Allan Savory, the Patron Saint of Sustainable Farming, is visiting Australia and we met up with him out at Brewarrina (5 hours NNW of UAMBY) at the 17,000 acre grazing property 'Bokhara Plains'. The originator of Holistic Resource Management - a system of guided decision-making - Allan is the mentor of thousands of farmers around the world. At this field day at Graham and Cathy Finlayson's plains cattle enterprise, Allan expressed his frustration at the number of farmers practicing a luke warm version of HM - saying results will only come if farmers adopt an extreme version of grazing management: smaller paddocks, bigger herds, more impact, more response. Allan is convinced that agriculture holds the key to the triple crises of Climate Change, Desertification and Biodiversity. Soil is degenerating and holding less rainfall. Agriculture is more dangerous than fossil fuels, he says. We are a desert-making species. Only animals correctly used in the landscape can save us: "We have no option." He excoriated those who are vilifying animals such as cattle and sheep, based on mistaken understanding of their role in the landscape. Allan urged his listeners to read Paul Gilding's book The Great Disruption in which Gilding advises that society be put on a war footing to meet the onslaught of Climate Change. The Carbon Farming Conference in Dubbo NSW on 28-29 September, 2011 will address these issues.
Graham Finlayson explaining his wagonwheel system of paddocks radiating out like a pizza from a central watering point.
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