Regenerative Farming
When we purchased Seven Hills Estate, we inherited a landscape shaped by decades of grazing. Compacted soils. Limited surface water. Pastures dominated by unpalatable grasses. Yet beneath those challenges lay extraordinary potential.
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Regenerative farming offered us a way forward. Not as a fixed method, but as a mindset. A commitment to work with living systems rather than against them. At Seven Hills Estate, regeneration means continually improving the health of the whole ecosystem — soil, water, plants, animals, and people — through low-input, nature-aligned management.
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Our approach is guided by four interconnected principles that are widely recognised across regenerative farming systems. While these principles apply across land types and climates, the way they are expressed at Seven Hills Estate reflects our specific context — a pasture-based farm that also welcomes guests seeking a thoughtful, immersive experience of the land.
Our Four Regenerative Principles
1. Promoting Soil Health
Healthy soil is the foundation of everything we do. Soil is not inert dirt. It is a living community of organisms that cycle nutrients, store carbon, and regulate water.
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Rather than feeding plants directly with synthetic inputs, we focus on feeding soil biology. Composting, permanent ground cover, minimal disturbance, and organic matter recycling all work together to build darker, more friable, biologically active soils. When soil functions well, plants grow stronger, water infiltrates deeper, and the whole system becomes more resilient.
2. Fostering Biodiversity
Diversity is resilience. From microbes below ground to birds, insects, and mammals above it, a rich web of life stabilises the farm ecosystem.
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At Seven Hills Estate, biodiversity is actively restored through native tree planting, wildlife corridors, dam creation, and the protection of large areas under conservation agreements. We avoid synthetic herbicides and pesticides so soil food webs and pollinators can recover naturally. Over time, life returns — not just in number, but in balance.
3. Managing Water Effectively
Water shapes the land. Our goal is simple: keep rainfall in the landscape for as long as possible.
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A connected system of dams slows, spreads, and stores water across the property. Vegetation around waterways filters runoff and stabilises banks. Rainwater harvesting supplies buildings, while gravity-fed troughs protect dam edges from erosion. Healthy soils then complete the cycle by holding more moisture underground, even through dry periods.
4. Integrating Farm Animals
Animals are ecological partners, not problems to manage away. When grazing is planned carefully, livestock stimulate plant growth, return nutrients to the soil, and strengthen pasture diversity.
Cattle, sheep, and chickens are integrated in ways that mimic natural herd behaviour. Rotational grazing allows paddocks to recover fully before being grazed again. Mineral self-selection supports animal health while offering insight into soil fertility. Each species plays a role in keeping energy and nutrients circulating through the system.
Learn More
For a detailed, transparent account of how these principles work together across the farm, you can download our full regenerative farming white paper below:
Download the Seven Hills Estate Regenerative Farming White Paper
You can also watch Season 2, Episode 18: Our Regenerative Farming Journey on our YouTube channel, Life’s Better on the Farm.
Regeneration is not a destination.It is a continual practice of learning, observing, and caring for place.