Return from Italy
We returned from Italy early in the August, inspired, energized, de-stressed and grateful that we had spent time in such an amazing country, having met so many wonderful people and eaten so much ridiculously fresh and local food (and wine!)
Takeaways for us were that the Italians are natural food producers, using every square foot of land to grow food, whether that be in a tiny back yard or 3000 acre estate. It’s simply part of their DNA to provide clean nutritious food for friends and family.
Even the pasta at dodgy service stations was amazing, they have a reverence for food that inspired us to grow more diversity of trees and vegetables, and even put a fire under our previous tinkerings with the idea of grapes and olives…
Now that we have done a seriously solid reconnoitrer, ideas abound to reconnect with this country and its people in various ways next year, now that we have regional connections, a taste of the food culture, and an appreciation of the landscape which supports it.
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Thankful4farmers award sprung on us at the ‘delicious Australia Produce awards’!
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In mid August I attended the annual ‘delicious Australia’ Produce awards in Sydney to celebrate the announcing of various awards to producers from around Australia for their amazing produce and commitment to the fresh produce industry of this country. And amongst one of the new awards announced on the night was the Thankful4farmers award for Innovation, Sustainability and Community, which we most unexpectantly picked up!
A huge thank you to Kim McDonnell, of the Thankful organization for sponsoring the award (including a week in and around New York in early October to attend a number of think tank gatherings and meetings!), and Lucy Allon and Kerrie McCallum of delicious magazine for creating such a wonderful celebration of the finest produce in the nation.
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Bathurst workshop and future Spring Workshop dates
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Hamish and I facilitated an Introduction to Biodynamics in Bathurst in late August, hosted by Rahamim Ecology Centre and kindly organized by Jen Ringbauer. We always love the many and varied farming, gardening and agricultural backgrounds of our attendees, and on this workshop we went pretty deep into some of the more spiritual aspects of Biodynamics as the groups curiosity, questions and willingness to go there lead us to the outer reaches of the cosmos…..not for everyone of course however that’s the beauty of the workshop, we work with those in attendance and fashion the 2 days to meet their needs and lines of questioning. A truly healthy way to serve up Biodynamics!
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SPRING WORKSHOP DATES
Two Day Introduction to Biodynamics
Hanaminno, Boorowa
31 October - 1 November 2019
https://www.trybooking.com/BFDZB
The Farm, Byron Bay
7-8 November 2019
https://www.trybooking.com/BFDSZ
Two Day Preparation Making Workshops
Lowe Wines, Mudgee
11-12 November 2019
https://www.trybooking.com/BFDZS
Hanaminno, Boorowa
14-15 November 2019
https://www.trybooking.com/BFEBE
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PODCAST: In conversation – Sustainable Abundance with Joel Salatin and Nakala Maddock
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I had the honour of co-interviewing Joel Salatin with Nakala Maddock on the Biological Farming Roundtable Podcast back in May, and as always Joel covers many different topics with his trademark humour, flare and experience. A big thank you to Nakala, Rachelle and the team at NutriSoil for giving me the opportunity to interview one of my favourite regenerative farming pioneers and inspirations. I trust you enjoy listening to it as I did being involved and hanging with Joel.
Listen to the Podcast below and Like the Charlie Arnott - Grass Fed Beef, Naturally Facebook page to join the Regenerative Agriculture conversation.
LISTEN TO THE PODCAST
SUBSCRIBE to the Charlie Arnott YouTube channel for more Regenerative Ag conversations.
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Hanaminno seasonal update – The new Flerd
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The winter at Hanaminno while we have been away has been relatively dry and mild, up until at least the beginning of July, when it slipped back into a ‘normal’ Boorowa winter of frosts, fogs and cold crisp days.
Fred our manager and his trusty 2IC Jim put all our livestock, sheep and cattle, together in one mob in June, to create a ‘flerd’ (flock/herd) that have been very successfully calving and lambing together, moving through paddocks in a controlled manner and being very well behaved!
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This is a first for us to box all our stock together, including our young growing cattle and first time calving heifer. A total of approx. 6000 dse’s of livestock, that’s the equivalent of 6000 non pregnant ewes running around together!
The benefits have been a much reduced labour requirement over Winter (less mobs to move and paddocks to prepare) allowing the boys to get on with other jobs, increased animal impact on the landscape (more hooves on the pasture for shorter periods of time) and better pasture utilization as the more mouths in a paddock increases competition between mouths for feed, so more of the drier standing feed gets eaten or trodden into the ground than with a smaller mob.
And that’s a good thing.
Another interesting benefit seems to have been that we haven’t had any heifer calving difficulties this season.
The heifers are usually calved out in a separate mob so we can keep them close to yards in the event that they have difficulty in calving and we have to help deliver them.
This year they are calving with their older sisters and I really think that the older girls have helped their younger sisters this year, whether its been moos of encouragement, showing them how or just creating a nurturing safe environment for them, I’m not sure. The results are encouraging nonetheless!
And Fred reckons having the ewes lambing with the cows might just be dissuading foxes from sniffing around the lambing ewes to, and I feel he might be onto something there…….and all this benefit with out any obvious compromising of animal behaviour or condition.
Just to add to our observations of this new ‘super flerd’, in Autumn we just so happened to spray Biodynamic soil preparations and some atmospheric preparations in in the paddocks that they were moving through during the period they were lambing and calving….and I suspect that the enhanced nutrition of the pasture and general fertile and calming vibe we were able to imbed in those paddocks prior to grazing contributed to the unprecedented results we have seen this season……..
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VIDEO: Joel Salatin on food freedom
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In Part 3 of their conversation Joel Salatin explores, the importance of story-telling, current societal impediments to Food Freedom and the problems caused by over-regulation in relation to the development of authentic food innovation.
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Young Farmers Connect Field Day
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Young Farmers Connect through the tireless work of Joel Orchard and Tony Browne continue to provide great opportunities to meet and network in the Northern Rivers region, with their latest bi-monthly field day, farm walk and social held on Sunday the 18th of August at Hayters Hill Farm near Byron Bay.
A great turnout of 35 people spent a good part of their Sunday walking the farm of Hugh and David Trevor-Jones, 4th generation on the family farm at Hayters Hill, and listening to Hamish Mackay and I talk about Biodynamics and its practical application to properties such as Hugh and David’s.
They manage a pasture based system for free range eggs and cattle uses rotational grazing and they produce and value-add high quality fresh eggs and meat for sale at local farmers' markets and local restaurants and cafes.
Future YFC events can be tracked down here https://www.youngfarmersconnect.com/events
Connect with YFC Northern Rivers on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/groups/YFCnorthernrivers/
Follow their Facebook Page for More Info
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BOOK YOUR TICKET – September 18-20 'From the Ground Up' Corangamite Regenerative Agriculture Conference
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I’m really excited to be hosting this 3 day conference, and guide attendees through a packed program themed “From the Ground Up, Growing Regenerative Agriculture in Corangamite. Using natural processes to reverse rising farm inputs in a changing climate.”
The Otway Ranges of Victoria is a diverse and environmentally significant region, and the innovative Otway Coast Regenerative Farmers group and the Southern Otways Landcare group have organised an action packed 3 days celebrating the regenerative potential of the region
Tickets on sale now. Register Here.
18-20th of September Colac, VIC
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BOOKINGS OPEN: NSW Landcare and Local Land Services Conference 22nd-24th October 2019
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I am honoured to be heading out west to support Landcare NSW as keynote speaker at this dynamic three day event.
This conference is a must for any landcarer, farmer or landscape steward, bring together all levels of natural resource management in NSW, from state government representatives and committees, to the men and women putting in the hard work on ground, healing our land and regenerating our communities.
22nd-24th of October Broken Hill, NSW
https://nswlandcareconference.com.au/
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BOOK YOUR FREE TICKET – ReGeneration Weekend, Southern Highlands NSW
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ReGeneration Weekend, Southern Highlands NSW
Hamish and I will be in the picturesque Southern Highlands on Friday 25 and Saturday 26 October. WILDfest and Carousel Lifestyle have partnered together, along with the support of Quarter Acre Farm, for the region’s first ever ReGeneration Weekend.
Inspired by Damon Gameau’s documentary 2040, the weekend will be buzzing with free Screenings, Workshops and Panel Discussions, plus Local Produce Market stalls, to mobilise the Southern Highlands Community from inspiration to action.
Hamish and I will participate in a panel discussion following the screening of the 2040 Film at “The Mill” on Friday evening, and conduct two Biodynamic workshops on the Saturday.
Come along, join the ReGeneration and ask the question, “What’s your 2040?”.
Book your free tickets HERE https://www.wildfest.com.au/regeneration/
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Feel free to forward this newsletter to someone who will find it useful.
Cheers,
Charlie Arnott
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