Runnymede Farm | Fact File

Location: Uduc region near Harvey, Western Australia

Land Owners: Blythe Calnan and partner Gregg Hooper

Farm Size: 500 acres

Production: 400 chickens (producing pastured eggs) + 140 head of grass-fed beef (breeders)

Soil Profile: Ranges from straight clay to heavy sand. Previously had high inputs of NPK

Water: The area has high rainfall (between 850 and 900 mm per year)

Topography: Small sand hill risers, clay flats

Background:

Blythe and Gregg both have backgrounds in agriculture, farming and animal welfare - but their regenerative agriculture journey started when they each saw how landscape and animal health were battling it out across the world.

Gregg was working in aviation and was seeing the ground from the air - giving him a birds eye view of how land was being managed, and the impact livestock was having on the landscape. Blythe was travelling a lot internationally and noticing the links between livestock production and land degradation - which was heart-breaking for someone so committed to animal wellbeing and agriculture.

They both started listening to some of the luminaries of the regen ag movement. Joel Salatin and Allan Savory were immediate mentors for the couple.

In 2013 Blythe was awarded the Cattle Council rising champion. As part of the award, Blythe had the opportunity to network with other like-minded, ambitious individuals in Agriculture and travel to Mexico and Texas as part of The International Beef Alliance. “As I travelled was becoming more and more conscious of the land degradation that was occurring in livestock production systems around the world”. Blythe admits that something didn’t sit right with the way some livestock producers were getting their results and the outcomes from the land, and the impacts this was having on land, people and the animals. The other factor this equated to for Blythe was the future food security problem that could occur due to the desiccation of the land, which she was already seeing throughout her travels internationally. (Source: Rural Regional Remote Women's Network)

Runnymede Farm:

They moved to the south-west in 2014 with 100 acres, then built up their land through lease blocks before securing their current farm in 2019.

The farm is a former dairy property. Sadly the owners were forced out of dairying in 2016 due to the Browns contract cuts (their family had milked for 150 years), but Blythe had worked with the family doing some relief milking on the weekends to build her farming knowledge, so the family was pleased that she and Gregg could take it on.

Right from the start of their own farming journey they were seeking a way to work more harmoniously with the land. Due to her background with beef cattle the farm was slowly transitioned to stock from north western Australia, and they have since used genetics from the Pharo Cattle Company in Colorado to grow a herd that thrives in the grass-fed regenerative environment. The herd has an Angus base with some Speckle Park genetics to build a robust, resilient and highly productive animal.

Land use:

Primarily most of the land area is used for the beef operation. The couple has worked through a few farming models to work out what works best for them - they've previously tried beef backgrounding (farmers add kilos to the cattle and are paid per kilo gained), agistment and grass finishing. The plan is now to reduce their herd size and increase their finishing capacity.

Regenerative Farming:

Blythe and Gregg wanted to focus on the health of the whole farming system - restoring and maintaining natural capital, improving soil health and improving water holding and management capacity.

With 500 acres of pasture, they rotate the chickens and the cattle through the land. The chickens spread the cow manure and eat the bugs and the chicken poo fertilises the grass. When the chickens move on,  the area rests for at least six weeks, allowing the pasture to regenerate for the cattle.

Greening Farms Project

Blythe and Greg signed up for the Peel-Harvey Catchment Council's Greening Farms project - a program that works with farmers to protect, enhance and plant native vegetation on farms across the Peel-Harvey catchment to improve protection of existing vegetation and utilise innovative management techniques to increase farm biodiversity, productivity and improve soil condition.

Dirty Clean Food

Runnymede Farm is a provider for Dirty Clean Food, "a food brand run by a diverse group of people that is working to reinvent the way the world grows, thinks about and buys food to create a better future for people and the planet".

The organisation works exclusively with farmers who are practising regenerative agriculture, and Runnymede supplies pasture raise eggs.

The Value of Plant Families

There's nothing more disappointing than spending a fair bit of money on seed and having to track around and not even find a single seedling. But there are multiple advantages to planting more plant families.

Pioneer plants such as chicory and plantain can break through first, creating deep roots and ground cover, potentially protecting the more delicate plants or those that may push through later.

Sunflowers are a wonderful mycorrhizal host, and are unlikely to be grazed until later in the cycle when the oils in the seeds are tastier.

Millet works worked well for Runnymede Farm - particularly in the summer mixes.

When this mix is more established and starting to build soil health, buckwheat and linseed could be a valuable addition to the mix.

Different plant families provide different root shapes and root systems below the ground and various leaf shapes above it. This diversity allows the plants to play their different, complementary roles, all contributing in their own way to soil health. A diversity of plants means a diversity of plant microbes, and soil microbial diversity underpins virtually all functions that we want our soil to perform for us.

Reliable species such as rye grasses are a good feed base and grew in the waterlogged environment at the start of the process.

Conclusion

Blythe recognises that multi-species planting isn't the complete solution to building soil health, but believes that it is an intrinsic and vital part of the regenerative farming process.

She believes that healthy soil is the key to any successful farming enterprise, and by leveraging local expertise and advice on plant species and families that thrive together to nurture soil health is will be her blueprint for managing her own farm.

However, she concedes that it isn't a quick fix. A weak soil takes time to become more robust, and it could easily take at least tow years of building a functioning biological system before even considering the introduction of perennials onto the system.

Now she has completely re-evaluated her role as farmer. She no longer grows cattle or chickens. She is a grazing and soil manager - when she gets that right, the rest follows naturally.