The best of both worlds
Southland farmer Tim Gow smiles to himself when regenerative agriculture (regen) is discussed. This organic sheep and beef farmer has been building soil quality, growing nutrient-dense feed for well-adapted animals, and concerning himself with carbon capture and retention for over three decades. The tenets of today’s regen movement are hardly new to him.
Says Tim: “I’m enthusiastic about the fact that many people are moving to regen, which is a whole lot better than using all that synthetic fertiliser and chemicals, but they seem to be overcomplicating something which is basically simple and actually very old.”
SABBATICAL FOR THE SOIL
Tim Gow began ‘sabbatical fallowing’ – the practice of annually locking up one seventh of the farm for much of the year to enable natural composting of plants and soil, and regeneration of everything that grows above and below ground – in 1987.
Tim and his wife Helen haven’t looked back since their first rotation when improvements started showing up in soil depth and biology, feed supply and livestock health. Their 469-hectare farm, Mangapiri Downs on rolling country near Blackmount, is now into its fifth rotation – and has long since become a strong platform for their stud breeding of distinctive Shire hair sheep (Wiltshire-Marsh cross) and polled Highland Tufty cattle.
BREEDING FOR NATURAL HEALTH
It’s also now more than three decades since the Gows achieved organic
