2018 Keynote Speakers
Colin Seis
The Seis family is one of the early pioneering families in the Gulgong district of New South Wales Australia, and has been grazing merino sheep and growing cereal crops in the area since the 1860s. Colin Seis and his son Nicholas own the 2000 acre property “Winona”, which runs 4000, merino sheep that are managed using holistic planned grazing, and cattle are traded when seasons allow.
The property is managed using methods that continually regenerate its grassland, soil, and farm ecosystem. This greatly reduces farm inputs, while producing up to 20,000 kg of wool and selling 1500 sheep, and cereal grain annually. Five hundred acres of oats, wheat and /or cereal rye are sown annually using the ‘pasture cropping’ technique that Colin developed over 20 years ago. Other enterprises on Winona are a merino ram breeding enterprise and native grass seed, which is harvested from the property’s native grassland. Winona also runs one of the largest kelpie, working dog, studs in the world and sells dogs and pups to many countries like North and South America, Europe and Scandinavia as well as all states of Australia.
The adoption of industrial agriculture methods from the 1930s destroyed Winona’s soil and grassland, and during the 1960s and 1970s the farm became increasingly dependent on pesticides and chemical fertilizer for pasture growth and crop production. To solve these problems, in 1993 Colin adopted ‘holistic planned grazing’ and developed a unique method of growing crops and restoring grassland and soil. The method, called “Pasture Cropping,” is a form of ‘perennial cover cropping’ where annual crops are zero till sown directly into perennial grassland or pasture, after the pasture has started its natural dormancy.
In addition to owning and managing ‘Winona’, Colin’s dedication to farmer education, support programs and enabling extensive scientific study of his practices has resulted in ‘Pasture Cropping’ being adopted around the world. Because of this there are now well over 3000 farmers worldwide, managing an estimated three million acres, using the technique to grow crops and restore grasslands and soil.
During the development of ‘pasture cropping’ and regenerative land management techniques Colin has been awarded many times for his achievements. Some of these awards include:
1. Australian conservation Farmer of the year in 2005.
2. Australian Carbon Farmer of the Year, in 2007.
3. Australian Green Agriculture and Innovation award 2012 (GAIA), (which is awarded for leading contributions to soil health and sequestration of Carbon)
4. Australia’s most prestigious farming and environmental award, the National Bob Hawke Landcare award, September 2014.
5. The NSW regional achievement and community award 2015.
In January 2015, the Australian newspaper, “Melbourne Weekly Times” called Colin a visionary and suggested him as one of the top 6 most influential farmers of the world.
Dr. Jennifer Moore-Kucera
Dr. Jennifer Moore-Kucera is the West Region Team Leader with the Soil Health Division in the USDA-NRCS. She leads a team of three soil health specialists who support the agency’s soil health activities in 13 western states and the Pacific Islands. In her role, Moore-Kucera oversees the development and implementation of science-based, effective, and economically viable soil health management systems on diverse agricultural lands. Moore-Kucera holds a bachelor's degree in biology and environmental studies from Binghamton University (in her home state of New York); a master’s degree in soil science from Iowa State University; and a Ph.D. in soil science (soil microbial ecology and biochemistry) from Oregon State University. Formerly, an associate professor of soil and environmental microbiology, she conducted research in forests, orchards, grasslands, and annual and perennial cropping systems to better understand management options for positively influencing our soil’s living organisms. These organisms are at the core of managing for healthy soils. Through her continued collaborative relationships and training efforts, she hopes to instill the following philosophy: “By shifting our view of soils from an inert growing material to a biologically diverse and active ecosystem, we can help create more sustainable farms, ranches, and forests to provide the food and fiber for our rapidly growing population while protecting land, air and water resources for future generations.”
A Quarter Century of Education
CCTA’s goal it so disseminate both local and national information on variables affecting optimum production such as: conservation tillage, water conservation, energy conservation, residue management, fertility, erosion control and maximum economic yield. As such, CCTA has spent a quarter of a century providing education to its members in all these areas.
You are invited to join us February 5-6, 2019 for the next CCTA Conference and help us us continue our education goal.