Regenerative farming model paving the way for sustainable agriculture

A sustainable, natural model shows the way for the future of farming.
[Image: Sarah Hudson, The Weekly Times]

PETER Hazell scooped a handful of water from Australia’s most publicised farm pond and gulped it.

“It’s as dry as it has ever been in this region,” said Peter.

“You can see we’ve got water and the property looks good, but even in these conditions it could still be much better.”

This is the pond that started a farming revolution.

It’s a pond that last year was visited by newly crowned Prime Minister Scott Morrison — with Nationals leader Michael McCormack and Water Minister David Littleproud — who all lauded its agricultural credentials, while former Governor-General and soil advocate Michael Jeffery is a big fan.

It was at this pond that farm owner Tony Coote — who bought this then degraded 590ha property in NSW’s Southern Tablelands in 1968 — more recently joined with mate and colleague Peter Andrews to develop a regenerative farming model.

PETER HAZELL

BUNGENDORE, NSW

NON-profit research, education and advocacy charity

FOCUS on regenerative farming model

RESTORES a landscape’s natural functioning

SELECTED by the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network

Called Natural Sequence Farming, put simply the model restores a landscape’s natural functioning: floodplains, waterways and wetlands are restored, which “bank” water in the landscape, helping it flourish even in drought.

So successful was the model it led Tony and his wife Toni to the 2011 creation of the Mulloon Institute, a non-profit farming research, education and advocacy charity that monitors and shares innovative approaches to regenerative land management.

The Mulloon Institute has even been selected by the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network as one of five case studies on the planet to develop guidelines for profitable, productive and sustainable farming.

DATA DRIVEN

THE institute works with 20 other landholders in the Mulloon catchment, spanning 23,000ha and 50km of creeks, on an expanded Natural Sequence Farming project — through which they are monitoring and gathering data on best farming practice.

The institute also works with farmers from around Australia through training courses, field days, also sharing financial tools, books, manuals and research data.

“When Scott Morrison visited, he said our work ought to be rolled out across all of Australia,” said Peter the institute’s project co-ordinator, who has appeared on several TV shows to explain their work.

“David Littleproud said his parents practice Natural Sequence Farming on their place.

“It’s all about helping farmers fix broken water cycles. If you fix that then you fix a property’s micro climate and there’s a roll on effect.”

Since Tony Coote’s passing in 2018, the Mulloon Institute now owns this 590ha, which is ostensibly a working farm — one of two properties, together totalling 2300ha — under the Mulloon Creek Natural Farms brand that has organic, biodynamic, free-range eggs, running about 25,000 hens, as well as 200 cattle.

But more importantly for Peter, the property is a living campus, with data coming from a complex array of monitoring, telling an impressive farming story.

“On this floodplain we have increased our DSE (dry sheep equivalent) carrying capacity by 60 per cent (11 dse/ha to 17 dse/ha). The Department of Primary Industries doesn’t believe us.”

REGENERATION NEXT

COMPARED to many farms that suffer severe run-off, erosion and nutrient loss, the institute has monitored rainfall infiltration on the 590ha and found an infiltration rate of up to 1 metre per hour on sections of the property.

“That number is extraordinary. Given the regenerative work of Tony and Peter (Andrews), this land is like a sponge, sucking in and holding the water, which then improves the biological activity and carbon matter.

“If you can increase the water holding capacity of the soil, you are going to have more water available during drought times.

“This 100ha slice of floodplain, for example, could hold 3000 megalitres. That is banked water which will keep an agricultural enterprise alive during drought. That’s why you see grass on the floodplains here.”

The institute is also monitoring the microclimate of the valley. One hypothesis is that rehydration of the land creates a microclimate that — in this valley — increases rainfall by at least 100mm per year.

The 53-year-old then goes on to a complex explanation which, put simply, means the more water in the soil, the greener the grass, the more evaporation is created, the cooler the climate becomes, which creates dew, mist and rain.

He said through improving the environment — including, for example growing more colonies of insects eaten by the chooks — their own produce was healthier.

“Compared to caged eggs, our eggs have four times the amount of omega-3 in them. That’s a direct response to improvements in the environment — more diversity in pastures and more nutrients.

“For example, we measure the brix and generally anything above five or six is good, but our pastures are measuring above 10.”

ON THE HOP

IF THE farming indicators were impressive, the ecological data is even more so, with locally extinct frog species being reintroduced and eradication of pest fish species.

And this, said Peter, was a crucial point.

“Ecology has a massive role in the productivity of a farm. On this property there’s no separation between ecology and agriculture. This model is all about building the natural capital and the farmer skims the cream off the top.

“No capitalist in their right mind eats into their capital, yet in modern economics nature is seen as an externality.”

Put simply, the principles developed by the Mulloon Institute which farmers can apply to their property can be summarised in four points.

Firstly, “slow the flow”: fix the erosion, change the contours, plant vegetation, maintain more ground coverage to spread and infiltrate run off.

Secondly, “let all the plants grow”.

“Don’t pull out a plant until you understand the role that plant is playing in that space at that time.

“Blackberries or a willow tree in a certain context may be stopping a gully being ripped up.”

ON GUARD

THIRDLY “watch where your animals go” — don’t let livestock in sensitive areas of the landscape and don’t let them graze in any place too long.

And finally, “remember the filter is a must know”.

“Wetlands process nutrients and cycle them back through the property, whether it’s the Murray Darling Basin or a small farm, they are crucial to natural capital.”

Peter works part-time at the institute — with a staff of 10 — and manages his own 440ha cattle farm, with a long background in Landcare and natural resource management with the Federal Government.

He said the institute succeeded where other land management organisations fell short because “we are not as constrained by policy and regulation”.

“Regulation is there for a reason. You don’t want to end up with a bigger mess than you started with.

“For this reason authorities may apply a heavily engineered erosion solution.

“In our case we are working across whole systems and catchments, which means we can soften the engineering, and we can rely more on nature to help rebuild.”

Peter said while Peter Andrews was now aged 80, the founder was still heavily involved in the institute.

Reproduced with permission.
Written by Sarah Hudson, The Weekly Times, 28 August 2019. Original article.