Nature is at the heart of Jo and Greg Bear’s sheep farm on Canary Island near Boort in northern Victoria.
“Sustainability is the philosophy that we live by. It’s our purpose. We’re pretty open to having a crack at nearly anything as long as it’s environmentally friendly and aligns with our values.” Jo said.
Much like how plants can grow back fresh after fire, it was after experiencing financial hardship and droughts that Greg and Jo were prompted to consider a different way to use their land.
Jo and Greg Bear. Photo: Thomas Kinsman
“We had a tough few years and we decided to take away our emphasis from irrigation. We were very lucky to be able to buy more land which gave us more diversity and we sourced greater knowledge around what we had. The system became more resilient,” Greg said.
It was a risk but it’s this curiosity, resilience and realising the potential of the natural land that prompted Jo and Greg to explore different ways of farming.
“We’ve predominantly been using holistic grazing management which is all about mimicking the natural movement of large numbers of animals. The idea came from Allan Savoury who worked in national parks in Africa. We saw how productive a system it was, and it just built our curiosity and made us think ‘what else could we do?” Greg said.
For Jo and Greg, biodiversity is a key focus on their farm. With climate change causing unpredictable, extreme weather, having diverse life on their farm means they can adapt and remain resilient.
A large part of this is developing a deeper understanding of the land, especially through connections with First Nations people, ecologists and experts.
"About two years ago, we were really fortunate to connect with a local traditional owner who visited our farm to collect wallaby grass seed. I ended up working alongside her, and we had such amazing, authentic conversations,” Jo said.
“We ended up doing a really big tree planting project and had up to 11 locals from Barapa Barapa come and work alongside us planting trees. Every Friday afternoon we would sit by the river, have a yarn, cook lamb sausages on the campfire and eat together. It was just the best time.”
“Biodiversity isn’t just about plants; it’s people as well. Welcoming different people with different views. It just opens your eyes to a whole new world you hadn’t thought about."
Jo Bear. Photo: Thomas Kinsman
One such instance was when a visiting ecologist spied a rare critter under a cotton bush in Jo and Greg’s paddock.
“He just looked under the bush and saw a frog hopper which is a kind of grasshopper. Apparently, they haven’t been seen in this area for 30 or 40 years. That was when we realised the significance of what we had in that paddock.” Greg said.
By welcoming a diverse range of views and being open to implementing different practices, Jo and Greg have created a space that is resilient, productive and kind to the environment. They are working with the land and constantly learning more about their own backyard.
“If we’ve got 100 different plant species, some are going to flourish in wet times and others in dry. Nearly every month something new pops up and we just can’t believe it. It’s really exciting.”
But it isn’t always easy, and for more farmers to take this route there needs to be more support.
“We’re spending a lot of time managing this stuff, and there needs to be some sort of financial element to ensure we can keep doing this,” Greg said.
For Jo, work needs to be done on a fundamental level to help people understand their role.
“I think it’s helpful to remember that this environment belongs to everyone. We can all benefit from it, and having those considerations can help us maintain this longer term,” Jo said.
Jo and Greg see lots of farmers working hard to protect nature, but without financial support and recognition it’s not always an easy path to take.
“There’s some really good things going on in farming communities,” Greg said, “I think it’s great to be able to connect and share our story with ACF and hopefully help people understand so this is a path more people can take.”
Read more about ACF's campaign Food that's good for people and nature.
