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Healing the Land with Cattle

5/25/2019

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Holistic grazing builds soil carbon and retains water in Gympie, Queensland Mick and Kylie Carr explain the benefits of holistic grazing in Gympie, Queensland.
Since 2016, Mick and Kylie Carr have seen positive changes on their farm south of Gympie. With a new approach to farming, they have increased their stock levels, reduced input costs, attracted more wildlife and expanded into the property next door.

At Bunya Grove Produce, the Carrs implemented Holistic Management, a method of thinking and decision-making founded by Allan Savory, a Zimbabwean biologist and farmer.

Savory studied the behaviour of zebras, elephants and other herding animals on the African plains over many years. He concluded that grasses can be improved by using livestock to mimic the behaviour of these herding animals. 

(For an introduction to Savory's work, check out the short TED talk How to Fight Desertification and Reverse Climate Change.)


Back at Gympie ...

The Carrs are thrilled with the results. When they arrived on their property, much of the top soil had eroded off the hills because there was not enough grass cover to hold the soil in place.

“Looking down at a square metre of land, about 30% was covered in grass, and 70% was bare soil. Today the soil is 100% covered in grasses, legumes or mulch. When we get rain, all of it soaks into the ground,” Mr Carr said. 

“It’s been ages since we’ve had any run-off. And even with this dry summer, when we dig down into the soil, it’s still holding moisture,” Ms Carr added. 

The Carrs keep their cattle together as one herd and move them on to a new paddock most days. This means the plants in each paddock receive an intensive pruning, trampling and manuring. The cattle do not go back on that paddock for many months. This allows the grasses time to regrow and recover. The trampled grasses turn into mulch which cools the soil and traps rainfall.  

Mick Carr shows how the soil is protected by trodden grasses in Gympie Queensland
Mick Carr examines the soil health at Bunya Grove.
In this recovery phase, it’s common to see new varieties of grasses and legumes spring up. These come to the surface due to the impact the cattle have made. Now that the cattle are in other paddocks,  the new growth has time to get established.

The wildlife benefit too. The tall grasses and seed heads provide a protected feeding area for the resident finches and wallabies.

Holistic management encourages farmers to look at their livestock in new ways.  “The cattle are gardeners. They are our lawn-mowers and our weed managers,” Mr Carr said. 

The Carrs put the cattle into their persimmon orchard at the end of the harvest season. Here they chomp up any fallen fruit, which helps to break the fruit fly cycle. They eat the grasses and the weeds, trample down the undergrowth and manure the orchard.

“If the cattle didn’t do the weed management, I’d be in there on a tractor for days, burning up diesel and slashing the weeds. It would take me days. The cattle do a better job,” said Mr Carr. 

Holistic Management takes in all aspects of running a productive and financially viable farm.     

“Farmers need to make money to stay on the land. By using cattle and other livestock to improve our pastures, we are cutting our costs and operating in a more natural way,” Ms Carr said. 

“Everything’s connected,” she explained. “It’s not just about us here. We only employ local people because they are going to be living here, spending here, buying fuel and milk and all the stuff that keeps other shops going. We’re really building a community from the soil up.”

Bunya Grove Produce sells beef, pork, chicken, chicken eggs and duck eggs through local stores and direct from the farm. All produce is ethically raised in a free-range natural setting.     
​See 
www.bunyagroveproduce.com.au for more information. 

A version of this article appeared in the Rural Weekly, Central Queensland edition on18th April, 2019.
Cattle are the major tool to improving land health in Gympie Queensland
Healthy soils create healthy grasses and healthy cattle at Bunya Grove.
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Jobs Partnership Helps Farmers and Food Producers

4/15/2019

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Federal Member for Fisher Andrew Wallace MP, Bill Gamack CEO of EPIC Assist, Lauren Brisbane, owner of QCamel and Emma Greenhatch, General Manager of FANFrom left, Federal Member for Fisher Andrew Wallace MP, Bill Gamack CEO of EPIC Assist, Lauren Brisbane, owner of QCamel and Emma Greenhatch, General Manager of FAN.
On Tuesday 26th February, 40 members of the Food and Agribusiness Network (FAN) gathered at QCamel in Bell’s Creek to celebrate a new partnership between FAN and the specialist employment agency EPIC Assist. The event was also attended by potential employees, staff from EPIC Assist, members of the public and Federal Member for Fisher, Andrew Wallace MP.

This new program will support members of the FAN network to employ people with disabilities in a range of jobs in the food and agriculture sectors.

General Manager of FAN, Emma Greenhatch said, “As we have a growing food and agriculture industry here on the Sunshine Coast, we also have growing workforce needs.
“We want to support more people with disabilities to have jobs in the food and agribusiness industry. This is a really important initiative for FAN.


“The FAN network now has 280 members and we’re thriving by interacting with each other and supporting each other’s businesses. Working with EPIC Assist fits our values of collaboration and inclusion.”

The idea for the FAN and EPIC Assist initiative came from Lauren Brisbane, the owner of QCamel, an organic camel farm at Bell’s Creek. QCamel supplies camel milk to customers around the Sunshine Cost and to a select food stores.

Ms Brisbane has been employing people with disabilities through the Caloundra office of EPIC Assist for a year now. 

She said, “It’s been a game-changer. The workers with disabilities turn up on time. They are enthusiastic and cheerful. It’s a dream.”

The company employs 6 staff, 3 of whom have disabilities. Their duties include mustering, yard work and dairying.

“They are on the usual farm workers’ wage, “Ms Brisbane said. “We do receive some government assistance. This allows me to spend extra time on staff training. I recognise this as being part of my job, not something that takes me away from my job.”

Ms Brisbane will be a contact person for any FAN members who wish to find out more about this program and what it can mean for their business. 

Bill Gamack, CEO of EPIC Assist, was at the event to mark the new partnership.

Mr Gamack said, “We’re excited about the way FAN is promoting agriculture and agribusiness up here. Agribusiness has got into some really exciting niche areas.”

“We’ve been able to demonstrate here with QCamel that we do have a solution for the workforce. Having a diverse workforce becomes a competitive advantage because the business starts to reflect what society looks like.”


He added, “People with disabilities have different ways of doing things. Due to their disabilities, they are often very innovative. They can make significant changes to the culture and environment of the business.”

Visitors had a tour of the dairy, spoke with employees, met the camels and sampled camel milk and camel cheese over morning tea. 


                                                     --------------------------------------------

For information about the Food and Agribusiness Network, contact Nicole McNaughton, Marketing and Events Manager at nicole@foodagribusiness.org.au

For information about EPIC Assist in Caloundra contact Sam Franklin, Business Development Manager at samantha.franklin@epicassist.org For other areas, contact your local EPIC Assist office. 

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    Mary Barber is a journalist and copywriter living in South East Queensland. 

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