In this ENCORE episode you'll get an insight into what you can expect at the VicNoTill annual conference on September 2 and 3 at Moama, NSW when you meet our dinner guest speaker Will Bignell.

VicNoTill board members met Will last year at the Grounded Festival in Tasmania, and couldn't wait to get him over to the mainland to share his story. Limited tickets to the conference are still available. Visit VicNoTill's website to purchase. VicNoTill members get discounted tickets, so if you're not a member, you can join here first.

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Agricultural investment manager and VicNoTill board member Angus Ingram steps in as guest host for this fast-paced, action-packed interview with Tasmanian farmer and ag scientist Will Bignell. Angus pulled Will aside after hearing him speak at the Matthew Evans Grounded Festival in southern Tasmania in December 2024.

Will is a 7th generation farmer and father of three boys from Bothwell in Tasmania and it's remarkable what he's managed to cram into his life so far. The Bignell family farm is well known for pioneering and innovating a number of new and emerging Australian industries. Will has a fascinating back story and runs a highly diverse operation in an extremely challenging environment.

Will runs a 2300Ha farm with his parents and produce wool, poppies, lamb, venison and a number of boutique specialty root vegetables. He is highly regarded for his skills at breaking down complex problems and bringing together people and resources to create simple, effective and economical solutions.

We really appreciated Will's openness and his transparency about all the various challenges, successes and failures that he's had so far in life, and we hope you enjoy this episode as much as we enjoyed recording it.

NSW broadacre cropping farmer Dan Fox has a fascination for understanding the intricacies of how plants and soils function, and his conversation with Omnia research and development manager Andrew Doecke takes him into some deep rabbit holes on nutrition, chemistry and science.

Dan is in his element in this sponsor episode in piecing together how bio-stimulants fit into broadacre cropping systems.

This indepth discussion covers humates, inoculants, fertilisers, balancing nutrients and some of the misconceptions around biological stimulants.

Andrew outlines how Omnia are part of Fertiliser Australia's code of practice for labelling, to ensure farmers who purchase their products know exactly what's in them, and gives an invaluable insight into how farmers can be more targetted with their applications.

• Omnia's core philosophy is sustainable agriculture with an emphasis on optimising the physical, chemical and biological properties of soils. Based in Morwell, Victoria, they manufacture organic based soil conditioners and fertilisers that maximise and sustain soil productivity. Due to access to unique quality of raw materials in Australia and innovative product development, Omnia has grown into the largest Australian manufacturer of natural humate-based products. They collaborate with Monash University and other Australianresearch institutions to develop new products and tools locally for use in Australia and worldwide.
• For more information visit Omnia's website.

“If you have a decline in yield as a result of a transition to regenerative ag, it is not a result of regenerative ag, it is the result of poor agronomic management. Accepting a yield loss is a choice. Don’t say it’s a result of regenerative ag because it’s not, and I will die on this hill.”

It is a strong start to this Farmers Helping Farmers special episode with John Kempf – a true visionary in regenerative agriculture.

VicNoTill board member Angus Ingram catches up with John as he launches his new agronomic AI tool, Field Lark. It is an honour and a privilege that John chose our podcast as the first public recording about this tool.

VicNoTill members have already started testing and using Field Lark and believe this has the potential to be very powerful in assisting with information interpretation and decision making. It is a lightning-fast fact checker and a valuable sounding board. However, to our minds, AI will never replace a farmer's experience or their intuition – that ability to detect when something isn't quite right.

In this episode we also cover:

• Building an ‘on ramp’ for biological nutrition, whilst also building an ‘off ramp’ for chemistry- focused nutrition.

• The easy-to-achieve return on investments that nutritional and biological seed treatments offer, and the superior nutrient uptake efficiency that foliar applications provide.

• Non-linear agronomy - when you begin combining all these smaller variations to your inputs, you can see a compounding effect in the outcome. He calls it the ‘one plus one equals three’ scenario.

• A specific example relating to Australian conditions and how we can ensure that our crops and pastures have enough in the tank as we plant into cooling soils.

VicNoTill has long admired John’s vision and ambition, and he provides some great, relatable analogies for Australian farmers in this episode. Enjoy!

• Test Field Lark here.

Applications are open for the Integrity Soils CREATE program with Nicole Masters which is being run in Australia for the first time. The on-farm intensive for CREATE Australia will be on the Victorian regenerative farm of VicNoTill board member Callum Lawson in September 2025. In this re-released podcast episode from 2024, Callum shares how his farming journey has evolved since discovering holistic and regenerative agriculture.

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When Victorian cattle farmer Callum Lawson went to a holistic grazing course, it turned the way he approached farming on its head. He came home from the first day feeling baffled about the way he was farming.

What they were presenting about regenerative and holistic grazing concepts felt like common sense. This started him on a path of discovery, and the more research he did the more fascinated he became. Callum started growing multi-species crops in 2017 and flipped his farming system around to solve problems rather than treat symptoms.

When he started farming more regeneratively he loved watching things grow and seeing the real difference in how healthy the crops and animals became.

Callum says it’s easy to get caught up in regenerative agriculture, which can be both good and bad. He says it’s important farmers remain profitable otherwise they won’t be there to do it again next year. Feeling good is important but if it’s not making money, there’s not much point doing it.

Callum joined the VicNoTill board in 2023. After a tour around the property Callum manages at Avenal in Victoria’s Highlands region, Michael Gooden sat down to chat with him about how his farming system has evolved.

• This podcast episode is supported by the Goulburn Broken CMA and the Australian Government through funding from the Natural Heritage Trust under the Climate-Smart Agriculture Program.
• To apply for CREATE please go to the Integrity Soils website.

Nicole, a global agro-ecologist, educator and systems thinker, has been working with VicNoTill to share knowledge about regenerative ag for more than a decade.

In this episode, current president Michael Gooden talks to Nicole about how regenerative ag is a system, not an input and how people's awareness has exploded about the critical role healthy soils play in our lives.

For Nicole, regenerative ag is an approach which enhances natural cycles, repairs ‘disturbance’ events, minimises harmful inputs and focuses on building resilience, microbial life and organic matter.

She loves that it’s not a scripted list of what you can’t do.

"As a farmer-led approach, a regenerative system encourages local innovation. Transitioning broadacre crops towards low-input, increased efficiency systems offers one of the largest opportunities for farmers, land, communities and profits."

• VicNoTill is thrilled to host the Integrity Soils CREATE Down Under program, which is coming to Australia for the first time, on our board member Callum Lawson's regeneratively-managed farm in Victoria.
• CREATE is a 34-week intensive agroecological coaching program that is creating the next generation of soil health educators.
• Applications open on 1 May, 2025.
• The program starts with an eight-day intensive in September after the VicNoTill annual conference.
• Places are limited. Apply at https://integritysoils.com/pages/leadership-development

Agricultural investment manager and VicNoTill board member Angus Ingram steps in as guest host for this fast-paced, action-packed interview with Tasmanian farmer and ag scientist Will Bignell. Angus pulled Will aside after hearing him speak at the Matthew Evans Grounded Festival in southern Tasmania in December 2024.

Will is a 7th generation farmer and father of three boys from Bothwell in Tasmania and it's remarkable what he's managed to cram into his life so far. The Bignell family farm is well known for pioneering and innovating a number of new and emerging Australian industries. Will has a fascinating back story and runs a highly diverse operation in an extremely challenging environment.

Will runs a 2300Ha farm with his parents and produce wool, poppies, lamb, venison and a number of boutique specialty root vegetables. He is highly regarded for his skills at breaking down complex problems and bringing together people and resources to create simple, effective and economical solutions.

We really appreciated Will's openness and his transparency about all the various challenges, successes and failures that he's had so far in life, and we hope you enjoy this episode as much as we enjoyed recording it.

When farmers speak about diversity being one of the hallmarks of a resilient farming system, Stacey Curcio asks them to consider the diversity within their diets and the way they move to keep their body’s cells and microbes thriving.

Stacey is a Naturopath at Cultivating Wellness with a Masters of Human Nutrition and was guest speaker at VicNoTill's Food for Thought conference in 2024. She links human health and soil health, regenerative practices and systems thinking.

In this Farmers Helping Farmers The Podcast episode with Michael Gooden, Stacey delves into more detail about the way people respond to the environment, the food they eat and the emotions they experience.

Palates reflect the intricate relationship between the land, the plants, and the animals we consume. This connection reminds us that healthy, diverse ecosystems are essential not only for sustaining the Earth but for nurturing human health, as the foods we eat carry the imprint of the land and its vitality.

Nutrition starts in the soil, not in the packet or on the plate. "We are what we eat eats."

Fifth generation broadacre farmer and agronomist Keiran Knight grew up on an irrigation, cotton, sheep, cattle and cereal farm between Walgett and Narrabri in NSW. She married her next door neighbour John and they still farm the land their previous generations settled in 1891.

While working as an agronomist and with a young family, Keiran became increasingly concerned about the amount of fertiliser conventional agriculture was asking farmers to use, both from an economic and environmental perspective.

She and John started using bio-stimulants and she made a career change to become an agronomist for Best Farming Systems Australia.

Keiran says farmers are getting agronomy advice they believe is evidence-based and scientifically based, but not enough people are talking about the damage synthetic inputs do to their most precious resource, soil.

Keiran is well attuned to growing up in a rural area, and the culture of farming where it’s difficult to step outside the lines. She encourages more farmers to ask more questions about the products they’re using and what those products are doing to their soils as well as the quality of the food and fibre they are producing.

Keiran was a guest speaker at VicNoTill's Food for Thought conference and says more questions also need to come from consumers around the nutritional integrity of their food such as who grew it, how did they grow it and what is their soil management plan.

In the FARMERS HELPING FARMERS PODCAST Episode 21, Dan Fox sits down with WA farmer Rob Hetherington who is seeing a lifetime of soil study come to fruition on the Lake King farm he runs with his wife Judi and son Daniel, Kate and family.

This is a fascinating and indepth discussion with an experienced farmer and Wheatbelt NRM Soil Health Champion who was a guest speaker at VicNoTill's 2024 Food for Thought Conference.

Rob discovered a long time ago that calcium was the limiting factor to his soil health on the cropping farm that has been in his family since 1946. Rob and Judi took over the management of ‘Walma’, named after Rob’s parents Wally and Mary, in 1983. They grow multi-species for a dairy as part of an ongoing arrangement, as well as winter grains and opportunistic summer crops.

Using his scientifically-geared knowledge he identified calcium, along with some phosphate, as being the first step to bringing their whole system together.

Calcium has stimulated their root, stem and foliage growth, helped build stem strength in crops and made them more resistant to attack by disease or insects and helped raise Brix levels which helps them withstand frost.

Rob's most important lesson of all is understanding that knowledge is power.

"In the regenerative space there’s a lot of talk out there that you’ve got to look after the soil biology, so put a crop in with minimal fertiliser or no fertiliser. This might work on some areas and you might get away with it one year. In the long term though, it’s a downward spiral. I know that because I’ve experienced it myself. It’s a matter of knowing the chemistry and the biology, finding that knowledge and moving forward from there. At the end of the day, farming is all about mineral energy and controlling conductivity and knowing what to apply and where to apply it to get those reactions happening.”

Australian families have grown up eating their fair share of Kentish potatoes, but have we ever considered the story behind the pioneering family who brought this staple ingredient to our tables? Michael Gooden sits down with third generation potato grower Nic Kentish, who shares the ups and downs, soil health and life lessons from growing the humble potato. From the drought which preceded Ash Wednesday fires in 1983 to discovering his love for sheep and cattle while jackarooing on the Hay plains and central Queensland in the 1980s to watching the Murrumbidgee River run dry. From being in $2million debt with 17% interest rates growing organic potatoes to restoring their soils, and bank balance, growing pastures for organic for sheep and cattle - the depth and breadth of Nic's experience in his life so far is a winding road with plenty of big lessons along the way. The biggest lesson of all goes far deeper than the soils he's so passionate about, and he's now one of the country's leading educators in Grazing for Profit. Settled on a farm in the Adelaide Hills near Hahndorf, with his wife Alexi and three children, Nic works full-time for RCS as a teacher, advisor, facilitator and coach.  Combining his passions for livestock and people, Nic approaches life with zest, humour, feeling and a genuine endeavour to see land, animals and humans together realise their true potential. Since the earth is the earth and animals are simply good at being animals, Nic takes up the human challenge to share what’s possible if people can change.