2008 McKell Medal Award

^{From left: Hon Tony Burke MP, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Kevin and Alice Knight, Hon Peter Garrett AM MP, Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts and Joe Helper MP, Victoria’s Minister for Agriculture and Small Business.}

Over 40 years, brother-and-sister farming team Alice and Kevin Knight made their family farm in Pittong, Victoria a showcase of conservation farming, encouraging others to follow their lead.

Their outstanding work was recognised nationally when the Knights won the 2008 McKell Medal. In May the Hon Tony Burke MP, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry presented the medal to Alice and Kevin in Hobart on behalf of the Natural Resource Management Ministerial Council.

The award commemorates the outstanding contribution made to soil and land conservation by Sir William McKell, Premier of NSW from 1941 to 1947 and Australian Governor-General from 1947 to 1953.

Minister Burke congratulated them for developing salinity and erosion control programs on their land. He said, ‘Alice and Kevin show how individuals can make a difference on their own properties and demonstrate the direct link between profitable farming and managing natural resources‘.

With dryland salinity affecting a significant part of their region Alice and Kevin took on large-scale conservation to reduce its impacts. Using whole-of-farm catchment planning they classified degraded areas and used strategies to improve their land. They planted over 70 000 trees, fenced off native vegetation and waterways, created three major wetlands, added perennial pasture species and introduced minimum tillage cropping.

Through this careful management they have reduced the effects of salinity on their property and improved production. Their 1700 hectares run 12 000 sheep and 350-400 hectares of crops, with stocking rates increasing from the equivalent of five sheep per hectare in the 1960s to twelve.

In 1988 Kevin and Alice became founding members of the Pittong-Hoyles Creek landcare group. Kevin was a driving force behind the success of the Woady Yaloak Catchment Project.

Ms Knight acknowledged the support of her local community. ’My brother and I found that if you work with your local community you can create a spirit and a momentum that can solve any problem,’ she said. Trialling new techniques and encouraging research on their property has helped them and others use the natural resources their land provides to sustain them and the landscape into the future.