EIGHT local farming women participated in the recent Liebe Group's Women in Ag networking and diversification tour through the Perth and Peel regions.
This project was supported by the Foundation for Rural and Regional Renewal (FRRR), with funding from the Australian government's Future Drought Fund.
Starting in Bibra Lake with long-time diamond partner CSBP, the first stop was at the CSBP soil and plant laboratory in Bibra Lake.
Running for more than 50 years, the soil and plant lab conducts more than one million soil tests and more than 100,000 plant samples per year.
The women were able to view the soil testing process, from drying and tumbling, to extracting and analysing a small sample.
The also visited another Liebe Group partner's plant breeding facility at InterGrain, for a look at the long process of breeding new wheat, barley and oat varieties.
Taking up to 10 years, the breeding process starts in a glasshouse and goes through many years of quality control before finally being launched and available to growers.
With drought resilience and diversification being a key component of the trip, the second day saw the bus stop at Drakesbrook Wines for a tour of the family-owned and operated vineyard.
In January 2016, Drakesbrook lost everything to fire.
They are slowly rebuilding their stores and continue to grow French and Spanish varieties which are suitable for their soil and climate.
Using only sulphur on the vines, Drakesbrook Wines encourage chickens to roam around the plants for natural fertiliser.
The next stop was with Blythe Calnan, at Runnymede Farm, where Ms Calnan, and her husband, have implemented a regenerative farming system with intensive rotational grazing for their cattle and chickens.
With more than 2000 chickens, their rotational systems sees the cattle moved daily with the chickens following no later than three days afterwards.
With a broad range of soil types, Runnymede Farm is making use of the nutrients already onsite, and has not applied nitrogen in more than three years.
This has proven beneficial for the fungi and bacteria found in the soil profile and is continuing to improve.
Ms Calnan said it was great to have the Liebe women visit to share information, ideas and discuss issues facing all farming families.
"In the household, the business, the community and industry representation the contribution of women to the success and resilience of rural Australia is absolutely critical," Ms Calnan said.
The final stop for day two was with Hall Family Farm which is hosting its fifth genetration.
With seven different breeds, the dairy has 180 cows in its commercial herd and 10 french Normandy cows for their specialty cheese, Halls Suzette, which the group were lucky enough to taste and purchase.
Using collars on each animal, the Halls are able to track the distance cows travel, animal health, fertility timing and more to ensure the safety and wellbeing of the herd.
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Finishing off the tour, the group visited Patane Produce for a tour through its main facility.
Operating for 27 years, Patane Produce started with potatoes, carrots and onions and has recently added broccoli to the rotational mix.
The business is heavily regulated for water use and is affected by salinity, and nothing goes to waste with scraps being fed to the cattle.
With a pre-COVID staff of more than 80, Patane Produce is involved with the Pacific Labour Scheme and is able to employ staff from Vanuatu as needed to assist with the operational side of the business.
Daily irrigation, weekly sprays and fertilisers are required to ensure supply is maintained.
The group was able to view the process from quality control to packing and loading onsite to company trucks before produce was shipped to Coles and Woolworths.
Such a tour would not have been possible without support from FRRR and the Future Drought Fund, Liebe Group partners CSBP and InterGrain and all the small businesses which allowed the group to visit.
