A better way of farming
on the East Coast.

When Tairāwhiti Gisborne farmer Jamie Babbington had some paddocks that were due to be turned over, he started doing his research, and quickly decided that there had to be a better way than the traditional approach of adding synthetic fertilisers.

“If the soil is healthy and balanced
the microbes will feed themselves.”

JAMIE BABBINGTON

“Soil is the immune-system of productive land”
says Jamie, “and RespondBio’s system, which
enhances and supports that soil through microbes, is absolutely synergistic with the approach that we decided to take here at Mātāwai. If the soil is healthy and balanced the microbes will feed themselves.

”Jamie says that the results that they have achieved without the addition of synthetic fertilisers have been really encouraging. Steers have gained weight at a similar rate to those in traditionally-farmed paddocks but input and labour costs are less.

The impact on the sheep side of the business is
impressive too.

“Hoggets are the size of ewes, we’re getting healthy lambs from hogget
lambs, and our hoggets come around
to lamb again in April/May.”

In a high-rainfall climate like Mātāwai, Jamie has found other advantages to using the RespondBio system too. It has been built into the farm sfreshwater plan and environmental plan, and Jamie is working on a way to collect data to measure the effect of RespondBio on carbon sequestration.

“Using RespondBio makes farming much easier” says Jamie. “We don’t need to resow paddocks, we don’t have non-productive time when paddocks are flipped, we have reduced labour costs and reduced input costs, we need less capital equipment like tractors, and we have way less mud!”

RespondBio’s founder Dugald Hamilton comments on the satisfaction he gains from being able to support farmers like Jamie who are seeking solutions to improve their farms’ economic performance while reducing their environmental footprint. “We love helping guys like Jamie – he’s committed to being a great farmer and a great steward of the land, and all of our work over decades has allowed us to provide the ideal system for Jamie’s farm.”

“If the soil is healthy and balanced
the microbes will feed themselves.”

JAMIE BABBINGTON

The impact on the sheep side of the business is
impressive too.

“Hoggets are the size of ewes, we’re getting healthy lambs from hogget lambs, and our hoggets come around
to lamb again in April/May.”

A better way of farmingon the East Coast.

“If the soil is healthy and balancedthe microbes will feed themselves.”

“Hoggets are the size of ewes, we’re getting healthy lambs from hoggetlambs, and our hoggets come aroundto lamb again in April/May.”

“If the soil is healthy and balancedthe microbes will feed themselves.”

“Hoggets are the size of ewes, we’re getting healthy lambs from hogget lambs, and our hoggets come aroundto lamb again in April/May.”

“Using RespondBiomakes farming much easier.”

A better way of farming
on the East Coast.

“If the soil is healthy and balanced
the microbes will feed themselves.”

“Hoggets are the size of ewes, we’re getting healthy lambs from hogget
lambs, and our hoggets come around
to lamb again in April/May.”

“If the soil is healthy and balanced
the microbes will feed themselves.”

“Hoggets are the size of ewes, we’re getting healthy lambs from hogget lambs, and our hoggets come around
to lamb again in April/May.”

“Using RespondBio
makes farming much easier.”