Farming and Fire in Australia Today
Darren Doherty is a farm planner in Australia who works worldwide, and he’s founder of Regrarians, which promotes and teaches the principles of regenerative agriculture. We talk about the bush fires, the land management problems that contributed to their severity, the loss Aboriginal land management practices–and the opportunities that rise from the ashes.
Show Notes:
1’25 how the fires have affected Darren
4’19 regenerative agriculture and resilience in the face of fires
4’51 turning on gravity-fed flood irrigation system during fires
6’19 the low tech aspect of regenerative ag
6’49 Australian farmers and fire preparedness
10’55 Australia has a long history of fire management for thousands of years
15’16 hands-off land management as a response to bad management
16’27 loss of Aboriginal knowledge
20’02 seeing the land regenerating after fires
20’43 fires burning so hot that they burned eucalyptus trees and their seeds
23’40 polarization on the subject of climate change
26’16 the coal lobby contributed to the polarization
28’06 working with farmers who don’t like the word “carbon”
29’55 using a technique from non-violent communication
30’58 some steps for improving soil and improving fire risk
32’15 bringing together people, their enterprise, and the landscape
35’12 finding the balance between telling people what to do and letting them find their own way
36’40 outcomes better when people own the process
38’17 the work is about sharing stories
39’52 farmer to farmer communication is more effective than a government person telling farmers what to do
40’40 letting go of ego and of a proprietary business model
43’11 the opportunities that arise after fires
50’01 find out more about Regrarians
Fire photo credit: Rob Russell from Gosford, NSW, Australia [CC BY]
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