DEDERANG farmer John McEvoy, alongside wife Sharon, have been working to reverse the effects of chemical farming and restore the earth to its former green glory by jumping in to the world of regenerative agriculture.
The local ex-teachers joined the fight to repair the land almost three years ago, when they discovered there was a different approach to farming that has since proven a valuable change to their 320 acres of farmland.
“It all started when our daughter, who is a physio, came to us concerned about the increase in ailments she was seeing in her patients and the overall trouble with human health,” Mr McEvoy said.
“She did some reading and essentially it all came back to soil.
“Chemical farming had its beginnings around 1940 when farmers were told they need to use nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium (NPK) to grow monoculture, and now if you want the same nutrition from food that you had before then you’d have to eat twice as much meat, three times as many veggies and four times the fruit.
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“The man who introduced NPK admitted later, in the 1960s, he had led us down the wrong path but by then the chemical and fertiliser companies were on a roll and making so much money that no one else mattered, which is how it still is today.
“I’d been doing all the wrong things, following the dairy farmers who were growing a lot of grass and making money so I thought that was the best way.
“The soil biology I read about made a lot of sense to me, so we reached out to Luke Harrington from Regen Agriculture Deniliquin, who did a water infiltration test, hammering a pipe into the ground and filling it with water to see how long it took to disappear; in half an hour it had only dropped one millimetre.
“Our soil was too compacted; farmers who have healthy soil can take up to 250mm an hour, ours was running off the paddocks.
“We immediately stopped using chemical fertilisers and since then the water infiltrates the soil more readily, thanks to the mulch we use to armour the paddocks.
“The next step was to plant multi species crops.
“Many farmers sow rye grass and pour urea on it but that kills a multitude of microbes needed to grow healthy plants with all the right minerals and vitamins in them.
“Healthier plants make for a healthier animal and better quality meat.
“From there, our basic principles are no tilling, maintenance of thick ground cover, diversity of plants, living roots as long as possible and high stocking density while rotating our stock around small paddocks.”
Mr. McEvoy learned that plant microbes are a key player in keeping the underground ecosystem healthy.
“Nicole Masters says there are 11 billion microbes in one barley seed,” he said.
“When you inoculate and plant the seed, it starts talking to all the other microbes like an underground ecosystem to help with the health of the plants.
“We endeavour to never plough paddocks; as this can kill 50 per cent of the microbes.
“We also keep lots of ‘armour’; mulch, on the ground which keeps the ground cool and moist in the summer and protects microbes from the sun.
“Planting a wide range of different plant families allows for better soil biology and grows more nutritious crops.
“Among those families are some self regenerating plants like chicory and plantain, meaning we can head towards making our pastures perennial.
“These species also mean we are feeding our happy animals and putting carbon into the ground to reduce emissions.
“We can help solve this emissions problem; we just have to regreen the planet.
“It’s warming up because of bare paddocks absorbing heat and losing moisture.
“We have to make the earth a sponge again and stop knocking down the forests and burning paddocks, sending carbon straight up into the atmosphere.
“Every time you burn carbon goes up and we want it to go down because carbon is life; it makes things grow.
“These multi species have deep roots that send carbon more than half a metre below ground, which will then be stored for thousands of years.”
Other benefits gained from healthier soil includes greater bird and insect life, which Mr. McEvoy says also adds to the biodiversity of his soil.
“Bird life is phenomenal here, though we still haven’t seen enough insects yet,” he said.
“On one hectare of good land there can be 400 tonnes of insect life and they excrete another four tonnes of fertiliser every year if you’ve got them cycling right.
“We saw results in our first crop after getting rid of the chemicals, but timing is still everything in farming.
“Going in to the third year was remarkably different and we think we can grow this year-round now, but unfortunately, we’ve only done half the farm so far and this year lack of rain has made it difficult.
Mr. McEvoy said what seemed sensible to him, can be a more difficult decision to others.
“It’s hard for people to break out of the pattern and the traditional agronomists are trained the same way,” he said.
“People are scared and they’re surviving where they are, but when agriculturists are telling them they need phosphate and lime and urea, this works but it’s costly and ultimately unhealthy.
“We’re trying to get back to healthy soils and there are many good people in this space but until we get government and big business onside it’s not going to change much.
“I’ve always loved the environment and planting things and I always want our animals to be happy and healthy, so this work feels important.
“We’ve had this farm for 42 years and I could ask myself where I was when this was all happening but we just didn’t know any better.
“Our hope is to raise awareness and encourage people to help regreen the earth.”
