Tom Archer is the owner and manager of Archer Pastoral, a 8,500-hectare grazing enterprise in Goondiwindi, Queensland.
When he and his wife Antionette first purchased their property, Rexton, in 1998, it was severely overgrazed and degraded. There was bare ground over much of the property and what ground cover there was, was made up of undesirable vegetation.
They began by managing the property under traditional farming methods like spraying herbicides, but soon realised that their methodologies needed to change in order for the land to heal.
Upon attending a holistic management course, and later the RCS Grazing for Profit course, they began implementing holistic management practices and seeing results. They began using time-controlled grazing, implementing rest for pastures, and utilising low stress stock handling systems. Very soon, Rexton had transformed into a profitable and productive property.
The couple have since purchased a second property, Rainmore, which was also in a degraded state. Their new management principles have seen this property also become productive and profitable.
Throughout the years that they have been holistically managing the two properties, these methods were significantly increasing the carbon in their soils. Today, Tom and Antionette are in the final stages of one of Queensland's first carbon projects, and they will soon be seeing a profit from selling carbon credits.
Tom now provides consulting services to other pastoralists, advising fellow graziers so they can implement the methods that have worked on his properties.
