My journey starting an independent agricultural business with a funny name

Did it really begin because of a pair of boots?

Well... yes I needed boots - trusty boots to walk the many fields of starting a business in the agriculture industry in 2011. But first, let me open the door on where the name Bootstrap came from and we can talk boots and Land Rovers in a minute.

And physics is relevant too, right?

Bootstrap Environmental Services was named in honour of the work and following philosophies of theoretical physicist Geoffrey Chew - who came up with something called the bootstrap theory.? In short (as it gets a bit thick on theoretical physics which is above my pay grade!), bootstrap theory reflects a couple of important things:? interconnection between things and feedback loops that are self-sustaining.

It is based on the idea that nature cannot be reduced to separate entities as reductionist science may have us, but has to be understood also through self-consistent feedback loops... in a nutshell. This appealed to me on a couple of levels: the place of science and scientific inquiry and also ecological and systems thinking and approaches (and I was reading a LOT about quantum physics and cybernetics at the time!). I liked that the two could interact together to produce some pretty amazing outcomes.

Rabbit hole of synthesis

The thinking that grounded me at the time required my understanding of landscapes and soils as intrinsic living systems affected by our management. The bootstrap philosophy implied that making changes to one part of a system will have an effect on other parts of the system as a whole. It is an ecological systems approach that starts with observation and ends with outcomes that are sustainable and do not degenerate.??Today, one lens we observe this play out is climate and our challenge to thrive in what are no doubt higher swings and faster roundabouts, especially when you throw food production and growing populations into the mix. You and I can have that convo over a bottle of wine.

Why soils?

Always, even after years of practice, it has been because the learning never ends.? Soils are incredibly complex living systems, much like our bodies or galaxies.? For me it all started some 20+ years ago when my teacher taught a small group of us about soil organic matter and turning soil into 'chocolate cake'.? I was hooked!?

Today it is because healthy soils and landscapes are vital to our future.? I get to meet extraordinary people that are some of Australia's and the world's leading innovators. I then get to pass that on to my clients in emerging industries like carbon and climate. Pretty cool job I think.

What's the big picture in the periphery?

In agriculture, soils managed in ways that invigorate function and life, measurable by many yard sticks ;with carbon being but one (albeit an important one!). An approach to food and farming systems that are judicious with external inputs and waste and dependence on fertilisers and aims to regenerate soil, increase biodiversity, improve water cycles, enhance ecosystem services, increase resilience and strengthen the health and vitality of farming and communities deserve out time to think about ... and act on.

Intellectual compost is going to change agriculture?

Solutions that are simple yet are in harmony with the complexity of natural systems bubble up to the top.? The ability to gain applicable understanding will depend on our own human intellectual density per hectare (I call it Intellectual Compost - you're welcome to pinch that) and it is here we aim to contribute to a collective intellectual compost. I have a commitment to contribute to landscapes filled with people that hold as many ideas, innovations, adaptations and most importantly, actions as possible.

Now the bit about Land Rovers

Land Rover owners are a special bunch. We spend much time bonding with our vehicles because we are always working on them - and that is its own kind of love (no judgement on the quality of that relationship). This however, is more a story about a ute and a great Australian explorer. I know, you were likely expecting something about vibrant healthy soils, drawing down atmospheric emissions and dirty fingernails, but - there's more to me than that.

Have you heard about the last true Australian explorer??

This bloke was Len Beadell. Working as a surveyor (which brings him into the soil fold, kind of) for the government, he built the legendary network of roads that exist in the rugged outback today. Folk in central and western Australia will probably be nodding right now. Len opened up over 2.5 million square kilometres of Australia and he did it all in his virtually unbreakable Land Rover. Len was a Landy nut, and I think he really got that Landy relationship thing I mentioned earlier!

In the early 1960's Len and his construction party finished one of the most remote tracks in Australia, the Connie Sue Highway. The road was named after Len and Anne Beadell's daughter Connie Sue, who actually spent 5 months of her infant life living "on the road" in the harsh Australian bush as a baby during this time; I guess mostly on the seat of a Land Rover with bad axles.

What has this got to do with the bootstrap story?? Glad you ask...

Today, Connie Sue and Mick Hutton conduct remote area trips into the western deserts of Australia. Remote area trips that the Bootstrap Environmental Services Defender ute is well used to! The Bootstrap Defender was used by Connie Sue and Mick on their Beadell Tours for some years.? That's a lot of kilometres and corrugations! It is then, a part of Australia's history and it's traveled a long way to your paddock! That ute got me through the first 10 years of my business and many remote area holiday trips (it is for sale by the way, in case you have the fever).

There's more, but we'll save it for when we get to chat or you can get in touch and send me a few words anytime.

I'd love to hear your story!

Adrianna