The Dirt – OCTOBER 2024

Welcome to the October 2024 edition of our monthly newsletter, The Dirt, where we dish the dirt on the latest comings and goings of Sprout Tasmania.

Before I begin, I wanted to let the Sprout community know that I (Ollie) will be finishing up at Sprout at the end of this year.

I have had the extraordinary privilege of working with this organisation for over 3 years, an organisation I care so much about, and I could write a book about my experiences. I’ll leave that for another day, and instead try to keep this short.

In my time at Sprout I have met and worked with so many incredible farmers and supporters of strong, community focused, healthy food and farming systems. Whenever I despair about what I see as wrong, as unjust, unfair, and unhealthy, it is these people – the advocates and, most particularly, the farmers – that inspire and push me forward. I’d like to say thank you to all of you, for everything you do, and for making the last few years so special for me personally.

Small-scale farming offers so much to people, to the environment, and to community. Please, please continue to champion those that grow your food, that care and regenerate land, that strive to run viable businesses in the face of so many barriers, and that aim to thrive as people. And please don’t stop supporting Sprout, who are such a vital part of this system.

I am really looking forward to finishing off the year on a high. There is still so much to do. I am working with 12 incredible producers, we have Growing Good on the horizon, and I’m working hard to make next year a big and successful one for Jen and all the Sprout board!

After that, well you’ll still find me in a paddock, or a garden, or an orchard, somewhere. I hope to see many of you there too.

Thanks, Ollie.

in our paddock

The Land Access Toolkit

Last week we officially launched our Land Access Toolkit. Thank you to everyone who tuned in for our launch webinar – you can watch the recording back here.

If you haven’t had a look yet, the toolkit is aimed at landowners and land seekers, and will guide the reader through a number of key steps:

• what is required before starting
• the different land tenure models available
• how to evaluate land
• the importance of people and relationships
• land management planning and legal/financial considerations
• what to think about during land tenure arrangements

Within the toolkit there are a number of case studies, and we have also included contract templates and a number of additional resources such as checklists for landowners and farmers.

Head to our website today to download the full toolkit, or view the individual steps. And if you are looking for land, or looking for a farmer to farm your land, we highly recommend using YFC’s Farm Links service.

Growing Good

Growing Good is fast approaching (eek!), and boy do we have a cracking event lined up this year.

We’re so stoked to announce that we will be hosting Growing Good 2024 at Restaurant Maria, on Brook Street Pier in Hobart. Co-owner and head chef Christian Ryan will be in the kitchen, together with Stephen Peak (and others, to be confirmed!).

Expect incredible food, using sensational produce, from amazing people. We’ll have the Growing Good auction, a raffle, your favourite farmers, some cracking beverages, the Small Producer of the Year Award, plus lots more besides.

The Sprout Producer Program – applications for 2025 are open!

Yes, it’s that time of year again. Applications are now open for the 2025 cohort. For those that don’t know too much about it, the Sprout Producer Program allows farmers to engage and connect with a community of like-minded individuals who are dedicated to small-scale farming, responsible stewardship of their land, and contributing to resilient local food systems.

The program aims to:

• Establish a peer support network for small-scale farmers
• Encourage a reflective and goal orientated approach to build capacity and resilience of small-scale farmers and their enterprises
• Offer resources and opportunities to enhance knowledge and skills
• Foster collaboration and knowledge-sharing among farmers
• Support farmers to thrive for themselves, their communities, and for the environment
• Strengthen the food and farming systems in Tasmania

Applications are open to individuals who meet the following criteria:

• New and existing farmers in Tasmania
• Farmers with a genuine commitment to agroecological practices
• Farmers looking for support to thrive and find their pathway in farming
• Farmers who are willing to actively engage with and contribute to the program, and participate in collaborative work aimed at improving them as people, the environment, and their community

If you are ready to thrive, find your role in agriculture, build community, and strengthen Tasmania’s food and farming system, then head here to apply. Applications close on Sunday 20 October 2024 at 11.59pm.

Speaking of which…

The weekend before last saw us hit the paddocks for the latest round of SPP 2024 field days. And what a weekend it was.

The Tamar Valley was our destination. Starting off on Saturday at Karoolalla Farm, Cate and Rupert spoke about their journey, their time on the Sprout Producer Program in 2021, and their growth since. They then gave us a tour of their property, including their market garden, nursery and packing sheds.

From there we hop, skipped and jumped up the road to Lalla Valley Farm, home to one of this year’s participants, Rowan Frost. We took sanctuary in his beautiful farmhouse as blustery showers rolled through, and heard him speak about his own journey, as well as his future plans. Rowan is a deep thinker, a researcher, and hugely determined, and it was great to learn more about how he runs his farming enterprises.

With the sun now shining we headed outside, to chat about sheep, garlic, and Christmas trees before being treated to a workshop session on soil health, cover cropping and seeds, led by agroecologist Robin Tait, and Rod Dent from Ardent Seeds.

The day ended at Summerlea Farm, with Liz and Rick Mahnken treating the group to a sumptuous dinner.

The following day kicked off at Furneaux Agriculture, at a farm quite different to what we’re used to seeing. Mark and Felicity Richards run approx. 7000 head of cattle across 10,000 acres on 3 separate properties in northern Tassie and Flinders Island, and they kindly spoke to the group about their operations, drove us around their Riverside property, gave us a demo of the Optiweigh system, and discussed their benchmarking program. 

From one scale to another, we then called past Tassie Seeds, to meet Abbey Howard. Abbey grows an astonishing number of vegetables and flowers for seed, and it was great for the group to gain a greater understanding of what can be produced from a small plot. Abbey is incredible – there’s not much she doesn’t know about producing seeds! 
Last stop was a trip to good friends of Sprout, Bec and Paul from Lone Goose Farm. We were given a tour of their farm that included a run down of how they raise their ducks – from fertilised egg, through hatching, to pasture, and to delivering the processed birds direct to restaurants throughout the state.

We would like to say a huge thanks to everyone for making it another weekend to remember!

SPP 2024 producer feature – Tasmania Buffalo

Tasmanian Buffalo is run by Phil Oates and Sheridan Lee. Their herd originates back to 1997, when three cows & one bull were imported into the state from Victoria.  At this stage the herd was based in Oyster Cove, south of Hobart, and consisted of Swamp Buffalo. Over the years the herd grew, to the point where more land was required. 
In 2010, 96 acres was purchased in the rolling hills of South Preston, 22km inland from Ulverstone. Over the years the herd has expanded to over 50 head thus far, with additions continually occurring due to their successful breeding program.

The Tasmania Buffalo herd combines the dairy (Riverine) and the meat (Swamp) buffalo. Their breeding program utilises Italian bloodlines, which is a premium milk source.
The cows enjoy a holistic diet consisting of lush pasture grasses and supplemented by hay sourced from their own paddocks as required. Each one is known by name and they love a bit of attention and a scratch.

The milking process is as for any cow dairy, although the buffalo take longer to milk and give substantially less than Friesians or Jerseys. As buffalo are large animals (average 700kg) Phil and Sheridan custom made the dairy to suit the buffalo. The butterfat is around 10% and the white cell count is remarkably low compared to other dairy breeds. 

You can find details of all this year’s participants here.
And information on all the SPP alumni here.

Your Community

Grounded

A reminder that tickets are on now on sale for GROUNDED Australia, a hybrid event for farmers that’s essentially a cross between a conference, a field day and a food festival. 
This event promises to be something quite extraordinary. It is being hosted at Fat Pig Farm on December 4 & 5 and the line up is incredible.

James and Helen Rebanks will both be speaking, as will Dan Kittredge, Felice Jacka, Jake Wolki, Angela Clifford, Stu Whytcross, Iain and Di Haggerty, Jack Pascoe, Paulette Whitney, Rachel Treasure, Christina Giudici, Chris & Jimmy Eggert… the list goes on!
Each of the speakers is usually going to talk on each of the two days, ensuring single day pass holders don’t miss out. Tickets are available at the GROUNDED website.

Enabling Business Grants

The Enabling Business Grant Program, which is the second round of the Small Business Growth Strategy Grant Program, will be opening on Tuesday, 29 October 2024. Aiming to support Tasmanian businesses to grow, adapt and innovate, this program will provide grants of between $2,500 and $10,000 for capital purchases that align to the enabling business and technology themes of the Small Business Growth Strategy 2026.

All successful applicants will be required to provide a cash contribution of at least 30 per cent towards the total purchase cost. The total value of the proposed purchase/s must not exceed $50,000, including GST.

The program guidelines have been made available in advance of the program opening to provide applicants plenty of time to review the guidelines, consider their eligibility and identify the eligible capital purchases to include in an application. For more information visit the Business Tasmania website. 

NutriSoil event

NutriSoil is bringing its Biological Farming RoundTable event to Tasmania, with key presenters agroecologists David Hardwick and Robin Tait, and host farmers Kate and Dean Marshman, dairy farmers who are using NutriSoil liquid and have recently trialled their worm castings.

The event is dedicated to enhancing soil health and boosting farm profitability. NutriSoil Biological Farming Roundtable events travel across Australia, bringing together experts and farmers to explore cutting-edge practices that regenerate the land and maximise yields, so it’s one not to be missed!

RuralBiz Training

Skills Tasmania and the Department of State Growth has announced generous subsidies of up to 90% on the costs of training for self-employed farmers and agricultural workers, providing they express their interest/enrol by 3 October 2024. Study commences 2025.
RuralBiz Training is one such organisation that can offer online flexible training for full qualifications and skillsets, and they are also happy to tailor personalised training solutions for anyone who is interested.

Full details can be found online.

Planting Trees on Farm – TIA Webinar

Matthew Harrison from TIA recently held a webinar relating to how planting trees on farm impacts on biodiversity and natural capital. A range of models were used to examine spatially-explicit carbon sequestration and changes in biodiversity over time.

The webinar canvassed benefits associated with planting environmentally bespoke species in terms of carbon sequestration, plant persistence, threatened species habitat and effective habitat condition. We briefly discussed tools for carbon and natural capital accounting, including the natural capital dashboard we have developed.
The webinar can be viewed here: Planting trees on farm: implications for biodiversity and natural capital

We love hearing from you, so please drop us an email, contact us via our socials, or give us a call if you have feedback on anything mentioned in this month’s newsletter.

Thanks as always,

Jen and Ollie