An empathy with the natural landscape and a desire for a more aesthetically pleasing yet still profitable farm has led Jochem and Kate Heijse down the regenerative path on their 1,500ha property Spring Creek, near Holbrook.
The property was purchased in 2012 after Mr Heijse, a graduate of the Wageningen University in Wageningen, The Netherlands, with a Masters degree in Animal Sciences had pursued an international career.
He interned in New Zealand and Bhutan, for their Ministry of Livestock and upon completion of his studies Mr Heijse travelled through South America to see if he wanted to live in one of those countries.
But he realised the economic and political situation in Argentina wasn't very stable and therefore not conducive to his ambitions to farm in a productive manner.
"There was lots of populistic decision making like the banning of the export of beef, which is happening again as we speak" he said.
He returned to The Netherlands and began working with an agricultural investment fund with interests in eastern European countries bound within the European Union.
"It was a lot of fun, but after I had met Kate and during one of the investment fund conferences I heard the late Tony Lovell ask a lot of questions about investing in regenerative agriculture and practices to regenerate agricultural land," Mr Heijse said.
"After listening to his questions and the answers I decided I had to talk with him."
Read more from the Game Changers series:
That subsequent conversation with Tony Lovell, and later in the year with the great Holistic educator Bruce Ward, led Mr Heijse to question the manner he had considered farmland and farm management practices he had learnt through his studies and experience with the investment fund.
"I was looking for a different way of farming, I was always interested during my studies to learn more about the symbiosis between farming and nature," he said.
"So when I was talking with Tony about working with nature that was never taught or only sporadically, I thought - this is what I have been looking for.
"There is a way to do what I want to do and that gave me the confidence to check out Australia."
Mr Heijse was given a list of holistic farmers in Australia by Tony Lovell and he and Kate flew to Perth to begin their assessment of regenerative farming across Australia.
"It was a nice way to see Australia and to see the countryside," he said.
"All the farms we visited felt good - they were natural and didn't stink of diesel or chemicals.
"And the places looked wild and healthy with a huge variety of flora and fauna."
The people they met were friendly and curious about farming practices which would enhance and sustain their livelihood yet restore the balance between nature and profit.
"They were progressive and open-minded and it was nice, as someone from The Netherlands, to be accepted," Mr Heijse said.
``We decided that we could live in Australia - it offered a good life, and it had business wise great potential, so we went home and within a year we got married and returned to Australia."
They relocated to Melbourne while they continued their search for their 'ideal' farm.
"I used my knowledge and experience of buying farmland in eastern Europe to ascertain what we could buy intertwined with my and Kate's personal preferences," Mr Heijse said.
"We made a long list of what we wanted personally and professionally."
Mr Heijse said the minimum carrying capacity was 400 breeders to give economies of scale.
"Anything below that, especially in the early stages, became not viable," he explained.
"If you build a fence for a 100 cows you may as well build it for 400."
Other factors in the property purchase mix included logistics, infrastructure, access to markets, climate and the general feel of the landscape were important to the couple.
"We have seen plenty of beautiful farms which were way too efficient in that they were flat and almost like being back in The Netherlands," Mr Heijse said.
"We wanted something which was a bit more wild, not just a source of income but also a fun place to live - somewhere we could go riding, hunting, fishing and exploring."
A flat and square block with plenty of water wouldn't necessarily satisfy the lifestyle and income ambitions of Mr and Mrs Heijse.
"It wasn't just an income source but just as much a way of life for us," Mr Heijse said.
"We were going to be a long way from family and friends so we wanted the farm to be a big plus for us to justify the move."
After much searching, they eventually inspected and purchased Spring Creek, which ticked most of the couple's boxes.
"It was a bit bigger than what we initially wanted, but there were many advantages and it's been a very good decision as far as we are concerned," Mr Heijse said.
"Holbrook is a nice community, there are lots of young people living and working on to the farm and it's close enough to Albury, which ticked one of my boxes as I feel the urban sprawl of a big rural city will have a long term impact on farm values."
Upon taking on the management of Spring Creek in 2014 after the lease of the property expired, the couple were able to fully explore the possibilities of regenerative agriculture as they interpreted the concept.
"We want to make the land as robust as possible by increasing the diversity and productivity without the inputs of fertilizers, chemicals and diesel," Mr Heijse said.
"Allowing nature to operate to the best of its ability - like encouraging dung beetles to return dung to the soil rather than killing them with a drench.
"We are trying to stimulate the complexity of the natural system as much as possible, but nudge it in a direction which is productive and makes us money."
Mr Heijse pointed out that his interpretation of regenerative agriculture is not a utopian ideal but a sensible manner in which the balance of nature and commerce can be reconciled.
"It shouldn't be supported by another source of income but needs to be a productive, viable agricultural entity on its own," he said.
"In this part of the world you have to respect nature a bit more than in Europe where the soils are very fertile, it rains all year round, very temperate weather, and so it's very easy to mistreat the land and get away with it and get a good yield year after year."
The challenge of farming in Australia, as Mr Heijse pointed out, is that the environment is a lot less forgiving.
"We have to be more aware of its fragility," he said.
"If you over-graze it, or misuse it and the season gets too dry it will turn to dust and then all of your top soil will disappear.
"You can spend a lot of money on seed and fertilizer, you might just lose it the next year."
It is a bigger gamble in Australia, Mr Heijse said.
"But that is what I liked about Australia," he said.
"We need to appreciate more the intricacies of our native ecosystems and realise that its complexity might be too much for us to understand at a first glance. Trying to outsmart nature, by simplifying the natural processes and bypassing time, we don't do it justice."
Working in concert with nature is the aim and Mr Heijse said let nature do what it is good at and step back a bit and let the native plants and animals which have been evolving in this system for millions of years grow and you can make use of them.
Have you signed up to The Land's free daily newsletter? Register below to make sure you are up to date with everything that's important to NSW agriculture.