Regenerative farming showcase of industry-leading practices around region

The Mt Barker Community Garden team believe regenerative farming is the way forward for agriculture.

That is why they are hosting a three-day Regen in the Real World event this week to show people how it is being implemented in the industry. There will be four tours in the Shire of Plantagenet and one in the City of Albany at Oranje Tractor.

The event was originally meant to be held in March but was postponed because of COVID-19.

Co-ordinator Kirsten Beidatsch said regenerative methods were practical and logical, and worked better than some old ways without degrading the land.

“We see this workshop as the chance for people to have a good look at regen working on properties and how they can achieve it too,” she said.

“Traditional Australian farming cannot compensate for soil degradation and drying the way regenerative farming can. Our biggest hope is to build a network of farmers interested in working with nature to produce as much as possible within their regions. Regen is about community as much as it is about farming, and we want to help build that.”

Participants will learn about propagating native plants, using tree crops as fodder, water harvesting, fire mitigation, soil improvement, cover cropping and more.

Ms Beidatsch said it was amazing what produce you could grow with healthy soil.

“On our family farm we are trying to be more regenerative, and it started as this curiosity about how to achieve it better,” she said. A bit of research showed that there are a number of regenerative farms in the region where landowners have incredible knowledge and success and we wanted to share that with the community.”

The event starts today and continues over the weekend. Single and part-day bookings are available.