Graeme Hand is a holistic land management and grazing educator based near Bairnsdale, Victoria, where he has farmed for more than 35 years. He came to the land via an unlikely route, a decade as an industrial chemist, before applying that scientific background to regenerative agriculture. A Certified Holistic Management educator and Board member of Regenerative Agriculture Network Tasmania, Graeme has been supporting farmers in adopting regenerative grazing techniques since 1996, and has spent the better part of three decades helping farming businesses rebuild topsoil, restore pasture, improve the water cycle and strengthen their resilience to a changing climate.

At the heart of Graeme's work is a conviction that lasting change on the land starts with the decisions made each day in the paddock, with ‘safe to fail’ trials at the heart of his approach. As Graeme explains in this episode, trials are the key strategy that enables farmers to manage the complexity of biological approaches to grazing. It was a pleasure to record this episode with Graeme, live from the Grounded festival in Victoria, and I hope you enjoy our conversation.

** Keep an eye out for our new grazing practice guide, which will be launched on the 20th of May at a special field day and launch event in Mundarlo NSW. Details and registrations via soilsforlife.org.au/events/ **

Links and resources:

• Hand for the Land: Heaps of resources and advice from Graeme Hand’s holistic land management and training consultancy
• Monitoring ecological indicators of rangeland functional integrity and their relation to biodiversity at local to regional scales: Study mentioned in this episode, authored by David Tongway and others

If you have feedback, questions, or suggestions for future episodes or guests, we'd love to hear from you - reach out on social media or at [email protected].