Guest Post
By Hamish Mackay

The first thing that struck me when I was introduced to biodynamics in 1972 was the potential of increasing the humus level in the top few centimetres of topsoil and making Australia drought resilient if not drought free. The journey has been long but I remain certain that Australian agriculture will be very different by 2024, witness the readiness for increasing numbers of farmers to discuss and consider the potential of regenerative agriculture, in whatever form.  Biodynamics is the only western scientific agricultural practice that draws on both Earthly and Cosmic – non material – forces and substances, a combination I have observed gives confidence that we can feed the growing world population without destroying the planet and ourselves. 

In almost every biodynamic workshop I have participated on over the last 40 years the question arises about using Australian native plants and animals for making “Australian” biodynamic preparations.

The long dry period much of the Eastern states are experiencing is testing the hearts and minds of farmers and their families, and with no real end in sight, the social consequences will be felt for years to come. Not to mention the degradation of landscapes through wind erosion, water erosion (when it does finally rain again), depleted water cycles, baked and depleted soil, disrupted ecosystem functions and a very poorly equipped solar energy capturing system (plants) to create the foundation energy cycles that fuel the whole environment.

Not a pretty picture, however one I believe could have been mitigated against to some degree. Charlie Massy in his ground breaking book ‘Call of the Reed Warbler’ identifies methods and practises of farming and grazing utilized by farmers that have, to put it bluntly, created landscapes and businesses that are essentially drought resistant. Where water, mineral and solar cycles are still healthy, biodiversity and ecosystem functions remain active and vital, and animal production maintained and often highly profitable because of the valuable grass and livestock resource that has been retained. One can group the practises that help land managers cope with dry periods and produce the outcomes mentioned above in this way as regenerative agriculture.

Whilst the physical landscape impacts of drought are obvious and often take years and sometimes generations to recover, the mental impacts are much more difficult to identify. Whilst females have the inbuilt tendencies and mechanisms for sharing and connection, males tend not to seek the ear and support of others. Couple this with the pressures of being a ‘stoic farmer’, as is the cultural expectation, and images we now see everyday, male farmers are not generally equipped to deal with the massive mental strain that drought conditions impose on them. And if they have identified the need to address the mental suffering they, and no doubt their families are experiencing, there are few effective and long term avenues that they can turn to.

Government subsidies and handouts can ease the financial pressure to some extent, though given the extent of the drought, in both time and space, this relief is short term, and does not help put in place long term strategies to mitigate the long term impacts of drought on landscapes and peoples mental health. The outcomes of the generous financial and social support of the general public is similar. Help is immediate, however short term, and does not consider the farmers need to avoid the impacts of the next inevitable drought.

‘Drought strategies’ promoted by state government ag agencies are band aid ‘solutions’, short term, and often exacerbate the already disastrous impacts extended dry periods have on the physical landscape, not to mention the square foot of real estate between farmers ears. Essentially a culture of ‘fighting the drought’ is encouraged, and an often life long battle with nature is perpetuated.

To be brutally honest, I believe droughts are man made, and I’m not talking necessarily about climate change, I’m talking about the ability of farmers to respond to extended dry periods is a function of their attitude to the resources they have available, and how they prioritize the management of them. Simply loving my grass more than my livestock was a turning point in my ability to manage my grass, water, solar, soil and biological resources through dry periods. If I loved my livestock more, then all my grass gets eaten to feed the livestock, my landscape is denuded of vegetation, the solar cycle virtually comes to a stand still, and if there is rain the pasture is not ready to respond effectively, my soil microbial life and health is depleted through lack of biological activity and water cycling, and also prone to erosion, and my livestock health and productivity suffer through inadequate fresh nutritious feed, requiring fodder to be bought in at huge expense, because everyone else is buying in feed, and consequently my financial situation is under massive strain, not to mention my mental health and that of my family’s. And all this with no clear view of when the drought will end to elevate the many self perpetuating negative ecological, economic, production, resource and mental health cycles I have created in my life and business.  

Loving grass more than your livestock and making decisions based on that principle takes the pain away from extended dry periods, allowing planning and management to take place to maintain the very resources required to run a business in good times, let alone tough times. I’m talking about water, soil, sunshine, biology (above and below ground), infrastructure, finances and most importantly people, the farming families and communities reliant on Nature for their well being, livelihoods and fulfilment.

‘Call of the Reed Warber’ offers not just hope, but real solutions to creating resilient landscapes, businesses and, as a consequence, people. It doesn’t just identify the myriad of on ground strategies and practises to mitigate the physical land and resource impacts of exceptionally dry periods, it highlights the necessary breaking of ones personal and business paradigms as the first step to a new way of thinking, one that works for, and partners with, Nature. It is the prevailing widespread ‘mechanical mind’ thinking that has primarily lead to the current horrendous impacts we are seeing all over the Eastern states at the moment.

Scott Hickman, the grazing support officer facilitating the widely successful and effective ‘Growing the Grazing Revolution’ program in the Mid Lachlan river region of NSW, offers farmers a number of personal and group support mechanisms that create the foundation for sound business and resource decision making, and ultimately provides farmers the forum for connection and peer support that they so dearly need but historically and culturally have avoided or not had access to. Scott takes us thorough that process in a video interview I did with him back in May.

Last November, Tommy Herschell facilitated and I hosted a farmer retreat weekend at Hanaminno, Boorowa, called Farmers Friends, its aim was to bring together like minded farmers with a regenerative farming focus, and its intention to create a safe forum for sharing and connection. Nick Schmidt summed up the weekend in his positive testimonial. ‘A range of interesting and cleverly designed group activities encouraged an honest and open dialogue on a wide range of issues facing farmers today including sustainable farming practices including biodynamics, rotational grazing, leveraging technology, successional planning, and mental health. I came away from the weekend invigorated, and also with a great network of likeminded farmers and friends with whom I plan to keep in touch going forward.’ Expression of interest in joining us on our next retreat can be made here. 

There are opportunities for farmers to start changing their thinking about how they respond to ‘drought’, stop the battling with forces out of their control, and managing extended dry periods by working with Nature and its cycles to create resilient families and businesses. These are just a few.

If you’re a farmer, or know one, go and buy yourself and them a copy of  ‘Call of the Reed Warbler’ and read it. In the least you’ll be able to see this extended dry period and the current state agriculture and our food system in a new perspective, and in the most you might just help save a few lives.

Cheers,
​Charlie Arnott

Below is a response to the third question put to me by One Gun Ranch about Biodynamics - what differences have Biodynamic practices had on your property? This is a significant question in relation to Biodynamics as it represents the tangible outcomes and impacts over time.
 
Observations and real outcomes…
 
The differences we have experienced by using biodynamics on our farm have been more anecdotal rather than scientific, and based on our observations, rather than measurements. However, we also understand that measurable quantifiable results are essential if Biodynamics is to be an attractive alternative to conventional, and even current, standard organic practices.
 
Greener fields…enhanced fertility
 
The fields we regularly treat with Biodynamics are significantly greener in dry seasons than fields not yet treated, or that don’t get as much attention as others. This would suggest a greater water holding capacity in the soil and enhanced fertility. We don’t objectively measure feed quality however there is often a distinct increase in the length of time that livestock can graze in treated paddocks.
 
We often find that we have underestimated the amount of pasture available to livestock in fields. This indicates a constant and consistent improvement in the quantity and quality of the feed available as stock are able to be grazed in paddocks longer than we would have expected. Nutrient dense pasture is more resilient and persistent in drier periods and is of higher quality, and livestock don’t need to eat as much of it to obtain their daily nutritional requirements. This gives them more time in the day to rest, chew their cud and relax, which is especially important in extreme weather conditions when they might have to burn extra energy to stay warm or walk extra miles to feed and water in extremely hot days.

Nutrient dense pasture, wellbeing…happy cattle
 
There is also a definite heightened sense of wellbeing in our stock, in their behaviour and in their movement through fields and infrastructure such as stockyards. This measure, while being hard to objectively measure, is incredibly important in terms of the quality of the animal’s life, reproductive capacity, weight gains and manageability of the herd for handlers. All these aspects are strengthened when livestock live in an environment enhanced with Biodynamics. I always say ‘happy cattle produce the most tender meat’, and a low stressed life is what we aim for and have found to produce the best outcome in relation to meat quality. We recently sent one of our Shorthorn steers to the world famous Victor Churchills butchery in Sydney, and head butcher Darren O’Rourke stated on social media ‘speechless mate, seriously some of the cleanest and tender pasture fed beef I’ve ever had! Aussie chef Brendan Sheldrick had this to say about our lamb. "I have cooked thousands of kilos of lamb in my life, but I’m going to put it out there that @charliearnott1 biodynamic lamb is the best I have ever had anywhere on earth.”

I recently posted the first article in a series of insights into Biodynamics prompted by some thought provoking questions put to me by the good folk at One Gun Ranch in Malibu, California.
 
This second article focusses on the more practical applications of Biodynamics stemming from the question: - what are some of the outstanding techniques or ways you use biodynamics on your ranch/property?
 
1.     We make our own compost...and compost 'tea bags'
Using cow or sheep manure, hay, fresh water sourced from the farm, and simple infrastructure and machinery, we make our own compost. The compost produced is used in the vegetable garden and also broadcast onto pastures. We make 'tea bags' (large hessian sack filled with compost) to leave in stock water troughs.  The livestock benefit from the diluted compost going through their digestive system and in doing so help distribute the preparations over the landscape when they are moving through those fields. This is especially helpful in areas where we can't apply compost or preparation sprays because of the terrain or steep slopes. 
 
2.     Preparations sprays...Horns, Quartz, lactating cows...and the magic of summer burials
We make our own Horn Manure 500, Horn Manure Concentrate or Cow Pat Pit (CPP) and an amazing atmospheric preparation, Horn Silica.  All cycles and natural processes that these preparations influence are at one with, and relate to, Nature and the whole farm. Sourcing all ingredients from our farm, such as manure from lactating cows, ensures the integrity of the microbes and energetics present in the ingredients, and ensures these 'magical preparations' are well adapted to the local environment, flora and fauna. The atmospheric preparation, Horn Silica, is also made on our farm using quartz sourced from our paddocks and buried over summer in cow horns.  This maintains the closed loop resource system, keeps costs down and strengthens the intention and focus of on-farm management.

3.     Peppering…ash, full moons, and living in harmony with our fellow inhabitants
Peppering is the practice of spreading the ash of a particular plant or animal that we wish to move out of a specific area or part of the landscape, much like a ritual with good intentions. The mature animal or plant is burned on the day before, day of, or day after the full moon. The ash is then mixed with water and sprayed throughout the area we wish to remove the species from. The intention whilst spreading the ash is not to hurt or harm the plant or animal, simply that we wish to move them on from that area.  Again, working respectfully with nature, this creates a clear demarcation between where we are asking them to live and the area we wish them to moveaway from.
 
We do a brown snake pepper two in every three years, and in the last 8 years there has only been one occasion where we have seen a brown snake around our homestead and garden. Given brown snakes aggressive and fatally venomous nature, we are very pleased with this result considering the sightings were almost on a weekly basis!

I'm absolutely thrilled to announce I have been awarded a 2018 delicious. Produce State Award in the ‘From The Paddock’ category as part of the 2018 delicious. Produce Awards.

​The delicious. Produce Awards, now in its 13th year, champions Australia’s best and most innovative primary produce and producers, with an emphasis on provenance, seasonality and sustainable production methods.

Firstly, I’d like to thank Darren O'Rourke from Victor Churchill's for preparing the lamb and his nomination for the Awards.

Anthony Puharich, Darren and their team at Victor Churchill have always been very supportive of producers, understanding intimately how the management and environment of livestock plays a large part in producing the highest quality product.

In addition to the team from Victor Churchill, I'd also like to thank my fantastic team of Rob Young, Jayne Apps and Amy Remond at Hanaminno, along with Lucy Allon for organising the Awards.

I’m proud to be part of a tradition of producing lamb for over 50 years in the renowned lamb-producing Hilltop Region of country New South Wales.

 As many of you know, over the past 12 years I have been practicing biodynamics, a method which I believe has had a significant impact on the quality of my produce, in particular, there are three main attributes I can identify which have improved the quality of my lamb.

1.    The diverse pasture base that our sheep are grazing on, which is a function of the fertility, vitality and health of the soil, enhanced by the use of biodynamics. 

2.    The genetics we use, which includes robust fine to medium woolled Merino Ewes, Gooramma Poll Dorset Rams and Normanhurst Border Leister Rams, both Boorowa based sheep studs.

3.    The ethical handling and management of our animals in a very low stress and considered fashion by our fantastic team of Rob Young, Jayne Apps and Amy Remond at Boorowa.

I’m a big believer in educating other farmers on how to utilise biodynamics on their farms to improve soil and product quality. If you’re interested in learning more about biodynamics we will be holding another series of workshops at Hanaminno throughout this year, with the next one running on Friday 18 May. I hope you can make it along! 

Anyone wishing to acquire lamb or attend a workshop at Hanaminno please contact me via email charlie@bdynamic.org or phone 0412 623 422 
​
Cheers,
Charlie Arnott