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Simon and Philippa Noble have been farming along the Murray River in the north-east of Victoria for 30 years.
During that time, they have farmed Murray cod and merino sheep but have always had future plans for harvesting timber.
"I've always been interested in growing trees for timber and for making money in the future," Mrs Noble said.
"After we ended the fish farm we still kept planting trees and we are finally at the point of harvesting them."
Over the 30 years that they have planted about 10,000 gum trees throughout their 170 hectares of land.
Although it's a long time before harvest, Mrs Noble says the wait has been worth it.
"The firewood is getting particularly profitable," Mrs Noble said.
"We are getting up to $150 just from the tops of the trees, let alone the stem.
"We can sell our logs as standing trees for about $200 a tree but we are milling it and value-adding on that and getting up to $2,000 a tree. We find it very valuable."
Now the plantations are mature enough for harvest, Mrs Noble says they don't need to plant as many trees as before.
"Once we harvest they re-grow twice as fast because they've got all the root system there to regrow," she said.
"It's a matter of looking in the long-term as we're only going to get shorter supply of durable timber."
Why should farmers plant more trees?
Aside from potential profits from selling timber, Mrs Noble said the trees benefited their farm in many ways.
"The shade, particularly in the summer, is so valuable. The livestock benefit greatly while lambing and are protected during bad weather," she said.
"The biodiversity is also incredible; we now have squirrel gliders enjoying the blossoms and so many birds.
"The other important thing is the carbon sequestrations — it offsets all of our carbon emissions and even more than that."
Mrs Noble said the last carbon calculation she did two years ago put the farm way beyond carbon neutral, with the trees offsetting the sheep's methane production and the rest of the farm's carbon emissions.
"We're not interested in selling our carbon as credits. We are more interested in selling carbon timber and as firewood," Mrs Noble said.
"We all have to get on board and get more trees in the ground and we can do it on farms.
"We can't clear bushland and make more plantations like we used to. Farmers have the land — it's time to put back."
Does farm forestry have a future?
The Nobles say there are not many other people doing farm forestry like themselves and the 20–30 years needed for the trees to mature is probably what puts most people off.
"[It] might seem like a long time but in our lifetime we can get up to three rotations and, really, once you've got your first rotation [harvested] you can continuously harvest," Mrs Noble said.
"People don't seem to have the time these days but we should be starting sooner rather than later."
Mrs Noble says they hope to show other farmers how planting trees in all "nooks and crannies" of your farm can go a long way.
"People tend to put trees on their worst land, and we did too, but gradually we filled in so many corners," she said.
Mrs Noble is hopeful for the future of farm forestry as the industry looks for more land to plant more trees.
"We're getting some of the professional foresters coming on board and understanding the aspects of farm forestry, which is a bit different to what they are used to," she said.
"They are understanding that where we're going to get our timber in the future is on cleared land, and the cleared land is owned by farmers, so we have to get on board."