167. Farm Like the World Depends On It

With Kaycee Simuong & Tom Macindoe

What if you could regenerate farmland and create a sustainable farming lifestyle while also building a strong community? Join Anthony as he visits Tom and Kaycee, an innovative young farming couple from the Nambucca Valley on Gumbaynggirr Country in NSW, who are doing just that. They share their remarkable journey of stewarding 400 acres of forest and grassland into a thriving regenerative farm, and founding the North Arms Farms Co-op - a unique enterprise model that sends 100% of what we spend on our food directly to the farmers.

“Actually, just out of Coffs Harbour, there’s a just recently formed, within the last year or two, Myanmar agricultural cooperative, which are Burmese refugees that have come over and they wanted to get back on the land. So they’ve found some land and I think there’s about 10 families that are farming together on this land. We invited them out when I heard what was going on and apparently, on the car ride out, they all came in a little minivan, some of them were crying and saying, oh, this is just like home, and it’s really emotional for them. So they’re just sort of getting up and going. But you know, hopefully we see more of that because there is so much skill and knowledge there. ”

— Kaycee Simuong

Hear how Tom and Casey are adapting to the dramatically changing climate of the Nambucca Valley, from drought to fire and flooding, and how they're learning to build resilience in their farming practices. They also share their experience with a Myanmar agricultural cooperative founded by Burmese refugees.

In addition to their inspiring farming journey, Kaycee and Tom have established a unique seven-way partnership to manage North Arm Farms co-op. They talk about the keys to success in that model. They also talk about their vision for protecting the land, including through traditional fire management programs and conservation agreements, as well as their decision to step away from organic certification. Their delivery van carries the slogan, ‘Farm like the world depends on it’.

Head here for automatic cues to chapter markers (also available on the embedded player above), and a transcript of this conversation (please note this transcript is AI generated and imperfect, but hopefully serves to provide greater access to these conversations for those who need or like to read).

This conversation was recorded at Mandarin Bend on 11 April 2023.

With big thanks to Blair Beattie from Farmers Footprint Australia for taking the driver’s seat on our journey south from the northern rivers, to visit Tom and Kaycee.

All photos below by Anthony James unless noted as being by Blair Beattie or supplied by Tom & Kaycee.

See more photos from behind the scenes, by becoming a subscriber via the Patreon page.