The Scale of Keyline Farming: Guest blog by Kevin Brennan & Charles Zelhof
by Charles Zelhof
Over the three day course Darren Doherty has brought the students of the carbon farming class not only good humor and a thick Australian accent, but also invaluable wisdom in farming. Darren could be considered the inheritor of P.A Yeoman’s entrepreneurial spirit and his drive to spread the techniques of soil building and rehydrating. When Darren played what seemed like an ancient video from the 1950′s of Yeomans giving tours of his land, the class thought it was a little humorous.
However it was surprising to see that thousands of people flocked to Yeoman’s properties to observe his techniques even in the postwar boom of chemical agriculture . Darren told the class “This is crazy. Nobody does stuff like this anymore” and went on to say how farmers would show up by the thousand in their Sunday best, even on a rainy day to get a look at this new keyline method.
And the keyline method must have seemed well worth going out on a limb for as some of pastures of Yeoman’s neighbors were bone dry in comparison to his lush pasture. Though the most well known part of the keyline method is the use of the Keyline Plow, the construction of ponds, or “dams” as Darren calls them are just as important in the design strategy.
Darren criticizes the over-enthusiasm of some Permaculture practitioners who enjoy digging tons of swales as a water catchments strategy, a.k.a “Reconstructive Earth Surgery”. As a sensitive man, Darren prefers a gentler “Massage Therapy” technique of improving the land without earthworks as a primary tool.
It was refreshing to see a man who has been out planting thousands of trees, pruning many hectares of forest, and who has surveyed thousands of varying landscapes from Australia to California. What aspiring carbon farmer does not wish they had the repertoire of experience and knowledge that he posses? From cattle to the keyline plow, Darren knows what tools will both be economically profitable and regenerative for his clients.
Darren reminded us that the whole point of regenerative farming is to keep the family farmers on the land. The reason that farmers tell their children to make a better life for themselves, to get out and go to the city; is that a farmer in debt means that the whole family is in stress. There is no reason why you can’t improve pasture growth each year and simultaneously increase profit . There is no reason why you can’t improve water retention and organic matter content each year and still stay afloat. Any strategy that involves investing in a two hundred thousand dollar coop-house essentially cannot help the farmer
Darren hopes that profits from dairy, meat, nuts, fruits and forestry products produced using keyline methodology, silvopastures, mob grazing or any other carbon friendly method may be complimented with money from carbon credits. Though carbon credits may sound unappealing and exploitable, Darren makes the excellent point that farmers should be paid for the clean water and clean air they produce. Such a revolutionary idea is sure to have faults, but with carbon credits the impetus to produce food in closed-loop energy systems may reach a tipping point to be adopted by mainstream. Wouldn’t it be great if practices of treating the land and water as something of high value were mainstream?
Darren Doherty Consults with Participants at the Carbon Farming Course
by Kevin Brennan, a High School Student on Scholarship at the Carbon Farming Course
After attending the Keyline Farming Workshop with Darren Doherty I am fascinated by the scale of Keyline farming. Prior to the Keyline workshop I was intimidated and unclear about large scale regenerative agriculture systems, but Darren showed how large scale Keyline systems have tremendous carbon sequestering abilities and can be fairly simple to design and manage.
Perennial Grasslands can sequester more carbon than any other ecosystems and can be managed on a large scale. Most grasslands and pasture are currently overgrazed, compacted and dry but by using Keyline plows and intensive rotational grazing the land can be re-hydrated and topsoil can be built quickly. Darren Doherty has used Keyline principles to design more than a thousand properties, many larger than a thousand acres.
Darren’s work shows that Keyline farming is regenerative and profitable on a large scale. His approach to teaching is refreshing because he does not focus solely on Keyline but also uses other practices like permaculture, holistic management, and biodynamics.
Although Keyline farming works very well on a large scale, it can be practiced on even the smallest scale. The effect of the Keyline plow can be achieved using hand tools like pitchforks and shovels and all farmers can adopt the principles. There are no excuses, build some soil and come to the Carbon Farming Course!
Packed Keyline Farming Workshop at the Carbon Farming Course
1 Comment
January 24th, 2012 at 4:10 am
kevin, nice post, sorry to have missed keylining but so excited to hear from Wes Jackson, as I am anxiously awaiting the 12′taprooted perennial wheat on my farm. Also David Jacke to get more info on Perennial crop I might grow on my property. You and Charlie did a fantastic job. See you at Wes Jackson’s. leigh