How To Watch Rachel Ward’s Regenerative Farming Documentary

From model to actor to director, British-Australian star Rachel Ward isn’t afraid of a career pivot. Born in Oxfordshire in 1957 but a resident down under since the 1980s, she and actor husband Bryan Brown share three children and a cattle farm in New South Wales – and the latter is the subject of a new documentary. Here’s how to watch Rachel’s Farm, plus everything you need to know before you tune in.

Rachel Ward in Rachel’s Farm. (© WildBear Entertainment/New Town Films/Brigid Arnott)

What Is Rachel’s Farm About?

Rachel’s Farm is a one-off documentary showcasing Rachel Ward and husband Bryan Brown’s pivot towards regenerative practices on their 340 hectare cattle farm in New South Wales. Having owned a farm for 30 years, the actor didn’t realise the destitute nature of her soil until the 2019 bush fires that wreaked havoc on the area. ‘[The fires] were apocalyptic,’ Rachel tells The Farmer Magazine. ‘It was the worst bushfire season ever recorded and clearly driven by climate change. Our neighbour’s farm was a smouldering heap.

‘I felt very frightened by it all but really struggled to figure what part I could play to help turn things around,’ she adds. ‘It was so overwhelming.’

Before 2019, Rachel contracted local farm hands to till the soil, irrigate, plant winter feed and kill summer grasses – keeping her farm ticking over. But after these bush fires, one of these local farmhands (who worked on his own farm next door, too) told Rachel ‘this conventional way of farming is just not sustainable, either economically or ecologically. He showed me how our soil was dry and dead, and said that every bad thing on the farm came back to something we’d done,’ Rachel says. This was Mick Green Jr, whose father had helped out on Rachel’s farm before him. Joined with his pal Normie, Mick set to researching regenerative farming, urging Rachel to stop tilling and start utilising her cows for natural pasture management: rotational grazing and manure distribution, restoring the soil health. The duo combined their land to maximise the rotation potential: Rachel and Bryan’s 340 hectares with Mick’s 100 hectares. Rachel, meanwhile, took a holistic farm management course and moved to live on her farm and help Mick fulltime.

Rachel Ward and husband Bryan Brown in Rachel’s Farm. (© WildBear Entertainment/New Town Films)

‘This was the most hopeful thing I’d heard in a long time,’ says Rachel. ‘And it was something I could do. I have a farm and I could make a film about it, too.’

The result is Rachel’s Farm, which chronicles this transition and delves into modern food supply chains, too. ‘I thought the film might help bridge the gap between farm life and city life,’ Rachel says. ‘The film is really a story about climate anxiety and a first step toward making some changes. It’s light-hearted and entertaining but also, hopefully, informative.

‘Most of all, I want people to understand that we’re all captive to the big supermarket chains and large multinationals driving down the prices that farmers get for their hard-earned labour,’ Rachel adds. ‘I want to open the discussion about what our priorities should be. Do people really think the agricultural industry can continue spraying pesticides to the tune of billions of litres worldwide every year, and not have this get into our food system?

Rachel Ward & Mick Green in Rachel’s Farm. (© WildBear Entertainment/New Town Films/Brigid Arnott)

‘The alternative paradigm based on regenerative agriculture will only succeed on a large scale if consumers demand healthier food from healthier farms, which admittedly will come at a higher cost,’ Rachel says. ‘But how do you attach a price to a healthier diet and a healthier planet?

‘If we want to do a U-turn with our agricultural production and put more emphasis on caring about our environment and biodiversity, we must pay attention to where our food is coming from and push for best practice on our farms,’ Rachel adds. ‘So often, industrial farming and mining is sacrosanct in Australia, which built itself off the back of sheep and mines.

‘The average age of farmers around here is 65 and they’re very entrenched about the way they farm,’ she adds. ‘It’s up to the next generation to take on this new farming paradigm. There are lots of young people who want to be on the land and be part of the solution of addressing climate change. This film is for them.’

Rachel Ward in Rachel’s Farm. (© WildBear Entertainment/New Town Films/Brigid Arnott)

Where Is Rachel’s Farm?

Rachel’s farm is a real 340 hectare cattle farm in New South Wales. The farm is located just outside Macksville in the Nambucca Valley.

WATCH

Rachel’s Farm is now available to stream on BBC iPlayer. The documentary is 85 minutes long.