Tom Abbottsmith Youl is the latest generation to steward the land at Graceburn Farm. We use ecologically sustainable farming practices to produce Paddock eggs and Free Range Grass Grazing Beef.

The Abbott Smith family has a long history of farming and caring for the land at Graceburn. Its rolling hills were cleared by Tom's Grandfather for cattle breeding in the 1960s, however significant areas of remnant bush along boundaries, waterways and drainage lines were retained and protected under one of the first Victorian Trust for Nature covenants, creating native wildlife corridors. This balance between agricultural land use and ecological conservation remains a guiding principle at Graceburn to this day.

Regenerative agriculture management techniques such as the use of high tech electric fencing, reticulated stock watering systems, land class fencing, native wildlife wetlands, stock exclusion areas and local EVC (ecological vegetation classes) revegetation works all make our agricultural activities as low impact as possible on the environment. Our lovable golden retriever X poodle, Elsa also does her part on the farm by protecting the chooks and keeping rabbits and foxes at bay.

We take care of our remnant vegetation areas by monitoring for healthy biodiversity and for invasive weeds and pests, such as blackberries and foxes. If intervention is deemed necessary, control is implemented in the most unobtrusive way possible. We recently spotted the vulnerable Long Nosed Bandicoot by remote cameras in our wildlife corridors, where it uses the low-lying sedgy vegetation for shelter and protection from feral predators. This is an encouraging indicator that the corridors are providing valuable habitat to our native biodiversity.

Alongside our passions for farming and conservation, we also want to see our food system become less environmentally destructive and more regenerative, and we believe that public awareness and education is key to this. Farm tours form the backbone of our education program on the farm, helping our community to re-engage with the production of food from a local regenerative agricultural system. They are an interesting hands on experience and are great for kids.