Speaker
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David HardwickAgroecologist, Founder & Owner, Soil Land Food
WHO IS DAVID HARDWICK?
David Hardwick, is an agroecologist & partner in the rural change management company Soil Land Food. David has over 20 years experience in rural landscapes, farming and food systems. He develops and delivers many of the extension projects for Soil Land Food across Australia. He worked in community development and then horticulture before completing a dairy traineeship on an organic dairy in NSW.
Since then he has had a wide ranging career working in both management and technical roles. These include Landcare extension, agronomy, soils, agribusiness, biofertiliser R&D and manufacturing, organics, training, and consulting positions. For many years he also helped run a regional farmers market business with his wife. He has also worked on rural cooperative and social enterprise projects. David also teaches soils, regenerative agriculture, farm planning and agroecology at TAFE NSW on a casual basis. David’s passion is agroecology and empowering farmers with knowledge and skills that make a difference!
David’s qualifications include:
Bachelor of Ecological Agriculture (University of Sydney)
Diploma in Agribusiness (TAFE NSW)
CIV in Training & Assessment
Grazing Land Management (Queensland DPI)
Natural Sequence Farming – Tarwyn Park Training
Plan Your Farm Landscape – Part 1
LEARN HOW RURAL LANDSCAPES WORK. DEVELOP A WHOLE FARM PLAN THAT USES LANDSCAPE ECOLOGY TO ACHIEVE A HEALTHY RURAL LANDSCAPE AS WELL AS PRODUCTIVE AND EFFICIENT FARM ENTERPRISES.
Presented by David Hardwick from Soil Land Food, this innovative 4 day course will show you how to design and plan a healthy, resilient and productive rural landscape for your farm business in the 21st century. At the end of this course you will have the confidence to identify issues, make decisions and take action to start improving landscape health and enterprise productivity on your property. It all starts with good planning! You will develop a well thought out & whole of farm plan for your place. The course is hands on, group based and combines theory with lots of practical activities.
You will learn:
- how to “see” your landscape using landscape thinking
- about Landscape Patches: the pieces of your farm’s landscape jigsaw
- the water and nutrient cycles in rural landscapes
- how energy flows and biodiversity functions in rural landscapes
- climate, landforms & soil types on your property
- about the landscape and agricultural elements of rural planning
- the different approaches to property planning
- the 10 steps to effective property planning
You will also:
- use maps for property planning
- set goals for your farm’s rural landscape & enterprises
- assess your farm’s rural landscape
- identify & prioritise issues
- brainstorm strategies for improvement
- develop a Farm Plan for a sustainable future
COURSE LOGISTICS:
Where? Alexander Bridge Hall, 1252 Brockman Hwy, Courtenay WA 6288
When? Part 1: Monday June 12th & Tuesday June 13th, 9.00am to 4.00pm
What else? Lunch & Morning & Afternoon Tea will be provided as will farm maps and planning tools.
Please note that this is course is only available for the current participants of our Regenerative Agriculture in Practice Program (RAPP) Project Participants. If you are not a participant in this project then please do not register for this course.
This course forms part of our Regenerative Agriculture in Practice Program (RAPP) 2023 Project delivered jointly with the Lower South West Growers Group. The project has received funding through the Augusta Margaret River Shire’s Environmental Management Fund.
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