Holistic Pastoral

Autumn Farmgate News It's Waring or Wombat season here in Taungurung country, and we are waiting and hoping for some Autumn rains.   We are amongst cool nights, shorter days, and have seen our first frosts and many fogs.  It's a time of year for some things to slow down, but for others to begin. Take a read below to see what we have been up to. In this quarter’s newsletter you’ll find Community Supported Agriculture Memberships What’s New - Butcher Shop On the land - summer fires Mob Update  Agroecology Course Learnings Our 2026 CSA Memberships are still open for new members! If you’ve been considering joining our Community Supported Agriculture program, now’s a great time. It’s a simple way to enjoy regeneratively raised meat while supporting the launch of our on‑farm butcher shop. 📦 What’s included:   Bi‑monthly boxes of beef, lamb, chicken, and pork in 6 or 12‑month memberships, with a seasonal mix of cuts at great value. ✨ Why it matters:   Your membership helps us plan sustainably — from stocking rates to feed — and strengthens our local, regenerative food system.  Learn more and sign up here -  Become a Community Supported Agriculture Member | Holistic Pastoral Don't forget, all of our produce is reared without any additional inputs on regeneratively grazed, local and diverse pastures around Mansfield in the High Country. 🎉 Order Now What’s new at Holistic Pastoral Butchers shop update The butchers shop is moving along slowly but surely.  We have drawn up plans, and have started scrounging and buying the processing machines for our new on-farm-butchers shop.  We trialed our new mincer a few weeks ago and have  brought all our recycled stainless steel benches.  The next big job is to build the overhead meat rails, followed by the floor.  It’s slowly taking shape, and we can’t wait to be able to start using it.  Take a look at some of the pics of the puzzle pieces as they are are fitting together. On the land Fires and Summer What a tough season it has been for the district, little rain, extreme heat and devastating bushfires. We were fortunate not to be directly impacted by the fire, as we had already moved our cattle mob to the mountains of Merrijig and later Tolmie for the summer. many of our friends, however, were not so lucky. Many of our previous lease blocks in Merton and around Alexandra were burnt out, and many friends are still working hard to repair and rebuild lost property and fences. The day the main fire swept towards Alexandra was scary. High winds and temperatures in the 40’s degrees celsius meant that the fires were unstoppable.  We had spent a few days helping friends prepare for the fires, and we bunkered down safely in our house near Mansfield as we kept in touch with friends in the fires path, to share information and relay messages for them if needed.   It was a tense day, but nothing compared to what it must have been like for those who faced the walls of flames approaching their homes and farms. It is interesting to note the randomness of the fire, and what it claimed.  Some friends stayed and successfully defended their properties, while others left early, with some escaping destruction and others not.   The days that followed were the toughest. We spent them helping friends search for lost and injured animals, setting up temporary yards and fences, and checking in on one another.  Seeing the emotional support for each other was a beautiful thing, amidst the destruction of the charred and dead landscapes.   Our current mob Cattle Our small mob is doing well up in the mountains of Tolmie.  It has been so good to be able to graze them there over summer, and they seem to be loving the later growing season.  They’re all in great condition and have already put on their winter coats.  We’ll be moving them down to the lease block at Barjarg sometime in May.  Barjarg was the first property we leased when we moved to Mansfield Shire, and we’re now starting to see some great improvements to the soil and plants diversity, something we look forward to sharing more about with you over winter.   Pigs and Chickens have arrived! We raise out meat chickens in autumn and spring, as those are the seasons they do best in. Winters are too cold, and hot summers can be challenging for fast growing chickens that live outside on pasture.  This time of year is always busy, setting up feed, fences and brooding chickens, but pigs and chickens are very fun to have around, and our family love farming them. Because our supply of chicken and pork is limited, we prioritise our CSA members for sales, though we occasionally have some left over produce for general sales. You can always join our CSA program so you don’t miss out or keep an eye on our website for when thes eproducts pop up.   Agroecology course learnings The graduation for the Nicole Masters and Integrity Soils CREATE study course was last week. What an amazing learning opportunity to have been part of.  The content was challenging but amazing, the connections with farmers, soil specialists and agroecologists from around the world will be life lasting and the course work and design have been the best put together study experience of my life.  I’m so grateful to the Integrity Soils teaching team and to the awesome students I have shared the past years’ learning with. This knowledge will help our own farming and production systems and help me launch a farm coaching/consult business, to be able to assist other farmers on their regenerative journey.   My Top 5 take homes from the course are; To meet people where they are at, on their regenerative journey To place greater value on the contribution that we can give to the world through land management and decision making, while growing food and fibre Look to the strengths of people and farm systems first when bringing about change Nothing in nature works in isolation, including humans All life on earth shares common elements which are the foundation for microbiology.  Paying attention to these so called “small things” has the greatest potential on earth for change.