Farmer, forester or conservationist. It might seem like you need to choose one but more and more landholders are challenging this. With the right management, trees on farms can provide better farm productivity and forest products and increase biodiversity. But in many ways forests are still treated as either conservation reserves or plantations, making it difficult for farmers to take this path.

In less than 100 years as a nation we have gone from removing trees to wanting to plant them back. Tree planting programs are not achieving the scale of restoration required to repair Australia's landscapes. We need to rethink how we support landholders to invest in trees.

In this episode we hear from two farm foresters who have approached farming trees very differently, as well as a scientist and a forest policy professor. They discuss why more farmers have not adopted forestry, how trees can be managed for multiple outcomes and what mindset and policy shifts are required to move to a whole-of-landscape approach. 

Thank you to our guests: 

Farm forester and grazier - James Henderson https://soilsforlife.org.au/colodan/

Forest scientist and grazier - Rowan Reid https://www.agroforestry.net.au/

Professor Peter Kanowski - https://researchers.anu.edu.au/researchers/kanowski-pj

Associate Professor Cris Brack - https://www.linkedin.com/in/cris-brack-233a117a/

Your hosts Eli Court @soilsforlife and Susannah Kable @growloveproject produced by Edgars Greste

There are millions of hectares of degraded soils in Australia's agricultural landscapes. But there are a billion reasons why compost offers a solution to this problem, teeming with micro-organisms and organic matter that can help regenerate soils. But not all composts are the same and there is still a lot that we're learning about this precious, carbon rich resource. How can governments, farmers and industry work together to return organic matter to the soil and close the loop from paddock to paddock?

Thanks to all our guests for their time and insights.

Soils for life case study with Milgadara, Rhonda and Bill Daly - soilsforlife.org.au/case-study-catch-up-milgadara

Rhonda and Bill Daly, Milgadara and YLAD Living Soils - yladlivingsoils.com.au

Eric Love - Centre for Organic Research and Education - core.asn.au

Amanda Kane, organics manager, NSW EPA - epa.nsw.gov.au/your-environment/waste/waste-facilities/organics-processing-facilities

Virginia Brunton, environmental scientist - MRA consulting - mraconsulting.com.au

Gerry Gillespie, compost industry consultant - gerrygillespie.net/about.html

Phil Lavers, Moonacres Farm - moonacres.com.au/farm

This Podcast has been produced by Grow Love Project in collaboration with Soils for Life.

This project is supported through funding from the Australian Government’s National Landcare Program

How could the emerging market for soil carbon support farmers to regenerate soils?

Soil carbon offers so many benefits both above and below the soil surface, from improving farm productivity to revenue raising in carbon trading. But while the case for building soil carbon is clear, the carbon market is still evolving. So what’s the potential, what are the risks and what can be done to unlock the potential of soil carbon as an enabler of better farm management and soil stewardship? In this episode we talk to farmers, scientists and policy makers to explore the soil carbon opportunity.

Thanks to all our guests for their time and insights.

Stuart Austin, Wilmot Cattle Co. - soilsforlife.org.au/wilmot

Craig Carter, Tallawang - soilsforlife.org.au/tallawang-greener-pastures-through-restoring-landscape-hydrology

Dr. Susan Orgill - Soil Scientist, NSW Department of Primary Industries

Skye Glenday, Co-CEO, Climate Friendly - climatefriendly.com

Dr Michael Crawford, CEO, Soil CRC - soilcrc.com.au

Konrad Muller, Assistant Manager, Land, Forest and Blue Carbon Methods, Clean Energy Regulator - cleanenergyregulator.gov.au

Anthony Bennie, Assistant Secretary, Natural Capital and Markets - Federal Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment

agriculture.gov.au/ag-farm-food/natural-resources/landcare/sustaining-future-australian-farming/carbon-biodiversity-pilot

Have your say about the new soil carbon methodology - submissions close by Monday 27th September

https://consult.industry.gov.au/soil-carbon-method-proposed-new-method

For the latest updates please subscribe to the Soils for Life newsletter

soilsforlife.org.au/the-newsletter

This Podcast has been produced by Grow Love Project in collaboration with Soils for Life.

This project is supported through funding from the Australian Government’s National Landcare Program

This is Soils For Life. A podcast about connecting farmers, researchers and policy makers, to shed light on agricultural best practice and explore current policy barriers and mindsets that are getting in the way of adoption and how to overcome them. Each episode we’ll delve into a topical issue around soil health in agriculture. We’ll hear from farmers about what inspired them to change their practices and we’ll talk to industry experts about the challenges and opportunities to help improve soils for life.

Sign up to the newsletter by visiting soilsforlife.org.au/the-newsletter/