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Australian Institute of Ecological Agriculture

No. 14 | August 2019

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Inside

Editorial
Charles Massy and Regenerative Ag
Podcasts
Gene Ethics
Compost and more

Artwork of the month

Spiral compilation by www.thealchemyofholism.com

"Angophora"
by
J.Bauer

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Editorial

Editorial

This edition focuses on regenerative farming and how the term has accelerated in popularity since the publication of Charles Massy’s book “The call of the Reed Warbler”. Being down-graded or replaced is the term sustainable which is gradually finding its place in the dustbin of history.
Inside that dustbin are many other terms such as the Green Revolution which featured in the 1970s - 1990s which centred on adding chemicals to improve productivity. Sustainable, though, was a term that was centre stage in the 1990s, and beyond, and is still centre stage today although its influence is waning ...read more.

Charles Massy and Regenerative Agriculture

Charles Massy is now well known to many in Australia through his ground breaking book The Call of the Reed Warbler. Well now his reputation has spread to the UK where last month he gave a presentation at the Food Sustainable Trust’s Annual Conference. A video of that presentation has been released by the Trust and the Institute is delighted to bring this video to you.
The Charles Massy story doesn’t end there ...read more.

Podcasts on their way

On behalf of Farming Together and the Alliance for Regenerative Farming the AIEA is currently engaged in producing podcasts on a number of farmers who feature in Charlie Massy’s book. They include Bruce Maynard, Tim Wright, Michael Taylor, Col Seis and Charles Massy himself. There are other interviews available including Derek Smith, Lorraine Gordon and Helen & Mike McKosker. These podcasts will be released in August and will be available through the AIEA website as well as other sites, which we will inform you of in due course.

Gene Ethics and its Role

Gene Ethics is an organisation that one admires when it comes to doing what is best for the wider community particularly re the use of chemicals in food production such as glyphosate or the monopoly of seed ownership world-wide by a handful of companies. Its opposition to issues such as these reflect their concern about what large organisations are doing that do harm to the wider community which embraces the total ecosystem including humans. This week the AIEA received two papers that we recommend you read and take action on. Paper one is on Glyphosate and Paper 2 is on Seed Ownership. If you would like to read these papers I suggest you send an email to info@geneethics.org.

Composting

Want to know more about composting?
The following comes from the Rodale Institute in the USA: https://rodaleinstitute.org/science/articles/compost-matters-an-emotional-debate-or-a-rational-discussion/ This article has a link to another article on Chemically and Biologically Designed Compost Extracts to control weeds. You will find it as the end of the compost article.

Compost for Conservation Cropping

Workshops in August and September in the Central West of NSW
Put the following dates into your diary. The presenter will be AIEA Board Director and Director of Soil Land Food, David Hardwick. Free workshops from 9am-1pm.

August 26: Narromine
August 27: Wellington
August 28: Forbes

September 23: Forbes
September 24: Canowindra
September 25: Boorowa
September 26: Boorowa

For further details contact info@topsoilorganics.com.au or phone 0418570278

Consulting

To assist farmers wanting to adopt regenerative ecological agriculture:
In a couple of months the AIEA will release its accreditation policy which will guide the formation of a consulting arm to advise farmers about matters regenerative. The policy is aimed at those who practice as farmers and who are already classified as regenerative or organic or ecological. We will be also seeking to accredit those who have a good theoretical knowledge of regenerative agriculture and who may have graduated from university and have been practising as extension officers or as consultants. There are not too many in this bag because Universities focus on reductionist science and sing its virtues from the alter of ‘the best way to increase productivity”. While the AIEA supports reductionist science we believe it is better placed as a supporting act to holistic science. There is a difference.

Regenerative farming in the USA

More on regenerative farming this time in the USA. The link below is to a video which includes comments from medical doctor Zach Bush and is well worth viewing at https://farmersfootprint.us/watch/

A revisit to the Sustainable Food Trust in the UK

The AIEA is a keen follower of the Sustainable Food Trust in the UK. Led by dairy farmer Patrick Holden the Trust takes a proactive approach to carbon emissions and does great work to get the cogs of thinking happening in that country and around the world.
The following presentation though features Gail Bradbook who is co-founder of Extinction Rebellion and her call for a rebellion around emissions. Her organisation is planning an active street campaign starting in the UK in autumn. The other speaker in the collection is Martijn Wilder of Australia who gives a good overview of various policies in Australia where he emphasises that the Australian government prefers a policy of giving encouragement to reduce carbon rather than a regulatory approach. Here is the link:
https://sustainablefoodtrust.org/articles/opening-plenary-session-towards-net-zero-carbon-emissions/

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