NZ Conference - "Steps to Sustainability: Cash and Credit from Carbon"

The forthcoming NZ Conference for holistic managers and all interested people will focus on soils and soil carbon. Conference organiser, John King, says: "With the recent interest in carbon sequestration and the looming threat of food miles, many in the rural sector reflect on the potential financial windfalls of soil carbon credits. Yet there are other profitable benefits from lifting soil carbon levels for farmers," says John King (NZ Holistic management Educator, pictured left). These include improving farm profitability by reducing costs or lengthening growing seasons.

John King from Succession is organising the Steps to Sustainability: Cash and Credit from Carbon seminar (June 26th & 27th, Timaru) Download your PDF registration form here, which will focus on innovative ideas for sustainable farming. While the seminar is for holistic farmers anyone looking for ideas that assist conventional farmers to enhance the sustainability of their business and property are welcome to attend. The focus is always on the production and marketing activities farmers and entrepreneurs are doing to make a dollar while enhancing theenvironment. Conference speakers this year include:

Trevor Cook, prominent Manawatu vet will present observations of soil and animal health, including recent trials looking at nitrogen applications and ewe health in the earlyspring.

Stephen Bell-Booth will provide useful insights into soil function and structure and how farmers can work towards such characteristics in their pastures. These insights are the backbone to many of the products Bell-Booth Industries develops.

Geoff Dunham from The Agribusiness Group will present a business model linking soil organic carbon with profitability and paint a realistic picture of what pastoral farmers might see with their bottom line as carbon levels shift in the soil.

As a pioneering scientist Kim Stevenson's research in the early 90s on grazing regimes and soil organic matter levels highlighted why common grazing practices often create poor soil properties and reduce farm capacity to buffer climate change.

Bruce Ward from The Farm Business Gym will be presenting Australian examples of pastoral carbon farming. Australians are actively pursuing knowledge in the soil carbon area at the moment.

The seminar will visit Shenley Station, owned and operated by farmers Rit and Sara Fisher and hear about the innovative mix of conservation and production activities that is creating a property and business resilient to climate change.


The old Swandri factory in Timaru is home to South Canterbury Textiles. Tour the factory and hear why Russell and Jeanette Emmerson from Forest Range Merinos in the Lindis Pass invested in this business to add value to their Saxon Merino wool clip.

The group will also visit Steve Lyttle at the Honey Valley NZ and hear stories of how a small family business is using innovative marketing to export their product overseas into very lucrative markets.