Ground Cover Regenerative Ag Alliance and Southern Cross University

Can university research really help us improve climate resilience and soil health on farms?
What knowledge can experts share with us?
And what can we learn from research projects that don't quite work out the way we planned?
In this second season of Ground Cover, Rebecca Lollback from Southern Cross University, will explore these topics and more with her knowledgable and experienced guests, including:
Kirsten BenkendorffDon CoyneJacqueline WilliamsLorraine GordonJay AndersonLukas Van Zwieten

Professor Kirsten Benkendorff is the Director of Southern Cross University’s National Marine Science Centre and the Deputy Director of the Marine Ecology Research Centre. Her research looks at the impacts of ocean climate change and environmental contaminants on the immune health and nutritional quality of seafood species. She is also investigating the use of marine molluscs for human medicine.
Professor Benkendorff has published more than 100 peer-reviewed publications and also teaches into the Bachelor of Environmental Science, and Marine Science and Management programs at Southern Cross University. 
As a lead researcher for one of the projects in the Regenerative Agriculture Alliance’s Soil Extension Program, funded by the Australian Government’s National Landcare Program, Kirsten spent three years looking at the effectiveness of bioreactors in managing pesticide run-off in intensive horticulture. She was also able to set up a second project which compared the soil health in conventional and regenerative blueberry farms.
In this episode you'll hear:
How can farmers better manage pesticides on their property.Practical steps and advice.Understand the impact pesticides can have outside their property boundaries i.e. on waterways and on seafood. Know where to seek more information about your obligations. 
Find more resources on the Farming Together website: https://farmingtogether.com.au/

Today on Ground Cover, I'm joined by Don Coyne, the CEO of the Australia and New Zealand Biochar Industry Group. Don has been working to raise the profile of biochar for years now, and he works hard to bring together industry, scientists, and key stakeholders to realise the potential of biochar for Australia's net zero future.
In this episode, we'll hear about:
A Southern Cross University research trial that Don has been involved in and some of the challenges and opportunities faced during that process. The new biochar industry 2030 roadmap, an important document that will help build a billion dollar industry.
Find more resources on the Farming Together website: https://farmingtogether.com.au/

In today's episode of Ground Cover, we're joined by Dr Jackie Williams, an adjunct Associate Professor at Southern Cross University who has more than 30 years of applied research in natural resource management.
Her areas of expertise include sustainable agriculture governance systems, natural resource policy, and food security.
With a lot of discussion and interest in the Nature Repair Bill and Natural Capital Accounting, we decided to pick Jackie's brain about the impact this is having on farmers.
We'll hear about what farmers need to do, some of the benefits coming their way, and what potential challenges we need to address to maximise these opportunities.
Find more resources on the Farming Together website: https://farmingtogether.com.au/

Welcome to the introductory episode of Ground Cover - a podcast for farmers by farmers.
This podcast is brought you by the Regenerative Agriculture Alliance, in partnership with Southern Cross University.

Ground Cover is a uniquely Australian series exploring real-life stories of land managers who have undertaken the transition from conventional farming to regenerative agriculture.

Each week the Regenerative Agriculture Alliance will bring you a unique and honest conversation about the challenges and opportunities of regenerative agriculture so you can make informed decisions about how best to manage your land.

The Regenerative Agriculture Alliance was founded to address the urgent need to transition from conventional farming to regenerative farming practices.

As the Regenerative Agriculture Alliance's director Lorraine Gordon often says: "The Sustainability ship has sailed". We need to start fixing what is fundamentally broken and start regenerating landscapes.
Enter the regenerative agriculture movement.

Regenerative Agriculture is a system of farming principles and practices that increases biodiversity, enriches soils, improves watersheds, and enhances ecosystem services.

It is a practice which aims to capture carbon in soil, reversing current global trends of atmospheric accumulation.

At the same time, it offers increased yields, resilience to climate instability, and higher health and vitality for farming and livestock communities.

Regenerative agriculture draws from decades of scientific and applied research by the global communities of organic farming, agroecology, Holistic Management, and agroforestry - many of these experts can be found at Southern Cross University, world-renowned for its plant and soil labs and environmental science research.

Southern Cross University has a track record in driving collaboration on an unprecedented scale. The regional University has the proven capability to deliver national and global results across all primary industry sectors.

Each episode of Ground Cover will be introduced by Lorraine Gordon, director of strategic projects at Southern Cross University and founder of the Regenerative Agricultural Alliance.

Named Rural Community Leader in the 2018 Farmer of the Year awards and a former NSW ABC Rural Woman of the Year, Lorraine, an Ebor grazier, is the driving force for the alliance.

Lorraine is also the director of the Farming Together Program, which delivered a multi-award winning knowledge mobilisation model to 28,500 primary producers nationwide, unlocking the power of collaboration and empowering a generation of primary producers.

Lorraine's story and her mission to transition Australia for a resilient farming future, will feature in our eighth and final episode of this season along with a very exciting announcement which is set to be a game-changer for agricultural education in this country, so be sure to subscribe to Ground Cover and catch the big reveal at the end.

In the meantime Ground Cover will feature seven of the leading practitioners in the regenerative agriculture space and is hosted by the veteran voice of Australian ag, Kerry Cochrane.

Kerry is a leader in ag education as well as a seasoned rural reporter. As President of the Australian Institute of Ecological Agriculture Cooperative, his passion is one of promoting an ecological approach to life as a key strategy in mitigating against climate...

Today, on Ground Cover, Kerry Cochrane speaks to renown author and regenerative farming revolutionary, Dr Charles Massy; a well known grazier from Cooma in the southern Snowies of NSW. A man, who through a paradigm shift in a very tough drought, realised his ignorance as a conventional and industrial farmer, to go on and become a famous author and academic.

In this episode Charlie talks about:

•the time for change being ripe and farmers being intimate with their own landscape and environment
•challenging powerful paradigms and how we have de-stabilised the planet, due to: capitalism, economic rationalism, endless growth and, of course, industrialisation
•the anthropocene: the greatest challenge our species has ever confronted and regenerative practices as the solution
•the importance of regenerative agriculture in capturing carbon
•the five basic functions of healthy landscapes: solar energy, water, soil, mineral cycles and biodiversity, and humans
•the importance of ecological literacy within the education system

Charlie goes on to refer to regenerative agriculture as a revolution. One that can only happen from the bottom up.

A little more about Dr Charles Massy:

Dr Massy gained a Bachelor of Science (Zoology, Human Ecology) at ANU (1976), before going farming for 35 years, developing the prominent Merino sheep stud 'Severn Park'. Concern at ongoing land degradation and humanity's sustainability challenge led him to return to ANU in 2009 to undertake a PhD in Human Ecology. He was awarded an Order of Australia Medal for his service as Chair and Director of a number of research organisations and statutory wool boards. He has also served on national and international review panels in sheep and wool research and development and genomics.

Charles has authored serval books, including Breaking the Sheeps Back and the best selling Call of the Reed Warbler.

Charles has managed an almost 2000ha sheep and cattle property; running an average of 8000 - 10000 stock units, for over 40 years. In addition he has managed other properties totally 7000ha for city business interests. In the course of this he has led various local rural organisations plus was a regional bushfire captain.

Charles has conducted public speaking, lecturing and education over many years, initially in the fields of transformation and innovation in the Merino sheep and wool industries, and more recently in regenerative landscape management, grazing systems for healthy landscape function and addressing climate change and the current global ecological challenges for our species - including for such organisations as Greening Australia, Regional Landcare groups, and the Federal Governments Carbon Farming Initiative; plus lecture to Human Ecology students at ANU.