Regen Farming Lifestyle Below 400mm: Turning Wastewater Into Food

Most people think regenerative farming only works in high rainfall zones.
But this Western Australian farmer is proving everyone wrong using under 400mm of rain a year.

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In today’s episode, we visit Christian Gonçalves, a mining explosives expert turned regenerative farmer. He is growing a thriving food forest and productive paddocks in one of Australia’s toughest dryland environments.

Christian recycles 100% of his household wastewater, legally and safely, into a food-producing system that feeds his family year round.

We look at his septic-to-food setup, soil hydrophobicity challenges, wind-driven evaporation, small water cycle engineering, contouring, biological weed control, lupin succession, pasture mixes, and dryland revegetation to rebuild microclimates.

If you’ve ever wondered whether regen ag can work in low-rainfall areas… this is on the way.

This video covers:
regenerative agriculture in low rainfall regions, dryland farming techniques, septic water recycling for gardens, greywater and blackwater treatment for food production, small water cycle restoration, WA dryland farming, hydrophobic soils, biological weed control with lupins, contouring vs swales, reducing evaporation with windbreaks, food forests in arid climates, off-grid water systems, drought-resilient farming, pasture improvement for horses and sheep, restoring degraded paddocks, revegetation with native trees, landscape hydration strategies.

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📚 RegenWA – Make Your Hectare Count
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Location and Featured Guest

📍 Location: Western Australia (Dryland the 350mm rainfall zone)
🎤 Featured: Christian Gonçalves
🔧 Systems Featured: Septic-to-food system, aeration + chlorination, shade cloth condensation harvest, lupin weed-suppression, contour lines, native revegetation.
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00:00 – Can Regen Ag Work Under 400mm Rainfall?
00:34 – Meet Christian: From Mining Explosives to Regenerative Farming
01:04 – How a Legal Septic Recycling System Works
02:30 – Turning Blackwater into Safe Plant-Available Fertility
03:33 – Why Dryland Farmers Need Water Recycling
04:24 – Touring the Citrus Grove and Food Forest
05:17 – Windbreaks, Shade Cloth & Small Water Cycle Basics
06:39 – Fighting Evaporation: Engineering Solutions
07:53 – Restoring Hydrophobic Soils in WA
08:55 – Swales vs Contours: What Really Works in Dryland
10:23 – Biological Weed Control with Lupins
11:58 – Pasture Mix for Horses & Sheep
12:40 – Managing Loopin Succession & Taproot Disruption
13:50 – Re-building Paddocks with Native Windbreaks
14:50 – Grazing Plan: Rotational & Strip Grazing
15:45 – Lessons Learned & Dryland Regen Mindset
16:34 – Thanks to RegenWA & State NRM Projects
16:50 – Subscribe for More Regen & Small Farm Content