ROCOCHETING weather patterns and fluctuating markets has given actress-director Rachel Ward a renewed respect for farmers, she told an audience in Armidale on July 30.
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But she also wished they could be better judged on their performance, much like actors.
Ward was speaking after the premiere of her documentary, Rachel's Farm, at the Belgrave cinema in Dumaresq Street.
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More than 150 people from across the district attended the premiere of the film, which shows how Ward started regenerative farming on her Nambucca Valley property.
"In the entertainment industry, you get called out pretty quickly if your performance is not up to scratch," Ward said.
"But there doesn't seem to be a similar performance measure in the farming industry."
Ward was responding to questions from the audience about the nation's farming practices.
She had noted how land degradation in some areas was mind boggling and urged rural producers to consider regenerative farming.
At the heart of such farming is good soil health, explained in Rachel's Farm.
Ward joined forces with her neighbour farmer, Mick Green, to make their shared cattle properties sustainable and ecologically balanced.
The documentary runs for one-and-a-half hours and joining Ward in the discussion afterwards was UNE Oliver Knox, Associate Professor of Soil Systems Biology, Judi Earl, an advocate in the holistic management of farms and Mr Green.
Ward started the discussion by telling how the 2019 bushfires (that nearly destroyed her property) were a wake-up call about climate change.
"It was one of those head-cracking moments when I was forced to act," Ward said.
"A lot of us have climate anxiety, but I hadn't realised 40 per cent of the carbon in the air is a direct result of our farming practices."
The grim statistic galvanised her into action and the documentary, filmed over a three-year period, shows Ward's and Mr Green's attempts at introducing a more sustainable practice on their properties.
Rachel's Farm is funny, insightful and thought provoking.
Asked how we could assess the quality of our soil, Assoc Prof Knox told the audience to bury a worn pair of their underpants in their garden, quite deep into the soil.
If, after eight weeks, the only remnants were mainly the elastic in the pants, then the soil biology is quite healthy, having broken down all the natural fibres.
But if the underpants remain more or less in tact, then there's a problem.
(And it's not necessarily just with the pants.)
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