Regenerating soils and communities with Helen and Mike McCosker

Ground Cover

Kerry talks with Helen and Mike McCosker about the important of regenerating not only soil, but also communities.

The McCosker family run Angus on a 3000 acre mixed farming enterprise at Wallangra, north of Inverell. Helen is a CPA with senior management experience working in the large corporate space. A passion for the arts and music. Mike is a fourth generation farmer with extensive experience in carbon farming and teaching farmers about soil health and regenerative agriculture. He was one of the founding member of the first Landcare group in Australia established in 1982.

Together Helen and Mike, along with Kelly Jones, founded Carbon8: a farmer-led initiative that is responding to the current impact of droughts, floods and desertification by supporting our farmers to increase the carbon in their soil and help them transition to regenerative agriculture.

In this episode of Ground Cover we explore:

• How a chemical poisoning event was a catalyst for transformation
• The importance of bringing communities together in times of hardship
• Building a whole systems approach in both our landscapes, and in our towns
• The power of art and music to regenerate community