There are renewed hopes this week that the work of "irascible genius" land care pioneer Peter Andrews will continue despite the loss of the famous property where he developed his revolutionary theories.

Tarwyn Park in the Hunter Region has been sold to make way for a Korean-owned open cut coal mining venture.

But as Australian Story reveals, some of the "heavy hitters" who have been impressed by Mr Andrews's success say the work will go on regardless — and more and more individuals and organisations are taking up his method known as Natural Sequence Farming (NSF).

NSF is the practice of restoring degraded Australian landscapes to how they would have been prior to European settlement, and counts Don Burke, Costa Georgiadis and former governor general Michael Jeffery as fans.

Major General Jeffery said he recommended Mr Andrews to Prime Minister Tony Abbott last week in a conversation about ways to improve Australia's soil.

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Major General Jeffery, who was appointed Australia's first ever Advocate for Soil Health in 2012, said he wanted NSF included in a series of case studies of good farming practices being compiled by his office.

"I believe his philosophies are well worth expounding on so people can consider making changes," he said.

"I've mentioned him many times in conversations about soil and the environment. I've also spoken about him in Parliament."

Major General Jeffery was impressed by Mr Andrews's success in regenerating Tarwyn Park.

He said more research needed to be done to demonstrate that NSF would work in other areas and environments, and that it would bring economic benefits to farmers.

Businessman and farmer Tony Coote has been using NSF methods on his Bungendore property, Mulloon Creek Natural Farms, for nine years.

In that time, he said there had been huge improvement in productivity and water quality.

"We've got fish back in the stream that have only been seen in the upper reaches of national parks, people thought they had disappeared," Mr Coote said.

"I am quite passionate about this because I can see that it works."

The success has inspired a group of 15 local landholders, whose properties all share the same creek, to try out the method on a much larger scale.

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The community project, covering 15,000 hectares of land, also involves scientists who will work on providing the data to backup the unconventional method.

"I would like people to view Peter Andrews as a quite a complex genius," Mr Coote said.

"He's very irascible, he's upset a number of people, but it's mainly because of his frustration in not being able to get his message across."

Horticulturalist and former TV host Don Burke is also a fan.

"Even if he's only 10 per cent right — and I think he's probably 90 per cent right — this will change the face of land management in Australia forever, no question," he said.

Possible El Nino event increases urgency

Advocates said the issue has renewed urgency, with evidence due to be released by the Australian Bureau of Meteorology tomorrow indicating that the planet is about to face a serious El Nino event.

An El Nino event would lift global temperatures and exacerbate bushfires and drought in eastern Australia.

Peter Stevens, researcher with the Tom Farrell Institute for the Environment at Newcastle University, said Mr Andrews had demonstrated how to restore fertility and hold back soil erosion.

"The land use reforms demonstrated by Peter Andrews at Tarwyn Park are of inestimable value to the nation, and probably internationally," he said.

Stuart Andrews (L) sold Tarwyn Park to Korean electricity provider Kepco. ( Supplied: Shan Beasley )

Mr Andrews's son Stuart, who sold Tarwyn Park to Korean electricity provider Kepco, said it did not mean the end of NSF.

Stuart Andrews will continue to run training programs in NSF at the Bylong Valley property, pending approval of an open cut coal mine.

But the sale has intensified a bitter falling out with his father.

"I am disgusted that all of my life's work has come to this situation, yes I am," Peter Andrews said.

Although he insisted that the knowledge he learned while developing the method could be transferred to any other property, he said Tarwyn Park was the only example where it had been tested for 40 years.

"I don't know anyone who thinks the sale was a good idea, except the people that want the coal," he said.

"Everyone else who's spoken to me are horrified, to be honest."

Opponents of the mine are hoping that the $1 billion project will be rejected because of concerns that it will damage the pristine Bylong Valley.

Kepco Australia will submit its environmental impact statement to the New South Wales Government in the next few months.

"We're very confident in what we're proposing," Kepco Australia chief executive Bill Vatovec said.

"If we are successful, we'll commence construction in the first quarter of 2018."

A spokesperson for the NSW Department of Planning and Environment said the project would be assessed on its merits, in accordance with government policy.

The spokesperson said environmental and social considerations would be a foundation concern in their decision, and community consultation would be guaranteed.