Peter and Melinda Smith run Jalna’s BioDynamic Organic farm with a gentle herd of mainly Holstein Fresian cows to milk each day. According to Melinda, the best thing about BioDynamic farming is that nothing is ever the same. “Every day and every season brings something different,” she explains. “There’s no fixed routine. Every year is different to the previous. There’s always new challenges.”

Peter believes that not coming from a conventional farming background made it easier to embrace BioDynamic organic dairying, and says the family has enjoyed their five years working on the Jalna farm.

BioDynamic farming has been described as ‘advanced organic practices’ – it aims to farm in harmony with nature. Like organic farming, crops are grown and processed without the use of synthetic chemicals, fertilisers or GMOs (genetically modified organisms) and emphasis is placed on animal welfare. With BioDynamic Organic farming additional techniques are employed to stimulate and maintain the natural biological activity of the soil – a pre-requisite for any sustainable agricultural system. Healthy soil means healthy plants, animals and people.

A Way of Life

Peter Smith has observed the improvements on Jalna’s BioDynamic farm since he’s been working there. “The root structure is not out of balance, we’re not destroying soil. You can see the water is getting down, penetrating, so when it rains it doesn’t just run across the top of a hard paddock,” Peter says.

BioDynamic dairying particularly focuses on using natural ways of protecting and nurturing the cows, to avoid stress. These farming practices are far more labour intensive, but as Melinda explains “it’s not a job, it’s a way of life.”

Read more about Jalna’s BioDynamic farm.