AI
Sunday, May 19, 2019 4:10:15 PM
Farmers turn back on harsh chemicals, improve biodiversity and lower costs
"BOREALIS, Calls for inquiry after Four Corners report on Monsanto and glyphosate chemical, Roundup"
Landline By Pip Courtney and Kerry Staight
Updated Sat at 7:03am
Photo: Anna and Michael Coughlan adopted a holistic approach to cattle farming 20 years ago.
(ABC: Kerry Staight)
Related Story: Tasmanian farms embrace spirit of sustainability
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-10-07/tasmania-farms-make-sustainable-vodka-whisky-gin/10334050
Related Story: Biodegradable film brings 'higher cotton yield at less cost to the environment'
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-09-08/water-efficient-growing-technology-brings-higher-cotton-yield/10195578
Related Story: Biosolids: Sewage turned organic fertiliser improves drought-hit soil
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-07-07/sydney-waste-turned-biosolids-fertiliser-helps-nsw-drought-soil/9931664
A growing number of farmers are rejecting modern agricultural practices, instead relying on more natural methods to improve their land and increase biodiversity.
Queensland banana growers Frank and Dianne Sciacca say they have quit their chemical "addiction" to grow bananas the way they were grown 60 years ago.
"We were putting chemicals in the soil and on the plants but it had a severe impact on the environment," Ms Sciacca said.
Photo: When Frank Sciacca first decided to radically change his farming system 15 years ago,
even his wife Diane thought he was crazy. (ABC: Pip Courtney)
"You end up being like an addict, you're depending on these things to grow your crop and you're just caught up in that circle, which is just about producing bigger and more, and bigger and more."
Fifteen years ago, the Innisfail growers ditched fungicides, mitacides, pesticides and any fertiliser that killed organisms in the soil.
"When you start killing anything that's living, invertebrate insects, whatever it may be, you've then broken an ecosystem cycle," Mr Sciacca said.
"These [insects] are awesome.
"They play a part in the whole balance of the system."
At Holbrook in New South Wales, beef producers Anna and Michael Coughlan have made dramatic changes.
As well as changing how they graze cattle to protect the grass cover, the couple cut production costs by a third.
Photo: The Coughlans originally changed their farming tactics in search of a healthier balance
sheet. (ABC: Carl Saville)
"We don't use a tractor, we don't spray chemicals, fertiliser, we don't feed hay — it's all gone," Ms Coughlan said.
They rely on nature to do the heavy lifting.
"We're trying to increase biodiversity, so get away from having a monoculture," Ms Coughlan said.
"And that diversity includes plant species, it's trees, it's bird life, it's everything, but it's also what's happening below the surface."
Results came, but they weren't immediate
Both farming families have had to be patient.
The Sciaccas endured low yields and multiple pest outbreaks for the first five years.
Now they say with the farm's ecosystem in balance, yields are up, pest outbreaks are rare and there's an increase in the number and types of insects, birds and soil pathogens on their farm.
Photo: The Sciaccas mark their "eco-ganic" bananas by dipping them in biodegradable red wax.
(ABC: Pip Courtney)
The Coughlans say the organic matter in their soil has doubled in 10 years, and two endangered species — the plains wanderer bird and pygmy perch fish — have been discovered on their properties.
"We are regenerating the land," Mr Coughlan said.
The less-is-more approach has also paid off financially.
"When we first started looking at it in 1995 with the benchmarking that we'd been doing, the cost of production for good beef producers was 95 cents a kilo and the market price was 92," Ms Coughlan said.
"In the last 21 years that we've been doing this, we've managed to get our cost of production down to around 60 cents a kilo and the market price for beef at the moment is around $2 a kilo, so that gives us a fairly big buffer."
From industry jokes to industry leaders
"We were laughed at, we were the industry joke," Ms Sciacca said.
But five other growers have now joined them in holistic farm management to keep up with eco-banana demand.
Photo: Michael Gooden (left) is part of the Eight Families group, which meets every six weeks
at one of their properties to discuss regenerative farming. (ABC: Kerry Staight)
"There are a lot of younger people coming into the industry and they don't want to farm how their parents were," Mr Coughlan said.
The Sciaccas turned to the Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries for independent confirmation their system worked.
Scientist Tony Pattison recently told a Paris conference that Mr Sciacca was ahead of his time.
"The microbes and nematodes in the soil suppress diseases and produce greater nutrient recycling, so it's a slower biologically active soil but the diversity is great," he said.
Photo: It took years for the Sciaccas' farm to repair its ecosystem after they changed their
methods, but they say it was worth it. (ABC: Pip Courtney)
Mr Sciacca is proud of what they have achieved.
"It actually brings a smile to your face you look at it and say nature is living on my farm," he said.
The Coughlans say they would never go back.
"I'd sell out and go to the beach or something, but I'd never go back to what we were doing," Mr Coughlan said.
Watch this story on ABC TV's Landline this Sunday at 12:30pm or on iview.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-05-18/farmers-use-regenerative-agriculture-to-fuel-biodiversity/11111066
See also:
SOCIALISM! - CashCowMoo, Should the United States Cut Its Farm Subsidies?
[...]
Whereas U.S. farmers receive 16 percent of their income from government support (according
to the OECD), the comparable figure in Australia is 5 percent and in New Zealand 3 percent.
Devil’s Bargain: Why Aerosols Pose a Deadly Climate Change Threat
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=148206543
Courts deal two major blows to Trump environmental agenda in one week
Legal action continues to be a winning strategy for those seeking to stop the president's onslaught of rollbacks.
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=148359799
Trump’s new Interior chief Bernhardt already under inspector general probe
[...]
Wyden and Senator Mazie Hirono, both Democrats, had urged the inspector general in separate requests to investigate
allegations that Bernhardt had inappropriately blocked a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service assessment of the
effect of pesticides on several endangered species. The service is an office of the Interior Department.
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=148252489
"BOREALIS, Calls for inquiry after Four Corners report on Monsanto and glyphosate chemical, Roundup"
Landline By Pip Courtney and Kerry Staight
Updated Sat at 7:03am
Photo: Anna and Michael Coughlan adopted a holistic approach to cattle farming 20 years ago.
(ABC: Kerry Staight)
Related Story: Tasmanian farms embrace spirit of sustainability
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-10-07/tasmania-farms-make-sustainable-vodka-whisky-gin/10334050
Related Story: Biodegradable film brings 'higher cotton yield at less cost to the environment'
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-09-08/water-efficient-growing-technology-brings-higher-cotton-yield/10195578
Related Story: Biosolids: Sewage turned organic fertiliser improves drought-hit soil
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-07-07/sydney-waste-turned-biosolids-fertiliser-helps-nsw-drought-soil/9931664
A growing number of farmers are rejecting modern agricultural practices, instead relying on more natural methods to improve their land and increase biodiversity.
Queensland banana growers Frank and Dianne Sciacca say they have quit their chemical "addiction" to grow bananas the way they were grown 60 years ago.
"We were putting chemicals in the soil and on the plants but it had a severe impact on the environment," Ms Sciacca said.
Photo: When Frank Sciacca first decided to radically change his farming system 15 years ago,
even his wife Diane thought he was crazy. (ABC: Pip Courtney)
"You end up being like an addict, you're depending on these things to grow your crop and you're just caught up in that circle, which is just about producing bigger and more, and bigger and more."
Fifteen years ago, the Innisfail growers ditched fungicides, mitacides, pesticides and any fertiliser that killed organisms in the soil.
"When you start killing anything that's living, invertebrate insects, whatever it may be, you've then broken an ecosystem cycle," Mr Sciacca said.
"These [insects] are awesome.
"They play a part in the whole balance of the system."
At Holbrook in New South Wales, beef producers Anna and Michael Coughlan have made dramatic changes.
As well as changing how they graze cattle to protect the grass cover, the couple cut production costs by a third.
Photo: The Coughlans originally changed their farming tactics in search of a healthier balance
sheet. (ABC: Carl Saville)
"We don't use a tractor, we don't spray chemicals, fertiliser, we don't feed hay — it's all gone," Ms Coughlan said.
They rely on nature to do the heavy lifting.
"We're trying to increase biodiversity, so get away from having a monoculture," Ms Coughlan said.
"And that diversity includes plant species, it's trees, it's bird life, it's everything, but it's also what's happening below the surface."
Results came, but they weren't immediate
Both farming families have had to be patient.
The Sciaccas endured low yields and multiple pest outbreaks for the first five years.
Now they say with the farm's ecosystem in balance, yields are up, pest outbreaks are rare and there's an increase in the number and types of insects, birds and soil pathogens on their farm.
Photo: The Sciaccas mark their "eco-ganic" bananas by dipping them in biodegradable red wax.
(ABC: Pip Courtney)
The Coughlans say the organic matter in their soil has doubled in 10 years, and two endangered species — the plains wanderer bird and pygmy perch fish — have been discovered on their properties.
"We are regenerating the land," Mr Coughlan said.
The less-is-more approach has also paid off financially.
"When we first started looking at it in 1995 with the benchmarking that we'd been doing, the cost of production for good beef producers was 95 cents a kilo and the market price was 92," Ms Coughlan said.
"In the last 21 years that we've been doing this, we've managed to get our cost of production down to around 60 cents a kilo and the market price for beef at the moment is around $2 a kilo, so that gives us a fairly big buffer."
From industry jokes to industry leaders
"We were laughed at, we were the industry joke," Ms Sciacca said.
But five other growers have now joined them in holistic farm management to keep up with eco-banana demand.
Photo: Michael Gooden (left) is part of the Eight Families group, which meets every six weeks
at one of their properties to discuss regenerative farming. (ABC: Kerry Staight)
"There are a lot of younger people coming into the industry and they don't want to farm how their parents were," Mr Coughlan said.
The Sciaccas turned to the Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries for independent confirmation their system worked.
Scientist Tony Pattison recently told a Paris conference that Mr Sciacca was ahead of his time.
"The microbes and nematodes in the soil suppress diseases and produce greater nutrient recycling, so it's a slower biologically active soil but the diversity is great," he said.
Photo: It took years for the Sciaccas' farm to repair its ecosystem after they changed their
methods, but they say it was worth it. (ABC: Pip Courtney)
Mr Sciacca is proud of what they have achieved.
"It actually brings a smile to your face you look at it and say nature is living on my farm," he said.
The Coughlans say they would never go back.
"I'd sell out and go to the beach or something, but I'd never go back to what we were doing," Mr Coughlan said.
Watch this story on ABC TV's Landline this Sunday at 12:30pm or on iview.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-05-18/farmers-use-regenerative-agriculture-to-fuel-biodiversity/11111066
See also:
SOCIALISM! - CashCowMoo, Should the United States Cut Its Farm Subsidies?
[...]
Whereas U.S. farmers receive 16 percent of their income from government support (according
to the OECD), the comparable figure in Australia is 5 percent and in New Zealand 3 percent.
Devil’s Bargain: Why Aerosols Pose a Deadly Climate Change Threat
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=148206543
Courts deal two major blows to Trump environmental agenda in one week
Legal action continues to be a winning strategy for those seeking to stop the president's onslaught of rollbacks.
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=148359799
Trump’s new Interior chief Bernhardt already under inspector general probe
[...]
Wyden and Senator Mazie Hirono, both Democrats, had urged the inspector general in separate requests to investigate
allegations that Bernhardt had inappropriately blocked a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service assessment of the
effect of pesticides on several endangered species. The service is an office of the Interior Department.
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=148252489
It was Plato who said, “He, O men, is the wisest, who like Socrates, knows that his wisdom is in truth worth nothing”
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