Latest / The Shed Organics Show / #69 - Farming From the Inside Out | Blair Beattie [Farmers Footprint AU]

Transcript

#69 - Farming From the Inside Out | Blair Beattie [Farmers Footprint AU] · The Shed Organics Show

0:00
Hey everybody. Welcome back to another episode
0:02
of the Shared Organics Show. My name is Jordan.
0:06
And today a beautiful and inspiring guest we have Blair
0:10
Beatty. Now Blair is from Farmer's
0:14
Footprint Australia. He's the executive director of
0:17
the Farmer's Footprint branch that is out here in Australia
0:20
that started not too many years ago, A fabulous organization
0:24
helping farmers to understand their connection to the land,
0:29
understand the mindset, the framework in which all of this
0:34
regenerative farming principles applies not only to how they
0:37
farm, but how they live their lives as well.
0:40
Such an important organization that we go into a little bit in
0:43
terms of his work with that. He also hosts the Invisible
0:47
Ingredient podcast as part of Farmer's Footprint, which
0:51
highlights the ever in well, the ever impactful use of
0:56
glyphosate, the weed killer chemical or known as Roundup
1:00
here in this country that we are seeing the impacts of so far and
1:03
wide in today's society. So we touch on that in the
1:06
podcast. Such a valuable resource.
1:08
I'll link that in the description as well if you want
1:10
to find that one. But more importantly, Blair
1:13
thinks about systems, people, connection, land, love.
1:19
He thinks about all of these things quite deeply, Something
1:21
that we very much connect on. I think if you listen to this
1:24
conversation, you will understand that both of us are
1:28
coming from a very similar cloth in terms of the way we are cut,
1:32
the way we are approaching and living and moving through the
1:35
world. And I deeply appreciate when I
1:38
find somebody else who is on that type of journey with that
1:41
type of thinking. So this conversation is deep,
1:46
but it's meaningful, a deep and meaningful conversation which I
1:49
think will very much impact you in the way that you move today.
1:54
So without further ado, let's dive in.
1:57
Enjoy the conversation. This is Blair Beatty from
2:00
Farmer's Footprint Australia. Like my first impression of
2:20
farmer's footprint when I came across it was really, it was
2:25
kind of like it felt really hopeful.
2:28
I'm a I'm a fan of Doctor Zach Bush and have been for a while
2:32
and his his account online, his presence was what introduced me
2:37
to farmer's footprint. Now from what I was aware that
2:41
was AUS based organization initially, but we have now Farms
2:49
Footprint Australia, which I believe you are fronting over
2:54
here and sort of organizing our leg.
3:00
I'd love to know, first of all, basically how it came about that
3:04
you're running this, but also why did that?
3:09
Like, why did it call to you as something that you wanted to do?
3:12
Why did you stick your hand up and go, yeah, that feels like I
3:16
can do this. Yeah, it's a good question.
3:19
I think, I think most of it comes down to synchronicity.
3:25
And at that time when we we launched, I think four years
3:29
ago, we were going to launch over COVID, but of course that
3:33
wasn't the greatest time to be doing it.
3:36
And how it came about was I've always been involved in some
3:41
sort of culture. I did a horticultural degree, no
3:45
diploma. I don't know if I actually
3:48
finished that, to be honest. I got into permaculture and then
3:52
I got into a sort of wider agricultural systems while also
3:56
learning more indigenous practices.
3:58
And I just finished up with a farming project.
4:02
And it was kind of like, oh, what?
4:04
What's coming next? And then on the same day, two
4:08
different people pinged me a podcast to listen to and a video
4:13
to watch, and they were both from Farmers Footprint US.
4:17
Cool. So it's kind of like, oh, that's
4:20
interesting. I could just palm that off or I
4:23
could see what's what, what's being signalled here.
4:28
I resonated really well with the story and with what they were
4:34
becoming because we all have great ideas about what we want
4:39
to do, but if we don't listen and we don't attune, we're not
4:43
really being appropriate. We're just being in projections
4:45
of our own egoic state, right? So, but I resonated with their
4:51
story and also realized that if they're storytellers and they're
4:57
sort of signalling a new possibility.
5:01
And I love what you said earlier about hope because that's
5:03
embedded in in those stories. It was very much about what's
5:08
possible, what and not, you know, kind of how screwed we
5:12
are. I mean, that's the paradox,
5:14
right? Yeah.
5:16
So, yeah, I'm not shy. I reached out, had conversations
5:20
with Zach, with the executive director at the time over there.
5:25
And it became inevitable. You know, we we built
5:29
relationship became inevitable that we can do that here.
5:32
And we probably need something like that here in Australia as
5:35
well because we all, you know, as we know, there's by there's
5:40
global story and there's bioregional story and it all
5:44
comes down, there's individual story.
5:47
And we were, you know, we sort of placed ourselves in the
5:50
beginnings to tell the Australian story, like where are
5:54
we at? What do we need to do?
5:56
But we spent the first, you know, year and 18 months
6:00
listening because we weren't quite sure who we were.
6:04
I think that that a lot of people, I think there's the
6:07
phrase goes, you've got 2 ears and one mouth, so listen is
6:12
twice as much as you talk. Something along those lines.
6:15
I may have butchered it, but you do have to listen.
6:18
And with an organization like this that is essentially
6:23
representing farmers and farming as a sort of beacon of hope, as
6:29
you mentioned, and to highlight stories of success against the
6:34
struggle. How have you like, how have you
6:38
felt that impact since starting? Because initially, like you
6:45
said, you, you don't know what the identity necessarily is.
6:48
So you're listening for a while to kind of get the, the lay of
6:52
the land in terms of how farmers are feeling and what the state
6:56
of affairs is. Basically, what's the what's the
7:00
connection been like for you with farmers finding this
7:04
organization and the things that then you're able to help them
7:08
with or help promote? What does it look like on the
7:11
ground? Yeah, it's a, it's a good
7:14
question. And when we started off, we, we,
7:17
we thought that we were very much going to be farmer focused.
7:21
As it turns out, we are, but we're also very consumer
7:27
focused. Most of our audience, most, most
7:31
of our audience are women who are mothers that care deeply
7:37
about what they the food that they put in their kids and about
7:42
where we're at on planet earth. So, you know, we have to take
7:47
that into account. Like what, what is it we, we are
7:50
going to be doing here? And what is what stories do we
7:53
want to share? And are they, is that even
7:55
appropriate for who our audience is?
7:58
So is it took a while, we hope we held events.
8:01
We I dragged my family around the country, you know, towing a
8:08
caravan, which was a great family adventure.
8:10
But beneath that, it was for me to really understand what's
8:14
going on in agriculture in Australia, to be on the ground
8:18
and see it, to have conversations, live
8:21
conversations with humans. Because we spend, especially in
8:24
these kind of zones, we can spend a lot of time making
8:29
assumptions and we can also be relying on 3rd party, you know,
8:35
resources or propaganda. So it felt, it felt really,
8:42
really potent that if I got out there, then I could actually
8:45
then speak to it with some sort of integrity, of course.
8:49
So we did, we did 18 months travelling around the country as
8:53
as a learning adventure to find out, well, you know, what should
8:57
Farmers footprint be doing? Yeah, yeah, we can be
9:00
storytellers, but there's so much more possibility.
9:05
But bringing people together and in in engaging ways was, was
9:09
something that we we will continue to do.
9:11
And that's holding events and having great conversations.
9:17
But what came out of that trip for me and for the organization
9:22
was we need to, we need to be focusing on their farmers.
9:29
And we're not. We're we're telling stories and
9:34
we're talking about practices and principles.
9:37
But what what I realized is that if we have a healthy farmer who
9:43
understands what self-care is, what nutrition is, what movement
9:48
is that actually takes care of themselves, that is reflected
9:53
like a mirror onto their landscape.
9:56
Absolutely. I was like, well, what the hell
9:58
are we doing on the soapbox talking about, do you know,
10:02
agricultural transition to a whole bunch of people that
10:04
aren't ready to hear that. Yeah, very true.
10:08
So through that, we started holding farmer retreats where we
10:15
don't talk about farming, we just talk about them.
10:20
So yeah, it's just been a really interesting journey and we're
10:24
certainly kind of went to places that I didn't expect we would,
10:28
but it was very, very much a learning and a listening process
10:33
and being reactive to that, not what we think needs to happen.
10:41
I totally agree. I think that's the beauty of it
10:45
is allowing yourself to be taken by it and it to organically find
10:51
its way, find its place shaped by everybody, everyone's
10:54
experience, not just like you said, the you know, the everyone
10:57
starts with good intentions. You're founding this thing to
10:59
try and bring something good into the world.
11:02
But then when you push it too hard or your idea too hard or
11:07
you cling to it too hard, then it can often not quite find its
11:10
place. This is this is really nicely
11:15
sort of setting up farm's footprint.
11:17
I think another thing that I wanted to touch on that is
11:21
probably one of the more sad sides of some of the awareness
11:27
that we need to be bringing is your involvement in the podcast
11:31
invisible ingredient. Now I really found a lot of
11:36
value from that. I found a lot of shock value,
11:40
but also, but also hope because there was quite a few guests
11:46
from various different backgrounds or worlds, let's say
11:52
that came to weigh in and on this issue.
11:54
And the the shocking thing is that it crosses so many of these
11:58
worlds that the whole of these worlds are linked to this
12:02
chemical. But obviously people can go and
12:06
listen to these podcasts, They can go and dive into that.
12:09
And I encourage that because I think it's, it's great to bring
12:12
this awareness. But personally for you before,
12:17
during and after, what was this process like of having these
12:22
conversations, finding out about this chemical and then the the
12:30
sort of the meaning behind packaging it into a podcast for
12:32
more people to be able to understand?
12:34
What was that like for you mate? Yeah, it's another good question
12:38
and it speaks deeply to in into me and then why I'm here and how
12:44
I got here. Like the even starting farmer's
12:47
footprint was on the back of listening to a Rich Role podcast
12:50
with Zach, which talks about glyphosate.
12:52
It was like, yeah, I'm hearing this, I'm seeing this, I've
12:57
lived this, I've used this and the harm it's causing is still
13:02
like, so that was, that's been for many years, sort of just
13:08
hovering in the ether around me personally.
13:11
Yeah. But then when we, you know, when
13:14
we zoom out into our agricultural landscape and also
13:19
within the organization, whenever we mention something
13:22
about glyphosate, whether it be in our socials or events, it
13:26
would there'd be energy around it or even agrochemicals.
13:31
I mean, this podcast was about glyphosate, but we could have it
13:33
about a very a suite of chemicals that we use in our
13:36
current methods of farming. Absolutely.
13:40
And glyphosate's not the worst. It's just the one that's used
13:43
most. Most, yeah.
13:45
A lot like, a lot more like a lot.
13:47
Yeah, Yeah. And so, you know, that we
13:52
realized that there's, there's something here, but there's
13:55
always been these. And we're not where we need to
13:58
be when it comes to regulars regulation or policy or even
14:03
even culturally, you know, our use and understanding of it is
14:07
still very much within the playbook of of large corporate
14:11
interests, you know, companies that don't give a shit about
14:14
health, that look at two things, productivity and profitability.
14:18
Zero else. And we'll do anything to support
14:21
that, which if you listen to the podcast, you'll be enlightened
14:24
by the, the nefarious actions of these, these bodies to keep, to
14:31
keep and continue that that propensity of use.
14:36
So for, for us, it was what needs to happen because there's,
14:41
there'll be someone calling on it here, there's someone calling
14:43
on it over there, but we're still not getting anywhere when
14:48
it comes to that bigger conversation.
14:50
So we're like, well, what happens if we bring a bunch of
14:53
those people together into one vessel and have a really broad
14:57
conversation around its use, what's happening, the harm, but
15:01
also the possibility because I'm, I'm not a doomsdayer.
15:07
I've done my time doomscrolling. I've done my time looking at
15:12
the, the challenges that we face in the world, but I my energy
15:18
and my attention goes towards what's possible and creating
15:22
something beautiful. So we wanted to make sure that
15:24
that podcast was rounded in that way that at least when people
15:28
hear about the this horrific thing, we can balance it with,
15:33
hey, Leo, it's bad, but there are pathways to remediation.
15:37
There are thick, thick Ways and Means that we can move beyond
15:41
it, but it's going to take some work and it's going to take
15:44
maybe a generation. So that that that was kind of
15:49
synthesizing those conversations and bringing them into one
15:51
vessel for anyone to just tune into what felt really important
15:57
for us. Because maybe that was going to
15:59
help build a resource, an Evergreen resource for people to
16:03
go to. And it really for us as a wider
16:07
organization, because we worked with the US really closely on
16:10
that one. It was our first collaborative
16:13
experience together and it was really beautiful.
16:15
Yeah. But it was really the seed for a
16:18
much greater campaign that we're funding for at the moment around
16:22
glyphosate, using glyphosate as a poster child, but but building
16:27
assets, media assets, which speak to it and deliver
16:31
something potent and poignant to the entire Western civilization.
16:40
So that that's in the works. The podcast was kind of the the
16:44
preamble to that. Yeah, Beautiful.
16:47
Well, I found so much value out of it in surprising ways too,
16:51
because I find that, yeah, like, I had an understanding of how
16:55
crazy this chemical use is. But I, I learned a lot more
17:00
about what it looks like in terms of how it's used
17:05
throughout the world, in terms of who relies on it, how much
17:09
the system is built to include it, and as you mentioned, the
17:16
nefarious ways in which they're keeping it rolling.
17:20
I saw recently, I'm not a huge person to be keeping up with the
17:27
news all the time. I like to try and keep an ear to
17:29
the ground, but I'm very wary about how that impacts me.
17:32
But I heard because I was interested in the the movement
17:37
in the US to to stop these chemicals and particularly
17:42
Robert Kennedy trying to do this.
17:44
Now I'm I'm very scared to dive into the political landscape
17:52
because I don't like to. Pick good reason.
17:53
Yes, I'm, I don't like to pick sides and talk about it, but
17:56
anyway, I heard him talking about how he there was this
18:01
executive order or something signed where Trump had declared
18:06
that the use of it. If we just pulled it off the
18:11
market or said that it was poisonous and regulated it like
18:14
this, that would deeply impact the international system that
18:20
uses it and and could potentially bring our food
18:23
system to its knees in many ways.
18:27
I just wondered like just from your point of view, I don't
18:31
necessarily need any political input from you, but I would love
18:35
to know. Hey guys, really quickly jumping
18:38
in. I just want to remind you, if
18:40
you are not subscribed to this show, that is the number one
18:43
thing that you can do to show me your support.
18:46
So if you're finding value from this conversation and you're
18:48
deeply engaged, I would love you to hit the follow or subscribe
18:52
button. All right, back to the show.
18:55
From your experience listening and talking about this chemical,
18:59
how much of that is true? How much of the system is so
19:04
reliant on it to the fact that if we did regulate its use or
19:10
try and pull back with regulatory action its use, does
19:16
that put farmers into a really tricky and sticky situation?
19:20
What does? What does that look like?
19:23
We're so dependent on it in our conventional industrial system
19:27
that if you were to pull it out, it would fall over the whole
19:31
system. That's we saw that when Sri
19:36
Lanka wanted to go organic like the there's, there needs to be a
19:41
transitory pathway that happens and that doesn't happen
19:43
overnight. And we're moving from
19:46
reductionistic monocropping into the big diverse, complex systems
19:52
is what we want. So that can't happen by just
19:55
pulling the plug on one thing because it's built that way,
19:59
right. Yeah.
20:01
So that that's the unfortunate reality and what and yeah, what
20:05
politically it's like 2 wings of the same bird for me.
20:08
Yeah. When when recently Trump spoken
20:13
about. Yes.
20:16
And I think it's quite true because there's so much
20:20
dependency on the on that chemical for not only food
20:23
production, but other. Like ethanol and we've, we've
20:30
created, we've genetically modified food and resources to
20:35
suit the use of this thing. So when when he said that, you
20:41
know, Homeland Security needs to bring the production of it back
20:44
home, he's probably quite right when you look through that
20:48
economic length. But it's discounting the harm
20:53
that it's causing on the in the bigger picture.
20:56
Like unfortunately, there's they're lobbying to do what they
21:01
did with vaccination, which has not allowed people to to
21:06
prosecute for being for exposure to these chemicals and, and
21:12
taking a company like Bayer, formerly Monsanto to court
21:17
because they win. Yeah, like we, we had, I'm not
21:21
sure if you listen to that one, but Brett Wisener who was the
21:25
lawyer that took, we worked with Bobby Kennedy actually on that
21:28
first Monsanto case. And one like it's incredible
21:32
what he went through and what he learnt in that process.
21:37
So, yeah, to come back to your question, yeah, we're we're
21:42
fully exposed if we take that out.
21:45
But so we need to have a conversation about what's the
21:48
low hanging fruit of that? Are there biologicals that can
21:52
fit? So there's not a practice
21:54
change. It's just an input change as a
21:56
starting point. And that you know, so it needs
21:58
to be well thought out. It can be done and it needs to
22:02
be done. But it you know, because there's
22:05
no silver bullet, no, when it comes to this story,
22:08
unfortunately. No, you're right.
22:10
Well, that's that's great perspective.
22:11
Thank you. I just, yeah, like I said, I
22:14
don't want to worry about too much political stuff, but I'm
22:17
just thought of that, that decision or that speaking about
22:21
it highlighted how the system is built off this and how that like
22:25
it's not just as simple as pulling it.
22:29
I think that as you've alluded to, it's more of a systemic
22:33
change. It's a, it's a frame of mind
22:35
that or perspective shift that we all need to go through that
22:40
it's coming away from this extractive model that we've been
22:43
doing for so long to a more regenerative approach or
22:46
whatever that seems to mean these days.
22:49
But the, the, I mean, it's a, it's a spectrum, isn't it?
22:53
But the, the important thing is that it's being highlighted now
22:58
more and more, which I think is going to be so much more
23:01
beneficial for us in the way that we produce food.
23:05
I've recently been trying to highlight the importance and and
23:11
some of the work of the Bio Nutrient Association, where
23:14
they're talking about the difference in nutrient density
23:17
of food and how the soil really is the key stone to that whole
23:23
process. And how with this chemical
23:25
extractive approach, we're producing food that we would
23:29
need to eat sort of 10 times the amount to get the same nutrition
23:33
as if it was grown properly. And I think one of the, you
23:37
know, one of the guys, Dan Kitteridge is, is talking about
23:40
how he would love to see a, a, a quality, a nutrient density
23:45
quality meter being the metric by which farmers are producing
23:50
their food, right. So if I could go to the
23:53
supermarket, for example, and scan a, a whole bunch of
23:56
carrots. And if one carrot gets a score
23:59
of 80 out of 100, I'm going to pick that one over the 20 out of
24:02
100. And that's going to shape
24:04
consumer behaviour to shape how farmers focus on the soil,
24:08
right? So it's, it's part these things
24:12
with the consumers, it's part changing the mindset of the
24:15
farmer themselves. And I think that's why these
24:19
retreats that you're doing are beautiful because it's focusing
24:22
on what brings this farmer to this wholesome existence that
24:27
they're tending to the land and providing and, and being part of
24:30
the whole process rather than battling against it and input
24:34
costs and everything each year. I wanted to double click on
24:38
something that you mentioned earlier, mate.
24:39
You said in the face of all of this negativity or doomsday
24:46
scrolling and things like this, you said, I've been there.
24:48
You said I've, I've done that, but now you're choosing to focus
24:53
on what's good, all right, or what we can do and the hope.
24:57
And I resonate with that because as I mentioned earlier, if you
25:02
get caught up in reading headlines all the time, you tend
25:05
to be in a position where the world seems so overwhelmingly
25:10
terrible that what can we do? You know what, what can I humble
25:14
little me do to, to change things?
25:18
And I made the switch of trying to focus on things that I can
25:21
control and the things that are within my lane and what I can
25:26
then impact locally, right? And to me, that's been a really
25:31
huge shift because it's like I can't tackle all of the world's
25:34
problems on their own, but I can do this or that.
25:37
And focusing on that has brought me a lot of positivity, which I
25:41
am then able to share and spread.
25:43
So I'd love to hear your journey with that because there must be
25:48
people listening out there that are stuck in that doom scrolling
25:53
and they want to shout out from the rooftops about every problem
25:56
that's coming up, rightly so, because they're really
25:58
important. But how do we, how do we balance
26:03
this mate? How do we take some of these
26:05
incredibly difficult challenges and not ignore them or bury our
26:09
heads in the sand, but focus on what we can do ourselves?
26:14
Yeah, it's such an important topic that we isn't spoken about
26:20
enough, I think. I think one of the factors and
26:24
the one of the big contributors is understanding that the, the
26:32
institutions, the corporate bodies, the, the puppet
26:38
government that we have have an agenda to keep us in a state of
26:44
dysregulation. And that's the unfortunate
26:48
reality. And you only have to put the
26:49
news on to see that that is the reality, right?
26:53
And what we intake, we then reflect.
26:58
So for, for me, for me, it was when I had kids that I was like,
27:05
am I going to be the mirror to that for my children?
27:09
That's not what I who I wanted to be.
27:11
And it's also not within our nature.
27:13
Yeah. So if we turn and it's not
27:17
turning a blind eye, it's more about just focusing our
27:21
attention on something that is life affirming and hopeful
27:26
rather than the, yeah, remaining in that dysregulated state where
27:32
we feel as if we're a victim to this, this narrative.
27:37
We are not. We are these incredible powerful
27:41
beings that can you know that there's a thing where there's
27:45
fate and there's destiny right now.
27:48
Fate is when we become a victim to whatever the circumstances
27:52
are. And destiny is when we we have
27:55
some control over where we're going and where we place
27:58
ourselves in the world and who would we become in the world.
28:02
So for me, it was a matter of, you know, cleaning up my shit,
28:05
waking up, growing up and then showing up for my kids, but also
28:12
ultimately myself. Yeah.
28:15
And it's incredible when you're able to transmute that
28:21
negativity into love or clarity. But it takes it takes some work.
28:29
And that's that's the work that is ahead for us individually.
28:33
So we can then be positive in the collective.
28:39
That's right. The power of us realizing the
28:45
power of us realizing the power we have.
28:47
I think it's probably a good way of saying it is, is incredible
28:52
because the, the, the, it comes down to so many of these things
28:58
that it's just an, a real fundamental belief in who we are
29:02
as human beings to be. And I think, you know, I'm
29:05
hearing a lot of the the language of Zach and things like
29:09
this coming through what we're both saying because he is
29:12
somebody who really fronts that idea of trying to remember the
29:18
beauty, the love, the the essence of what it is to be and
29:23
to be not only of service, but symbiotically existing amongst
29:30
this world. And when you have such like you
29:34
see something like an organization like farmer's
29:36
footprint, right? And I see it and I go that's,
29:38
that's a relatively small and probably, you know how small it
29:42
is, collection of people that are doing something that is
29:46
rippling out and impacting so widely.
29:49
And on the flip sides, there's can be one person that can ruin
29:52
something for everybody. There's, there's such a huge
29:55
ripple that human beings can have.
29:58
So to be able to do this for good, once you start doing that
30:05
and you start doing it not for personal gain, but for more to
30:08
be of service to everybody and understanding that that does
30:12
come back, that gets reciprocated.
30:14
When you start doing that and you see it and you see this
30:17
reciprocation, it only builds from there.
30:20
It's like this upward spiral sort of going up.
30:25
My my question always comes back to like, how do we help other
30:33
people to have this personal awakening?
30:37
Because it's so personal. It's such like, I know this is
30:41
this is doesn't have an answer. So Blair, I don't expect you to
30:45
be able to answer. That's good.
30:47
It's like each of these people has their own personal timeline,
30:51
their own personal moment where they hear the right thing at the
30:55
right time and it slots in just like the Tetris block.
30:58
But we're doing our best to kind of what I would say is lay the
31:03
foundation, set the environment, put out all of this content,
31:07
this media, whatever it is, this information to set the landscape
31:12
to impact the culture. That then puts that position,
31:16
that person in a position to learn what they need to learn
31:19
and wake up when they need to wake up.
31:21
Is that how you see it or is there anything I'm missing in
31:23
this? Yeah, I think harking back to we
31:29
are all on our own journey, having our own human experience
31:34
and the lens we, I think one, one of the most important things
31:38
that that net doesn't get spoken to enough is that we're on a
31:42
developmental journey, right? And as, as and there's this
31:46
beautiful sacred ladder that we the sacred, I mean, people hate
31:51
to say hierarchies, but there is a, there's dominator hierarchies
31:55
and there's sacred hierarchies. And we are on this, there's a
31:58
spectrum to that. And if we, as we, you know,
32:05
ascend that ladder, our perspectives, our values change
32:09
and shift and we're all on this journey.
32:11
So we kind of transcend and include that as we move up it.
32:16
So we know where we've come from and we actually know where
32:18
everyone else is at as well because we were once there.
32:22
So if we look through that lens, then we we get to develop the
32:26
skill of skillful means, right? And skillful means is only the
32:30
ability to speak to someone where they're at and understand
32:33
that and value that and appreciate that and acknowledge
32:35
that and love that. It's not a judgement because you
32:39
were there before. So I think what's come from me
32:44
on this journey is flexing that muscle, that skillful means and
32:49
seeing where people are AT. And through that lens, you get
32:54
to sit, you get to speak to what then will inspire, invites them
33:03
into a new way of seeing things, a new lens to look at themselves
33:09
and the world. And the most dynamic part of
33:12
that is exponential, like being on a landscape with other people
33:17
doing something. 100%. And some might call that a
33:21
retreat or it could be just a gathering, but that's when we
33:24
get to do cool shit together and it actually helps us build a
33:29
transmission and, and a an energy that everyone rises
33:35
toward. That's that's.
33:38
Community, right? That's community and that's
33:41
something that we're lost as well in the mail you of today.
33:44
It's like there's this, we all go through an individual
33:47
individuation process, but then we have the realization post
33:51
that that we are all very much interconnected.
33:57
So, you know, we're in this challenge because we've got a
34:01
lot of uninitiated men running around with guns and big wallets
34:05
at the moment. And that's, you know, a
34:07
reflection of our culture. We don't have an initiatory
34:10
process in our culture that allows people to go through
34:13
those processes required to mature and evolve and then see
34:19
with different eyes and take on responsibility and
34:21
accountability and all those amazing things that no one ever
34:24
does anymore. You're right, mate.
34:28
That's, I mean, like like I said, I don't expect you to have
34:30
an answer for that, but I think you articulated very nicely then
34:35
the importance of coming back to that community to be looking out
34:39
for each other to understand we're all in this together, to
34:41
have that interconnected support reciprocity.
34:47
A reconnection, right? Yeah, yeah.
34:50
But to. Self, but also to place,
34:53
otherwise we're sort of flagellating around the place
34:55
and not really know who we are and where we.
34:58
Are that's very true and you know, you mentioned before we
35:02
went on that you'd been travelling and how like you
35:05
know, that's that's the beauty of the modern world is we can go
35:07
and explore all these places but place.
35:09
I think you've just nailed that because, you know, you get to
35:14
understand the land and work within it and become part of its
35:17
cycles And the the fact that we all live so internationally, so
35:23
online does disconnect us from the land.
35:27
And Even so some something so stupid really as checking the
35:31
weather like Your local weather app and stuff go outside.
35:36
Yeah, exactly. I find it so funny.
35:38
I've been, I'm a culprit because I, I check whether there's rain
35:41
coming and stuff, but I, I also try and attune myself to going
35:44
out there. Can I smell it?
35:46
Can I feel it? Can I do I understand what's
35:49
happening in my local environment and that's.
35:52
So important that attunement. Yeah, a touch of.
35:56
Powerful, that's. Something I spoke to about this
36:00
with his name's Conan from Force of Nature or Ground Shift in New
36:05
Zealand. And he's he's does what I would
36:09
call or what he calls Agri business.
36:11
So it's like it's all sorts of stuff with the farming as well
36:15
as the farmer themselves, much like you were talking about.
36:18
But he was talking about this, that that's the thing that he
36:23
sees as lost as one of the most important things is this
36:27
farmer's ability to read and understand and connect with
36:32
their land. Is that something that you're
36:34
seeing in these retreats? And it's something that's one of
36:37
the most common things. And what other things are there?
36:41
Really it's it's that connection piece to ourselves and to a
36:47
landscape, and especially through a farmer's lands.
36:49
I mean, they are connected to a land, a landscape, but they've
36:52
been, that's kind of been butchered by it becoming a
36:56
commodity. Like we economized something
36:59
natural, which is so ridiculous in itself, right?
37:03
So the, the retreats are part of that journey is, is reconnecting
37:08
to the landscape, to the animals.
37:11
And attunement is such a beautiful tool for that.
37:17
Like my, my, one of my teachers always talks about like if
37:20
people don't understand what attunement is, he uses the great
37:25
example of say you've got a mum with a baby and she's holding
37:30
the baby in her arms and the baby feels kind of safe and
37:33
warm, but she's on her phone. Yeah.
37:38
So that that's not a tumor, that's the veil of safety, but
37:43
tuning is feeling into the nervous system of another.
37:47
And we can do that with each other.
37:49
We can do that with a landscape. We can do that with our animals.
37:53
And these arts have been lost in the commodification, in the
37:57
gentrification, in the reductionism of the art of
38:02
farming, the art of fucking living in my language.
38:06
Yeah, that's OK. Like, and that's how we used to
38:08
do things. So there's and there's kind of a
38:12
remembering that comes with it. So the retreats kind of get to
38:16
we, we do a breath work session with their farmers, we talk
38:20
about light, water, magnetism. We sit in meditative practice,
38:24
we do a bit of movement. So all of that opens the heart
38:29
to that potential and that possibility.
38:31
Because our brain is an amazing fucking tool, right?
38:34
Yeah. But our energy centre is this
38:36
toric field we create from the heart space.
38:39
And that's what connects us to our land and the cosmos and all
38:43
in between, to each other. Yeah.
38:46
But just opening those pathways and dropping seeds into that
38:50
possibility with some tools and some practices, it kind of opens
38:54
up that what one of those most important features of farming,
38:59
which is relationship to landscape.
39:03
Yeah. I mean, you can go even further
39:06
with that and speak to the subtle energies of a landscape
39:10
to, to the unseen world that we completely forget.
39:15
But that's, that's probably another conversation.
39:17
I'm I'm lucky enough to be going and spending a few more days
39:20
with a wizard called Doctor Patrick Mcmanaway, who teaches
39:26
farmers how to, how to work with the, the subtle energies on
39:30
their landscape, the elementals and the nature spirits and
39:34
dowsing and divining and looking where the energy systems across
39:37
a landscape are going. Like all all of that we've we've
39:41
used for hundreds if not thousands of years when we've
39:44
made decisions on how we work with with land.
39:49
That's so true. What if we what if we started to
39:53
invite that back into our matrix of of farming?
39:57
I think, yeah, the possibilities is endless and it's already kind
40:02
of happening. OK, really quickly, just one
40:05
more thing. I have just launched an exciting
40:08
new group. Jordan's Soil Society is a place
40:12
where you can come and learn more about the soil beneath your
40:15
feet. We're going in depth into what
40:17
makes living soil, what makes good healthy plants, and
40:21
ultimately what leads to better health for us as individuals.
40:25
So if you want to learn more about joining my soil Society,
40:28
hit the link at the top of the description below and you can
40:31
come and find out. All right, thanks for listening
40:33
back to the show. It looks like a beautiful world
40:36
when you see it like that. And that's what's and well,
40:39
that's exactly it, because that's the point we're trying to
40:42
make with this perspective. It's like it's so easy for you
40:45
to like. If you ask the average person of
40:48
their view of the world, they'd probably say it's pretty messed
40:51
up currently, but it takes it takes a look.
40:57
It just takes a different look, like it takes a, a different
40:59
perspective shift where you look at it and you see like, for
41:03
example, the rise of all of these wonderful people talking
41:06
about this and bringing back these, let's say, natural or
41:11
ancient technologies and ways of being.
41:17
Like the way that I understand a lot of this and connection and,
41:22
and this type of thing is through resonance, right?
41:25
So I love my music. That's been a huge part of my my
41:31
life and understanding the interplay between melodies,
41:35
harmonies and chords and structures.
41:39
The way that you can have eight different instruments playing
41:43
different walking, different journeys, but having them
41:48
intersect so beautifully at each pathway is just, it's magic.
41:54
And this is what we are able to do with our landscaping with
41:59
nature because and ourselves, everything is vibrating.
42:04
You know, that's why they say good vibes.
42:06
I mean, like, I hate the simplification, but it's, it is
42:09
what it is. It's it's talking about this
42:14
unseen but felt feeling of connection where you go, I'm
42:18
just you resonate with someone. You walk into a room and
42:21
instantly you get a warm feeling about someone.
42:23
You come home to your land and you feel home, you feel safe,
42:28
you feel in the right place and that's something not to be
42:31
ignored. Do you find something to be
42:35
explored? Oh, I like that.
42:38
Not ignored explored. I wanted to go.
42:42
I'm really trying to to 0 in on the, the the transition that
42:47
these farmers are going through that you're helping through
42:50
retreats and through these types of things.
42:53
Are you finding that these farmers are finding you at the
42:56
right time or are you and you, you as an organization as well,
43:01
putting putting the seeds into these farmers heads that this
43:07
would be good for them? Are farmers coming to this with
43:10
no clue about this side of things versus are there people
43:14
that are like, Yep, I know about this and I need to jump right
43:17
in? Like what's the, the scale of,
43:19
of farmers looking like that are tackling this?
43:23
It's really interesting and it's it's all of the above.
43:27
Beautiful. Like we have such diversity in
43:30
the room. There's some of course there's
43:32
some farmers that kind of like this.
43:36
What the hell am I doing here? Yeah, and there's.
43:39
And we, well, there's an on boarding process and there's an
43:42
application process. So, you know, I, we get to
43:45
curate the room. Cool.
43:47
Yeah. Which is super important when
43:49
we're doing this kind of work, right?
43:51
So that means there'll be some people that are really new to
43:54
this, that really need it but probably wouldn't choose to do
43:59
it. Yeah.
44:01
And some exterior force, an invitation or someone said you
44:04
need to go to this. And they have.
44:07
Well, there's no cost to the farmer.
44:09
So that's kind of a relief point as well.
44:12
There's a lot of the people that we do host would never pay for
44:16
this for themselves, but there's no way they would even consider.
44:20
And they don't even know what they're in for.
44:21
Like we don't really share a schedule.
44:25
There's a lot of trust involved. And so, yeah, the room is really
44:29
mixed. We make sure there's some people
44:31
that are on the way. Yeah, that are that are, you
44:34
know, have on whether it's their journey on the farm or whether
44:39
they're journey personally. We make sure that they're,
44:42
they're there because they're the ones which will give
44:45
permission to those others, those more reserved characters
44:50
to open up, to be vulnerable, to be, you know, to be a
44:56
participant. Yeah.
44:59
So it's, it's such a special, such a special privilege to to
45:03
host these things and you never know what comes out of it on the
45:06
back end of it, which is always really interesting.
45:09
It's like, OK, what's happened for certain individuals through
45:13
that experience. And again, there's no recipe.
45:16
It's like where they're at reflects what they do.
45:20
And some people will start a meditation practice.
45:25
Some people will wake up in the morning.
45:28
Some people will change their relationship to light and to the
45:31
sun. Some people will start eating
45:36
better. And then others of course had
45:41
some conversations with others that have said I've finally feel
45:45
as if I have the confidence now to change the way I farm.
45:49
That's. Cool, I've met others.
45:52
I have this support, but I'm also feeling better in myself
45:56
and more empowered in myself to make changes that I've always
46:00
wanted to but never really had the capacity.
46:03
So it's like, oh shit, that's well, in that that for me was
46:07
kind of, you know, the, the, the underlying driver behind this.
46:15
If we can help the farmers, then the byproduct of that means
46:18
systems change, principal practice change.
46:21
But then we get to see that actually happening.
46:23
And it's like, oh, this is cool. Yeah.
46:27
So we're getting, yeah, we're, we're actually doubling down and
46:30
we're building a digital, a digital hub because you, you
46:34
know, you've had a retreat experience and it's been
46:37
transformative and beautiful. But if there isn't the follow up
46:41
for you personally, but also integration and support, then by
46:47
the Friday afterwards, you're back to doing the same shit you
46:49
did before the. So yeah, that's one of the
46:52
things that have been missing in this journey has been that
46:56
ability for people to tune in, be resourced, more educative
47:01
journey, and then also community to support where they're going
47:05
and where they're headed. So we're building that, and then
47:08
we're going to start doing retreats in the US as well.
47:11
Wonderful. Yeah.
47:12
That is such an important piece. It's just like, you know, the
47:16
isolated existence on a farm you get, you know, you.
47:21
It's like sometimes I'm listening to a podcast or I, you
47:25
know, hear someone motivating and inspiring and you're right,
47:28
like you, you come away with this beautiful energy and you
47:31
might start something or whatever, but very quickly the
47:34
monotony of life will knock you back into your routine of what
47:38
you were doing before. And that sounds very terrible.
47:42
It's not like my life is monotonous, but you know what I
47:45
mean? You sign, you sort of find
47:46
yourself drifting back to the natural pattern, but the, the
47:51
ability for then a farmer to sort of, you know, in the very
47:54
small amount of time that he has to put his feet up at the end of
47:57
the day, can maybe connect or share a story or just give a, a
48:02
phone call to a, a fellow who's done the same thing and just
48:07
talk about the world. And that might help them to feel
48:10
better about the day. And I think that's such a a
48:12
really cool thing. Now, Blair, to sort of round out
48:17
this, this conversation, so many areas in which I could have
48:21
dived down with you. I, I want to know what's this
48:28
question? I, I don't know how to phrase
48:30
every single time I ask it. But when I'm out in the garden,
48:32
for example by myself or if I'm on land in nature, I sort of
48:37
have this very like reflective, thoughtful mindset and I find
48:42
myself thinking about things and it tends to be what I can do
48:47
next where I'm feeling pulled towards what I'm interested in.
48:51
I could be thinking about something that I've just heard
48:53
or something that's landing at the right time.
48:57
What, where are you on that journey?
48:58
What's going on in your thoughts when you're travelling, when
49:02
you're gardening? What's exciting you?
49:05
What's interesting you? What's plaguing you in your
49:08
thoughts currently? It's a big question there, my
49:12
friend. Yeah, well, yeah, we don't have
49:16
to unpack too much of it. But no, I'll, I'll try And what
49:18
what came to mind immediately? And it's never anything that's
49:24
really plaguing me. What came to mind was what if,
49:32
what, what does the world look like when our hopes and our
49:37
dreams become realized? But that's, that's an imaginal
49:43
space that I spend quite a bit of time when I'm in those
49:46
moments, whether I be, you know, I spend a lot of time driving
49:50
without music or podcasts or any of that stuff happening just to
49:54
allow, you know, that bit of a cognitive cleanup and then see
49:59
what drops in. Yeah.
50:01
And a lot of the time it's an imaginal space, and especially
50:05
on landscapes as well, because I get inspired by the mother that
50:09
I'm connected to. And then that diversity that
50:12
surrounds me that you can have conversations with is, is
50:17
feeling into what is to come like feeling into that beautiful
50:21
world, to quote Charles Isas that that we all know is
50:25
possible, right? Yeah.
50:28
Because I think the more the, the more people and the more
50:30
time and the more, the more opportunity that we have to do
50:34
that, we get to realize it because that's the nature of
50:37
existence. Like the imaginal realm.
50:40
We just got to draw it down into the relative because we live in
50:44
that paradox. Like there's the absolute and
50:46
the relative. We're in this little flesh suit
50:48
for a small amount of time that we get to, we have the, you
50:52
know, this privilege to play here and learn here.
50:56
I mean, I, I relax into that perspective because I've
50:59
realized I've had many lifetimes and will have many more to come.
51:03
So I'm not going to fix it all this time round.
51:06
And that's OK. But it doesn't quell my, my
51:10
desire and urgency to, to try and do everything that's
51:14
possible to leave a beautiful something beautiful behind.
51:19
So I I spend a lot of time just wondering what that might look
51:22
like, whether it's through my children, the lens of my
51:25
children, or the lens of a landscape or a country or more
51:31
in a planetary sense as well. But yeah, that's kind of where
51:36
my mind plays. I like that that's a, it's a
51:39
rare, it's rare air to be in a place of hopeful optimism and
51:44
imaginatory space. Because I can tell you from
51:49
hearing stories from people, myself included in, you know,
51:53
sort of what, 6 years ago now, in that early stages of
51:59
2020-2021, I didn't feel very hopeful about things the what I
52:07
was seeing. And I think now that now that
52:13
we've sort of moved past that and I've seen from what seemed
52:17
like, yeah, very negative times that there was, there was a lot
52:22
of hope. And you know, there's, it's
52:26
balanced, right? There's everything has to have a
52:29
balance. So when you can see that, yes,
52:32
there might be a lot of negativity coming out, There's
52:35
also this balance in positivity that can also be found.
52:38
And I found that. And I think that then when I'm
52:42
in these spaces of contemplation and things like that, if I do
52:45
find myself in this imaginatory space where it's like you can,
52:51
as you say, start to see what it might look like.
52:54
And I like how you say drawing down like it's bringing it.
52:58
You're almost reverse engineering it to kind of see
53:02
what the next steps are to see, hey, like, OK, that's what it
53:06
looks like. But what does that mean that the
53:08
next step is for us now? Like, how does, which path do we
53:12
walk to get to that outcome? And I really loved also how you
53:18
said that our, I mean, this is very philosophical, but you said
53:23
our like, our job is we don't have to fix everything and do
53:28
everything this time around. Without going down that too
53:33
deeply, I think that like, I'm a big fan of someone like Alan
53:37
Watts, right? Not many people might understand
53:40
who Alan Watts is, but he's really shaped my thinking in a
53:42
lot of ways over the years. And you said how we get a chance
53:48
to play in this skin suit in this time, in this beautiful
53:54
experience, this expression that we have.
53:57
That play has been something that's been really reminded of
54:01
how important it is with my young son.
54:04
And I think you alluded to that with children as well, seeing
54:07
the world through their eyes, playing this idea that
54:11
everything matters, but everything doesn't matter.
54:13
This we're just here to play, experience and hopefully leave
54:18
it in a better place than what we found.
54:22
I wanted to thank you to wrap this up because I think your
54:26
work, your mission here is valuable.
54:30
Think your insights are incredible.
54:32
The way you articulate things is really important and lands with
54:36
me personally at least, very, very poignantly at the right
54:40
time. So I really appreciate your
54:43
insights mate. Is there anything that you want
54:46
to cover or anything that you'd love to leave a as a last sort
54:50
of thought before we round out? I just, I guess what's what
54:57
strikes me in this moment is acknowledging you, mate, for
55:02
bringing these conversations to light.
55:05
We have, you know, we've, there's a lot of people that
55:09
push back at this technological age that we're, we have right
55:13
now. And with anything, it's how our
55:17
relationship to it is. We'll dictate what it is.
55:22
And if we use it for good, then it can be it will be an
55:26
incredible asset to the human experience and to the planetary,
55:33
you know, experience. So you're using this for good.
55:36
So I appreciate that and thank you for that.
55:38
And for those of you that are worried about what's to come,
55:43
this is the, you know, we're at a crux point in time, which is
55:48
super interesting. And you showed up here at this
55:51
moment in time. So thank you to all that are
55:54
listening for showing up. And the more, the more that we
55:59
do that, the more that we lean in, the more beauty we get to
56:04
create together. So, you know, I'm, I'm a lucky
56:08
and extremely privileged person that gets to do cool shit every
56:12
day and work with incredible people.
56:15
And I'm very grateful and thankful for that.
56:17
And I'll be in service as much as I can.
56:20
And yeah, it's good, good to be here.
56:24
It's good to talk to you. You're a good listener and
56:26
you're a good, good host. Thank you mate.
56:29
Thank you, mate. Thank you so much.
56:47
There we have it. Ladies and gentlemen, a special
56:49
thank you to Blair. That was an incredible space
56:51
that you held for that conversation.
56:53
Thank you, mate. And I'm sure that if you're
56:56
still listening this far, your heart will be set in the right
57:00
place and pointing the right direction.
57:02
And I think all of us need to focus on taking a little bit
57:06
more time out of our week to remember that because those
57:10
types of things that we can do can bring us to a point where we
57:13
can be impactful about the changes we want to bring to the
57:16
world. Like I said in the introduction,
57:19
go and check out Blair's links. There are links in the
57:21
description, the show notes to Farmer's Footprint Australia, to
57:25
the Invisible Ingredient podcast that was mentioned, as well as
57:30
Blair's own personal consulting. Now, if you want to be somebody
57:34
who reaps the benefits of this type of thinking that feels cold
57:40
to this change, then I highly recommend reaching out to Blair
57:44
or Farms Footprint Australia and getting yourself involved.
57:47
It is going to be highly valuable not only to you, but
57:49
the impact that it can spread out to your community and our
57:52
communities further abroad. So that's it from me today.
57:57
All I will leave you with is a shameless plug of my Soil
58:00
Society that I've launched. So if you want to understand
58:03
soil beneath your feet, how it ticks, how it relates to the
58:07
important nutrient density of our food and how that impacts
58:11
our health and our planetary health in general, then you can
58:15
join my Soil Society. The link is in the description
58:17
below. We've got some beautiful live
58:19
streams, some Hangouts and all sorts of special things behind
58:22
the group. So if that's something that
58:24
interests you, you can find that link in the description.
58:27
As always, share the episode. Let us know what you'd liked,
58:31
and you can follow the episode on your chosen platform.
58:34
That gratefully helps me to spread awareness of this show
58:38
and help more listeners find it. So thank you again.
58:42
That's me signing out for another week and I look forward
58:44
to seeing you again next time. Take care and bye for now.