Regen Farming and Landscape Function workshop with Col Bowey

A group of six farmers gathered around a kitchen table on March 14th for some afternoon tea and discussion facilitated by RegenWA. This ‘casual setting’ workshop utilised farmer-to-farmer learning as well as having an experienced agroecologist consultant in the room to help provide practical advice on how to overcome challenges.  

It was great to see the group feel comfortable enough to share challenges/pain points, things that worked and those that didn’t, explore next steps, trials and demonstrations amongst the group for practical solutions and ideas that the RegenWA team can look to incorporating into future project proposals.  

The group talked about soil constraints specific to WA including heavy metal accumulation layers in duplex soils, machinery set ups, crop varieties, additives to fertilisers, foliar fertilising, as well as fencing, biological inoculations and how they might not be effective if the system isn’t balanced.  

The team thought you would be interested in the insights gained from the session: 

• More research is needed on regenerative agriculture in WA. The group are keen to see PhD’s that can capture data on the whole picture, i.e. the effect of specific practices on the water, mineral and energy cycles. 
• There is lots of data already available, although some has not been extended to growers effectively. There is a requirement for continuous extension of Western Australian agroecological research to growers.  
• The WA ag industry must tell positive and successful farming stories to keep the city on our side. There are many negative stories out there, but we need to ensure that ‘the war on farmers’ is reduced through education and connection, so people can see that farmers are truly doing good things for the land and providing healthy food for all. RegenWA are keen to capture little snippets of videos and promote via our social media platforms as we have a lot of interested stakeholders and consumers in our network.  

Building trust and integrity with our network members is core to our purpose, and we thank the individuals who joined us for the workshop as we continue to work with and support WA farmers towards a more regenerative future.  

If you’re interested in hosting a similar workshop in your region, we would love to hear from you. Please reach out to Bonnie on 0439288811 or at bonnie.jupp@perthnrm.com  or Tibby on 0480483276 or at tibby.tuckett@perthnrm.com  

This event was supported by RegenWA, Perth NRM, and the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation through their Soil Wise Program. Soil Wise is funded by the National Landcare Program Smart Farms Small Grants – an Australian Government initiative. It is supported by Healthy Estuaries WA – a State Government program.