LOCAL CHAMPIONS by Janine Hill

BUILDING BETTER FARMS FROM THE GROUND UP

Stephen Nussio (pictured top)reckons he was the worst kid at school. “I got told off. I was always drawing up maps of drainage systems and paddocks,” he said. School did not interest him. Agriculture did, and he wanted to be back on the family farm at Murray Bridge, South Australia. On 60 acres which received an average annual rainfall of 203ml or eight inches – his father ran intensive dairy, beef, pig, irrigation and cropping operation and that was the only place Stephen wanted to be.

After biding his time at school, he thought he would get back to the farm but his parents wanted other things for him and sent him to university, where he studied arts and wound up becoming a lawyer. Some things never change and Stephen made his way back to the land, first selling nutritional lick blocks, then as CEO of agricultural protective clothing label Oringi, and then managing dairy farms, along the way doing a bit of stud work and a spell at Nutri-Tech Solutions, a Sunshine Coast firm offering alternatives to chemical reliance in farming. These days, Stephen manages a 200ha beef cattle property out Kenilworth way where he aims to increase grass production and triple the carrying capacity. Yes, triple.

The doodling daydreamer kid has earned a reputation for improving the health of livestock and the productivity of properties through regenerative agriculture – farming principles and practices that focus on soil health and water management. How does he do it?

“There’s a lot of things you can use. It’s how you use them. We’ve got so many things that we can use to create a healthy system,” he said. Stephen said one of the simplest investments a landowner interested in regenerative agriculture could make was in an electric fence set-up to be used to hedge their livestock into small areas rotated frequently.

“Some people get confused between over-grazing and over-stocking. People leave their cattle in a paddock for days and they walk in a big circle and you can’t see where they’ve been. You put a lot of animals in a small area and they eat the best and trample the rest, and then that material works its way into the soil and naturally starts improving it.”

Stephen said keeping animals in tighter spaces also made it easier to observe the overall quality and health of the herd than when they were scattered across large spaces. It’s a different way of thinking and Stephen said some people might consider it hard work but he said it became easier with practice.

Stephen said there was often resistance towards doing things differently. When he tried to find ryecorn, a crop great for suppressing weeds and creating biomass, he was told it would not grow up here. “I thought I’d try some and that’s something every farmer should do – experiment. Just try a little bit out there and if it doesn’t work, it doesn’t break the bank. All good,” he said. He now finds seed mixes which regularly include ryecorn.

Stephen also seeks out contacts around the world and all over Australia to utilise technology that will increase profitability and lower inputs. Stephen recently imported the world’s first slick coated, heat tolerant Holstein genetics – as he is also an agent for ALegacy Genetics USA. The progeny will be well suited for our drier, hot humid climate.

Stephen does not have a piece of paper to say that he is an agronomist or animal nutritionist but points out that the Wright brothers, who flew the first plane, were not pilots or engineers. He does have 30 years’ experience in animals and soil, an analytical and critical approach to life, and knowledgeable contacts. He is also proud of what he has achieved with more than 20,000 head of cattle on 8000ha over the years.

“I believe we can do a lot more with what we have and I just want to put alternatives across to people. I want to put it out there and share it with people,” he said. “They can put their own opinions together. I just want to talk and get people to think.” If you would like to chat with Stephen about anything agriculture related – his number is 0427 609 454 (leave a message) or email him at advancerural@hotkey.net.au

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