Pushing organics for profit, productivity

Frank Martin is one of a handful of commercially orientated organic sheep wool and meat producers prospering in Victoria.

He is also one of the few people who can shed some light on an industry that returns premium prices, demands impeccable quality, yet still fails to be recognised as a "serious" agricultural industry.

The paddocks of his Shady Vale property cut an impressive sight in the relatively desolate Loddon Valley, Vic.

Bursting with lucerne and flanked by rows of saltbush and acacia, the paddocks defy the drought that has crippled much of the surrounding area.

Having just finished moving a mob of Merino ewes, Mr Martin settles himself at a Laminex kitchen table that looks out onto a garden crammed with indigenous eucalypts, before opening a folder onto a page of carefully handwritten notes.

"People keep hammering on about sustainability," Mr Martin begins, in a tone reflective of a well-traced story.

"Regeneration is what I am looking for. To be sustainable is not enough.

"We need regenerative farming so the agricultural industry flourishes for a lot longer than 200 odd years."