This is a three day Syntropic Agriculture course where we examine the utility and merits of Syntropic Agriculture through the prism of a holistic context. Syntropic Agriculture is actually very fluid and versatile in its application and how it can produce.

• What exactly is Syntropic Agriculture? 

• How does it work? 

• What does it look like? 

• How can it work for you?

• What it can mean for farming in Australia?

Syntropic Agriculture is a complimentary form of regenerative farming, it is another layer in providing fertility and yield in any regenerative enterprise – it does not displace or compete with any existing or planned production methods, quite the opposite, join educator Scott Hall to find out how versatile and powerful this is.

The regenerative methodology of tree management and how this affects the surroundings is examined, Syntropic Agriculture is a very specific and precise form of agriculture, it could be seen as the woodland analog of time managed grazing, where the dynamics of species succession are laid out in a management framework. There is a very big difference between trees planted and trees planted and managed in a syntropic framework – more than that, this course will teach you how to utilise the power of species succession and natural plant vigour in the earlier phases, such as with grasses and shorter life cycle crops. One thing is for certain, you do not have to wait a long time for results, as they come about very quickly and continue right through to a forest ecology. 

We will learn things such as:

• The very powerful quorum that trees have together with all other plants, and its effects.

• How grasses move through species succession and pasture is improved.

• How different plants, including grasses, have different light requirements, and higher succession grasses, such as Paspalum, Panicum Maximum etc actually prefer to be near trees.

• How mixed species cover crops and pasture cropping relate to Syntropic Agriculture.

• How we can add another layer, on top of your already existing enterprise, of carbon sequestration, and how much carbon this system can provide.

• Investment and economics: how production can be planned using this methodology for your business model, how you can have both managed and targeted yields with simultaneous passive yields, plus an increase in the quality of your ecosystem.

• How Syntropic Agriculture feeds back into other enterprises.

• The power of management: Pruning, growth pulses and how to constantly keep plants in the most productive part of their lifecycle, and how that influences other plants.

• How the cost side of your balance sheet can be stabilised and limited, resulting in higher margins.

Whether you are a grazier, poultry or egg producer, homesteader, market gardener, orchardist or even a grain producer, you will find that there are enormous benefits to adding this dynamic and powerful ecological function to your system. You can direct the power of “woody weeds” into a whole new layer in your enterprise – when this is properly understood and harnessed, you will be surprised how much more capacity your land has.

Syntropic Agriculture is a very new addition to the regenerative agriculture tool box, it is very versatile and it is up to us and our ability to innovate to make the best out of this potential.

This course will also be of great use to those who are on a journey to building a career in regenerative agriculture, in this course you will see how Syntropic Agriculture is utilised in primary production and will be able to help develop highly productive systems and make real change in how agriculture looks in the future.

This course will be taught by Scott Hall. Scott is a 5th generation farmer who has been practicing Syntropic Agriculture for 7 years. Scott trialed Syntropic Agriculture for 6 years on an R&D project at Gabalah, near Murwillumbah. After the trials Scott has taken Syntropic Agriculture to dedicated commercial primary production with his father Bob at a new property “Syntropia”. For more info, please have a look at his website www.syntropia.com.au. 

Course dates: October 27, 28, 29, 2023

9:00am – 4:00pm daily.

Morning tea and lunch provided by Kandanga Farm Store and featuring local, regeneratively farmed produce.

For bookings and more info, please follow this link: https://www.syntropia.com.au/the-foundations-of-syntropic-farming-course-kandanga