regenerative farming

Byron Bay Hinterlands

We are excited to be part of the growing regenerative agriculture movement, and use farming practices that actively reverse environmental degradation while producing food that is more natural, flavourful and nutritious.

HOLISTIC BEEF

We run a small herd of Angus-Wagyu cattle which we breed and manage with holistic principles. Our 120 acres is divided into 16 smaller paddocks that we rotate the cattle through every few days. This improves the organic matter in our soils which actively removes carbon from the atmosphere. The cattle’s natural behaviour (plant biting, saliva, urination, defecation, trampling) interacts with the pasture and its supporting soil, adding plant littler and manure which earthworms and microorganisms decompose. The process of decomposition releases nutrients which strengthens the pasture and builds humus which stores plant nutrients, holds moisture and improves soil structure, thereby acting as a carbon sink. Over time and with the support of all the people we hope will engage in activities on our farm, we plan to implement a “silvopasture” system - planting trees into our pastures. This has a huge range of benefits including improvements in carbon sequestration, water retention, biodiversity, soil health and animal welfare.

FOOD FOREST ORCHARD

We are building a food forest system on our farm - starting with an orchard behind the restaurant and two 100 meter rows on the adjacent North-facing hill (we will continue expanding these rows over time). We are using techniques that strive to re-create and mimic the natural processes of a forest by interplanting a diversity of food crops, forest trees and bio-mass plants which mature at different times, occupy different strata, and support each other to prosper. By actively pruning and mulching the plants within the system; we build carbon-sequestering humus and soil fertility at an exponential rate - thereby reducing the need for external inputs and improving the soils’ ability to retain water. A highly productive food forest is the the result - generating a diverse abundance of all-natural foods and a bio-diverse environment brimming with life. We would like to thank our friends at Banyula Agroforestry for helping us start on this journey.

RIPARIAN ZONE RAINFOREST REGENERATION PROJECT

We have worked with North Coast Local Land Services and Big Scrub Regeneration to start rehabilitating the waterways which bound our property. So far, we have built a 1.3 km cattle exclusion fencing along the Wilsons River; dealt with some of the camphor infestation within the riparian zone and planted 2,200 native Big Scrub rainforest plants within the 2.1ha area. A total of 5,100 native plants are to be planted in the space over the next 2 years. And we have created a full farm plan with LLS in the hope of expanding this initial regeneration along all the waterways on the property. This tree planting has significantly reduced our carbon footprint, as calculated for us using Ruminate for a Regen Farmers Mutual pilot project that we participated in December 2023.

ORGANIC MARKET GARDEN

We have a quarter acre market garden where we grow a variety of different herbs and vegetables for use in our restaurant. We use minimal tillage, with just a hand-pushed rotary hoe. And prepare our beds with a thick layer of compost and organic sugar cane mulch. We use regular crop rotation and experiment with companion planting from time to time. We do not use any synthetic herbicides or pesticides. And we only use all-natural organic fertilisers.

COMPOSTING WASTE

We recycle all of the vegetable food waste generated by the restaurant into compost which we use on our orchards. Green waste from around the farm is composted for use on the gardens. Our kitchen team has recently started creating Bokashi (an ancient Japanese lactobacillus-fermented composting technique) to help deal with the meat and dairy waste generated at the restaurant; as well as proactive measures to reduce our food waste by using off-cuts to make useful products such as ferments.

POWERED BY SOLAR ENERGY

The entire farm, restaurant and accommodation are powered with a 33,000 watts solar system which we were able to install by re-investing profits raised by the support of our valued customers.