THE year was 1987 and a small group of farmers had travelled from four different states to meet in dusty Dubbo, in NSW, to share their concerns about the amount of chemicals being used in agriculture.
From that meeting came the formation of Biological Farmers Association, bringing organic and biodynamic producers under the one umbrella.
At the time, many regarded the commitment to farming without chemicals or pesticides as somewhat of a fringe idea.
But when the BFA held its first field day on a farm in Queensland a little over a year later the organisation was overwhelmed by the response.
About 1400 people turned up, along with a television news crew, to hear about the benefits of organics.
The BFA later evolved into the peak industry body we have today, Australian Organic Limited.
The arrival of our 35th anniversary has prompted me to reflect on our shared history and values.
In doing so I came across a newsletter from 1992 and this quote:
"As world thinking is changing from the conventional high input farming systems, it is important to educate producers through field days, seminars, etc. in what can be accomplished by a regenerative agriculture."
It's a sentence that could have been written in 2022, although the description "a regenerative agriculture" hints at a concept not widely understood.
These days, thanks to the combined efforts of many farmers and consumers who care for how their food and fibre are produced, terms like organic, regenerative and sustainability have moved from the fringe to the mainstream.
But, as in 1992, the world still grapples with the challenges of high-input farming systems and their impact on the environment.
New Zealand has implemented a cap on synthetic nitrogen fertiliser use to protect its waterways while Canada plans to cut greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) from fertiliser by 30 per cent by 2030.
In Australia, a report by the CSIRO published in January calculated that the use of fertilisers contributed about 38pc to the grains sector's total GHG baseline emissions.
Organic farming does not permit the use of harmful chemicals, synthetic fertilisers, pesticides or herbicides, and requires sustainable farming methods that imitate natural ecological processes.
There is more carbon in the soil, another increasingly important metric in modern agriculture.
To see the world embracing these values, which some have traced right back to the 1940s in Australia, is a credit to those early pioneers including that small band of farmers who formed the BFA in 1987.
RELATED READING
Today Australian Organic Limited is the peak industry body engaging with government and industry to promote the commercial and social interests of those who are certified, and to protect the integrity of the certified industry against fraud and misleading organic products.
Australian Organic is identified by Australia's most shopper-recognised organic industry trademark, the Australian Certified Organic Bud.
- September is celebrated by the industry as organic awareness month.
- Niki Ford is chief executive officer of Australian Organic Ltd
