Roots so deep you can see the devil

TWEED Landcare will host a special screening event together with SoilCare and Tweed Shire Council, to promote regenerative agriculture and soil health in the Northern Rivers region.

Roots So Deep (you can see the devil down there) is a four-part documentary film series about inventive farmers and maverick scientists who are exploring a currently underused method of grazing cattle.

Mimicking the way bison once roamed the land, the intrepid agriculturalists explore how it can help farmers get out of debt, restore depleted soils, rebuild wildlife habitats, and draw down carbon.

A Q&A will follow the screening with a panel of local farmers, soil health advocates, educators and practitioners from across the region.

In the film a team of pioneering scientists conducts groundbreaking research exploring the world of adaptive cattle farmers and their conventional farming neighbours. They investigate the costs and benefits of grazing practices in harmony with nature versus those in conflict with it.

Directed by Peter Byck, the documentary builds a path towards solving climate change with hooves, heart and soil as he meets farmers on both sides of the fence – those practising adaptive grazing and their neighbours set in their family’s generations-old methods.

Currently helping to lead a $10 million research project comparing Adaptive Multi-Paddock (AMP) grazing with conventional grazing, Byck is collaborating with 20 scientists and 10 farm families.

The project is focused on soil health and soil carbon storage, microbial/bug/bird biodiversity, water cycling, and other initiatives.

Professor of Nutrition, Food Studies and Public Health, Emerita, New York University Marion Nestle said it was an impressive film.

“What I like so much about these films is the genuine compassion and understanding shown for farmers, no matter how they farm,” Nestle said.

“Peter Byck is a terrific interviewer, even of people who view the world from different perspectives.

“Anyone who wants to know what regenerative agriculture can do, in theory and practice, will watch these films with pleasure and admiration for the hard work that goes into producing food,” she said.

The special event at The Citadel, Murwillumbah, is on April 30 at 5.30 pm.

A Byron Bay event will be held at The Farm on April 4.

For tickets and more information, visit trybooking.com/events/landing/1362014