Field day promotes organic life

About 60 farmers and industry representatives attended an Organic and Bio-dynamic Meats Co-operative field day at the Wokalup property of Greg and Sandy Sudholz last month.

The event was aimed at informing farmers about the opportunities to receive premium prices for certified organic beef and lamb.

To participate in this expanding market, farmers have to supply animals from organically or bio-dynamically certified land.

Department of Agriculture and Food WA organic development officer Steve McCoy spoke at the field day about what it took to convert a traditional farm to organic and outlined global trends for organic product.

Greg Sudholz said the bio-dynamic methods he used were low input with a productive outcome. He said he had cut input costs by using the bio-dynamic soil activator 500 to promote soil microbial life and natural fertilisers as required.

Greg said he promoted healthy pastures using stock rotations and, because pasture plants had deeper root penetration and soils had a higher level of organic matter, they could be sustained with less irrigation.

He said bio-dynamics had increased life in the soil, visible by better root structure and depth and more worms.

Greg said his farm income and profits had lifted by marketing through the co-operative and receiving premiums for his certified organic cattle.

The co-operative's chairman, William Newton-Wordsworth, said during the past five years, the group had grown to include 27 producer members and was expanding markets for produce.