Bruce Maynard - the latest addition to the Council of the Carbon Coalition - is a true "Carbon Farmer". He has been using regenerative or conservation farming techniques on his fourth-generation family property Willydah, near Narromine, since 1987. Regenerative practices usually have a direct impact on soil structure and fertility and, as a consequence, lead to an increase in the carbon load in the soil.
In future, Bruce and others like him might be called Carbon Farmers, once the importance and economic value of locking up carbon in agricultural soils is known and agreed by the market.
The Coalition's plan, as it stands, sees an important role for a network of "Carbon Farmers" throughout Australia as learning centres where growers can see the techniques in action, attend field days and seminars, and decide if carbon farming is for them. As there is no fixed way to farm for carbon, a variety of styles will be available.
Bruce Maynard has been honoured as a hero of Australian agriculture and featured on ABC television for his innovative practices. These include whole farm planning, holistic management, time-controlled grazing, minimum tillage "Advanced Sowing" of crops into grassland, and stress-free stock handling. The Maynard family's success in responding to the needs of the ecology while managing for profit and lifestyle was recognised by inclusion as a case study on the National Heritage Trust.
Bruce is conducting the "Farming Systems Program" for the Central West Catchment Management Authority. The Carbon Coalition was one initiative to emerge from that Program.
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