A barley grower sees his farm logo on a beer can prototype and gets emotional, not because it looks cool, but because it represents a long journey to a certified sustainable, low-emissions supply web that holds up under scrutiny. From the stage at the Regenerative Agriculture Conference in Margaret River back in 2023, we trace how this story runs from soil to sip and why “walk the walk” matters more than a pretty label.

I recently dug into the archives and found some hidden gems from this conference. So episode 295 became the story I told as MC, to kick it off. And today, its first panel, featuring a couple of outstanding stories, and how they came to intertwine.

Before the panel, Senior WA Departmental Economist, Brad Plunkett, presented his research on Tolga farm in Kulin, in WA’s wheatbelt – its dryland production system, business set up, and significant ‘accidental’ carbon related outcomes. Fourth-generation farmer there, Brendon Savage, with his wife Gab, began changing the way they farm 20 years ago, having realised they needed to find ways to become sustainable.

Then we heard from Mel Holland, who co-founded Rocky Ridge Brewing Co in 2017 with her partner Hamish, as a diversification of their fifth-generation family dairy farm in Jindong WA (near Busselton). I’m informed Mel was dubbed Rocky Ridge’s ‘Captain Planet’. Rocky Ridge’s aim? To make incredible beer using the best local produce, farmed in the best way, with the least environmental impact. Rocky Ridge is Australia’s first Certified Sustainable and Carbon Neutral Brewery.

Here, Mel and Brendan take a seat on stage to answer audience questions, and share the story of how they came to combine forces, to achieve these significant and emotional outcomes together.

If you like what you hear, subscribe, share this with a mate who loves good beer or good farming, and leave a review so more people can find the work behind the can.

Chapter markers & transcript.

Recorded 6 September 2023.

Title image: Brad, Mel, Brendan & AJ (by Daniela Tommasi).

See more photos on the episode web page.

Join us at Grounded Festival on 22-23 April 2026 (10% discount for paid subscribers).

Music:

Working the Fields, by Falconer (from Artlist).

Regeneration, by Amelia Barden.

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The RegenNarration is independent, ad-free and freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber to help keep the show on the road, and gain access to a great community and some exclusive benefits - on Patreon or Substack (where you'll also find my writing).

You can also donate directly via the website (avoiding fees) or PayPal.

I hope to see you at an event, and even The RegenNarration shop. And thanks for sharing!

Many might think the hardest part of community conflict is finding the “right” solution. What if it’s often something deeper: listening well enough that a solution can even appear?

We’re fresh off the Murray River / Dungala here in Robinvale, Victoria, as our first Confluence journey winds up. And a bloke who came up a bit during a transformative week of paddling, firesides and other yarns was Jeff Goebel.

So while we gently come back to machines, here’s the last 20 minutes or so of my first conversation with Jeff, online, ahead of meeting and witnessing his alchemical facilitation processes in person over in New Mexico. It drifts from the nature of his work, to a pivotal encounter with a glacier, on to how this work is spreading, how the uncanny tends to follow it, and perhaps even how it can help with this and other Rivers.

Welcome to the 10th instalment of Vignettes from the Source, the short form series featuring some of the unforgettable, transformative and often inexplicable moments my guests have shared over the years. Indeed, again, this one hits all three of those marks, and has come up often since the episode was aired.

This was part of the introduction to that episode: ‘Jeff Goebel became a Holistic Management trainer with Allan Savory in the mid-80s. But pretty soon felt it was missing something, as did Allan. Then a series of uncanny events and outstanding successes in Jeff’s life, including a pivotal experience with First Nations, set him on a path of what he calls community consensus work. He is now globally renowned for developing a highly effective program of respectful listening, visioning, and planning that attains 100% consensus - and commitment - of all parties, in all sorts of contexts. And often where human conflict and land degradation are at their worst.’

If you’d like to hear or revisit the conversation in full, head to episode 185 – "Achieving Consensus and Commitment to do the ‘Impossible’".

If this resonates, subscribe, share the episode with someone navigating a hard conflict, and leave us a review with the biggest “impossible” challenge you want to tackle next.

Chapter markers & transcript.

Originally recorded 8 December and released 12 December 2023.

Title image supplied.

Music:

Outro music by Jeremiah Johnson.

Regeneration, by Amelia Barden.

Send us Fan Mail

Support the show

The RegenNarration is independent, ad-free and freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber to help keep the show on the road, and gain access to a great community and some exclusive benefits - on Patreon or Substack (where you'll also find my writing).

You can also donate directly via the website (avoiding fees) or PayPal.

I hope to see you at an event, and even The RegenNarration shop. And thanks for sharing!

Last week’s very special guest was legendary rancher from Chihuahua, Mexico, Alejandro Carrillo. The episode was titled Re-Greening the Largest Hot Desert in North America with Donkeys, Love & Water. In doing that, Alejandro says donkeys have been a ‘secret weapon’. Sound familiar? That’s what Chris Henggeler at Kachana Station has been arguing is the backbone of the extraordinary regeneration he’s managed in the Kimberley region of Western Australia – similarly from dust and rock, to rehydrated soils and grasslands; and similarly, still getting better year on year.

Indeed, Alejandro visited Kachana on his Australian tour recently, and was blown away. But the WA government still intends to have Kachana’s donkeys shot by August.

Tellingly, Alejandro, too, used to kill donkeys as pests, then realised the grave mistake, and lost opportunity, especially with so many landscape, climate and biodiversity challenges right now.

This excerpt from last week’s episode felt worth highlighting as a release on its own this week, given the urgency and importance of what's playing out at Kachana, and given the opportunity this presents further afield.

It starts with Alejandro’s Kachana visit, leading to a fascinating exchange featuring some of the latest research and his successes in landscape regeneration, improved livestock outcomes, and wildfire suppression (growing more grass, not less!) - all with donkeys at the heart of things. And it sums with Alejandro’s proposal for the WA government right now.

If you care about holistic management, soil health, fire risk, and practical regeneration, hit play, subscribe, share the show, and leave a review so more people can find these ideas.

And if you've not yet heard the conversation in full, you can head to episode 296 here (with some photos) or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Chapter markers & transcript.

Recorded 9 March 2026.

Title slide: pride of place on Alejandro’s Christmas card last year.

Music: Working the Fields, by Falconer (from Artlist).

Send us Fan Mail

Support the show

The RegenNarration is independent, ad-free and freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber to help keep the show on the road, and gain access to a great community and some exclusive benefits - on Patreon or Substack (where you'll also find my writing).

You can also donate directly via the website (avoiding fees) or PayPal.

I hope to see you at an event, and even The RegenNarration shop. And thanks for sharing!