To GE or not to GE: Organic growers consider Pfizer
/in Features, Magazine ArticlesOrganic NZ asked four organic growers to share their stories of how they navigated ethical considerations regarding the Pfizer vaccine.
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Renewed focus on nutrition and health
Everyone we spoke to is hopeful we emerge from the pandemic with a new commitment to local healthy food production. Dom Ferretti, of Ferretti Growers near Nelson, says their vegetable box deliveries are doing very well: “More people are taking the plunge into organics who may have been on the fence before. We are struggling to meet demand.” This growth in sales is also true for Untamed Earth Organic Farm in Christchurch. Co-owner Penny Platt told Organic NZ the pandemic has been a mixed bag:
“In some ways it’s been challenging. Managing staff interactions to stop the spread, and with the markets closed, we’ve had to change how we work. But we’ve also benefitted. Vege box sales have gone up. People are thinking more about local food and eating at home. We’ve built our profile and connected with more people who are coming to us instead of buying from supermarkets.”
When it comes to staying healthy, a focus on good nutrition and active stress management have been key planks for Dom Ferretti. “We’ve been mindful of the extra stress and hard work as a result of the pandemic. Our focus has been on eating well and ensuring we get enough zinc and vitamins C and D. These are efforts to keep all viruses at bay. Relaxation and stress release through yoga have also been important for us, and we’ve been doing a lot of cold-water therapy, which has some great benefits.”
“In general, there is not enough focus on empowerment of the people to take their health into their own hands. It’s a tragedy to have to rely solely on outside help when there is so much opportunity for self-sustainability, and endless available resources out there to get people started!”
KELLY DIGGLE, ĀRĀMA GARDENS & NURSERY
What about the vaccine?
The importance of people having the right to make their own personal decision about vaccination was common to everyone we spoke to. Penny Platt’s view is that GE technology has been used recklessly, but that in the pandemic we have to look at a wider set of concerns. “Not being an expert on the science, I defer to people who are. I am trusting of the public health response, and that it’s been conducted with peoples’ needs in mind. I don’t feel concerned about that.
“Regarding our organic philosophy – the core of it is about health and well-being and fairness. The thing I
am prioritising is the vulnerable and their health and wellbeing. The vaccination programme helps us to support other people as well as ourselves.”
Penny is still opposed to the use of GE in foods. “I am opposed to GE because it enables patenting tech that disempowers local food growers and indigenous communities, and takes ownership away from the people and gives it to corporates. What gets lost when we replace heirloom seeds and the natural varieties through GE? This is not the same for the vaccine. The use of GE tech has often been reckless, and unjustified, which is the problem. It doesn’t mean there aren’t justified ways of using it.”
“The GE technology isn’t GMO or anything like that. Yes, it uses GE technology and that is hard to square with organics but this is such a unique and hopefully very rare situation.”
TIM GOW, MANGAPIRI DOWNS
Dom Ferretti draws a parallel with the chemical revolution in agriculture and the mistakes that were made around chemical safety. “Our gut feeling was that this was not right. We have spent so many years being very aware and careful of what we put into our bodies. Then when we looked into it, we found plenty of evidence which caused concern. Lots of evidence suggested more caution needed to be taken with the vaccine than people were taking. My observation has been that these industrial products are always presented as safe and effective at the outset. Then only later do we realise the harmful effects. This is true of the chemical revolution in farming. My grandfather moved out from Italy and became a market gardener in the early 20th century. He and his family got swept up in the chemical revolution. In the end, my father told me that organics is the only way for the long term. We ended up with a lot of cancer in the family from chemical exposure.”
Kelly Diggle of Ārāma Gardens & Nursery near Kaitaia, says a GE vaccine doesn’t sit well with her growing philosophy. “There’s a deep connection to the food sustaining me because I have participated in the growth and health of that plant before it essentially transforms into the very cells living in this body! The likes of a GE vaccine – which does not require the time, effort and commitment that is needed for a rich interpersonal relationship to develop – in its very nature goes against the flow of life.”
Southland organic farmer Tim Gow says he wrestled with the decision for a long time. “We haven’t vaccinated our sheep stock in nearly 20 years and haven’t needed to. But then I looked at how this is a bit of a unique situation, being a global pandemic with essentially a completely new virus. So that was the deciding factor for me. The GE technology isn’t GMO or anything like that. Yes, it uses GE technology and that is hard to square with organics but this is such a unique and hopefully very rare situation. I’m also in that category of people more at risk due to my age.”
Getting back to a new normal
Regardless of opinions, everyone is hopeful we can build better connections with food as we emerge from the pandemic. Kelly Diggle wants to see more encouragement towards things like organic gardening, food security, community building and food sustainability. “In general, there is not enough focus on empowerment of the people to take their health into their own hands. It’s a tragedy to have to rely solely on outside help when there is so much opportunity for self-sustainability, and endless available resources out there to get people started!”
Dom Ferretti agrees: “We hope that people take more charge of their immune system; and that they utilise nutrition and other health practices to protect themselves. We also hope that mandates are dropped and never used again, and that we accept that this virus needs to run its course as nature intends.”
Penny Platt hopes that the high vaccination rate will enable us to move through this pandemic safely. “The location of our farm means we work around vulnerable people – a residential care facility for people with disabilities. So we take extra care. But I am also looking forward to returning to more of a balanced life. I hope we can have less heated conversations once the direct effects are not so acute.”
Breaking new ground
/in Features, Magazine ArticlesPerseverance, dedication and learning by doing has paved the pathway to organic certification for Puro, Australasia’s only certified organic medical cannabis operation. Rebecca Reider visits its Marlborough farm.
Photography: Puro
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Growing together with Common Unity
/in Features, Magazine ArticlesCommon Unity’s roots are deeply set in its community in the Hutt Valley,
25 km north of Wellington. In 2018, ONZ visited and marvelled at everything
this not-for-profit organisation was achieving: growing and distributing food,
sharing knowledge and building its own solutions to the challenges faced in its community. Rachel Rose takes another look at what’s happening now.
Photography: Kristi Scott
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Organics around the world
/in Features, Magazine Articles, Organic WeekThe demand for New Zealand organic produce is growing, reflecting the global trend. Local experts share their thoughts with Melissa Reid on how the sector can scale up to meet domestic and export demands.
There is an ever-increasing number of people who are becoming more attuned to where their food comes from. The demand for products that meet the health, environmental and ethical demands of conscious consumers is on the rise. Nowhere is this better reflected than in the global increase in demand for organic produce.
With a focus on protecting waterways, biodiversity, communities and helping to fight climate change, organic regenerative agriculture is recognised as a way of farming that offers solutions to these problems, and meets consumer demand for more environmentally friendly practices.
The growing global organics market
For over a decade, global sales of organic products have shown consistent year-on-year growth. In 2019, global sales of certified organic products reached €106.4 billion (NZ$187.26 billion).
Around the world, just 1.5 percent of all farmland is certified organic, but the total area looks set to increase because of government policies in a number of countries. Japan, for example, has a target of 25% of agricultural land to be organic by 2050 and some states in India are aiming to be 100% organic in the coming years.
In 2019, 72.3 million hectares globally were organically managed, up 1.6 percent or 1.1 million ha from 2018. New Zealand’s 5849 ha under organic certification is down 3.41% (3029 hectares) since 2017, but is set to increase again with approximately 6000 ha in conversion to organic.
Taking our products to the world
Aotearoa New Zealand is in a different situation from most other countries in terms of our agricultural focus.
“The New Zealand organic sector is targeted and designed for export, just like the rest of the agricultural sector,” said Rick Carmont, executive director of the Organic Exporters Association. “At 58%, New Zealand is the only country that exports most of its organic production. By contrast, Australia exports 26%, Denmark 19%, Sweden 10%, and the US less than 2%.”
The 2020/21 Organic Sector Market Report commissioned by Organics Aotearoa New Zealand (OANZ), shows that our organic agriculture sector’s value has increased by 20% since 2017 to $723 million, with market value split between exports at 58% ($421 million) and domestic market at 42% ($302 million).
There is significant demand for New Zealand’s organic products worldwide, with 81% sold into five markets in 2020: USA, China, Europe, Australia and Japan (see graph).
Top 3 countries (number of hectares)
- Australia: 35.7 million
- Argentina: 3.7 million
- Spain: 2.4 million
The global total is 72.3 million hectares, and New Zealand currently has 85,849 hectares.
Top 3 countries (organic producers)
- India: 1.3 million
- Uganda: 210,000
- Ethiopia: 204,000
Top 3 countries
(% of organic land)
- Lichtenstein: 41%
- Austria: 26.1%
- São Tomé and Príncipe: 24.9%
Top 3 regions
- Oceania: 36 million ha
- Europe: 16.5 million ha
- Latin America: 8.3 million ha
Half the world’s organic agricultural land is in Oceania due to Australia’s large area of organic pastoral farmland.
Supporting the growth of organics in Aotearoa
Meeting an ever-increasing demand for both domestic and export markets will require government support and a robust action plan.
Fortunately, two pieces of work can help make this happen: the Organic Products Bill and the Organic Sector Strategy Taking Action for a Better New Zealand.
Viv Williams, chief executive of OANZ, spearheaded the Organic Sector Strategy with input from a wider sector leadership group, stakeholders from across the local organic sector, and the assistance of MPI funding.
The sector strategy’s vision is to enable producers, communities and the environment to thrive through organics. The strategy outlines a roadmap that will contribute a cumulative $4.7 billion to New Zealand’s GDP by 2030 while reducing climate change and environmental pollution.
“Organics provides an established international market and brand,” said Williams. “When combined with the energy and vitality coming from the regenerative agriculture movement, organic regenerative can make a strong contribution to the future of farming as outlined in the government’s Fit for a Better World strategy. A future that is better for our environment, our farmers, and our communities.”
Pete Huggins, general manager of the Soil & Health Association, agrees that placing organics within government strategies would be a good start to strengthening the sector.
“Government acknowledgment of organics, like we’ve seen overseas, can open up new possibilities,” said Huggins. “Hopefully, a positive outcome of the Organic Products Bill process will be increased awareness and understanding of organics amongst decision-makers.”
Similarly, Rick Carmont wants to ensure the Bill is an advantage and not an obstacle for market growth.
“It will be an important instrument in continuing to grow and maintain our organic trade arrangements, and the Organic Exporters Association is a big supporter of it,” said Carmont.
Top 5 organic export markets
USA | CHINA | EUROPE (EXCL UK) | AUSTRALIA | JAPAN | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Value | $86.8 MILLION | $81.8 MILLION | $73.4 MILLION | 66.4 MILLION | $31.5 MILLION |
% of NZ organic exports | 20.6% | 19.5% | 17.5% | 15.8% | 7.5% |
At over USD55.1 billion, the US organic market is the largest destination (both current and potential) for NZ organics.
Hua Parakore: indigenous organics
Active support for indigenous food and growing knowledge is also key to sector growth. Aotearoa’s unique indigenous verification and validation system for food production – the National Māori Organics Authority of Aotearoa (Te Waka Kai Ora) – supports Māori organic growers and protects Māori food sovereignty. Te Waka Kai Ora has developed and implemented the Hua Parakore system, an indigenous validation and verification system for kai atua (Māori organic products).
“Māori food sovereignty is about returning to eat our cultural landscapes as food producers, kaitiaki and mana whenua,” said Dr Jessica Hutchings, Te Waka Kai Ora member and part of the Sector Strategy Leadership Team.
“It is imperative that Māori communities grow Māori food producers and food farmers to not only increase organic food production by Māori, but to place Māori at the centre of the food system as producers.”
Encouraging a clean, green future
Consumers around the world want to know where their food comes from and are increasingly looking for cleaner and greener products. Converting more farms to organic is desirable from both a sustainability and financial perspective. But with the EU’s target of 30% of agricultural farmland organic by 2030, New Zealand exporters should expect increasing competition in organic supply.
“The key for New Zealand exporters will be to differentiate and create value through innovation and leveraging our premium ‘pure NZ’ brand position,” said Andrew Henderson, general manager of Fonterra Organic. “Having the infrastructure, legislation and incentives in place will also be critical to ensure the simplicity and efficiency needed to be competitive globally, and to incentivise more farmers to convert to organic.”

More info
Download these reports from Organics Aotearoa New Zealand: oanz.org
- Time for Action: The New Zealand Organic Sector Market Report 2020/21
- Taking Action for a Better New Zealand: 2022 Aotearoa New Zealand Organic Sector Strategy
Read the Organic Products Bill on the parliament.nz website, or via bit.ly/31fpuTa.
A path forward for farmers
Organic regenerative agriculture is both an important pillar to Aotearoa’s sustainability story and, importantly, can provide a path forward for farmers. According to the OANZ market report, there are approximately 6000 hectares in conversion to organic.
“Some farmers are moving towards regenerative practice by themselves, but to get a step change we need to see national leadership,” said Pete Huggins.
“Government funding for extension services which support a shift to organics would help, especially if joined with transition support for farmers undertaking the three-year switch to organic certification. Underwriting this transition would reduce the risk for farmers and show that the government means business.”
The sector strategy focuses on extension services to support more growers to innovate on-farm and convert to organic farm practices, alongside collaboration with regenerative growers and scientists to deliver the best of both worlds.
“This strategy, built by the organics sector, provides valuable information on how we can address current challenges and tap into opportunities,” Williams concluded. “It’s a pathway forward for the growth of the sector.”




Melissa Reid is a freelance writer who lives in Auckland, and works for OANZ.
50 years of fertile ground
/in Features, Magazine ArticlesFrom corn, compost and comfrey, to a brief encounter with synthetic fertiliser, Auckland couple Dave and Gillian Woods reflect on organic gardening and half a century of involvement with Soil & Health. Ken Downie tells the story in words and pictures.
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Your new look Organic NZ
/in Features, Magazine ArticlesOrganic NZ stands strong as an independent magazine devoted to organics and sustainable living.
Over the past 80 years we’ve led the way on information and advocacy to support the health of our soil, food and people. We think our core message is as relevant now as it was when we started 80 years ago. Healthy soil, healthy food, healthy people. Oranga nuku, oranga kai, oranga tangata.
Readers love our magazine and we’re delighted to share this gorgeous new look with you all. We’ve recently increased the size of the magazine, and now also offer online reader access for all subscribers. We’d love to hear your feedback, as always, and you can email us at info@organicnz.org.nz.
Saying thanks to the team behind Organic NZ
As we celebrate our 80th year with this brand new look we must say a big thank you to our editor, Philippa Jamieson, and also to the wider magazine team.
To Sally Travis, Maria Biggelaar, Peta Hudson and Meghan Read, thank you! And thanks to our many readers, writers, advertisers and other supporters.
Here’s to another 80 years!
Brand new online reader option
A new online readership subscription is now available. This allows you to read our features and other key stories here on the Organic NZ website. Online readership is also available, free of charge, to all print subscribers. Read more about our online readership option here: https://organicnz.org.nz/read-online/
We aim to deliver information and news the way you want it. With increasing numbers of people getting their news online, digital publishing makes sense. But don’t worry – our print magazine remains a central part of our work.
About the look
We’ve taken the best of our magazine and given it a fresh new look with extra room for photos, illustrations and white space. This gives you a more enjoyable reading experience. We’ve paired this redesign with some new fonts from Wellington font foundry Klim. We’re proud to support local New Zealand artists as part of our commitment to buy local.
The 80th Anniversary edition is also perfect-bound rather than stapled, which really comes into its own as we increase the size of the magazine further.
A special thanks to designer Sally Travis for crafting this beautiful new look for us.
Thanks also to GoodSense for their sage advice and support for our redesign. And finally a huge thanks goes to Dominique Schacherer and the team at Streamside Organics for allowing us to tell their story, and for providing our 80th Anniversary cover image.
On behalf of the publisher,
Pete Huggins
General Manager, The Soil & Health Association of New Zealand
Learning by growing
/in Features, Magazine ArticlesIn the picturesque seaside town of Riverton, west of Invercargill, a school garden is proving to be a fertile ground for the cross-pollination of learning, as Hollie Guyton and Rebecca Perez show here in words and pictures.
Photos: Hollie Guyton and Rebecca Perez
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Hollie Guyton is the librarian at Aparima College and Rebecca Perez is the school’s vegetable gardener. Together Hollie and Rebecca founded Village Agrarians villageagrarians.org, whose mission is to support and grow the communities of organic growers and farmers, producers, food activists, community gardeners, eaters, and everyone working to grow local, ecological and equitable food systems.
Whenua Warrior
/in Features, Magazine ArticlesMoko Morris talks with Kelly Francis, a Kai Oranga graduate and the catalyst for over 250 food gardens that have been planted since last spring.
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Motivated by attending a Kai Oranga course at Papatūānuku Marae, Kelly Francis (Ngāti Wharara, Ngāti Korokoro and Ngāpuhi) created a charitable trust and social enterprise movement called Whenua Warrior. Her vision is to have a harvestable garden available to every person in the country and her mission is to feed, teach and empower communities through māra kai (food gardens).
Providing solutions and connection
The idea came to Kelly from understanding communities that she had been in, the challenges they face and the solutions she had learnt to share. It solves multiple issues including knowledge- and time-poor whānau, provides financial stability through not having to purchase vegetables, and offers a connection to Papatūānuku (Mother Earth) and what she provides us with.
“The most important thing I learnt on the Kai Oranga course was Hua Parakore – the six principles of the Hua Parakore verification system,” says Kelly.
“It also came from knowing the mana you can get from providing kai to your whānau, the need to understand the whakapapa of your kai and the advantages of connecting your wairua with mahi māra kai. I wanted to find a way to help our communities with these indigenous techniques and tried to imagine the entire country understanding their food in this depth… and then find a way to give that koha to them.”
So Whenua Warrior was born.

How it works
Involving others comes naturally for Kelly; they usually find her. It’s the story, passion or mahi behind each project that attracts people to her kaupapa. Finding people is very important to her – but whoever is there on the day are the people that were meant to be.
Her approach to gardening projects is to ensure that community and their needs are met first and foremost. What Whenua Warrior build and who they build it with needs to be sustainable and beneficial for years to come. Anyone can put a box of dirt in your backyard, but not everyone can teach how to get that box of dirt to benefit you, your family, hapū and iwi.
Once a māra kai is established, there must be buy-in from families so that there is a foundation of people that work together to ensure the benefits are felt wide and far. ‘Build day’ is about the community and its people, not the garden. Post-build is about supporting the people to support the garden.
There are two different arms to the Whenua Warrior approach:
- 100% community-based, with no money involved. The community identifies what they need and Whenua Warrior supports them to source seedlings, soil and materials, then helps to facilitate the build and works out ways it can be managed.
- 100% community-based, backed by funding. A call-out is made to the community as above, then funding is accessed if required.
This approach has been successful and over 250 māra kai have been built so far, in South Auckland, Mount Wellington and Whangarei. Whenua Warrior is now in its eleventh month, and has started on more of the larger-sized gardens rather than focus on the number. In September this year, 50 gardens will be built in the back of 50 homes in Kawakawa. The process from initial contact to actual build varies from place to place but is usually done in under six weeks.

Hua Parakore principles
Kelly explains the principles of Hua Parakore (clean, pure, kai atua) in the following way:
“When contemplating a project, I look at the dates of the maramataka (moon planting calendar) that I can plan on to benefit the build day, hui days, decision days. It is an important aspect in all parts of the project for the wellness of people and for the timeline structure for the project.
“I consider te ao tūroa [the natural world] when we are on the whenua and trying to discover what Papatuānuku already has and what can be built to benefit the tangata whenua. Knowing your surroundings and your options for build is something our tohunga would be responsible for before the land was confirmed to build māra on.
“At this stage whakapapa is considered as well. What happened here? How was this whenua used? What is the whakapapa of the area, people, whenua? Kōrero on the land will potentially allow us to discover the best possible places to plant A versus B.
“We then have the holistic connections that are in our principles: wairua, or spirit. I ask to make sure that I am allowed on the land to do the mahi – ask tangata whenua directly but also karakia to ask our tupuna to ensure our holistic safety. We connect everything physical to spiritual and must acknowledge everyone at every time.”
Wairua can also be a verb – ‘acting with wairua, doing with wairua’, says Kelly. “All actions taken in the build day must have everyone’s wairua in mind. I think that the wrong wairua can mean an empty plate. Everyone must be in tune with each other… and share the mauri.
“Mauri is what you are passing on from you to kai, and from kai back to you. This is most important when planting – and the atmosphere for planting needs to be completely serene and positive. What you plant is what you eat, and I consider it a hugely important part of build day to get the community mauri at its highest to allow the passing from them to their kai, and eventually from the kai to them.
“Mana – this is felt mainly when all of the above has been completed. The principle that can only be reported to yourself. Mana is not something you earn – it is something within you. Only you can choose how much mana you apply to each decision you make. It is your spiritual pat on the back – and I normally feel this when I am back home and contemplating the completion of each project.”
Whānau and kai more important than money

Kelly says the most fun part is meeting the communities and teaching and learning at the same time together. She shares the matauranga (knowledge) in a way that benefits Papatuānuku, focusing on knowing that people are better off and proving her strong view that money shouldn’t be the main focus of life: family and kai is.
“I built this idea out of hope, because I truly care about what your kids will be able to access when they are responsible to provide food for their tables. We should be thinking of what we can do NOW to benefit them then,” says Kelly.
“I strongly encourage all families in New Zealand to plant fruit trees and vegetables in every household. There are no negatives to growing your own food.”

The 6 principles of
Hua Parakore
Whakapapa
Wairua
Mana
Maramataka
Mauri
Te Ao Tūroa
Kai Oranga
Find out more about free Kai Oranga courses here: www.wananga.ac.nz/programmes/school-of-iwi-development/kai-oranga
Whenua Warrior
Moko Morris is Co-chair of the Soil & Health National Council who lives in Ōtaki. She is also the national coordinator of Te Waka Kai Ora, the NZ Māori Organics Authority.
The best of both worlds: Regen ag and organics
/in Features, Magazine Articles, Organic WeekAotearoa New Zealand is seeing a groundswell of regenerative agriculture. Martin Freeth finds out just how complementary the new thinking and practices are with our longer tradition of organic farming.
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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 certification as meat and livestock producers through BioGro NZ (March 1989). For Tim, an organic approach to every aspect of farm management is a perfect, natural complement to fallowing. He hasn’t drenched or vaccinated an animal in 32 years – hasn’t needed to because Mangapiri’s adaptively bred sheep and cattle are so healthy on dense, diverse pastures and naturally enriched soils.
The Shire rams and ewes, and Tufty cattle, are marketed to farmers throughout New Zealand as organic livestock for use in their production flocks and herds. Both have been advanced (and trademarked) on the strengths of selective breeding for hardiness and meat production, and of the organic and fallowing management system at Mangapiri.
“Surely it’s time to reject chemicals, look to the basic cause of parasites and disease and move to organic methods of control, such as breeding the natural immunity back into your stock like they used to have before the chemicals and drench arrived over 60 years ago,” says Tim in his latest stud stock catalogue.
Building vitality in the soil
With sabbatical fallowing, that seventh portion of the farm is shut off each October, as a hay paddock would be, after being lightly grazed and having the residual of grasses, herbs and legumes trampled by the animals.
“You fold much of your spring growth and summer seeds down into the topsoil where it becomes compost … you leave it until late the next winter before putting stock in again to take the top off that paddock’s huge growth.”
The Gows import no feed and make no baleage; winter feed is all standing grass crops, mostly in blocks that are being fallowed that year. On shut-off areas, Tim has been amazed at the natural resurgence of plant life, including traditional grasses and Maku lotus not otherwise seen for decades.
“You can see the vitality in the soil … its organic matter, worm life and just the look and smell of it. It becomes soil that will get you through a drought or flood.”
Tim was inspired while travelling in Asia, the Middle East and Europe in the late 1970s and again in the mid-80s. He saw farmers applying their own versions of fallowing, and recognised this as ancient wisdom even referred to in the Bible, Koran and Torah.
“I came home determined to give it a go,” he says. Within a decade, the benefits of fallowing at Mangapiri were recognised by soil scientists from Invermay Research Station, who compared soils of the same type from 19 Southland farms.
What constitutes ‘regenerative’?
Could there be a more regenerative farmer? Tim Gow – organic producer, sabbatical fallowing practitioner and man of constant inquiry – will surely look the part to anyone reading this year’s ‘Regenerative agriculture in Aotearoa New Zealand’ paper from Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research.
The researchers’ literature review and wide consultation led them to identify a ‘regen mindset’ among farmers, with 11 core principles that include: treat the farm as a living system; maximise year-round photosynthesis; minimise disturbance; harness diversity; and manage livestock holistically – see sidebar.
The Manaaki Whenua team refrain from providing a standard definition of regen because, they say, of the diversity of ideas and practices in the regenerative basket, and because more work is needed to understand the contribution of concepts in te ao Māori like kaitiakitanga. There is nothing for regen, at least in New Zealand, as clear and concise as the international definition for organic agriculture (OA) – see sidebar.
Regen obviously does encompass the same ideas. As the Manaaki Whenua paper notes, regenerative principles and practices – the term itself originates from the United States in the late 1970s – are all about reversing the environmental damage now associated with conventional farming, and about managing ‘agroecosystems’ in holistic ways for continuous improvement in social and cultural terms as well as environmental. (An agroecosystem is a natural ecosystem modified by people for the production of food and fibre. For an overview of the concept and some related research, see sciencedirect.com/topics/agricultural-and-biological-sciences/agroecosystems.)

Regen network: Quorum Sense
In New Zealand today, there are said to be at least 1000 farmers systematically applying regen practices in their commercial production of milk, meat, fibre and/or plant crops. The figure comes from Quorum Sense, a farmers’ network formed in 2018 with a mission to ‘generate and share practical knowledge to support regenerative farm systems and vibrant rural communities’ – see quorumsense.org.nz. Quorum Sense holds seminars and field days, and shares stories online – all reflecting ‘learn together’ and ‘make context-specific decisions’ which are two more of the Manaaki Whenua-articulated principles.
Needless to say, many of regen’s ‘linked in’ farmers are also certified organic producers, or on their way to becoming so. They recognise the foundational importance of soil health, the value of multispecies pastures, and the need for great care in matching animals and their feed requirements to nature and local conditions, while also eschewing synthetic fertilisers and chemical control of diseases, pests and weeds.
You can see the vitality in the soil … its organic matter, worm life and just the look and smell of it. It becomes soil that will get you through a drought or flood.
Regen and organic working together
Russell and Charlotte Heald, dairy farmers near Norsewood in southern Hawke’s Bay, are a good example. Last season, they milked 385 cows (once a day), with no inorganic inputs, much care in the rotational grazing regime on their nine-species pastures, and a strong focus on prevention of cow health issues, not just treatment. The Healds see a perfect fit between regenerative and organic – and they expect to attain full certification this November.
“They’re working very well together as one cohesive system,” says Charlotte. “With organics there are few things no longer in the toolbox … you might want to apply a bit of N to help one paddock along or spray out some blackberry but you can’t and anyway, we now have effective alternatives,” says Russell, for whom the transition from conventional dairying began in 2017.
The Healds went regenerative first with advice from a biological farming advisor on a new pasture mix of grasses, herbs and legumes, and soil enhancement using fish-based products under the Biosea brand. Benefits in soil and plant health were evident in the first season, says Russell, along with a nearly $200,000 saving in feed costs and a much reduced bill for animal health.
Organic certification was the obvious next step, says Charlotte. “It was going well with all the changes we were making but we were also seeing how people increasingly want to know more about where their food comes from … to be assured of its quality and the integrity of the farming system. That’s where organic certification becomes so valuable … and it is also about completing the alignment with our own values.”
For Russell, the basics are the same. “It’s all about building the immunity and health of the animals, and that flows out of having healthier soil and healthier plants,” he says.
Not to be forgotten also is the need for farm profitability – and the Healds say their move to regenerative organic dairying has been positive in that regard, even through the particularly dry 2020–21 season.

11 regenerative principles
- The farm is a living system
- Make context-specific decisions
- Question everything
- Learn together
- Failure is part of the journey
- Open and flexible toolkit
- Plan for what you want; start with what you have
- Maximise photosynthesis (year round)
- Minimise disturbance
- Harness diversity
- Manage livestock strategically/holistically
More information available at: www.landcareresearch.co.nz
Market value and provenance of food
The regen movement definitely does have farmers’ financial health in mind: that’s part of social and cultural wellbeing. As the Manaaki Whenua paper notes, the longer-term aspiration is for regeneratively produced New Zealand food and fibre to accrue higher value as global markets recognise the embedded environmental benefits. In one sense, organic certification gives producers a headstart on this (as well as adding the quality assurance of ‘organic’ to each item of product).
Simon Osborne, mid-Canterbury arable farmer and co-founder of Quorum Sense, thinks regen will have market value in itself when the farming and ecosystem provenance of food can be conveyed directly from producer to consumer through digital communication. Meantime, he says, it just isn’t realistic, or necessary, for every regen farmer to strive for organic certification.
“It is probably relatively easy for pastoral farmers with their twin focus on soil fertility for growing grasses and on animal health because they have readily available organic options… it isn’t the same for large-scale arable producers like me, without huge additional costs and lots more bloody hard work,” says Simon.
No-till arable farming
His farming, on 280 hectares of mostly shallow clay loam near Leeston, is ‘no-till’ at its best in New Zealand. Simon has carried on and refined the practices of his father through 30 years of his own trial and error with different crops, companion planting and rotations. He grows wheat, barley, peas and various other crops – and he continues to trial new ones.
Today his soils have depth, structure and microbial activity like never before, supporting deeper roots and more vigorous growth above ground. The farm has been at various times a learning site for agronomy students at nearby Lincoln University.
He doesn’t use insecticides or fungicides and makes minimum, targeted use of nitrogen fertiliser, He does use glyphosate as a “primary cultivation tool” in different areas of the farm annually, prior to sowing. The only viable alternative would be extensive tillage, exposing the soil to more weeds, and pest and disease risks. That’s not an option for a farmer with such passion for his soil – and one whose soil tests show no detriment to microbial activity from very limited spraying.
People increasingly want to know more about where their food comes from … to be assured of its quality and the integrity of the farming system.
Common ground
Simon – and scores of others consulted for the Manaaki Whenua paper – see organic farming and regen both springing from the same philosophical, emotional and practical rejection of conventional, often called ‘industrial’ or ‘intensive’, agriculture with its bias to monoculture, and reliance on synthetic nitrogen and phosphate fertilisers, on agrichemicals and on animal antibiotics. These are all associated with freshwater water degradation, soil and biodiversity loss, excessive carbon emissions and climate change.
“We have a huge debt of gratitude to the pioneering organics movement. If they hadn’t held the line over the past 50 years, there would be no starting point for regen … industrial agriculture would have taken over lock, stock and barrel,” says Simon.
Manaaki Whenua describes regen as ‘a grass roots, farmer-driven movement founded in an ecological paradigm’ and its members as engaged in ‘wider systems thinking … with an outcomes focus’.
To farmers like Simon Osborne – and others in the regen movement spoken for this article – it all comes down to this mindset of the 11 principles, and to personal willingness and capability to adopt alternatives to the conventional model.
All share a disdain for farming based on manufactured inputs and production growth goals that have proven, longer-term damage to ecosystems. But they see no one alternative prescription for every farm or growing operation that will reverse the damage, while producing nutritious, affordable food for all and sustaining communities of farmers financially and socially. There is a common concern that achieving organic certification has become too prescriptive, and hence costly and time consuming, for farmers and too focused on creating niche consumer markets for food.

It all starts with soil health
Regenerative or organic, everything starts with soil health – that is certainly clear. Seems clear also that out on the land, Tim and Helen Gow, Russell and Charlotte Heald, and Simon Osborne are all moving in the same direction.
Martin Freeth is a journalist, consultant and olive grower based in the Wellington region.