gavin fisher

I am 3rd generation farming on our family owned farm in the Waikato of the North Island in a little rural area called Elstow which is situated 6km from the township of Te Aroha.

For the past 29 years the agricultural food production farming system we have been applying incorporates the methods of biological, ecological, regenerative, silvopasture and organic farming principles. The farm has been certified organic for 25 years which helps capture the market premiums and therefore adding value from outside the farm gate.

The core farming business is Dairy, although we run deer, raise some beef and have free range chooks plus hundreds of fruit, citrus and nut trees. We also have tour groups through the farm which are a mix of tourist groups and educational farming tours. In the last few years we have started selling our eggs and some fruit locally through our own brand “Off The Planet Organics” which is a great way to be plugged into our local community.

The focus of our farming business for the past 29 years has been on setting up and nurturing ecologies by way of diversity of plant species, whether that’s pasture cultivars, shrubs or trees. Our farming food production system relies on four main things which is biology, diversity, food (for the whole living system) and the main energy input sunlight (photosynthesis)

I have been planting trees around the farm for the past 45 years and incorporating the trees into our pasture grazing and browsing feeding system. Before selecting what trees to plant the criteria was they had to have many multiple functions to maximise their benefits.

I treat the farm as a whole living eco system where the soil underground living ecology is very much dependent on the above ground living ecology and vice versa. There synergies and symbiotic relationships I believe are key to the sustainability of our farming business and food security in general.