@@queenslandfarmer have a border collie, from Ireland, called Paddy. The look on Sam’s face in the video was….what you doing, why are you doing it, can’t I help! Beautiful dog.

[@Zoofactory]

Great idea with the fence posts to hold the logs. 👍

[@queenslandfarmer]

@@Zoofactory thanks. Seems to be holding ok in storm events.

[@knoll9812]

Sometimes it is easier to shovel from link box than dump.

[@WaterholeExchange]

keep mangos for sure! nice work.

[@queenslandfarmer]

Yes, I still have them there. Thanks for the comment.

[@adammac4381]

I like the content😊. Its good work. Sorry to be a pain but these things are step 1 and 2, there is also step 3, 4 and 5. Not talking about the last 2 improvements in the video, they were good. That looks like where the water first gets velocity going, and yes stop the velocity where it starts. The first few rock dumps, you actually facilitated the repair of the incision. Now it has to fill with leaves, sediment, debri and plant roots for full repair. But thats not your job, nature will do it. The bowl area above the incision can also hold leaky weirs, or leaky log dams too. But good going anyways. Step 4 is diversion of water away from the leaky weir onto the plain And step 5 is your mango trees. Always plant a value adding tree either side of a leaky weir. If you dont use that juicy spot in the landscape, nature will put seed there.

[@queenslandfarmer]

Hi Adam, No comment is being a pain, I know despite my research, I don't have the all the answers so appreciate all feedback. In terms of pushing the water out on to the plain, you made me realise that I need to get down low and show the lay of the land to give the whole picture. These are deepish gullies and over time, the weir would need to grow vertically to spread the water over the plane as run off. Will need to think some more about that. Thanks.

[@robstafford8306]

Good one.

[@grahamgolding6610]

Love the series. It appears you are starting leaky weirs from the lower part of the gully and working back up the hill. My thinking is it may be better putting the first one up the hill. Thoughts?

[@queenslandfarmer]

@@grahamgolding6610 thanks Graham. I started at the largest part of that weir because it was the most impactful for the initial video and just built on that. Since then, I have gone to the top of that some gully and added many others. There are videos covering all of that work including a recent decent rain event.

[@altaylor3988]

Mate that leaky weir at 00:44, I would be using your rocks on the down side(leaky side) and supporting those timber( Those star pickets are not going to hold that timber back in a big dump. The added benefit is that if the leaky weir was to overflow then the rocks will cause a ripple effect and slow the flow down... eventually silt will build up on the timber side..... Then be prepared by adding 'wings' to the leaky weir to spread to water flow to greater effect... these wings would radiate out and be formed by dead logs/timber etc and mounded up with ROCKS which in due course will also allow grass etc to grow. Walk say 30 paces down stream and get a bigger view of the Lands Natural contours and build your leaky weir to complement and overflow where you want it. Expand your visionary plan

[@queenslandfarmer]

@@altaylor3988 you raise a good point about the weir. I’ve noticed that there has been a blowout under the wall in the video I’m working on at present. We have had plenty of water flow during rain events and there has been no movement yet, but that’s using the current design. Thanks for the feedback.

[@absolootely2571]

If you want the odd mango then replant off to the side where it still benefits from the water gathering & cage it. If you chose to leave it in place then it's long gone for sure unless you fenced out the cows.

[@queenslandfarmer]

The mangos actually just began growing fortuitously so I am not too phased if they don't make it. I take your point; those steers will have a go at eating anything.

[@annak011]

Mangos not native but most selections of trees were hybridised in Qld in the '60's. As they have good root systems they will hild the banks of the gully together very well I would leave them to do just thst.

[@queenslandfarmer]

That mango history is interesting - thanks for sharing it. I was leaning towards keeping them. Still surprised 4 grew from some seeds left over from the orchard via the kitchen.

[@annak011]

Seems you have achieved the right fertility to the soil i that gully. For four seeds to germinate without being cared for indicates things doin well.@@queenslandfarmer

[@CHANANNAIRMOSHINGLEFAIRE]

We have 40 acres in Mulgowie. If it growers there leave it there or transplant we find better to leave where seedling come up Native tobacco good for growing forest tree areas.

[@queenslandfarmer]

I have left them there for now. Will see how that turns out. 😄

[@lisadolan689]

My grandfather would’ve loved this. He was considered a bit of a fool because he tried implement land restoration and protection strategies when everyone else was destroying their properties with traditional stock running methods. Well done Sir. You are the future of restoring this country. 🙌🤩 🫡

[@queenslandfarmer]

Hi Lisa, Yes there has been a real turnaround in how land is managed in recent years. It sounds like your Grandfather was just ahead of his time.

[@wes4192]

#savethemangoes

[@queenslandfarmer]

lol. Nice hashtag.

[@peterfarrell8520]

Leaky weirs are great , but the landholders major concern when in an area of flood mitigation or just being located in a natural catchment area. Ones primary concern should be on catchment and conservancy. By simply being able to take off water, when mother nature does her thing. Adding to this the ability to store the water properly and make it safely available to livestock and wildlife. Thereby helping animals to drink from controlled feeder-stations. And helping to prevent the damage and erosion that livestock and certain animals can cause. Of course as we all know Australia is a big vast landscape and any kind of proper water conservation is paramount with mankind being at the apex of a pyramid of animals and life forms, whose very existence and survival depends upon water. And as every Aussie knows we’re either in drought or floods. And not taking and storing water when we are given the chance is not only stupid, but criminal.

[@queenslandfarmer]

yes, managing water and the environment is a balance but too much water is less of an issue than not enough.