About Winyu

How it Started - 2019

In 2019 Winyu farm was purcahsed. It had been subdivided from a much larger sheep station that was used as a backup feed lot for sheep in the southern tablelands. The land had been heavily over grazed prior to subdivision and in heavy drought. The land was dead, the farm was silent and the dams were close to dry.

2020

When the drought broke with a downpour in early 2020 we soon realised thongs needed to be improved. After receiving 50-100mm of rain in less than a day we sat and watched what happened. The soil was so dry and compacted that all this water just dissapeared. It left the property as soon as it came, none of it penetrating the soil and a majority of it causing more erosion and more problems. There had to be a better way!

2021 -2022

After countless hours of researching and stumbling upon two books that changed our way of thinking the journey into regenerating the land began. The call of the reed warbler by Charles Massey and Dirt to Soil by Gabe Brown were influential in changing the way we had viewed traditonal farming practices. Other inspirations such as Peter and Stuart Andrews shaped how we thought about managing water on the property and this is when the work begun. We set to work restoring the water course with many structures and leaky weirs. We put in a dam high in the landscape to hold water in a high erosion area and we began moving this water around the property with a system of contours that help hydrate ridgelines and reduce further erosion.

2022-2023

In 2022 we added in some livestock. We managed this grazing plan with our lovely neighbour Rob who helped move them through the landscape making sure areas werent over grazed or under grwzed. We used goats to help clear stubborn areas and cows to recycle nutrients back into the soils. Horses and sheep were used sporadically with their different chew pattersn and trampling to target stubborn areas. This is when we really started to see improvements

2023 Onwards

In 2023 we opened up camping on the property to allow others to come and see the farm and experience the joy of being in nature! This allowed us to connect with others who genuinely loved being outside and supporting regenertive farming. A big belief is sharing in our creation for others not just ourselves.

2025

2025 saw us receive our first grant from Rivers of Carbon. They recognised the hard work and improvement we have done with out watercourse and can see it as a biodiversity site of value. They have provided funds to help us fence this area off from livestock and protect it for the next 10 years! This was amazing to see the transformation and to receieve assistance in further protecting and developing this amazing watercourse.