What motivated you to start exploring regenerative farming practices?
Two reasons
In our challenging environmental conditions we face as farmers with droughts, floods etc I started trialling and looking at ways to improve our soil health to give us more resilience. 2- The status quo did not gel with me to be always out using chemicals to treat symptoms and having to use more and more inputs to grow our crops so i wanted to explore ways to increase our soil health which results in less symptoms ie disease insect pressure appearing in the crops we grow and healthier crops, livestock and people.
What benefits have you seen from using multi-species pastures and cover crops on your farm?
Improved soils structure, water infiltration and water holding capacity. Increase in microbial diversity leading to more production at a lower cost and risk whilst building soil carbon and resilience.
What makes your farming approach and workshops unique?
I am a farmer who has been doing these things for 15 plus years and i share practical ways to do this system. I also share some of the leanings from mistakes i’ve made along with the many trials we have done on our farm ran by us and or research agencies.
I always love doing these workshop and have seen more and more interest and people attending in this over the last few years and getting many follow up emails afterwards, which is great.
How do you see the future of regenerative agriculture evolving?
It is evolving quickly now with a focus on growing more nutrient dense food. I am seeing in other areas around the world where farmers are being paid a premium for the food they grow when following these practices and an increase in social awareness on how we grow our food.
