Agriculturalist to impart experience

NEW South Wales-based agriculturalist Bruce Maynard will soon pass on the innovative farming practices he’s been developing since the late 1980s as part of a one-off workshop later this month.

The presentation is being organised by Geelong Landcare Network as part of their Farming for our Future series with support from the Corangamite Catchment Management Authority.

Mr Maynard said his workshop will showcase three major practices that have benefited his own approach to agriculture.

“The first is my no-kill cropping, which isn’t using techniques that kills other organisms like with tillage or synthetic chemicals,” he said.

“The consequence is you end up with the full grassland and you crop over the top of it. In essence, you keep all the cake and you add on layers of green whereas standard cropping takes out everything.

“The next one is stress-free stockmanship. If we amend some of our behaviours towards animals it can yield massive results. We’ve done work with sheep for example, raising the average daily gain by 33 per cent.

“Then there’s self-herding, where instead of hypothetically standing around with a shepherd’s crook, we can use sight, sound, and smell indicators to initiate those same behaviours.”

Topics around forage shrubs and grassland grain will also feature in the workshop, which will be a mix of practical and theoretical presentations.

Mr Maynard has 35 years’ experience in agriculture, and said his workshop will give attendees take-home tips and advice to bring to their own farming.

“They can implement those tactics straight away to enhance their business and landscape straight away,” he said.

“Long-term, it’s introducing them to the fact that there’s quite sophisticated and larger strategies that can be implemented in their practice.”

Mr Maynard’s workshop will take place at the Lethbridge Recreation Reserve from 10am to 3pm on Tuesday 28 November.

Tickets are $30 and can be booked at bit.ly/3Mxt3ck.