Tim Parton at VicNoTill 2023, Moama, on biological farming

Brewood Park Farm manager Tim Parton, Staffordshire, UK, has left the start of his harvest and visited Victoria and New South Wales to help share his knowledge on regenerative farming in high-rainfall environments.

He said he also hoped to reach farmers about the importance of prioritising mental health on-farm.

Mr Parton said he based his cropping operation on a biological regenerative system, and attended this year's VicNoTill Tran$ition '23 conference at Moama, NSW.

His property has an annual average of about 700 millimetres, and an average summer temperature of 23 degrees Celsius.

He said his farm included wheat for bread, canola, spring barley for beer, spring oats, beans, lupins, wildflowers and more.

"Wildflowers are so important for pollination and to keep our pollinators going," he said.

Mr Parton said he first started reading "as many books" as he could to better understand the biology below-ground and find new ways to reduce synthetic inputs on his farm.

He said over 15 years he had seen significant change on-farm, including finding more than 200 moth species, and recommended every farmer to "get a microscope".

"We're faced with so many challenges that we have to be multitaskers, it doesn't have to be expensive, we can keep it simple," he said.

"I love the challenge of regen because I love problems and I love solving problems."

He said he would plant a cover crop on each of his paddocks within a 12-month period, and he tried to mimic mother nature to create diversity below ground.

"Nature has always got the answers, biology always has the answers, we just need to ask the right questions," Mr Parton said.

"Soil gives us everything, it gives us food, clean water, the air that we breathe, it's our most precious resource because without soil everything else stops."

He created his own compost and liquid applicators, and he removed fungicides, seed dressings and insecticides from his farm management.

He said he would graze about two-thirds of his cover crop when needed, and rolls his cover crop on a frost.

Mr Parton said he also receives about $758 a hectare in funding for companion cropping, direct drilling, on-farm planning and removing insecticides.

He founded The Green Farm Collective and won the 2022 British Farming Awards' arable innovator of the year.

"Australia is a beautiful country, a lot of the soils are in a bad way and they need some care, just like the rest of the world," he said.

"They're degraded and everybody needs to look after their soils, if we don't look after our soils then we're doomed."

Mr Parton said he urged farmers to include their family and staff in the decision-making, and to prioritise their wellbeing when looking at changing on-farm practices.

"Change is always scary for people and there's a lot of pressure there," he said.

"If you care and you're passionate about something, you're always worrying because we want to get the best out of it and that's just human nature.

"It's not easy, sometimes a phone call to a neighbour just to say how hard you're finding it can alleviate the problem."

Mr Parton said he believed farmers would be able to remove synthetic inputs after focusing on soil activity and healthy crops - and caring for their personal health.

"Every person that inhabits the planet has a responsibility," he said.

"We need to educate the consumer on the benefits of regen ag on how we can bring nutrient-rich food and heal the planet on the way.

"If you have the right nutrition, everything else will fall into place."