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2021 issue 3 - june
From the Editor
Farming Matters Conference - For the Love of Our Land
Changing Paradigms - Regenerative Agriculture
Meet New Educator, Jen Ringbauer
How Soils Function with Nicole Masters
A Regenerating Soil, Regenerating Soul
Soil & Human Health podcast - Episode 44: Assume You're wrong
this issue
From the Editor June 2021 - it all starts with healthy soil
"Essentially, all life depends upon the soil ... There can be no life without soil and no soil without life; they have evolved together." Charles Kellogg
It is all too easy for those not making their living on the land to forget, in the rush of life just how dependent we are on soil. But of course, soil is key. In this issue, agroecologist Nicole Masters looks at how soils function, Hannah Gosnell's paper, 'Regenerating Soil, Regenerating Soul' explores why farmers are transitioning to regenerative farming methods that promote soil health, and we introduce you to Amanda Rowlands' 'Soil and Human Health' podcast.
This transitioning towards the essential need to keep our soils thriving is gaining momentum. Land to Market Australia's Farming Matters Conference provided a platform for deeper understanding of this transition. We welcome newly qualified and passionate Holistic Management Educator, Jen Ringbauer to HMENZA (Holistic Management Educators of Australia and New Zealand) - already Jen has been working with Young Farmers Connect to give young farmers an insight into how Holistic Management assists with change and regeneration. Change is something discussed by veteran regenerative famers, Charlie Massy and Norm Smith in their short documentary, 'Changing Paradigms - The Power of Regenerative Agriculture'.
"If you are serious about the well-being of your family, friends, business and the future of the world then Holistic Management is a must right now." Andrew Doust, Murwillumbah.
Don't forget to check out our Event page to see if there is a Holistic Management course or workshop near you.
Farming Matters - For our Love of the Land Conference
Very positive feedback has been coming in from the Farming Matters conference, hosted by the Australian Holistic Management Co-op in Albury from 29 to 31 March 2020. Attendance was carefully monitored to comply with COVID safe arrangements, but we were still able to support attendance by more than 370 people. The program consisted of one day of conference presentations, preceded by workshops on an introduction to Holistic Management and on Holistic Management support groups. The final day consisted of intricate arrangements for six field trips to local regenerative farms and businesses. Overall our delegates had the opportunity to gain a great appreciation of regenerative agriculture in the Albury region. A key highlight was the sponsorship and participation of young farmers to attend, supporting succession planning in the regenerative sector.
Further video and podcast material will be made available from the conference over coming weeks and months.
Since the conference there has been a flood of interest in Holistic Management, Land to Market Australia and Ecological Outcome Verification. During the month of April, we had the following activities:
* presentations and workshops with three local governments in Victoria
* addition of properties in Victoria and Tasmania for Ecological Outcome Verification
* workshop on contributing Ecological Outcome Verification to a Natural Resource Management project focused on river health
* presentation to Commonwealth Bank on how Ecological Outcome Verification can assist landholders with their finance applications
More recently, our Co-op led the discussion about UN Sustainability Development Goals at the 2021 Co-op Federation Assembly in Sydney. We will continue to lead a process of engaging Australian co-ops with delivery of SDGs.
Now we need to make decisions about how to follow on from the 2021 Farming Together conference, for future activities. Many delegates commented that the 2021 presentations were highly valuable, but that they would like deeper engagement. If you have suggestions and comments for our planned 2022 Farming Matters conference and event, please send me an email to: tony@landtomarket.com.au
Farming Matters Conference presenters & committee
Changing Paradigms The Power of Regenerative Agriculture
A solution to our global crisis?
"The word 'regeneration' is all about renewal, leading to greater health in a system." Charlie Massy "When we first did Holistic Management we were probably flowned upon by the general farming community. ....... Today it more mainstream and is accepted by the farming community as something diferent. But we're still in the minority......" Norm Smith
with Charlie Massy and Norm Smith
Changing Paradigms | Regenerative Agriculture: a Solution to our Global Crisis? | Full Documentary
Meet Jen Ringbauer
Newly qualified Holistic Management Educator, Jen Ringbauer brings a background in permaculture to her Holistic Management thinking
After throwing away her career as a High School music teacher, Jen started her regenerative journey relatively recently after moving to a ‘lifestyle block‘ in 2013. Whilst seeking local knowledge of ‘how to’ farm, she was often unhappy with the answers. The answers were generally quite conventional and conservative with the effect of dominating and degenerating the landscape utilising methodology made popular in the ‘Green Revolution’. After a suggestion from a friend, she completed a Permaculture Design Certificate (PDC) with David Holmgren, following this with further Permaculture learning.
In 2018 Jen joined the Hartley TAFE Holistic Management Diploma course. Here she was exposed to the magic of Holistic Management primarily with Brian Wehlburg, also with Tony Hill, Ian Chapman and Paul Griffiths. It didn’t take long for her to catch the bug and realise that to heal the large majority of landmass, to de-desertify and to sequester carbon and water, this was the method to do it! In 2020, Whilst working at Rahamim Ecology Centre as a Sustainability Educator (and trying to convert vegetarian colleagues to eat ethical meat) she assisted Brian Wehlburg to run a Holistic Management course in Bathurst; this mentoring was included in her training to become accredited with the Savory Institute as a Holistic Management Educator.
Jen’s farm is designed with Keyline and Permaculture principles and managed Holistically and Biodynamically. She runs a small herd of Dexter cattle for regenerating the landscape, for meat and the occasional milking, chooks for eggs and ducks for meat. She also grows herbs, fruit and vegetables. She understands too well the many benefits and difficulties arising from running a small farm for produce to sell, the legal requirements that slow sales down and the lack of understanding from geographically larger neighbours as to what is possible on a smaller scale. She is an advocate for food, social and economic sovereignty that comes with ‘growing your own’.
Jen is continuing her journey of discovery into the land of regeneration by completing her Bachelor of Science (Regenerative Agriculture) at Southern Cross University – part of the first cohort of students doing the first degree of its kind worldwide. This is a great way to understand where Holistic Management fits in the movement, practices and philosophy of Regenerative Agriculture as well as gaining a deeper understanding of the merits of Holistic Management: socially; ecologically; and financially. This new knowledge combined with her experience in teaching music to school students, Sustainable living practices, Permaculture, Holistic Management and Biodynamics to anyone who will listen and her eagerness to learn anything, from anyone regarding Regeneration will make her an effective and important part of our educating team.
Based on research on experiences of beef and sheep farmers in Australia, this research paper looks at the role that farmers' negative experiences with agrochemicals and positive experiences with the microbiome play in systemic transformation towards regenerative agriculture.
Abstract
Understanding what motivates farmers to adopt “climate-smart” regenerative practices is critical for developing the right policies, incentives, outreach, and support mechanisms. This article explores factors that motivated farmers in NSW Australia to transition from conventional to regenerative agriculture (RA), focusing on the role that their perceptions of agrochemicals and the microbiome played. Drawing on integral theory, the article takes a holistic approach to analyzing how farmer interiorities in personal and collective realms interacted with external behavior and the larger social-ecological system in which food and fiber is produced. A key finding is that negative experiences with agrochemicals associated with increasing costs and declining results were an important driver of change. Conversely, positive experiences learning about the microbiome and practicing ecological approaches to fertilization and pest control engendered enthusiasm and commitment to a transition away from high-input agriculture and a transformation in mindset. Further, conviviality associated with communities of practice, e.g. microscope groups, played an important role in the transition process, as farmers solidified new identities and participated in ongoing social learning. Based on these results, I argue that farmers’ feelings of kinship with nature (animals, plants, microbes) resulting from learning about and working with soil are underappreciated drivers of behavioral change and powerful leverage points for larger-scale social-ecological transformation. The integral model facilitates recognition of the connections between soil condition, farmers’ perceptions of and feelings about its condition, ensuing behavior including participation in new networks, and the creation of new norms, all of which create space for the emergence of institutional and systemic change
Hannah Gosnell, Ph.D. (she/her/hers) Professor of Geography College of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences Oregon State University Wilkinson 252 | 541-737-1222 website | Google Scholar Profile
Soil & Human Health
Episode 44: Assume You're Wrong
Amanda Rowland's Soil & Human Health is a voice for regenerative agriculture, holistic management and its corollary: ecological and human health. Amanda is aligned with: farmers, pastoralists, carbon project developers, trainers, first nations workers, shepherds, soil scientists, health practitioners, food distributors, geomancers and land rehydration experts.
She keeps listeners up-to-date with what’s brewing across regional WA and where thesestories resonate with global trends in the Carbon Economy.
"Here is one of the HM (Holistic Management) takeaway gems: once you start trying to work with a whole ecosystem – the water and mineral cycles, the flow of energy and all the communities of living creatures, human and more-than-human, assume whatever you do will be wrong. ........... By monitoring the situation, negative consequences can be picked up early and set to rights, depending on the direction you are nurturing in your soil or your land."
"The technology we wield today has greatly expanded the ways in which we can alter our environment and that, combined with the exponential increase in our numbers, has magnified our potential for causing damage. Now, more than ever, we require the ability to make decisions that consider economic, social and environmental realities, both short and long term."
