This was posted on the FB page today,look forward to the groups reactions.
REGEN ITIVE AGRICULTURE: THE PROCESS OF CHANGE.
The change in thinking is substantial when contemplating the transition to what is a complete reversal of the way that farming is currently undertaken.
In the current farming structure, the farmer controls what happens in both the long and short term, so consider the following setup.
The farm is a company. Nature is the Managing Director. The farmer is the General Manager. There are a number of Departments responsible to the GM. These are made up of,
1Fertilizer, Pharmaceuticals and Herbicide.
2.Livestock.
3.Nature of Pastures and Landscape.
4.Water, it’s supply and conservation.
5.Paddock size, number, and type of landscape.
Nature as MD delivers company policy in the shape of heat and cold, sun and rain. It is the job of the GM to develop strategies to maximize the financial returns to the company from the existing policy’s which may change from year to year
Capital outlays must reduce the COP, because net profit is the difference between the COP and the net returns from sales. Production growth will increase over time as the decisions of the GM and the directions of the MD take effect.
- This dept most likely contributes the most to the annual cost of running the company and its elimination will return the most benefits to COP, livestock and land health and the total environment. It should most likely be undertaken over a period of years, although in our case we went “cold turkey”. Our path does have costs however as stock unable to cope “will die”, but those that survive will be so much stronger as the basis of your future financial returns. Instead of the previous inputs you will replace them with a complete mineral mix which will support and strengthen the animal’s natural system. (We started this process over 40 years ago) If you are now only starting out on this path you can expect to go a whole year before the improvement in animal health is evident (patience and perseverance is needed along with “nerves of steel”).
- Livestock (if that’s your thing) will be your principal income stream, but does your current species actually fit the land you are farming?....After the wool “crash”, many farmers in our district turned to Cattle as their principal income stream, even on our current farm they tried for 20 years, “at least “,prior to our purchase to produce Cattle profitably and in my view, all “failed” ,due to the nature of the landscape and soil type .Our principal grazing flats and slightly rising land is decomposed Granite generally < 5 PH along with high Aluminum. The bulk of our farm sits on the edge of soil changing from Granite to a poor soil mix which only really supports shrubby plants and dry country trees, but it does support excellent stands of Microlaena. A term I like is “Make the livestock fit the landscape, not the landscape fit the stock”.
- Diversity is the 2nd key to stock health, IMO you will never have healthy stock who a fed a mono or duo pasture mix. Our pastures both Annual and Perennial, Native and surviving Exotics and it has been measured at about 50 species. Animal manures both wild and domestic are the only nutrients added to the pastures. Our pastures vary from flood plain to sloping ones with a max of about 30 degrees, ground cover over the farm exceeds 95% and approx. 30% is grazing woodland almost all towards the top of the catchment.
- Our surface water is only used for two purposes, stock/wildlife water and as an agent for re-hydrating the flood plain where water is transferred through the soil profile which is accessed by the pastures without evaporation loss. Our system of capture means that the water arrives in the best possible condition for stock and wildlife. Part of our restored creek is now an active “wetland”, which feeds below waterline life as well as above. We now host at various times an array of water birds, numbering about 5 species.
- Currently we have 18 grazing paddocks of varying sizes and production capabilities. Were we to run the flock as one, the grazing requirement would be two 15 day (in the main) per year? Currently the program requires 3 or 4 groups as we develop the animal type I prefer in the long term, currently we “join” about 150 ewes with an aim of 250 breeders in a few years’ time.
The MD will deliver policy to the GM, it will however be different, based on the slant that Nature takes, it could be one of Sun, Rain, Heat or Cold. The various departments will need to respond differently depending on the impact of each scenario. The GM will demand a flexible approach to achieve a desirable outcome.
There are very few who remember the times in the 40’s ,when up until then all farming was conducted in a sustainable manner, but a return to the days of old does not have to result in a loss of net profit just a reduction in the Cost of Production.
At the height of the last “dry” we undertook to hand-feed the beginnings of the new flock, but in doing, locked up the rest of the farm approx. 80% and continued feeding for about a month after the break.
The ongoing future of the program is not “set in stone "as it must proceed within the constraints of Jenny’s health outcome...................T.O.R.
