1905 – November 1984
He was an Australian inventor known for the Keyline system for the development of land and increasing the fertility of that land. As a mining engineer and gold assayer, Yeomans had developed a keen sense of hydrology and equipment design. Upon his brother-in-law’s death in a grass fire, Percival Alfred Yeomans assumed management of a large tract of land he later named Nevallan in New South Wales. Here he developed improved methods and equipment for cultivation. His design – the Yeomans Plow – won him The Prince Philip Design Award in 1974.
His Keyline principles or concepts (Keyline Design) have been adopted by farm owners in almost every country in the world. Yeomans’ Keyline concepts are now part of the curriculum of many sustainable agriculture courses in colleges and universities across the world. His ideas have also been a key factor in the development of permaculture design. P.A. Yeomans wrote four books; The Keyline Plan, The Challenge of Landscape, Water For Every Farm and The City Forest.
In 1967 P A Yeomans brought the Keyline Plan to the Kiewa Valley. He came in response to invitations from Mr Mervyn Barton, then secretary of the Kiewa Regional Development League, who had long admired Keyline and recognised the benefits it would bring to his own property and to the valley.’
This is a visual demonstration of Chapter 18 (Design and Construction of a Farm Dam); http://www.soilandhealth.org/01aglibr… from the book: Yeomans, P.A. (1958). ‘The Challenge of Landscape’. Sydney, NSW: Keyline Publishing Pty Ltd. (out of print)
First Method: Water Harvesting (0:00–09:46) and (10:50–13:40)
The first of these, known as Water Harvesting, has been developed by Mr H J Geddes at the Sydney University McGarvie-Smith Animal Husbandry Farm at Badgery’s Creek, near Liverpool in New South Wales.
Second Method: The Keyline Plan (09:47–10:49)
Known as The Keyline Plan, it has been developed by Mr P A Yeomans on his properties at North Richmond, New South Wales, and other places.
Source: NSW Trade & Investment (from the sleeve notes)
River water is diverted into the lake or across the wall to a falling irrigation channel. In lieu of an overflow channel from the lake, flooded water-gates at the end of the long arm of the storage (parallel to & uphill from the irrigation channel) release water back down the plain into the now lower irrigation channel. For additional Keyline Flood Flow irrigation higher in the landscape, Yeomans installs a low lift/high capacity pump along the same long arm of the lake. To maximise this higher irrigation area, the pumped water is sent into an upper contour irrigation channel.
Source: By Geoff Booth:
Part 2 of this interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kv_zYXZRBTc
Listen to their story of the long term development of the Keyline irrigation system and how the ponding of water behind diversion banks leads to improvement of the scalded soil and the disappearing Mitchell grass. See how wildlife conservation can be integrated into a rural production system.
Source: University of Southern Queensland (USQ)
Yeomans Plow
The tool used for keyline plowing is the Yeomans plow, a subsoiler with very thin shanks. Created in the 1950s by P.A. Yeoman, an Australian mining engineer and farmer, it was designed to lift and aerate the soil while limiting soil disturbance to minimise oxidation of organic matter.
