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FIELD DAYS WITH DICK RICHARDSON AND PETER ANDREWS
PETER ANDREWS,
the pioneer of ‘natural sequence
farming’ as seen on ‘Australian Story’. Walk in the paddock with Peter
to learn how he achieves improvements in riparain
areas and increases moisture retention in soils.
DICK RICHARDSON,
from South Africa, Vryburg’s ‘Farmer of
the Year’. Dick, a cattle rancher and Holistic Management educator has
spoken at many international gatherings. Always entertaining and
informative, Dick will be looking at measuring feed volumes and
controlling weeds without chemicals. Discuss methods to control patch
grazing and increase plant yield. Read animal dung to fine tune animal
nutrition.
JEFF CAMPBELL,
Mitchell grazier who holds
Queensland’s 2007 - 08 Landcarer of the Year title. Jeff will talk of the
improvements made to his property which put him ahead in the
competition.
TRAVELS WITH DICK RICHARDSON - SOUTH AFRICAN
HOLISTIC MANAGEMENT EDUCATOR
Dick Richardson's visit
with his wife, Adele and children, Zoe and Ilka was a great success.
Our travels began in
Bogabilla where Dick met with a group of Pasture Croppers brought
together by Brendan Griffiths working with the Grain and Graze
programme. A couple of hours was spent on the splendid property of Rick
and Janet Doyle, sharing views and ideas out in the paddock and in
Janet's beautiful garden.
Our next stop was a
South West Queensland NRM field day at Holly Downs outside Augathella.
Dick slotted in Holistic Management with a panel of speakers discussing
soil health, carbon sequestration and grazing.
The next day we met
with a group of over fifty producers and extension staff organised by
Maranoa Landcare and the QMDC at the home of John and Kerry Hacker. Dick
held his audience captive with his antics and one-liners while
presenting an overview of the benefits of planned grazing and holistic
decision making. The day was marked for its high level of energy and
busy question time.
Saturday saw a group of
one hundred and thirty people descend on the paddock of John and Helen
Lewis just outside Warwick to listen to Peter Andrews, Jeff Campbell and
Dick. Peter Andrews, through his talk and paddock walk gave us an
insight into his natural sequence farming. Jeff Campbell as
Queensland winner of the 2008 Landcarer of the Year award gave us a
heartfelt talk on his journey with Holistic Management. Dick gave an
interesting and amusing overview on having a holistic perspective and
the benefits of planned grazing. During his time in the paddock Dick
gave us some insights into cattle nutrition and plant health as well as
being able to monitor using cow dung. All in all, it was a great day,
the weather was tremendous and feedback from the day has been very
positive. Helen and I would like to thank our sponsors, Ausmin and Ag
Solutions and NAB Agribusiness.
Brian
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