Small Farms Count Field Day: Blue Dog Farm and Regenerative Agriculture Workshop

South East QLD Field Day - Blue Dog Farm and Regenerative Agriculture workshop with Graeme Sait

This Young Farmers Connect South-East Queensland field day will hosted at Jacki Hinchey's Blue Dog Farm and feature a full-day regenerative agriculture workshop by Graeme Sait of Nutri-tech Solutions.

Date and Time: Thursday 31st July 7:30am-5pm

Cost: $25

Food: Morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea will be provided by Blue Dog Farm.

RSVP: Booking for this event is essential and will ticket sales will close on Tuesday 29th July.

Country: Waka Waka

Socials : @youngfarmersconnect, @blue_dog_farm, @fan_moretonbay, @nutritechsolutionsyandina

YFC is partnering with the Food and Agribusiness Network (FAN) to facilitate this event. This event is funded through a Small Grant by the Australian Government's National Heritage Trust's Climate Smart Agriculture Program.

The "How to Do It Day" Workshop - With Graeme Sait of Nutri-tech Solutions:

You are invited to a one-day seminar/workshop in high production, regenerative agriculture. This invaluable workshop will equip you with a host of skills to build both profitability and sustainability on your farm. Graeme Sait is a renowned author/educator whom founded Nutri-Tech Solutions (NTS), a world leader in the supply of organic/regenerative inputs and education. Graeme is the author of two books and hundreds of published articles and he authors the popular, Nutrition Matters blog. He also developed the five-day Certificate in Nutrition Farming course. This iconic learning experience has trained over 47,000 farmers and consultants on four continents. Graeme created the Nutrition Farming Podcast, which now has 500,000 listeners in 72 countries and, more recently, his “How to Do It” video series is providing practical demonstrations of regenerative principles. Graeme is a sought-after presenter at conferences across the globe and he often consults at Governmental level. Attendees often describe his presentations as, “life changing”.

Blue Dog Farm:

Blue Dog Farm is located 56km north of the Brisbane CBD on Mount Mee Road at
Mount Mee. Owned and operated by Jacki Hinchey, this farm is a small market garden growing fresh produce naturally.

We grow from locally sourced seed that is organic, open pollinated and often heirloom. We don’t use artificial pesticides, herbicides or fertilisers, just lots of compost! We’re passionate about biodynamics, nutrition farming and regenerative farming. We do things differently and we couldn’t be prouder of the positive impact we’re having on people’s passion for good food, and on the planet. We tend the garden entirely by hand – the bed preparation, the sowing, the weeding, the harvesting and the compost making! Throughout the year, we take one bed at a time out of the cycle to rest and restore the balance of the soil. We are equally as attentive with our beef cattle selection and breeding. We not only focus on deliciousness, we’re precise in our management of the land. As the current custodians, we consider it our responsibility to maximise the good effect we have for future generations.

Event Overview:

7.30-8.00am: Acknowledgement of Country and introductions by YFC chapter coordinators Grace and Georgia, Jacki of Blue Dog Farm, and Graeme of Nutri-tech Solutions.

8.00-9.00am: In Field Crop Monitoring - Precision nutrition can be enhanced with the use of hand-held mineral meters, refractometers, sap pH meters, penetrometers, EC meters etc. Discover the dynamics of these feedback tools, and how to interpret readings.

9.00-10.00am: Microbe Monitoring - Learn how to use a Microbiometer effectively to measure the size of your microbial workforce, the quality of compost, the relative success of DIY microbe multiplication and the all-important, fertility parameter - the fungi to bacteria ratio.

10.00-10.30am: Morning Tea (Provided by Blue Dog Farm)

10.30-11.30am: Compost Making - Discover the mechanics of making your own, high-quality compost - both aerobic and anaerobic.

11.30am -12.30pm: Making a Johnson/Su Bioreactor and Creating a Protozoa Tea - Discover how to create this simple reactor on farm to create super productive fungal diversity.  Protozoa are key players in the soil food web but they have often been compromised by farm chemicals. Discover what you can gain if you repopulate your soil with these workers.
12.30-1.30pm: Lunch (Provided by Blue Dog Farm)

1.30-2.30pm: Human Microbe Management – Discover the critical important, multifunctional roles of the human microbiome. Learn how to nurture this life within. Realize the potential of the powerful, wellness strategy – a rainbow sauerkraut.

2.30-3.00pm: Anaerobic Brewing - Beneficial anaerobes can fix nitrogen, build humus, solubilize phosphorous and protect from disease. They can be inexpensively multiplied on farm and they have a very long shelf-life, which makes them extremely user friendly.

3.00-3.30pm: Afternoon Tea (Provided by Blue Dog Farm)

3.30-4.30pm: The Dynamics of Aerobic Microbe Brewing - Rules and Recipes, learn how to safely and efficiently multiply broad spectrum, or task specific microbial inoculums.

4.30-5.00pm: Microbial Problem Solvers - There are now a wide range of microbial problem solvers that can address most issues. Understand the potential of these tools in regenerative agriculture.

Who’s welcome: All are welcome! This includes new, young, aspiring farmers, seasoned farmers, to agricurious allies! This event is family friendly – children are welcome but must be strictly supervised for safety. Please wear good shoes and sun protection and remember we will be visiting a working farm – consider you own safety at all times. 

Carpooling: If you are travelling from Brisbane/Meanjin there is an option to carpool to the event. 

Please contact Grace at grace@youngfarmersconnect.com

Partnering with Food and Agribusiness Network (FAN):

FAN is a collaborative ecosystem that empowers its members and industry to grow. Established by the industry for the industry, FAN is a not-for-profit food industry cluster that has been operating since 2015. FAN aims to grow the industry by creating an ecosystem that supports collaboration, accelerates innovation and drives trade locally and globally. Today FAN has more than 400 members from across the food value chain located in Gympie, Noosa, Sunshine Coast, Moreton Bay and beyond and is recognised nationally and internationally as a leading Australian food cluster. Members include input suppliers, growers, manufacturers, retailers, foodservice operators and affiliated services. FAN’s success to-date has been driven by facilitating opportunities for members to connect, build capability, increase knowledge and grow their profile. FAN is creating a culture of collaboration where there is a high level of trust that underpins members feeling supported. This, in turn, leads to a strong ‘give back’ ethos and a dynamic and engaged cluster. Backed by a strong community of supporters and partners including Regional Councils, Regional Development Australia, Queensland Government and the Australian Government. FAN’s members are leading the way in showing how responding to challenges and opportunities together, accelerates growth and creates a stronger and more resilient industry.