Return to farm meetings for BCLG’s Re-Gen Grazing Group

Boorowa Community Landcare Group’s (BCLG) Re-Gen Grazing Group has held their first on farm meeting since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Group has been meeting virtually through online platform Zoom due to restrictions surrounding the coronavirus pandemic, but an easing of restrictions has allowed the Group to meet outdoors.

Along with facilitator from Mid Lachlan Landcare Scott Hickman, the Group visited two properties over the day, with the morning farm visit to Richard and Bernie Page’s ‘Stoneridge’ at Monteagle. The property has been in the family for four generations and has been used for breeding horses, stud cattle, grazing and cropping. Richard and Bernie trained in holistic management, ecological agriculture and low-stress stock handling, which allowed them to change their business to a more natural, regenerative system. The visiting Group was able to see the well-managed, bulky diverse pastures and the Page’s love for their sustainable system firsthand.

Re-Gen Grazing Group on farm meeting

In the afternoon, the Group visited Sam, Claire and Sid Johnson’s ‘Boxgum Grazing’. The Johnsons offer grass fed beef, lamb and pastured pork at the Canberra markets. Sam told the Group about their current operation and about revising their holistic goal to make sure it included the word ‘regenerative’. Claire spoke about their grazing program and the importance of continually re-assessing the feed situation. The Johnsons have used a combination of Western fencing and grazing management to convert country that didn’t grow grass to productive and biodiverse pasture.

‘Learning to Let Grow’ is a Boorowa Community Landcare Group mentor project supported by the Department of Agriculture and Water Resources, through funding from the Australian Government’s National Landcare Program to work to support and educate farmers and graziers enabling them to adopt land management practice change.

To keep up to date with the Re-Gen Grazing Group’s activities, follow BCLG on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/Boorowa-Community-Landcare-Group-1639142443012932