Farmers Helping Farmers: VicNoTill Carbon Power 22 Conference with Brendan Pattison

VicNoTill board member and NSW broadacre cropping farmer Brendan Pattison is building carbon in his strip and disc cropping system. The fourth generation Australian farmer describes the take-up of regenerative farming ideas as similar to running a football club. During his three years as president of the NSW Marrar Bombers it was at times challenging to get a point across and to do so, he needed to explain it in several different ways. As an early adopter in his district of zero-till farming with a focus on building soil biology, he says it has also taken time for his system to click into place as he’s needed different explanations and real-life examples to fully understand where he was heading. Brendan admits his has been a ‘pretty slow’ journey of tweaking his system for the dual benefit of improving soil quality without compromising profitability. He’s not in a screaming hurry, as he is in this for the long haul. Brendan was one of the farmers who presented at the VicNoTill annual conference at Moama NSW in 2022, which focussed on how regenerative farming methods are helping Australian growers build and store more carbon on their farms.