The Curious Farmer

In September 2021, the Tasmanian branch of Farmers for Climate Action held their inaugural local conference. This episode consists of three short interviews with presenters Dr Tomas Remenyi and Professor David Bowman, climate scientists from the University of Tasmania, as well as a young local farmer, Sam Green. This episode is a call to all voters, to think about how we can best ensure a vibrant future in a world with rapidly changing agriculture, economics, and migration as a result of our changing climate.

At the recent Climate-Smart Agriculture Conference in Tasmania, Kate spoke with Celia Leverton, Chair of the Regenerative Agriculture Network of Tasmania (RANT), about what the organisation is, and what this not-for-profit aims to achieve. Hint: it's all about educating farmers. After their brief discussion, Kate gives an example of safe-to-fail on-farm experiments, and what that has meant for Leap Farm.

Iain Field, the other half of Leap Farm, chats to Kate about their positive carbon story. In this episode, we find out how they calculated their net green house gas emissions, as well as their carbon sequestration. We also find out why increasing carbon in your soil helps to build a strong, resilient farm (and what a resilient farm is). There are some tips and tricks and plenty of hope for the future in farming, whether you're big, tiny, or somewhere in between.

Associate Professor Matthew Harrison is an agricultural scientist at the Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture (UTas), who looks at agricultural systems from a holistic perspective. Kate (and Iain) met with Matt to get a better understanding of ruminant livestock and greenhouse gas emissions, balanced against the potential for carbon sequestration in agricultural land.

Angus Stewart has always been a visionary when it comes to the protection and longevity of native Australian plants. But his vision has become clearer, sharper and bolder. Angus graciously shares his vision with us and describes the tools and methods that he is using to see his vision blossom.

Kate catches up with Lauren Byrne of Felds Farm, 18 months after they moved their share-farming operation 200km north.

Here's a recap on Episode 1 - The Humble Onion, in anticipation of Episode 4 where I catch up with Lauren Byrne of Felds Farm. In this episode, which may have slightly improved audio quality than the original, we hear from Mike and Lauren about their foray into Market Gardening.

Coreen Ung of Our Mates Farm talks about organic certification, how they run multiple enterprises on their small farm, and how they have taken an old, run-down orchard and grafted over 50 different cultivars of apple to create a thriving business. Cor shares their values with us, as well as the explanation for how they came to be farmers. A heart-warming and inspirational story, with a lot of courage thrown in for good measure.

Late last year, another goat farmer in French Guiana reached out about the dairy system that Kate and Iain utilise. So in the first Q&A episode, Kate explains how their system works.

Did you know that there is a not-for-profit organisation in Tasmania for Small Producers? Sprout was started 10 years ago, and for the last 5 years has been led by General Manager Jen Robinson. In this episode, I chat to Jen about what Sprout is, how it came about, it's "why" and why it is important for all small producers in Tasmania to get behind.