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Event 

Pasture Cropping Workshop
Title:
Pasture Cropping Workshop
When:
Oct 15 2011 - Oct 15 2011  9:00am - 5:00pm
Where:
'Winona' - Gulgong
Category:
Pasture Cropping Workshop

Description

Join Colin Seis, the co-originator of Pasture Cropping, for a unique one day course at 'Winona', Col Seis's family farm.

Pasture cropping is a technique of sowing crops into living perennial (usually native) pastures and having these crops grow symbiotically with the existing pastures.

For the last 15 years Colin Seis has spent much of his time perfecting this technique. Through his work Col can now show how it is possible to grow many different types of winter and summer growing crops, without destroying the perennial pasture base.

darren and col

This course will cover:

  • The theory and history of pasture cropping
  • Integrating grazing into a cropping cycle
  • How to drastically lessen your inputs
  • How to create resilient, diverse pasture species
  • How to transition from conventional cropping to pasture cropping
  • How pasture cropping techniques can be adapted to other climates
  • A farm walk of Winona's pasture cropping operation
pasture

The potential for profit and environmental health is enormous and a lot of landholders in many regions of Australia are showing this to be the case. There are now over 1500 farmers pasture cropping cereal crops into summer (C4) and winter (C3) perennial native grass in NSW, South Australia, Victoria Queensland and West Australia as well as the USA and Scandinavia with excellent results.

Pasture Cropping is being adopted over a very large range of varying climatic conditions and soil types in Australia and it is very successfully being practiced from Gulgong N.S.W, Cobar in Far West N.S.W, Biloela in North Queensland, Bairnsdale in South-East Victoria, Jamestown in SA, Geralton in W.A. and numerous areas between.

soil

The above districts vary greatly in annual rainfall and distribution of rainfall, dispelling the nay-sayers remark "but it wouldn't work around here". Like any regenerative agriculture technique, pasture cropping can be adapted to a wide range of climates and soils, as long as the farmer understands the principles of the method.

You know your soils and your climate best. Come learn how to apply pasture cropping to your farm, and reap the benefits of a way of cropping that regenerates both your land and your livelihood.

winona

Resources and further reading:

About this course:

This course will be held on-farm at Winona, Col Seis's farm near Gulgong. As such, please wear appropriate clothing for a working farm environment. We will be spending a portion of the day outside in the field.

Registration for this workshop includes lunch, morning and afternoon tea, all made with local produce from the Mudgee region. Gulgong and Mudgee have many accommodation options - see below in the venue details if you'd like to stay the night before or after the workshop.

This course will be a jam-packed day of essential knowledge, and a chance to meet other like-minded folks from across NSW who are passionate about regenerative cropping and creating sustainable livelihoods from farming.

About the teacher:

colColin Seis and his son Nicholas own and run the 2000-acre property “Winona” which is situated North of Gulgong on the central slopes of NSW. The Seis family has been farming and grazing there since the 1860s. Winona runs around four thousand, 18.5 - micron merino sheep, which includes a 58 year old Merino Stud and “Pasture crops” around 500 acres annually to oats, wheat and cereal rye. Winona also runs one of the largest kelpie working dog studs in the world. Colin's website.

milkwoodThis course is coordinated and run by RegenAG's NSW provider, Milkwood Permaculture. If you have any questions about this workshop feel free to contact Milkwood Permaculture by email or on 02 63737763 for more information.

>> For more info and to book into this workshop, head to the RegenAG website.

regenag
RegenAG is a global alliance of farming families who are committed to helping regenerate the world's farms, soils, communities and on-farm livelihoods. Milkwood Permaculture is proud to be RegenAG's NSW co-ordinator and course provider.


Venue

'Winona'
Venue:
'Winona'   -   Website
Street:
Merotherie Road
ZIP:
2850
City:
Gulgong
State:
NSW

Description

'Winona' is Col Seis's family farm on Merotherie Road, north of Gulgong in the central west of NSW. It is 4.5 hours drive from Sydney CBD.

Full details about the venue for this workshop can be found at the workshop's booking page at RegenAG.

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If you are a farmer, a primary producer, a land manager or in the immediate family of someone who is, you may be eligible for FarmReady which covers course fees, travel and accommodation costs when eligible students attend specific Milkwood Permaculture courses that are FarmReady approved.


Reading List

Prior to attending your course, you might like to take a look at our ever-expanding reading list,a bunch of recommended and practical texts on Permaculture, sustainable agriculture and community resilience.

None of these texts are pre-requisite for our courses, we just like to be able to provide suggestions on background reading, in case you're champing at the bit to get going.


"Understanding and applying top-down thinking and bottom-up action is the key to success."
David Holmgren
co-founder of permaculture
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