New board member follows farming dream

Callum Lawson

Avenel, VIC

New VicNoTill board member Callum Lawson has always loved farming and as a child was a willing helper to his father Les, friends, neighbours and anyone who’d let him do farm chores while growing up in the Strathbogie ranges in Victoria.

Les and Callum’s Mum Netta purchased a hobby farm in the picturesque Highlands in the early 80s, starting with a small number of merino sheep before switching to cattle. Their vision was always to regenerate the property and they have worked hard to improve pastures, fence off waterways and plant trees.

In 2009 the family expanded their Angus breeding business by leasing more properties to run cattle on.

Although he loved farming, Callum didn’t see himself in his family farm’s picture once he grew up as everyone discouraged him because they believed there was no money in farming.

At 17 he started a diesel mechanic apprenticeship with William Adams Caterpillar in Melbourne, working in the city for six years before shifting into the mining industry for the next three.

Calling him home

Despite pursuing a different career path, his love of agriculture never waned.

From around the age of 14 Callum helped out his neighbour Scott McKay who taught him the concept of ‘paddock to plate’ as a direct beef supplier to butchers. The more he worked at home and the more time he spent next door, the more he knew farming was what he really wanted to pursue.

“When I went home on weekends and during my time off, my passion for agriculture was still there and soon I was buying cows and looking for lease blocks to run them on. I couldn’t wait to get back on the farm, so I returned home to work part-time as a mechanic/earthmover and part-time on the farm.”

Back on the land, Callum was always keen to try new things by growing different crops and trialling new species. At the same time, several aspects of modern farming didn’t sit comfortably.

“Every time there was a sign of insects everyone would be recommending insecticide. Every year the recommendation for lime and phosphorus kept getting higher with little to no real changes in yields.”

New way of farming

A friend recommended he attend a grazing clinic with holistic management educator and grazier Graeme Hand and wool grower and pasture cropping pioneer Colin Seis. This was in 2017, and after just one day Callum’s mind was spinning.

“I came home from that first day feeling baffled about the way I was farming. What they were presenting about regenerative and holistic grazing concepts felt like common sense to me.

“This course started me on a real path of discovery, and the more research I did the more fascinated I became.”

Callum signed up for every field day and course he could find. The following year he met Grant Sims, who was VicNoTill president at the time and was typical of a lot of farmers in regenerative ag who were flipping their farming systems around to solve problems rather than treat symptoms.

“When I started farming more regeneratively I loved watching things grow and see the real difference in how healthy the crops and animals became.

“I went to a couple of events where Grant was speaking and started buying seed off of him, which led me to joining as a member and then getting more involved with VicNoTill by going to conferences and other events.”

Callum has been sowing multi-species crops since 2017, experimenting with autumn, spring and summer crops of up to 24 species. He puts out biological foliars and extracts and makes bio ferts on-farm. Some of the changes he has made include; high-impact, time-controlled grazing, making his own compost and vermicast along with cutting most synthetic fertilisers and chemicals from his system.

Transition changes

With word getting around about Callum’s interest in regenerative ag, in 2021 Sam Beddison offered him a management role at his family’s 1200-hectare Angus breeding property “Allanvale” at Avenel.

The Beddisons’ had owned the property for 20 years and were interested in transitioning to a regenerative system. Sam felt Callum would be the right fit.

The first change Callum made was going from 10 individual mobs of grazing cattle to one large mob, to enable higher impact on paddocks and longer rest periods for pasture.

He also changed the calving season from autumn and spring to a winter calving to match peak quantity and quality of feed with the nutritional needs of the cattle.

Callum has sowed 250 hectares of multi-species crops this autumn, all with biology and minerals as a seed dressing. He has been using a Tow and Fert to put out foliar nutrition right across the property.

He hosted a natural sequence farming course at “Allanvale” in March 2022 and has now constructed four leaky weirs and four kilometres of contours.

His focus is strongly on the links between soil, plant, animal and human health while retaining water in the landscape as long as possible.

“At last year’s VicNoTill conference there was a really strong tie-back to human health which resonated with what I was already interested in.

“Everything is linked together. Everything we do to the soil affects the plant which then affects the animal and humans.

“I’m improving the soil health by giving it what it needs little and often. I handle all the animals with low stress stock handling techniques to ensure they are as happy and stress free as possible.

“Whilst improving my soils I’m giving the animals free choice minerals to make up for the nutrient availability that’s lacking in the plants.”

Remaining profitable

Callum says it’s easy to get caught up in regenerative agriculture, which can be both good and bad.

“It’s super important that you remain profitable otherwise you won’t be there to do it again next year. Feeling good is important but if it’s not making money, there’s not much point doing it.”

One of the biggest challenges Callum sees for regenerative farming is the lack of reward at market for the extra effort to produce a healthier, more nutrient-rich product. However, this also presents an opportunity.

“I believe in the future that anyone producing food grown with less chemicals, who is also sequestering carbon in their soils, will become more profitable because they have a bigger bucket to store water and nutrients in.”

This is demonstrated through a growing paddock to plate business Callum is part of with his neighbour Scott, ‘Habbies Howe Beef’.

“It’s only a small part of what I do but it’s an important part. When I got involved we went from supplying one beast a fortnight to one a week and now we’re supplying 8-10 a week.”

Hearing Col Bowey speak at this year’s conference about his paddock to plate business model for sheep in WA has given Callum plenty of food for thought.

“Col’s business model is focussed on being regenerative as well as profitable, and what he’s doing makes a lot of sense. Although we do things differently in that we prefer to feed our cattle all on grass and not with containment feed, we’re always open to new ideas to improve our product.”

Habbies Howe Beef

‘Habbies Howe Beef’ steers and heifers get finished along the river on a 180-hectare irrigation block, where they take them from 300 kilograms to an average of 480 kilograms. They move their grass-fed large mobs regularly and feed them a small amount of silage in the summer.

“We don’t sell the cattle as regenerative beef as this property is only where we finish them. We have a bit of work to do to get them to be fully regenerative but I do think there is a huge demand for it.”

Callum is excited to join the board and VicNoTill’s focus on ‘farmers helping farmers’ says it all. This hit home at last year’s conference when VicNoTill board member Brendan Pattison shared his farming story.

“I’d been to a field day at his place a few months before the conference where he painted a bit of a picture of what he was doing, but when he did his presentation, it blew me away.

“Seeing what other people are doing and learning from them is so important, and VicNoTill is open in sharing their mistakes as well. This can save you a fair bit of time and money in your business by not going down the wrong path.”

New board position

He said when VicNoTill put out a call for new board members, he was quick to apply.

“There are some amazing people involved with VicNoTill that I’d love to learn more from, and I also feel like I could contribute something on what I’ve learnt in pursuing my own passion for regenerative farming.

“It’s a great opportunity to learn from people who are forward thinking. When you try new things it’s important to surround yourself with people with common interests and goals.”

Callum says he hasn’t come across another farming group like VicNoTill that openly welcomes you onto their farms as well as explaining their entire operation and learnings along the way.

“There is so much knowledge and experience in VicNoTill; I really wanted to be a part of it. The number of trials and on farm tests going on and being shared is so generous and something to really be proud of.”

One thing Callum has learnt from his trial work is that early plant nutrition and biology are important to get onto the paddocks before it gets too wet.

“We got caught out the last two years not getting our foliar nutrition on before it got too wet, and we lost most of the brassicas and some legumes in our multi-species crop.”

After this year’s conference he has made new calcium brews and paddock trials are well underway.

“There are so many pieces of the puzzle and you’ve got to put them all together then get them in the right order to be profitable. The key things for us are soil and plant nutrition, which are driving profit, then grazing management.”

Mentors

Callum says he’s learnt ‘a hell of a lot’ from his Dad who has passed on practical skills as well as encouraging him to try new things.

“Dad has always supported me and so many of my crazy ideas, and he’s always encouraged me to go down the regenerative path. I still really enjoy working with him.”

“Mum has put me on the healthy eating path long before I recognised how important it is, it is now great to be able to have in depth conversations about how to grow healthy food with her.”

He’s also grateful for what he’s learnt from his neighbour Scott Mckay.

“I’m very grateful for the opportunities Scott and his wife Julia have given me and it’s great to be share-farming with them now and breeding and fattening cattle to supply direct to the butcher.”

His boss Sam Beddison has also given him a lot of opportunity and freedom to think outside the box.

“Sam has taught me so much about running the business and dealing with staff, along with encouraging me to test and trial new things on his farm.”

Callum knows he’ll never stop learning and meeting people to help him on his way.

“I have some great mentors around me who have taught me so much, and I’m still learning. I’m looking forward to being a bigger part of VicNoTill and sharing what I can to help others as well.”

Cows happily grazing on an autumn-sown multi-species crop.