REGENERATIVE AGRICULTURE – AN EXAMPLE OF HOLISTIC FARMING PRACTICE IN SOUTH-EAST QUEENSLAND.
Guest: Juanita Breen, first-generation farmer with a diverse background in community development, social science and client services.
Juanita’ regenerative, 700-acre multi-species family farm in south east Queensland has been in full production for over eight years and provides food for a wide variety of clients and customers through its Community Supported Agriculture program.
Introduction to this episode:
The practice of regenerative agriculture, according to one of its best known Australian advocates, farmer Charles Massey, is a system of farming which doesn't push the land beyond what it is naturally capable of sustaining without chemical inputs. It is a form of farming that values a complex and healthy soil and values the principle that healthy landscapes lead to healthy food, and therefore healthy people and a healthy planet.
From an environmental protection and enhancement perspective, regenerative agriculture is recognised as being capable of increasing ground cover, soil carbon and diversity of soil biology, improving soil water retention capacity; and encouraging beneficial plants and animals that provide natural ecosystem services such as pollination and insect or vermin control. Regenerative as compared to industrial scale agriculture, is also reported as having considerably lower toxic chemical environmental impact through its much reduced inputs of pesticides and synthetic fertilisers, with the additional benefit to the farmer of reducing the expense of purchase and application of those products.
My guest in this podcast episode, Juanita Breen has, along with her husband and children, developed extensive experience of this environmentally supportive form of farming. She describes the Breen farm a regenerative, multi-species family business which provides food for a wide variety of clients and customers in the region through its Community Supported Agriculture program. The diverse operations of the farm are rooted in the values of four ‘Goods’ – defined as ‘Good for the Animal, ‘Good for the Land,’ ‘Good for the Farmer’ and ‘Good for the You’ (that is the consumer). Juanita says that these 4 ‘Good’ principles - and a focus on a circular economy of operations, are key to this small, 700 acre farm’s viability and success.
In this episode, Juanita describes her journey toward regenerative agriculture expertise, and how her family helped bring this successful example of a more genuinely sustainable and future focussed form of farming to the S.E. Queensland region.
MAIN INTERVIEW TALKING POINTS - with approximate time elapsed in mins.
- Guest foreshadow summary – 0.00
- Generic podcast series introduction. - 0.30
- Current episode and guest introduction. - 2.14
- Guest comments: how did your passion for the environment start? - 4.50
- Who inspired or mentored you in your work? – 5.38
- How did you get involved with environmental conservation to begin with? – 7.22
- When did you first realise the impact of your work on restoring the environment? – 10.00
- Are there any environmental achievements you are particularly proud of and why? – 13.10
- What are some of the challenges you have faced and how did you respond ? – 17.40
- How has your work influenced you to keep doing what you do? – 22.40
- Are you working on any current, exciting projects? – 27.55
- Guest takeaway message and advice for some next steps in environmental protection. – 30.20
- Thanks to guest, acknowledgements and episode close. – 32.36 (34.40)
RESOURCES RELEVANT TO THE DISCUSSION
Thought Leaders:
- Charles Massey – ABC article on his work (2020) and his book Call Of The Reed Warbler: A New Agriculture A New Earth (2020)
- Bruce Pascoe – ABC article on his ideas (2022) and one of his best known books Dark Emu (2018)
Concepts and quotes:
Agriculture, Nature and Natural Systems
- Community-supported agriculture – an informative portal website presented by the Australian Food Sovereignty Alliance (AFSA) (2023).
- Environmental stewardship - broadscale definition and outline used for student education purposes. And some Australian
- The concept of love of place - defined in terms of Nature Connectedness
- The Biophilia concept and hypothesis - a short overview
The Economy:
- Quote about economic growth: ‘Anyone who believes that exponential growth can go on forever in a finite world is either a madman or an economist’ (attributed to economist Kenneth Boulding ). And see article on other quoted critiques of economic growth going back to the 1970s (2023).
- The Triple Bottom Line concept – a brief history of its variable adoption and co-option over 25 years (2018).
- Wellbeing Economics – basic definition on a portal website presented by the Wellbeing Economy Alliance (2023)
- The Circular economy – basic definition on a portal website presented by the Ellen McArthur Foundation (2023)
Earth Systems Science and Planetary Boundaries
- Planetary Boundaries introductory information from the Stockholm Resilience Centre (2023) and from Johan Rockstrom in his TED Global popular presentation on planetary boundaries (2010)
- The concept of Resilience as applied to natural systems, social-ecological thinking and the notion of the Anthropocene era.
GUEST AND CONTACT DETAILS:
Guest: Juanita Breen
Email: WEB Tel: 0409 322 766 / 0409 030 182
Householders’ Options to Protect the Environment (HOPE):
Tel: 07 4639 2135 Email: WEB Facebook
Production:
Produced for HOPE by Andrew Nicholson. This episode recorded in Toowoomba, S.E. Queensland, Australia on 2nd May 2023
Key interview questions developed by: Anna Kula Incidental Music: James Nicholson
Indigenous artwork: courtesy of Queensland Depart of Justice and Attorney General, Queensland Women's Strategy (2023)
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