Business & Rural
21 May, 2026
On-farm trial for sustainability
“The farm has transitioned from a sheep farm to minimum tillage mixed cropping and now zero till cropping, hay and sheep operation,” Mr Batters said.
LUKE Batters is turning the family’s fourth generation farm into sustainable producing land through a new on-farm trial.
The farm north of St Arnaud is now part of the North Central Catchment Management Authority (CMA)’s $1.8 million Climate Positive Farming Initiative, which works directly with 26 farmers to help them better manage today’s variable climate conditions while building long-term resilience into their farming systems.
“The farm has transitioned from a sheep farm to minimum tillage mixed cropping and now zero till cropping, hay and sheep operation,” Mr Batters said.
“Our vision is to convert our operation to a fully functional and profitable regenerative operation whereby producing healthy and sustainable produce with a system capable of supporting future generations.”
Through this trial, Mr Batters has had compost sown into part of a Gooroc paddock before barley, to see how it could improve the soil and yield down the track.
“We are always looking at ways of advancing our operation and it has become apparent that synthetic agriculture is not the way of the future,” he said.
“Significant positive changes need to be made to ensure that soil health improves and supports productive and healthy commodities into the future. This project will aim to explore possibilities.”
There are on-farm trial sites at St Arnaud, Kyneton, Kamarooka, Baringhup, Mt Beckworth, Mysia, Barfold, Cohuna, Horfield, Salisbury West, Heathcote, Banyena, Tooborac, Langley, Burke’s Flat, and Donald.
The selected farms reflect the diversity of agricultural practices across the catchment region, ensuring that learnings from the project will be relevant and transferable to other farmers operating in different systems and environments.
North Central CMA delivery executive manager Rachel Murphy said the project focuses on practical, farmer‑led solutions, putting tools and expert advice directly in farmers’ hands and on their land.
“This project puts practical solutions in farmers hands and on their land, with on-ground trials and the latest information and advice from experts to help improve soil health and reduce on-farm emissions,” she said. “We’ll work with 26 farmers initially to test what works, which will give us a raft of information to pass on to others in the catchment, helping drive agricultural growth.
This project is funded by the Natural Heritage Trust’s Climate-Smart Agriculture Program and will seek to build on local knowledge, targeting what is most needed, from improving soil health, combatting land degradation and improving water-use efficiency to farm-management planning and revegetation.
The program runs over five years.
Read More: St Arnaud