YAN YAN GURT WEST

For 120 years the Stewart family has been running the family grazing property, “Yan Yan Gurt West Farm”, in the eastern foothills of the Otway Ranges in southern Victoria. The family’s 573-acre property produces prime lambs and wool with integrated agroforestry whilst running an educational farm tour business and a native flower enterprise.

In the past thirty years more than 55,000 trees and shrubs have been planted, constituting 19% of the property. This has created a diverse biological infrastructure with wildlife corridors that support and enhance traditional agricultural production, whilst providing new opportunities from the agroforestry system. The property forms an integral component of the Yan Yan Gurt Creek catchment where landholders have lifted their sights beyond their boundaries to connect with neighbouring properties with biodiverse trees and shrubs. This has produced a 22 km wildlife corridor, connecting the Boonah native bush along 22 kms of fenced out creek line to the Barwon River. The Yan Yan Gurt creek catchment is now more protected from erosion with better ecological functionality.

THE OTWAY AGROFORESTRY NETWORK

Agroforestry will be a major focus at GROUNDED 2026. The Otway Agroforestry Network has been working alongside local farmers for over 30 years, showing how trees can boost productivity, restore landscapes and build resilience on farms. OAN is a grassroots community of more than 200 farming families – a movement grown from the ground up.

Don’t miss the chance to learn from them firsthand. Visit the OAN stall, join their workshops, and hear from those who are reshaping the future of farming in the Otways.