How disaster prompted this Australian sheep farmer to switch to sustainable practices
Looking like a cross between a porcupine and an anteater, an echidna trudges across an island of green in a sea of red, dusty soil. Weighing less than a bag of potatoes, this strange mammal is one of Australia's tiniest farmers.
On the hunt for ants and termites, the echidna rummages around in the dirt, leaving behind small pits where decaying vegetation, seeds and moisture can collect. These small pockets will support six times more plant life than the untouched soil, making the animal a vital part of maintaining a healthy and diverse ecosystem.
For Australian sheep farmer Charles Massy, the sight of echidnas tilling the soil on his lush pastures is a wonder to behold. But they're just one part of what sustains the resilient grassland.
Disaster prompted a switch to sustainable farming
Massy is a fifth-generation sheep farmer, and his daughter and grandson are farmers on the same land.
In this clip from "Open Spaces" — the second episode of Shared Planet, a series from The Nature of Things — Massy explains how switching to sustainable farming methods enabled him to bring life back to his pastures after disaster struck.
In the early 1980s, a massive drought known as the "Great Dry" swept through eastern Australia. Massy's traditional farming practices had allowed his sheep to intensely graze the landscape, stripping the ground of plant life, and this combined with the drought led to a food shortage that required him to buy industrial grain to feed his flock.
Although his sheep survived, Massy was financially devastated and had to sell a portion of his family's land to recover. Wanting to avoid another catastrophe, the farmer decided to change how he used the land to feed his sheep.
He took inspiration from wild herbivores on the African savannah, moving his flocks between pastures every few days to prevent overgrazing.
"It doesn't matter where the grassland is," says Massy. "If you graze the landscape properly, you're getting regeneration."
Over a 30-year period of trial and error, Massy was able to transform his land in a way he never thought possible. What was once bare ground was now covered in vegetation — a natural grassland resistant to drought.
And when severe drought hit again between 2017 and 2020, Massy's farmland survived the devastating conditions.
Since changing his farming practices, Massy's farm has become an oasis for wildlife, including 140 species of birds and a thriving population of echidnas. He's even spotted many animals he's never seen on his land before.
"If you can work with nature instead of against her, I think it adds so much more meaning to life," Massy says.
Watch the video above for the full story.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Winnipeg Free Press
06-06-2025
- Winnipeg Free Press
‘Nature of Things' looks at how parenthood changes men's brains and bodies with ‘Dad Bods'
TORONTO – A new episode of CBC's 'The Nature of Things,' timed to Father's Day, explores some of the ways men's brains and bodies adapt to parenthood. The episode titled 'Dad Bods' takes viewers across Canada and around the world to look at social and scientific elements of fatherhood. The Canadian Press spoke with director Christine McLean about how the doc, available now on CBC Gem, came together. CP: Tell me about the tone of the documentary. McLean: I like to think that it's not just humorous, but it's warm-hearted… I think the most important point that came out of all this science, most of it quite recent, only in the last 20 years or so, is that we as humans, we have these incredible bodies that are so adaptable. And especially our brains. What the science is showing us is that given the opportunity, we all have the potential, whether we're male or female, to be great nurturing parents. Dads become more empathetic than they might have been before they had children, but they also become experts in their own child. The part of the brain that's stimulated is the part that allows us to read social cues. And they really become very intelligent in terms of figuring out why a baby is in distress. CP: Did anything you learned while making the documentary surprise you? McLean: I did not know that a man's testosterone typically goes down after he has a child. It made a certain amount of sense because I think many of us notice that when a person becomes a parent, they become a softer, gentler version of themselves… I had no idea that that was linked to biological changes inside that person. That was the first surprise. All men are impacted by hands-on care of children: grandfathers, uncles, adoptive fathers. If they're holding that child, they have those hormonal changes happening. That was all new to me. I think new to most people was the recent science about the benefits of what they call skin-to-skin care, which is common in Canadian hospitals. I remember noticing a few years ago friends would send me photographs of babies being held by their dads, and the dads would have their shirts off. And I'm thinking, what is happening in the delivery room these days? It puzzled me. Is this a weird new selfie that people are taking? Little did I know that there's all kinds of physical benefits to that. The father's heart rate goes down, his blood pressure goes down, the baby is comforted. But also the baby often will take in the good gut bacteria that can be on the dad's skin and it helps their digestive system. And who knew that? That was only discovered a couple of years ago. And we now know that for babies who are born via caesarean section, they don't get the gut bacteria from the mom that they get with a conventional birth. And yet, if dads practise skin-to-skin care, the latest science shows that their contribution to that baby's gut health is as robust as the mom's would have been had she delivered vaginally. It's extraordinary. CP: The episode made me think about masculinity, and the conversations we're having around what masculinity means. McLean: It wasn't one of my goals to delve into that, but watching it, you can't help but think about these things. I would say that anybody watching this documentary is not going to be left with the feeling that a good father isn't masculine. I think they're going to have the exact opposite feeling. The book that inspired it ('Father Time: A Natural History of Men and Babies' by American primatologist Sarah Blaffer Hrdy) delves into that a little bit more. There is this sense that if we are to give men permission or at least encourage them to be close to their children, that the changes that happen in their body result in a different kind of masculinity. I'm not going to say it's less masculine… I think that there's kind of a new version of a hero that's evolving when it comes to fathering children. And I think today's heroes are the dads who get up in the night, the dads that change the diapers, the dads that worry about whether their children are happy. And I don't think that makes them less a man. I think it makes them a greater human being. And I think that discovering there was so much going on in the male body in a sense takes gender out of the equation. CP: How would you respond to someone who doesn't like the idea of their testosterone level going down? McLean: The fact that testosterone goes down, when that was discovered about 20 years ago, it attracted a lot of attention and led to this burgeoning field of science. And I can only assume that there was some concern about that on the part of men, because it's testosterone that allows men and women to build body mass. It leads to competitiveness, it leads to assertiveness. None of those things are bad. The thought of losing some of that, I can understand where somebody — particularly a young man — might not like thinking about that. But anybody who watches this documentary will see that the rewards for being a hands-on dad are so great. Losing a little testosterone in the process is no big deal when you see the rewards, the bonds that develop with your child. Weekly A weekly look at what's happening in Winnipeg's arts and entertainment scene. We couldn't fit everything into the documentary, but what the data shows is, in addition to fathers living longer and having greater health, they have stronger marriages. They have better relationships with their kids. We were focused on the dads, but if you were to look at the children, there are so many profound benefits to a child to having a hands-on dad, in terms of how well they do in school, how well their mental health is. And I think that a good dad makes for a good family, and good families make for a great community, and there's just these ripples of positive impact from dads being as involved as they are today. This interview was edited for length and clarity. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 5, 2025.
National Observer
21-05-2025
- National Observer
Feather forensics offers a way to root out poachers
This story was originally published by bioGraphic and appears here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration Every year, the illegal wildlife trade ensnares millions of wild birds in a vast global industry worth up to US $23 billion. Poaching for the black market affects a huge diversity of life, including nearly half of all bird species. Songbirds and parrots are particularly popular targets, with thousands illegally caught and traded every year. Proving that a bird sold as a pet was born in captivity, rather than poached from the wild, is difficult. Tracking a bird's origins, says Katherine Hill, an invasive species biologist at the University of Adelaide in Australia, relies on paperwork, 'which can obviously be forged relatively simply.' Over the past few decades, however, scientists have been developing a technique that can hint at whether an animal hails from the wild or captivity. Known as stable isotope analysis, the approach involves analyzing the abundance of different forms of certain chemical elements in an animal's tissues. Stable isotope analysis works on birds because their feathers lock in identifiable chemical signatures as they grow, creating a snapshot of a period of the bird's life, Hill says. Captive birds, for example, tend to eat corn and sorghum. Wild birds eat more fruits, nuts, and wild plant seeds. This altered diet skews the chemical analysis, giving scientists an accurate way to gauge what kinds of foods a bird has been eating. Scientists have used stable isotope analysis to study bird diets for s everal years. But earlier projects aiming to tease out birds' origins largely focused on a few endangered parrot species with limited diets, small populations, or small ranges. Hill wanted to see if she could apply the technique to parrot species with relatively large geographic ranges that eat a wider variety of foods. In particular, she focused on four common Australian parrots that are popular as pets—galahs (Eolophus roseicapilla), sulphur-crested cockatoos (Cacatua galerita), little corellas (Cacatua sanguinea), and long-billed corellas (Cacatua tenuirostris). Beginning in December 2020, Hill set out around Adelaide, where she scanned the streets for the vibrant white, yellow, or pink shocks of wild parrot feathers. COVID-19-related lockdowns meant it was difficult for Hill and her colleagues to visit zoos or aviaries to collect the feathers of captive parrots. Instead, they created a community-science initiative to collect feathers from the public. Spreading the word through social media, local news organizations, and other places likely to catch the eyes of animal lovers, the scientists harnessed dozens of volunteers from across South Australia who collectively sent in thousands of feathers they found in the wild or gathered from the bottom of their pets' cages. The project became a way for people to connect with nature, Hill says. Pooling the feathers by species, and splitting them by whether they came from wild or captive birds, Hill and her colleagues found that stable isotope analysis can accurately distinguish between wild and captive galahs nearly 90 percent of the time, and the other parrot species 74 percent of the time. The isotope research from those four parrot species will provide data that other scientists can use in future studies as well. The technique offers a potent way to identify poached birds. But it is possible, says Hill, to cheat the test. If a captive bird is fed a diet similar to what a wild one would eat—or if wild birds have particularly diverse diets or access to something similar to pet food—it could muddy the results. But, says Hill, when used with other tools, isotope analysis could tip off law enforcement that a bird might have been poached, giving the authorities reason to investigate further. The value of stable isotope analysis is also constrained by time, Hill says. Because birds regularly grow and molt their feathers, each piece of plumage only reflects the time between molts. For many parrots, that's about a year. This means the technique would be best at identifying birds that were captured from the wild within that time frame. Astrid Andersson, a conservation biologist at the University of Hong Kong, says the effectiveness of stable isotope analysis to distinguish between captive and wild parrots aligns with previous research, including her own work on a Chinese population of yellow-crested cockatoos. 'It's really important to expand the number of species that have this stable isotope data,' says Andersson. Different species need their own stable isotope datasets, she says. 'We need to build up the database that authorities could potentially refer to.' Wildlife authorities don't often use stable isotope analysis in their investigations and, to date, the technique isn't being regularly used in bird-poaching investigations. But analyzing feathers could be a powerful new tool in the anti-poaching toolbox, says Kate Brandis, a wildlife forensics expert at the University of New South Wales in Australia. 'This is still a developing area,' she says. But research like Hill's is 'demonstrating that this does have a place in fighting the illegal wildlife trade.'
National Post
29-04-2025
- National Post
Microba Delivers Landmark IBD Results & Signs Major Gastro Partner
Article content Two independent clinical studies have demonstrated that Microba's MetaPanel™ test identifies gastrointestinal pathogens in >35% of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) patients experiencing flare, with >60% of these missed by current routine testing methods. These findings have the potential to shift treatment protocols and provide a new path to remission for IBD patients, avoiding unnecessary therapy escalation or surgery. Microba partners with Colonoscopy Clinic and Integrated Gut Health, one of Australia's largest private gastroenterology services, to embed microbial diagnostic testing into routine care to improve patient outcomes. Article content Article content BRISBANE, Australia — Microba Life Sciences Limited (ASX: MAP) ('Microba') a precision microbiome company, today announces two significant developments: the release of new clinical utility results for its MetaPanel™ gastrointestinal pathogen test, and the signing of a strategic clinical partnership with the Colonoscopy Clinic, and its wholly owned partner, Integrated Gut Health, one of Australia's leading gastroenterology services. Article content Transforming IBD Care: MetaPanel™ Demonstrates High Clinical Utility Article content Two independent clinical studies led by renowned Australian gastroenterologists Associate Professor Jake Begun and Associate Professor Graham Radford-Smith have demonstrated compelling clinical utility for Microba's MetaPanel™ in the management of patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), including Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. Article content The studies found that: Article content These results provide critical new insights for the clinical management of IBD patients, support the integration of MetaPanel testing into standard care protocols, and are expected to be published in peer-reviewed journals. Detecting a treatable GI pathogen during flare episodes may provide a more effective path to remission, helping clinicians avoid unnecessary therapeutic escalation, reduce the risk of treatment failure, and minimise the need for surgical interventions. Article content Associate Professor Graham Radford-Smith, one of Australia's leading experts in Inflammatory Bowel Disease, commented: Article content 'These results are compelling, both as a clinical use case for MetaPanel, and for the future of precision medicine in gastroenterology. For clinicians like myself managing complex IBD cases, the ability to detect pathogens missed by routine testing could transform how patients are treated — with the potential to avoid the side effects of unnecessary therapeutic escalation, enhance responsiveness to IBD therapies, and ultimately improve patient outcomes.' Article content Microba has also entered a clinical partnership with the Colonoscopy Clinic, a leading Australian private gastroenterology service that sees more than 10,000 patients annually. Under the agreement, Microba and the Colonoscopy Clinic will collaborate to integrate MetaPanel TM and MetaXplore TM testing into clinical protocols for their patients. Article content Key elements of the partnership include: Article content Routine use of MetaPanel and MetaXplore to support diagnosis and treatment decision-making Joint clinical research and publication efforts to quantify the impact of Microba diagnostic tests on patient outcomes Development of a next-generation gastroenterology care model centred on Microba's precision diagnostics. Article content The partnership aligns with Microba's vision to enable precision microbiome-based diagnostic testing to transform the standard of care for patients with gastrointestinal disorders. Article content Associate Professor Dan Worthley, Gastroenterologist at Colonoscopy Clinic, commented: Article content 'We're seeing an increasing number of patients with chronic and complex gastrointestinal symptoms where standard testing and colonoscopy isn't giving us the full picture. Microba's testing provides a new lens into hidden pathogens, the microbiome and gastrointestinal function which is delivering new outcomes for patients. Partnering with Microba enables us to lead a shift in Gastroenterology practice toward more precise, data-driven care—and ultimately better outcomes for our patients.' Article content With over 7 million people globally affected by IBD and a growing recognition of the microbiome's role in disease management, MetaPanel™ offers a differentiated, clinically validated tool for identifying actionable contributors to flare. Microba is uniquely positioned to drive the adoption of this advanced testing approach, with major centres of gastroenterology excellence like the Colonoscopy Clinic. Article content Microba Life Sciences is a precision microbiome company driven to improve human health. With world-leading technology for measuring the human gut microbiome, Microba is driving the discovery and development of novel therapeutics for major chronic diseases and delivering gut microbiome testing services globally to researchers, clinicians, and consumers. Through partnerships with leading organisations, Microba is powering the discovery of new relationships between the microbiome, health and disease for the development of new health solutions. Article content Article content Article content Article content Article content
