With record dry conditions across eastern Australia and many of you facing difficult decisions, we wanted to have a chat with Braidwood farmer Martin Royds to share his thoughts and experiences with making decisions in the dry, and coping with the emotional toll of seeing the landscape go backwards.

Read more about Martin Royds’ approach to building landscape resilience - https://soilsforlife.org.au/observing-resilience-at-jillamatong/ 

Martin speaks in the episode about his approach to managing grazing livestock during drought, which is informed by Holistic Management techniques. You can learn more about Holistic Management via:

• Workshops and other events run by the Australian Holistic Management Cooperative - https://holisticmanagement.au/events.php 

• The Savory Institute - https://savory.global/holistic-management/

• Online courses run by The Savory Institute - ​​https://savory.shop/en-au/collections/online-courses 

Other links and resources that may be useful include:

• Resource Consulting Services (RC) events and courses - https://www.rcsaustralia.com.au/ 

• Inside Outside Management, Brian Wehlburg, Holistic Management educator - https://www.facebook.com/insideoutsidemanagement/ 

• Decision Design Hub, Helen Lewis, Holistic Management educator - https://decisiondesignhub.com.au/

• AIMS (Agricultural Information & Monitoring Services), Dr Judy Earl - https://aimsag.com.au/

• Southern Blue Regenerative, Glen Chapman, Holistic Management educator - https://www.southernblue.com.au/ 

If you or someone you know is struggling, please reach out. Rural Aid support line (1300 175 594), Lifeline (13 11 14), and Beyond Blue (1300 22 4636) offer free, confidential support. The National Centre for Farmer Health also provides a wide range of resources - https://farmerhealth.org.au/support-hub#mental-health-support-farmers.

Get in touch with us a info@soilsforlife.org.au.

* Note, in this episode when Martin refers to the “1983 drought” he was referring to the drought that ended in 1983.