Advanced Certificate of Alternative Farming

Unit 1 – Introduction to Organic Farming

• What is organic farming?
• The benefits of organic farming
• The scope of organic farming
• Overview of organic techniques
• Promoting plant growth
• Intercropping, manurial systems
• Composting and mulching
• The soil microbiome
• Cultural control of pests/diseases/weeds
• Physical control of pests/diseases/weed
• Biological control of pests/diseases/weeds
• Decomposition
• Nutrient cycling and recycling
• Nutrient availability
• Promoting plant growth

Unit 2 – Organic Farming Systems

• Farming systems
• The variables
• Choosing a production system
• Types of organic farming
• No dig techniques
• Vegetable-sod inter planting
• No dig raised beds – one method
• Broad-acre and row cropping
• Broad-acre cropping
• Row cropping
• Animal production systems
• Paddock grazing
• Strip grazing
• Free range
• Large-scale grazing
• Grazing modifications
• Animal breeding/stud operations
• Fish and aquaculture
• Poultry, hordes, swine
• Cattle semen production

Unit 3 – Organic Management Issues

• Approaches in organic production & manufacturing
• The benefits of an ethical approach to organic production and manufacturing
• Ethics help to meet consumer expectations and improve an organisation’s reputation
• What consumer law tells us – self-labelling
• Organic certification
• Organic standards
• Changing an existing farm to an organic property
• An example certification process
• Marketing organic produce
• Conservation & management of resources for long-term sustainability
• Native vegetation & farms
• Important reasons for using trees
• Landcare programs
• Land rehabilitation
• Hostile environments
• Planning
• Water management
• Water runoff
• Water-saving measures
• Household water
• Waterlogging
• Problems with wet areas
• Solutions ideas
• Waste water treatment (reed-beds)
• Suitable plants

Unit 4 – Organic Soil Management and Crop Nutrition

• Composting on organic farms
• Mulching on organic farms
• Green manuring
• Cover crops
• Sheet composting
• Organic fertilisers
• Animal manures
• Poultry manure
• Blood and bone meal
• Rock dusts
• Seaweed
• Boosting the soil microbiome

Unit 5 – Organic Weed Management

• What is a weed?
• Plants which take over
• Environmental weeds
• Noxious weeds
• Controlling weeds
• Ways to control weeds without chemicals
• Check soil condition
• Minimise sources of weed seeds
• Cultivation
• Mulching
• Biological weed control
• Grazing
• Goats
• Other grazing animals
• Organic weed control practices
• Techniques used to manage weeds

Unit 6 – Pest and Disease Management

• Livestock disease management
• Animal health
• The healthy animal
• Recognising ill health
• Causes of ill health
• Poisons
• Hereditary conditions
• Nutritional problems
• Living organisms and microorganisms
• Parasites
• Preventing ill health
• Feed animals an adequate and well-balanced diet
• Avoid stressing livestock
• Prevent diseases from entering the farm system
• Practise good hygiene
• Actively manage grazing and fencing
• Control insects
• Diatomaceous earth
• Dipping
• Vaccination programs
• Pulpy kidney vaccination
• Blue tongue vaccination
• Ovine brucellosis vaccination
• Other vaccinations which may be needed:
• The first aid kit
• Aids for diagnosis and instruments and medicines
• Animal nursing
• The hospital pen
• Quarantine and slaughter
• Post-mortem (necropsy)
• Controlling pests and diseases in plants
• Cultural controls
• Choose the right plant for the right position
• Choose healthy plants and resistant plant varieties
• Crop rotation
• Timed planting
• Irrigation
• Increasing plant diversity
• Mulching
• Cleanliness and hygiene
• Physical controls
• Traps
• Repellent devices
• Scarecrows and scare guns
• Organic sprays and dusts
• Pesticides and fungicides
• Biological control
• Conserving resident organisms
• Biological control – the more common view
• Biological control is not new
• Advantages of biological control
• How does biological control work?
• Pheromone traps
• Biological control – weeds
• Disadvantages of biological control
• Companion planting
• Beneficial plants, repellent plants, attractant plants
• Plants that affect the soil
• Nutrient accumulating plants
• Bait plants
• Pest control plants

Unit 7 – Livestock Management I

• Organic livestock
• Managing livestock
• Choosing what animals to raise
• Stages of the livestock life cycle
• Methods of caring for animals
• Livestock shelter
• Animal management for wool and meat production
• Organic milk production
• Organic beef production
• Introduction to animal foods
• Terms and definitions
• Groups of foods (carbohydrates, proteins and fats)
• Other terms that are used
• Food processing terms
• Water
• Factors affecting water intake
• Lot feeding
• Site requirements for feedlots
• Managing cattle in lots
• Problems with lot fed cattle
• Pen fattening of cattle -one method
• Feedlot records
• Variable costs

Unit 8 – Livestock Management II

• Poultry
• Husbandry
• Feeding
• Problems
• Deer
• Ostriches
• Emus
• Alpacas
• Llamas
• Goats
• Aquaculture
• Advantages and disadvantages to aquaculture
• Aquaculture systems
• Extensive production (EP)
• Intensive production (IP)
• Water containment
• Species of fish to farm

Unit 9 – Organic Pasture Management

• Managing pasture site
• Choosing pasture sites
• Seed coating
• Growth and development of grasses
• Phases 1,2 and 3
• The importance of legumes in pasture
• Major types of legumes
• Other pasture crops
• Site considerations
• Choosing the correct seed mix
• Establishing new pasture
• Preparation of the land for pasture
• Sowing and germination
• Testing the soil microbiome
• How to perform a cotton strip assay:
• Reading the results of your cotton strip assay
• Weed control
• Grazing the new pasture
• Grassland management rests – to promote rapid growth
• Rests based on the requirements of animals
• Pasture varieties and grasses
• Major types of pasture grass
• Pasture management principles
• Rest and grazing periods
• Stocking and carrying capacity
• Number of herds and herd size
• Applying grassland management principles
• Continuous light stocking
• Split – season systems
• One herd, four paddock system
• Intensive system

Unit 10 – Broad-Acre Organic Crops

• Requirements
• Wheat
• Weed control
• Sesame seed
• Cultural requirements
• Harvesting
• Mung beans
• Plant fibre crops
• Table of commonly grown fibre crops
• Production
• Harvesting
• Market potential
• Hay & silage
• Silage production and inoculants
• Silage timing
• Sorghum (grain and sweet varieties)
• Quality control
• Storage and handling
• Pits and bunkers
• Hay