The Wearn family
Bill, Joy and little Polly
Graduates of Orange Ag College and with farming backgrounds, Bill and Joy purchased their first farm in 1994 and ran it as the generation before them had, adding the lasted in innovations. Between 2001 and 2007 they expanded their landholding to over 5,500 hectares, but managing the vast tract of land came at a cost.
Bill and Joy are passionate custodians of their land, believing it is not enough to be sustainable, rather it is their vision to regenerate Mulgoa, the land on which they live and work.
Why Provenir?
We do the work we love. We’re not stuck in the office organising someone else to do it. We feel we are in sync with nature and all that is around us.
We rest our pastures and ourselves. It is a good place to be
Joy Wearn
Farm Fast Facts
| Farm Name | Mulgoa |
|---|---|
| Farm Size | 16,000 acres across 5 properties. |
| How many cattle? | 12,000 – 15,000 Angus breeders. |
| Who works on the farm? | Bill, Joy and little Polly, together with Noel and Clancy. |
| Favourite beef meal? | Scotch fillet steak, with whatever falls out of the garden |
| Why Provenir? | We’re in control of the welfare of our animals from the start to the end. |
Regeneration
A love of a challenge, or two
If you’ve travelled from Melbourne to Sydney by road it is likely that you have driven right past Bill and Joy’s property, in the Riverina region of NSW.
“The Hume Highway separates our land. We and our animals can see, hear and even feel so much humanity enclosed in their vehicles as they hurtle past our farm, a blink through our lives.” Joy says.
While the Hume offers convenience and humanity nearby it was a large amount of native vegetation left untouched and the scope to regenerate the farmed country that they were first attracted to.
Holistic Management
Four full-time staff were needed to help Joy and Bill run the farms, along with part-time workers, contact farmers and hay and silage workers and a full-time mechanic/header driver. The list went on, and then, adding to that poor seasons and failure to thrive from livestock, soil and plants, Bill and Joy were forced to question what they were doing wrong. First, they tried the Grazing for Profit school and became pasture croppers, grazing and monitoring pastures on a rotational basis, but it wasn’t the complete answer. Finally, they hit upon the research of Allan Savory and Holistic Management. It was the revelations they were looking for to turn their farming operation around.
Bill and Joy now follow Holistic Management guidelines and have begun implementing the Natural Sequence methods of rehydrating the land, as taught by Peter Andrews. In doing so they have gone from employing a staff of four to just one.
