GROUNDED FESTIVAL 2026
PROGRAMME
The session timetable and full event programme are now available (please note they are subject to change).
TOPICS
Below is a guide to the main topic areas in the programme (check out previous festival programmes here and here). Note that most presenters can speak eloquently on a range of topics and will participate at a couple of sessions across the two days, so you’ll have more than one opportunity to hear them speak. Or you can tackle them with your questions at the bar or in the queue for lunch.
Healthy soils sit at the heart of many of our conversations this year and the increasing severity of fire and flood events bring added urgency to conversations about how to improve resilience and foster landscape health.
Sessions will explore soil biology, soil carbon, fungi, practical soil testing, water management, and reveal the connections between soils, ecosystems and human health. These sessions look beyond theory to real-world tools and approaches that farmers can use to observe, understand and improve the life beneath their feet.
Speakers include Carolyn Hall (CEO, Mulloon Institute), Nicole Masters (agroecologist, coach, author), Susan Orgill (Chief Scientist, Impact Ag Australia), Jake Robinson (microbial ecologist), Paul Horne (entomologist).
Grazing is a central theme of GROUNDED 2026. Farmers and advisors will share practical experiences in grazing management, pasture diversity, and designing systems that work for animals, people and landscapes. Conversations will focus on long-term thinking, experimentation on farm, and how grazing decisions shape soil, water and biodiversity.
Speakers include local grazier Lachie Barclay, Gavin Fisher (dairy farmer, NZ), Graeme Hand (Farm Regen Ag practitioner, adviser(, Vince Heffernan (biodynamic sheep farmer, NSW), Nicole Masters (agroecologist, coach, author).
The Otway Ranges is home to leading agroforestry experts, including our hosts, the Stewarts at Yan Yan Gurt West Farm. So agroforestry is a big feature this year.
Sessions will explore species selection, shelter belts, wildlife corridors, native vegetation, harvesting and integrating trees into productive farming systems such as ‘vertical grazing’ for livestock. From timber and shade to habitat and landscape repair, these discussions explore the many ways trees can support healthier, more resilient farms.
Speakers include Jack Pascoe, Rowan Reid, Andrew Stewart, Dave Watson and other practitioners from the Otway Agroforestry Network.
New Zealand Dairy farmer, Gavin Fisher, will share insights from a long-running, organic, dairy farm where cows graze among fruit trees, while other speakers such as Sallie Jones and local dairy farmer, Simon Shulz, will explore practical realities of dairy and mixed farming in changing climates and markets.
These are grounded, honest conversations about what works, what doesn’t, and how systems evolve over time.
We look beyond the farm gate at the distribution chain, how food arrives on the table and how farming practice directly affects our health.
Chefs, growers and medical and nutritional experts such as Dan Hunter, Jo Lawson, James McLennan, Dr Steven Chen (US food-as-medicine advocate), Clara Coleman (US farmer, podcaster, mental health advocate), Madonna Thompson and Helianti Hilman (Indonesian local food networks advocate and entrepreneur), will explore the links between soil health, food quality, culture and human wellbeing.
Farming is as much about policy settings, economic systems and value chains as it is about land management.
Speakers including Siobhan Toohill, Rob Pekin, Clara Coleman, Rayne Van Den Berg and others will look at farm finance, ownership models, carbon credit schemes, food hubs, and the social side of agriculture. Panels and discussions will dig into the human systems that facilitate and prohibit successful farming and the models for optimising better community outcomes.
Over the two days, our ‘How-To’ Tent will run hands-on demonstrations, small group sessions and open Q&A with holistic management practitioners and experienced farmers. This space is all about practical application, where ideas from the main program can be explored in a more detailed, interactive way and attendees can ask specific questions.
Guided walkshops and participatory sessions at Yan Yan Gurt West Farm will connect the conversations on stage with the landscape underfoot, turning theory into lived experience and real-world practice.
In the paddocks expect soil acoustics, soil core rigs, agroforestry demos, farm walks and more, while The Understory, our open-format gathering space, hosts participant-led conversations, shared meals, spontaneous sessions and sensory experiences.
