The Conscious Farmer

THERE’S CARBON, THEN THERE’S CARBON

28 June 2014 / 0 comments

Can we increase stable soil carbon levels with no till cropping systems?

and

Will crash grazing plant matter to the soil surface increase stable soil carbon levels?

Ground cover

These are important things to consider, as carbon is one of THE main things that will help to restore our soils. It will increase the resilience of our farm businesses in dry times, by allowing greater water holding capacity of our soils. And longer dry spells we are having – with more intermittent rainfall events. For most of us, water is the most limiting factor in our production systems. Continue reading “THERE’S CARBON, THEN THERE’S CARBON” »

PASTURE CROPPING

20 June 2014 / 2 comments

There is one thing that seems quite clear to me, is that one of the best ways to improve our soils, is to have root systems from a diversity of plants, actively growing for as much of the year as possible. Pasture cropping fits the bill here beautifully and has resulted in some truly impressive soil and profitability improvements.

Now if you are a cropper and think, “this isn’t relevant to me”, or you’re a grazier and you’re thinking, “I don’t crop” – do read on, as pasture cropping has such a wide applicability and there are lots of lessons about soil health to be learned.

But first, let’s look at what pasture cropping is….

WHAT IS PASTURE CROPPING?

Pasture cropping is the coming together of cropping and grazing for the symbiotic benefit of both enterprises, economically and environmentally. It is the

‘zero till sowing of annual crops into living perennial pasture’.

Colin Seis, one of the founders of pasture cropping, also refers to it as

Perennial Cover Cropping.

Continue reading “PASTURE CROPPING” »

WHY REGENERATIVE AGRICULTURE?

12 June 2014 / 1 comments

I will delve into the first of many and wonderful sustainable farming practices in the next few weeks, but first I want to shout out to everyone why Regenerative Agriculture is so important.

We must REBUILD, not just sustain

The human induced degradation of soils worldwide has been significant. In Australia this has predominantly been since European settlement and its associated impacts of grazing and farming the land. To purely ‘sustain’ our soils, river systems and environment at the current state is simply not enough. We need to regenerate and build our soils to a state better than where they currently are. We have encroaching desertification, loss of soil carbon, loss of soil life, acid soils, dryland salinity, lowered nutrient contents of the foods produced from these soils and massive increases in chronic human disease in developed countries in the last 50 years, which many attribute to increased pesticide use and lower nutrient contents of food. We have the opportunity to turn this around!

Continue reading “WHY REGENERATIVE AGRICULTURE?” »

WELCOME

10 April 2014 / 0 comments

I’m REALLY excited to be sharing with you the first of what will be many inspiring regenerative agriculture Conscious Farmer blogs!

I have previously experienced wonderful learning amongst farmers when they share their own experiences -both their wins and challenges. So much so, that I have been driven to start this blog – to shine the light on regenerative agriculture, to explore the science behind the experiences and to facilitate this sharing on a global scale.

It is you and I, it is all of us, who can revive our landscapes, enliven our soils and help return farming such that we produce healthy, quality food.

My weekly blogs will spark ideas in you for sustainable, productive farm practices in your grazing and cropping systems; they will:

Continue reading “WELCOME” »