“I have been lucky, I have learned to have the courage to make mistakes and re-label them as learning opportunities. I believe more time can always be spent in seeking out knowledge”.
Shane Joyce is not lucky, Shane is one of those people who is very in touch with his environment and in tune with Nature’s ways.
In this DVD he tells of his journey to bring a broken family farm of 7,900 Ha of which 3000 were suited to intensive farming, back to one being sought after by a mining company due to its high carbon storage.
When Shane returned to Dukes Plains, the family property in Theodore, Qld. he soon realised that he needed to change what was happening as the inputs and maintenance were exceeding the profits. Not sure where to start Shane and his wife Shan realised that they needed to learn more and hence started reading, going to conferences, farm talks, enrolled in an RCS course and encouraged farm visits.
The result was in 1993 they changed the grazing management, constantly monitoring and measuring time-controlled cell grazing. They became organic and improved the soil with biodynamic inputs. They saw a productivity increase of 30% with gross margins of $64 – $113 per hectare. Water availability was dramatically increased due to increased water infiltration and reduced losses in evaporation; dry streams started to flow again.
What is a farmer’s best tool?
The 2nd part of his story, Shane talks about and demonstrates what he claims is the farmer’s best tool – using a pendulum. Through dowsing, Shane can quickly know what decisions to make and of the results that follow and adjust accordingly.
There are many valuable lessons shared in this short and informative video.
What can you take away and apply on your farm?
