Mohi Beckham, Otamarakau

Every time Scylla Farming manager Mohi Beckham sees his children swimming in the crystal-clear freshwater stream that winds through the family farm, he is reminded that regenerative agriculture is the only way forward - for his family, for his land, and for his animals.

The Otamarakau-based farm, milking 490 cows on 180ha, was purchased 18 months ago and is currently undergoing a dramatic transformation from a tired, depleted and chemically saturated property to a farm that is fertile, productive and a positive example to other farms in the catchment.

And it is also Total Replacement Therapy’s newest focus farm.

Mohi is passionate about regenerative farming. An experienced dairy farmer, he first read about it in the mid-2000s, but didn’t know where to start.

Once he did start investigating, Mohi found that most regenerative companies and consultants could tell him the goal, but not how he would get there. And most programmes had a two-three-year down time before the farm would see some real changes.

However, a Fonterra area manager told Mohi about Alan Law’s dairy farm at Whakatane, which was 18 months into an incredible journey to grow more grass with less synthetic nitrogen, at a lower cost.

Mohi was thrilled to discover that Total Replacement Therapy - the groundbreaking, scientifically supported regenerative farming method - had a clear, 8-step programme to follow, rapid results, and a guarantee to stay within his existing fertiliser budget.

Earlier this month Scylla Farming’s first application of 50 tonnes of custom-blended fertiliser hit the ground – the first of many positive steps toward a future of regenerative agriculture.