THE PROBLEM NO LABEL SOLVES
The supermarket gives you walls of labels — “free range,” “natural,” “hormone free” — but none of them tell you what actually matters: is the soil healthy? Are the animals genuinely cared for? Is this food more nourishing than what’s beside it on the shelf?
Organic is a rigid standard of what not to do — a list of banned inputs. But a paddock using only approved organic inputs can still have depleted soil, poor water, and stressed animals. The label passes. The land tells a different story.
Regenerative sounds promising — but it has no agreed definition, no standard, and no accountability. Anyone can call themselves regenerative. Often, the people using the term don’t really know what it means.
Neither approach measures what actually matters: outcomes — what the farm produces, how the ecosystem is functioning, and whether things are genuinely getting better.
You’re not looking for another label. You’re looking for food you can genuinely trust.
MEET YOUR FARMER
When I started Your Farmer in 2011, I didn’t set out to create a new label. I just wanted to grow food the way it made sense — as part of a living system, not against one. I studied ecological design, built a farm where every part supports every other part, and started delivering directly to families who cared about the same things I did.
Today our CSA families across NSW and ACT get food that’s genuinely different — not because of a sticker on the packet, but because of what’s happening in the soil beneath it.
BSc Ecological Agriculture · Human Ecologist · Soil Food Web Lab Technician · Biodynamic Practitioner · 20+ years experience
NOT A LABEL — AN AUDIT
Most certifications are a checklist you pass once a year. The Your Farmer Certified standard is different: every farm is assessed against the Your Farmer Certified Eight Outcomes — from living soils and clean water to animal welfare and farmer wellbeing. Each audit step below proves one outcome. If the outcomes aren’t improving, the farm doesn’t qualify.
We test the living microbial ecosystem — the fungi, bacteria and organisms that make nutrients available to plants, not just pH or nitrogen. Organic matter and structure have to be improving year on year, and because the system is built around biology, synthetic inputs are a short-term remedy at most — never a routine.
Is runoff clean? Are buffers in place? We verify the farm is building water infiltration into the soil rather than letting it run off into streams — improving the catchment, not degrading it.
Are native species returning? We look for hedgerows, refuge areas and functional habitat. Pests and weeds are managed through ecological design — and because any targeted chemical intervention is never routine, nothing accumulates in the food chain.
The whole farm has to work as one designed system — grazing supports cropping, waste becomes resource, energy trends toward renewables. Abstaining from inputs isn’t design; the farm has to show planned integration.
We check the operation is economically viable, so the farming family isn’t under undue hardship — because a struggling farm can’t sustain ecological practice long-term.
Inputs sourced locally, food sold to local families, knowledge shared — we confirm the farm operates as part of its community, not apart from it.
We observe stocking rates, access to forage, shelter quality, and whether animals move freely through the ecosystem as part of the farming system. Health is never sacrificed for ideology.
The person behind the food matters too. A farmer under financial stress or disconnected from purpose can’t sustain ecological practice — so wellbeing is part of the audit, not an afterthought.
How the audit works: every farm is peer-reviewed by fellow ecological farmers — not desk auditors — and reassessed at least annually. If the outcomes aren’t improving, the farm doesn’t qualify.
WHAT WE MEASURE
The ecological-farming standard developed by farmer and ecologist David Savill in 2014. Instead of a checklist of what you can’t use, every farm in the network is measured against these eight outcomes — what the land actually produces.
David SAvill - Founding Farmer
WHAT THIS MEANS FOR YOUR FOOD
Most of us don't get enough key nutrients.
What we eat has a great impact on our health, however many of us don’t get enough key nutrients in our diet 11 4. 1 in 3 Australians don't get enough magnesium. Nearly half of Australian men don't get enough zinc 10.
Often this is a result of the food we eat being low in nutrients, not from a lack of effort of trying to eat well. Ecological farming enhances the soil 3, which in turn increases the micronutrients in the food grown on it 9 5. It’s been found that an increase in nutrient intake is consistent with reduced risk of health issues such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and overall mortality 7 8.
As Your Farmer’s founder David Savill says, it all starts with the soil. Without healthy soil, a farm is just a factory with grass.
When you choose food from a farm verified for ecological outcomes, you’re not relying on a label, you’re choosing food from a system that’s actively making the world better; one paddock at a time
Our ecological outcomes mean:
That’s food you can trust. Not because of a certificate on the wall. Because of what’s happening in the soil.
THE SCIENCE BEHIND THE SYSTEM
In industrial agriculture, fertilisers have become less an amelioration tool and more a crutch, where every year more and more have to be used because the underlying biology has either become dependent on them or has been erased 13 14.
David explains how natural ecosystems — old-growth forests, prairies, natural pastures — sustained complex life for millennia without a single bag of fertiliser. Soil microbiology is the true driver of fertility 3 2. Adding synthetic inputs doesn’t help — it replaces the natural systems that were already doing the job 1.
BEYOND ORGANIC AND REGENERATIVE
The principles of ecological agriculture extend beyond the soil to what's called human ecology, the study of how people, communities, and ecosystems function as a single system 16. Most certifications stop at the farm gate.
David explains why organic certification — while well-intentioned — is a rigid list of what not to do. And why “regenerative” has become a feel-good label anyone can claim with no accountability.
Your Farmer's eight verified outcomes are a holistic model covering the full picture: soil, water, biodiversity, animals, farmer, community, and the relationship between farm and eater. That last one is the missing piece in most ecological agriculture programs . and it's the one that makes the whole system work.
THE INTEGRATION PRINCIPLE
Nature doesn't do monocultures, and neither should the systems that grow your food.
Most of the problems with today’s agriculture, and why we have to use so much energy and chemicals, are because we don’t mirror natural cycles 12 15.
David explains why ecological farming works as an integrated system rather than isolated practices. Animals, pastures, soil biology, and water cycles all reinforce each other — creating food that carries the health of the whole system.
Three Simple Steps
Your Farmers grow grass-fed beef and lamb, pastured eggs and the best eco-grown veggies and produce — every item grown to the same ecological standard, every farmer one you can know by name. One subscription, your whole real-food shop.
Subscribe to a share of the harvest, or start with a one-off fixed pack.
Pick your delivery rhythm and what's in the box. Skip or cancel anytime — no lock-in.
We deliver in a reusable esky we collect next time. No couriers, no waste.
Grass-Fed Beef Sausages, Mince and Diced (SMD) Bundle Pack
Bulk Grass-Fed Beef - Cut-up Your Way
Bulk Pastured Full Lamb - Cut-up Your Way
Ecological farming is an outcomes-based approach to food production that measures soil health, water cycles, biodiversity, animal welfare and farmer wellbeing, not just what's banned from the paddock. It goes beyond organic (which measures only what's absent from food) and beyond regenerative (which is often claimed but rarely verified). The Your Farmer Certified program audits eight ecological outcomes on every farm in our network.
Regenerative is a direction; ecological is a verified standard. "Regenerative" sounds great but has no agreed definition, no enforced standard, and no third-party accountability, anyone can use the word. Ecological farming is the same intent backed by an audit: eight measurable outcomes, peer-reviewed by other farmers, reassessed annually. If the soil isn't getting healthier and the biodiversity isn't growing, it doesn't qualify.
Organic is input-based, a list of synthetic chemicals you can't use. Ecological is outcomes-based, eight measurable results the farm has to deliver, including improving soil biology, cleaner water runoff, expanding habitat for native species, and humane animal welfare. A certified-organic paddock can still have depleted soil and poor water quality. An ecologically certified farm has to prove the land is genuinely getting better.
They’re the eight measurable outcomes of the Your Farmer Certified standard, the ecological-farming framework developed by ecologist David Savill in 2014: (01) Living Soils, (02) Water & Catchment, (03) Biodiversity & Habitat, (04) Ecosystem Design, (05) Economic Sustainability, (06) Social & Cultural, (07) Animal Welfare, (08) Farmer Wellbeing. Unlike organic (which measures what’s absent) or “regenerative” (which has no agreed standard), each outcome is audited and must be improving for a farm to qualify.
Every farm in the Your Farmer network is assessed against the Your Farmer Certified standard, peer-reviewed by other practising ecological farmers, not desk auditors. Soil biology is tested, water management verified, animal welfare observed, biodiversity assessed, and farmer wellbeing reviewed. Reassessment happens at least annually. The standard was built by David Savill, a biodynamic farmer, who holds a BSc in Ecological Agriculture, Soil Food Web certification and Human Ecologist qualifications.
Soil biology is the engine that turns dirt into nutrition. Bacteria, fungi and other microorganisms in healthy soil convert minerals into forms plants can actually absorb, and the plant decides what it wants, not the fertiliser bag. Test the biology and you can predict the nutrient density of the food the soil grows. That's why we test it. Most certifications don't.
They overlap but aren't identical. Biodynamic farming follows specific practices (preparations, planting calendars, closed-system thinking) developed by Rudolf Steiner. Ecological farming is broader and outcomes-based, it asks "is the land getting healthier" rather than "did you follow the recipe." David Savill is a practising biodynamic farmer, so the Savill family farm uses both: biodynamic practices, ecological outcomes.
Yes, we run the Your Farmer Certified eco-farmer program for farmers who want to transition to ecological practice. Training covers soil biology, holistic grazing, ecosystem design, and the audit framework. Once certified, partner farmers get guaranteed market access through our CSA network. If you're a working farmer or land manager interested, get in touch, the network grows by recruiting farmers who measure outcomes, not just inputs.
Don't hesitate to contact us
