Regenerative farming event popular

Canterbury farm facilitator and coach John King (left), Kaikoura district councillor and farmer Tony Blunt, event organiser Sky Horton, South Otago farmer Hamish Bielski and Hawarden farmer James Costello. Photo / Supplied by Environment Canterbury

Kaikoura's first regenerative farming event has been declared a roaring success.

More than 90 farmers, vintners and industry professionals from across the South Island attended the event in Kaikoura last month.

It was sponsored by the North Canterbury Rural Support Trust, the Organic Dairy and Pastoral Group and the Kaikoura Plains Recovery Project.

Event organiser Sky Horton was astonished with how much interest there was in regenerative farming.

"It quickly turned into an event with more than 90 farmers interested," she said.

The turn-out and diverse range of backgrounds of participants shows how relevant regenerative farming was right now, she said.

Speakers from Otago, Hawarden and Kaikoura delivered presentations focusing on personal journeys into regenerative farming, practices on-farm and farming to build soil biology and carbon.

The Kaikoura Plains Recovery Project covered the cost for local dairy farmers to attend.

Project manager Jodie Hoggard said regenerative farming methods sat well with the project's focus on adapting farming methods to fit the changing landscape.

"We believe the regenerative farming principles help farmers think about positioning their business for future gains, innovation, better water use and efficiency, environmental benefits and most importantly, resilience.

"The event helped demystify the methods and confirmed there is no-one recipe to fit all farms."

Kaikoura district councillor and farmer Tony Blunt was pleased new ideas were weaving their way into farming practices.