Australian farming ‘buzzing’ with innovation

FOOD FOR THOUGHT conference speaker profile: Joel Williams

Joel Williams is known around the world for his enthusiasm and passion for working with farmers to increase their knowledge and understanding of soil health.

With links to VicNoTill going back almost a decade, he can hardly contain his excitement over returning to Australia this spring as the keynote speaker at their annual conference. Book your tickets HERE.

Now based in Canada, Joel says Australia and the UK in particular are ‘buzzing’ when it comes to innovative farming systems that connect the health of soils, plants and people.

“There’s a lot of really good stuff happening in Australia where farmers are getting really good traction in this regenerative, soil health space. There’s also a lot of traction around reducing fertiliser and pesticides.”

Joel says globally there is a noticeable shift towards managing inputs differently, leading to reduced fertiliser and pesticide use in agriculture.

“This is a very, very universal and very very hot topic. It isn’t academics, researchers and government institutions driving this from the top down. It is this community of farmers driving change from the bottom up, which is hugely important.

“Because it’s driven by farmers, they are proactive in finding ways to be more profitable in managing their inputs.”

Human health

He says the conference theme, Food for Thought, fits with the growing consumer awareness of human health.

“You look at the increasing number of influencers on social media who are talking about nutrition, diet, lifestyle and exercise. We’re seeing more people take more notice of what they eat and the quality of the food they’re putting into their bodies.

“This conference comes along at a perfect time, and to have these conversations with farmers – who are at the forefront of producing this food – is so great.

“I have loved being part of the evolution of VicNoTill which is taking farmers well beyond tyre pressure, row spacings, controlled traffic and groundcover and tackling these big picture issues.

“They are taking a step back, putting a whole bunch of different people in the room from scientists to nutritionists to agronomists to grain and livestock buyers and farmers and asking, ‘Why are we doing this? And how can we do better?’ It’s great to see.”

Momentum

He says VicNoTill has created an important community where people exchange ideas, transfer knowledge, have practical conversations and make change.

“Although VicNoTill had been around for a long time before I came across them, in the past decade in particular, the momentum for thinking outside the box when it comes to farming has really exploded.

“The University of You Tube and social media combined have helped farmers connect and learn like never before. It’s been transformational. On top of that you have a farmer-led group like VicNoTill bringing people together in the paddock, the conference room or at a workshop and you start seeing more people put those innovations into practice.”

Joel says no matter where he travels, despite hugely different contexts in which farming operates, the problems farmers face when transitioning away from conventional agriculture are the same.

“The things farmers want to know in terms of soil health are pretty much universal. How do I improve it? How do I improve input efficiencies? How do I use less fertilisers? How do I improve plant health? How do I use less pesticides?

“It’s those same questions around how to improve this really important asset that the whole farm business depends on.”

Nutrient density

Since running an online foliar nitrogen course a year ago, Joel has experienced unprecedented interest from farmers. He has since delved deeper, and foliar feeding, foliar nutrition and nitrogen management will be the focus of his Food for Thought presentation in the conference room and at his masterclass.

Joel will present the latest science-based evidence for the first time around nutrient decline historically in crops and focus on how to grow food that is as nutrient-dense as possible.

“It’s a muddy picture and is not clear-cut as there are a lot of variables. What is nutrient density and what are some of the factors we know that drive this? Also, how do we put this into practice? How can farmers improve the nutrient density in their crops? I’ll be linking it back to improving soil biology to support nutrient uptake.”

Joel’s masterclass will dive more deeply into micro-mineral interactions in the soil and how soil biology drives nutrient cycling. Bio-stimulants, other additives that can be used as sprays or tonics for plants and soil, and the potential benefits of these products, will also be covered.

“A lot of research has been done in this area where you can apply things like iron or zinc to enrich grain with these important trace minerals to address these deficiencies in your diet.

“These three days with VicNoTill will be a great opportunity to overlap nutrition from a human and soil perspective. It will be fascinating I am sure.”

Sustainability

Joel has a Bachelor of Agricultural Science specialising in plant and soil dynamics and a Master of Sciences in Food Policy where he explored farmers motivations and barriers to adopting intercropping.

He says through his research and world travel he’s discovered the strongest motivator for regenerative farmers is to be sustainable, with economics playing a critical part.

“In regenerative agriculture circles it’s not about being profitable for the sake of being profitable. It’s about being as profitable as you can within a ‘sustainable’ context.

“When farmers say ,‘we want to improve soil health’, they aren’t talking about just wanting to protect this resource and the landscapes around their farm. The bigger driver is they want to be more profitable.

“I don’t say that as any kind of a negative thing. Being profitable is fundamental. Farms are businesses, and they have to be profitable.

“That’s where the soil health topic overlaps these two lines beautifully. Regenerative farming strikes this balance where environment and economics meet in the middle.”

Barriers to change

Joel says the reality of going to a more regenerative farming system is more complicated, which can be a barrier to change. Education is critical to breaking this down.

“I predominantly focus on education to help farmers understand the complexity of their system, and through that understanding, they can make better decisions about their inputs.

“This school of thought is a lot more knowledge intensive, rather than input intensive. Therefore, the key to reducing your input intensity is increasing your knowledge and understanding.”

Joel says younger farmers are at the heart of this change, which is creating a lot of enthusiasm in the older generation who have been looking for answers but haven’t had this global connectivity.

“I see a lot of older farmers really enthused by this, they love it. They wish this could have happened earlier because they find this new approach so engaging and exciting.”

Soil health bug

Joel says farmers shouldn’t jump into changing before they have developed a good understanding.

“You need to do your research and prepare. There are so many tools but you have to be mindful about your transition. You can’t just jump off the cliff and go cold turkey on reducing inputs, there are stepping stones and strategies.”

Joel says to get started, look at the low hanging fruit.

“Tweak your system rather than trying to transform it all at once. For example, add carbon-based inputs to your fertiliser and pesticides. You’re still going to use the same fertiliser and the same pesticide, you’re just going to include these additives, which will soften the blow of your inputs or improve the efficiency.”

He says there are many examples of transitional stepping stones farmers can follow, and the more they learn, the more steps they can take.

“If you’re interested in a topic, you’re going to find it easier to do some reading, come along to events and conferences and seek out like-minded people. The fact that soil health is so interesting is a huge asset and helps overcome the difficulty of learning something new.

“Farmers around the world are telling me they find this way of farming much more fun and interesting than following a regimented, conventional formula.

“They really catch the bug and don’t mind the complexity, because at the end of the day they’re enjoying their farming a whole lot more.”