Rees said having ideas reinforced by others is important, especially for a way of farming employed by the minority at this point.<\/p>\n
YORKTON –\u00a0Australia and Canada are a long way apart, but when it comes to farming there are similarities.<\/p>\n
That is particularly true when it comes to \u2018regenerative agricultures\u2019 as a group of some 30 producers from Down Under are learning as they toured farms in Western Canada over a three-week period.<\/p>\n
Graham Rees from Bathurst, NSW in Australia is the man behind the tour. He told Yorkton This Week on a recent night stopover in the city that they have actually undertaken a number off tours to get a first-hand look at farming techniques in other countries, taking two groups to the U.S., one to New Zealand and now Canada, with an eye to Britain and other locales in the future.<\/p>\n
Rees said while there are obviously differences between countries in terms of farming, just as there are even with a large country such as Australia they find commonalities too.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe principles are the same,\u201d he said, adding that is important to see in-person. \u201c. . . I think that reinforces what we\u2019re doing if other people from around the world are using similar principles.\u201d<\/p>\n
The trips are also a chance to get real experience.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe get out. We get dirty . . . We\u2019re getting down and dirty with the ranchers,\u201d said Rees.<\/p>\n
Rees said having ideas reinforced by others is important, especially for a way of farming employed by the minority at this point.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople in regenerative agriculture think a little differently,\u201d he said, adding seeing producers in other countries taking the same path reaffirms what they are doing.<\/p>\n
The principles the group was most focused on were those used in regenerative agriculture efforts.<\/p>\n
\u201cRegenerative Agriculture is any practice, process or management approach that enhances the functioning of the systems on which it relies. This includes core ecosystem cycles such as energy, water and minerals by enhancing biological function. It also includes improving economic and social systems. In other words, any practice that makes the land, community and bottom-line healthier year after year is regenerative. It is based on outcomes, distinguishing it from most sustainable\/conservation agriculture efforts,\u201d details\u00a0regenerativeagriculturefoundation.org<\/p>\n
In Rees’ case he has been using the principles himself for years.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was doing this before there was even a name for regenerative agriculture,\u201d he said, adding he undertook the change to help ensure the viability of the land \u201cfor the next generation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Charles Le Feurre of Charters Towers, Queenland said regenerative agriculture practices vary from operation-to-operation, noting on their cattle operation \u201cit\u2019s probably not as intense as we\u2019ve seen over here.\u201d<\/p>\n
That also means Le Feurre gained some insights to consider in the future.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt gives us some idea of what\u2019s out there,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Grace Tudehope of Millaroo, Queenland said the Canadian farm stops certainly offered new ideas that they can consider once back in Australia.<\/p>\n
The trip was also one allowing time to see something a bit different too.<\/p>\n
Gavin and Liesel Walton of Jandowae, Queensland are on the trip. Liesel said visiting a bison farm in Manitoba was interesting in the sense they don\u2019t have bison in Australia.<\/p>\n
The Waltons run cattle on their farm, but they try to do it in a regenerative way, which Gavin said is really about \u201cchanging the way you look maintaining your livestock.\u201d<\/p>\n
That said Gavin Walton said it ultimately is about employing a system that positions the producer in the best way to realize a profit. That means keeping costs in line and still getting the best out of the soil, while keeping it healthy for\u00a0tomorrow.<\/p>\n
Cam and Kris Benjamin of Glenmorgan, Queensland raise cattle too. They signed up for the trip because it offered a chance to learn. Cam said if there was a chance somebody would offer a way to do something better \u201cwe\u2019re all ears.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rees said having ideas reinforced by others is important, especially for a way of farming employed by the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":108072,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[49,48,44,29976],"class_list":{"0":"post-108071","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-canada","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-news","11":"tag-yorkton"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108071","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=108071"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108071\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/108072"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=108071"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=108071"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=108071"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}