Landholders and farmers in Hepburn Shire, Macedon Ranges Shire and the City of Greater Bendigo have the opportunity to build agricultural skills as part of a new regional partnership to improve land, soil, water and livestock health.
The Healthy Landscapes: Practical Regenerative Agricultural Communities program offers a range of free opportunities to learn about regenerative agricultural practices through individual on-farm advice; webinars, workshops and field days; a short course on holistic grazing management and farmer discussion groups.
Participants can hear from local farmers about their journey in holistic farming through webinars in August and September. There will also be the opportunity to meet the farmers on their properties in September and learn more about farming techniques and results.
Yandoit farmer, Paul Righetti, will present a webinar session on Tuesday 31 August about his family’s shift to regenerative agriculture.
“We moved our farming system to regenerative because we believe it to be better for our soil, our pasture, our animals and customers who buy our produce,” said Mr Righetti.
The Healthy Landscapes partnership is one of many projects that make up Hepburn Shire Council’s commitment to sustainable farming and responsible land management. Other programs include Council’s Artisan Agriculture Project and the community-council collaboration ZNET Hepburn. Globally significant practitioners in the areas of agroecology, regenerative agriculture and holistic land management provide strong grassroots leadership across the shire and beyond.
“This regional partnership provides free support to farmers interested in improving the health of their land, the quality of their produce and increasing their farm’s resilience to climate variability such as drought and extreme weather,” said Hepburn Shire Mayor, Cr Lesley Hewitt. “The program offers knowledge sharing and access to some of the leading regenerative farmers in the region. It’s an incredible opportunity to see what is happening locally and sharing ideas to improve the viability of your property.
Healthy Landscapes local farmers webinars:
• Tuesday 24 August, 7-8pm – Join Darren Cater from Monegeetta, a beef farmer from Macedon Ranges Shire.
• Tuesday 31 August, 7-8pm – Hear from Paul Righetti from Yandoit in Hepburn Shire who farms sheep, cattle and pasture raised hens.
• Tuesday 7 September, 7-8pm – Join Aaron Demeo from Raywood in Greater Bendigo who manages meat and wool sheep, crops as well as dairy heifers.
To register for a webinar or find out more visit www.hepburn.vic.gov.au/healthy-landscapes.
The Healthy Landscapes: Practical Regenerative Agricultural Communities program is a partnership program between Macedon Ranges Shire Council, Hepburn Shire Council, the City of Greater Bendigo, A Healthy Coliban Catchment project (North Central Catchment Management Authority and Coliban Water), Melbourne Water and the Upper Campaspe Landcare Network.
