Growing Brush

GROWING BRUSH Back

Most brush currently used in fencing and for other purpose in Australia, is cut from natural Mallee stands on Crown lease lands (NSW) or private freehold lands (NSW, Vic and SA) and from farmed wind-row brush in WA . It is also cut illegally from native stands on both private and Crown lands. See the Brush Cutting & the Environment section in this web-site.

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Native Mallee stands near Lameroo, SA

Industry members are concerned to see a stable industry and sustainable brush cutting practices and actively encourage the establishment of commercial broombush plantations, to improve the regularity of supplies and relieve the pressure on remnant native vegetation.

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"Growing Broombush for Profit and Land Protection" - cover, authors and contents pages

In the recent feasibility study "Growing Broombush for Profit and Land Protection" published by the SA Department of Primary Industries and Resources (1998), Chief Executive Dennis Mutton states in his foreward;

"Land managers and the broader community are now generally aware of the importance of sustaining our natural resources and the environment and the challenges facing us to reverse land degradation. These challenges include finding commercially viable solutions to problems such as salinity, wind erosion and loss of habitat. Growing broombush for urban brush fencing promises to provide such a solution - a cash crop that can ensure continuity of supply to the fencing industry, that also aids sustainable land management and benefits the environment."

It is encouraging to think that the demand for brush fencing and future large scale brush plantations could play a role in helping to arrest land degradation and soil salinisation as well as providing habitat for native fauna. It is also commendable for the Departments involved to be taking the initiative in the way that they are.

The authors of the report go on to say also, that " .... the South Australian Department of Environment, Heritage and Aboriginal Affairs wishes to ensure that over-cutting does not occur in Heritage Agreement areas and would be happy to phase out brush cutting from remnant native vegetation in favour of growing and harvesting broombush from plantations. Supplies will need to be maintained from naturally occurring broombush until replaced by plantation-grown brush so that brush fencing maintains its market share. It makes sense to maintain market share, rather than lose it and have to re-establish it....."

Trial plantations have been underway in SA since 1980 and quite large commercial crops in WA are ready for cutting now (year 2006).

Plantation work undertaken by Clive Bowman (est. November 1990, Lameroo in SA) in conjunction with the SA Primary Industries & Resources Department over the past 9 years has followed on from earlier work by John Scarvelis (1980, Murray Bridge Re-vegetation Centre) and John Wisniewski (1988, Dimboola, Lake Hindmarsh and Tempy).

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Clive Bowman with Native Broombush Stands

As a result of his trials Mr Bowman estimates that there could be more than 200 varieties of broombush and as the seeds produced by a particular plant are only 1% 'true to type', he has invested a lot of time and effort to developing viable means of producing 'true to type' plants for plantation purposes. It is understood that it has only been possible to achieve this by using cuttings from suitable plants. The initial trials included 5,000 plants from 11 varieties of seed nominated by experienced brush cutters and 45 of these plants have been selected by Mr Bowman as suitable for cuttings/production purposes.

He indicates that criteria included in selection of 'type' of the 45 plants have been, frost tolerance, growth rate, tolerance to disease, lack of flowering (berry) and narrow forks. One of the problems experienced in the trials has been the configuration of the brush from seed and suitability for use in hand packed fencing, although the material would be well suited to machine packing

As a result of the South Australian trials, "Growing Broombush for Profit and Land Protection" was published, by Peter Bulman, Philip Beale and Alex Knight of the SA Department of Primary Industries and Resources in 1998. Copies are available from the Murray Bridge office of the Department at a cost of $12 plus $3 postage & handling. - tel 08 8539 2117 if you would like to order. This work is based on the yield data from harvesting parts of the Murray Bridge and Lameroo plantations.

Although not commercially proven, the profitability (Internal Rates of Return and Net Present Values) of the crop based on cash flow modelling undertaken in the report looks promising especially in the light of current Vic and NSW prices.

Adelaide Brush is actively supporting this work and will be monitoring the progress of the plantations and seed development. Adelaide Brush (Hague Showell) and cutter Brian Austin Smith of Parilla in September (1999) attended an inspection of the 6 year old trial Harrogate plantation with Alex Knight and Pete Bulman of PIRSA and advised on the suitability of the brush for hand packing and machine use.

Shortly after, a very successful Field Day weekend organised by the Dept Primary Industries and Resources and Clive Bowman of Lameroo was held on the 16th & 17th October 1999 and attended by about 25 people interested in the work that has been done with trial plantations in the Harrogate and Murray Bridge areas and at Lameroo.

A new technology being researched by the Professor Graham Jones of the University of Adelaide (Dept of Horticulture, Viticulture and Oenology - Waite Campus) and involving the extraction of proline derivitives from brush leaf will shortly enter the pilot stage. It is possible that as a by-product to the growing of Melaleuca uncinata for fencing uses, that this material will further enhance the viability of plantation brush. A hormone, the glycine betaine extract has a huge potential market as it can be used as an animal feed additive, an enhancer of horticultural crop productivity and as coating on seed to increase germination rates.

In WA it has been reported that a brush contractor has been supplying seed and encouraging farmers to plant broom, for several years now. It is mostly planted between rows of barley and wheat ('alley farming') on saline soils and there are a number of properties under cultivation with up to 40,000 plants on each and with up to 2 year old growth. With high costs of freight for NSW brush, it should be a good investment for him in the future.

It is likely that in the longer term (20 to 30 years) that a large proportion of the brush used in fencing will come from machine harvested plantations rather than from native stands, as at present. It is also conceivable that brush could be grown in other countries and that brush fencing will become popular overseas. Enquiries received and current panel export-initiatives would tend to support this contention.

Last Updated: 20th March 2000.

References & further reading

1. Abare Research Report 94.9, (June 1994), Jojoba, Blue Mallee & Broombush - Market Assessment & Outlook, Canberra, prepared by Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics (ABARE) for the Murray-Darling Basin Commission, Canberra.

2. Bastin J., Collett G., Hazell P., Nicholson P. and Whiting R. (1982) The brush-cutting industry in South Australia. University of Adelaide, Centre for Environmental Studies, Adelaide.

3. Bulman P., Scarvelis J., Mason B. K. and Wallace M. (1991) Trees for other products in SA In: Role of trees in sustainable agriculture, pp 41-57 'Other products', National Agroforestry Working Group under the auspices of the Standing Committees on Agriculture and Forestry

4. Costermans L. F. (1981) Native trees and shrubs of South-eastAustralia, Rigby Publishers, Adelaide.

5. Cremer K. W. (ed.) (1990) Trees for rural Australia. Inkata Press, Melbourne.

6. Lewis S. (1979) Brush cutting in South Australia. South Australian Department of Environment and Planning, Adelaide.

7. Mensforth L.J. (1996) Water use strategy of Melaleuca halmaturorum in a saline swamp. PhD Thesis University of Adelaide.

8. Neagle N. (1994) The environmental impact and ecological sustainability of brush cutting in South Australia. A report to the Native Vegetation Council, Adelaide.

9. Newland N. (1991) Brush cutting and brush fencing-sustainable resource use or environmental impoverishment Master of Environmental Studies thesis, University of Adelaide, South Australia.

10. Phillips C. (1994) Wingless grasshoppers; Forest Insects No.22 Primary Industries (SA) Forestry.

11. Read M. (1989) Economk evaluation of the broombush industry and assessment of the impact of the proposed LCC recommendations on broombush harvesting. Unpublished report prepared for the Land Conservation Council, Melbourne.

12. Specht R. L. (1966) The growth and distribution of mallee-broombush (Eucalyptus incrassata-Melaleuca uncinata association) and heath vegetation near Dark Island Soak, Ninety-Mile Plain, South Austraila. Aust. J. Bot. 14, 361-71

13. Wisniewski J. (1996) An evaluation of the potential for growing Melaleuca uncinata (broombush) on farms for brush fence production. PhD thesis, University of Melbourne.

14. Woinarski J. C. Z. (1988) The vertebrate fauna of broombush (Melaleuca uncinata) vegetation in north-western Victoria, and the environmental effects of the broombush harvesting industry Conservation Council of Victoria, Melbourne.

15. Woinarski J. C. Z. (1989a) Broombush harvesting in south-eastern
Australia. In: Mediterranean Landscapes in Australia. Mallee
Ecosystems and their Management. (eds J. C. Noble and R. A.
Bradstock) pp.362-78. CSIRO Australia.

16. Woinarski J. C. Z. (1989b) The vertebrate fauna of broombush Melaleuca uncinata vegetation in North-western Victoria, with reference to effects of broombush harvesting. Aust. Wildl. Res.16, 217-38