Where do I start?
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By Kim Deans
Every journey starts with a single step…
Sometimes we take one step forwards and a few steps back. This often happens when we head off in search of guaranteed results and a formula to follow. We don’t want to lose yield, we don’t want to fail, we want to see instant results. We want something to change but we don’t want to change anything.
Sometimes we freeze in overwhelm and don’t know which direction to take the first step in. This often happens when we have been listening to podcasts, watching you tube, reading books, going to field days and workshops. We still feel like we don’t know enough and we are struggling to work out what to do first. A lack of information isn’t the problem, or we would have figured it out by now.
Sometimes we implement changes randomly, trying everything all at once, and then ending up confused when the results we know are possible aren’t happening and the bank account is under pressure. We try natural fertilisers and biological inputs, we grow multispecies cover crops, we start watching what other farmers who seem to have this more figured out are doing and copying them. Without making the time to observe and create a strategy that fits our unique situation our confusion grows when we can’t see anything changing. We are trying to solve our problems with the same thinking that created them, expecting what works for others to work for us, and looking for inputs to be the answer to our problems.
If any of these examples sound familiar you are not alone. There is no silver bullet, often the more we know the more we realise we don’t know. This is a journey that requires more from us than just swapping one input for another, or copying someone else’s approach. Every challenge we encounter can be an opportunity to learn, review and adapt to create regenerative outcomes.
It is tempting to start with changing practices and inputs, this is the familiar approach, and it feels natural. It takes more energy and feels uncomfortable when we change our habitual ways of doing things. Improving soil health requires more than simple practice change. While it’s our practices that got us here, practices alone won’t get us there. Regenerative outcomes require that we redesign the system, not just swap one input for another, or add something else on top of what we are already doing. There is no one practice change we can implement that will deliver regenerative outcomes on every farm. A redesign process starts with understanding our own farm, the soil constraints that are placing the biggest drag on the system and defining what success looks like for us.
We start to improve soil health by understanding our context:
Investigate and base line physical, biological and mineral soil health: Soil is a complex, living system. We have relied on soil laboratory tests to tell us what fertiliser to put on, in doing so we have largely ignored the physical and biological aspects of the soil which have been declining steadily over time. Combining soil tests with observing and measuring soil health in the field will also help better understand the biological constraints. Sometimes it is helpful to explore soil microbiology lab tests as well. Taking a leaf tissue test at the same time as the soil tests can be another useful indicator of mineral constraints. Without establishing this base line, we have nothing to help us see our progress and run the risk of giving up too soon.
Get strategic and clarify your vision, values and goals and make decisions towards the future you are working to create. If we don’t know what we want someone else will. Defining our own version of success helps us to achieve it, otherwise we can be working to create success for others who profit at our expense. Without a well-considered strategy, we are setting off on a journey with no destination in mind, and could end up running around in circles.
Allocate your resources. A cash flow budget is essential. Before we start making changes we must consider our financial position and the resources available to us. Without a budget we are setting off on a journey in a car with no fuel gauge to tell us when we could run out of fuel.
A successful regenerative transition will change us as well as our farm as we start to realise we are part of the system, not separate from it. The foundation behind success always involves fostering a mindset where challenges are seen as opportunities to learn and embracing experimentation. We only fail when we fail to learn! There are no right or wrong answers, it’s a process of discovery. Shifting from the limiting belief of deciding a practice or input has not worked, to seeing the possibilities when you realise the design or strategy is not working YET can make a huge difference. Instead of giving up, this shift empowers us to continue learning, growing and adapting.
Something many of us don’t consider when we decide to make changes is how to let go of the old system. Without this we bring the old ways into the new and then wonder why the same problems and obstacles keep appearing. What we stop doing is as important as what we start doing. When we choose to make a change, we can choose the pace of change that works for us, that helps us sleep at night and doesn’t crash the system and keeps us financially viable. But if we don’t let something go, nothing new can be created, it will just be another version of the old system.
In our next blog we will explore letting go of the old system.