The Australian Farmer

The Australian Farmer A Digital Publication and Knowledge Tool for the Forward-Thinking Farmer

www.theaustralianfarmer.com

THE AUSTRALIAN FARMER ACCESS TO SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, INNOVATION, PRODUCTIVITY AND PROFITABILITY

The Australian Farmer is a digital publication and practical knowledge tool for the forward-thinking farmer, something to keep and read over time or use as a reference.

For ease of reading, we recommend you add this publication to your favourites or bookmark it to come back to later. After all, there’s a lot here!

The Australian Farmer is not just a book – the project also includes our website, where you can read the latest agricultural news as well as opinions from farmers and industry leaders. Much like this book, we aim to be informative and help Australia’s farmers stay ahead of the game.

HOW TO NAVIGATE THE AUSTRALIAN FARMER The Australian Farmer is a digital book and knowledge tool that is very easy to navigate.

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You can read any article by clicking on it in the table of contents

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You can go back to the table of contents from any page by clicking “Back to Contents”

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You can download individual articles and read them offline by clicking the “Download article as PDF” button

The following symbols mean:

Link to the Website

MUST READS Click through to read some of the highlights of this comprehensive compendium, including:

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The role of science and innovation in driving improvements in productivity for farmers

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Take a look at the robotic and digital technologies that are changing farming on UNE’s cutting-edge SMART Farm

Email the Company

Play Video

Download article as PDF

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Productivity builders: the precision ag technology, quality equipment and premium products and services available to Aussie farmers

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A tribute to Australia’s farmers, featuring bush poetry and classic photography

Back to Contents

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FOREWORD

Foreword

By The Hon. Barnaby Joyce MP, Minister for Agriculture and Member for New England.

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“Market growth in Asia does not mean that Australia will suddenly become the region’s ‘food bowl’.”

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“Farmers are essential to the aspirations of every nation.”

AGRICULTURE IS AT THE CORE OF ANY SOCIETY THAT WILL PREVAIL. It is a noble pursuit. It does not leave people diminished. It is the essence of what feeds and clothes them. As such, agriculture is not only a pillar of the economy as an economic imperative, but as a moral imperative too.

So when any society undergoes a period of significant change, careful attention must be paid to the agricultural economy and its ability to sustain people and the environment. That is as true for the great nations of Asia as it is here in Australia.

In Asia today, there are over four billion people and they are now making their way by the hundreds of millions into the middle class.

This shift will demand dynamic change in agricultural markets to meet the requirements of growing populations and changing demographics.

And it will revitalise the importance of two-way trade that underpins the economies of Australia – which prides itself on clean production systems and high biosecurity standards – and our trading partners across Asia.

By 2050, world food demand is projected to rise 75 per cent, compared with 2007. In Asia, the growth is expected to be around 100 per cent.

In the ASEAN member states, vegetable and fruit consumption is projected to nearly double by 2050, with net imports increasing to US$8 billion in the region. By 2050, beef consumption in ASEAN member states is projected to be about 120 per cent higher than in 2007, with imports expected to expand by US$3 billion over this period.

The ASEAN member states are also significant importers of dairy products. The real value of dairy consumption for ASEAN member states is projected to more than double by 2050. This consumption

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“Rather than feeding Asian countries, Australia’s opportunities in Asia will be based on trade that delivers the foundations for mutual prosperity. Agriculture, of course, will be at the heart of that trade.”

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growth will be largely met by imports, which are projected to be US$6 billion higher in 2050 than 2007.

In the midst of this change, we need to be very clear about where the real opportunities for Australia lie. Market growth in Asia does not mean that Australia will suddenly become the region’s ‘food bowl’.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: this is completely unrealistic.

Firstly, much of the growth in demand across Asia will be met by productivity growth in the region itself. That is only right. Farmers are essential to the aspirations of every nation. And they must make money to continue in that role, no matter what part of the world they’re from.

And secondly, the reality is that Australia currently produces only about 1 per cent of the agricultural produce of the world.

Our food exports are certainly growing – by 2019-20, the real value of farm exports is projected to be around 9 per cent higher than the average over the five years to 2013–14.

At the very best, however, Australia currently feeds about 60 million people each year around the globe – including our own population of nearly 24 million people.

Rather than feeding Asian countries, Australia’s opportunities in Asia will be based on trade that delivers the foundations for mutual prosperity. Agriculture, of course, will be at the heart of that trade.

That is why this government has made a commitment to improving, and increasing, market access opportunities for Australian agricultural producers and industries. We have sent a clear signal – we are open for business.

That’s good for our farmers. And it is good for our trading partners across Asia, and across the world.

Since coming to government, we have concluded free trade agreements with China, Japan and Korea – the nations that are the largest, second largest and fifth largest importers of our agricultural commodities.

These agreements emphasise two-way trade and opportunities for each nation. And they provide a clear opportunity for Asian markets to select the very best Australian food and produce to supplement local production.

One of the many advantages for Australian agriculture in domestic and global markets is our reputation as a supplier of clean, premium quality produce – a reputation that I believe is second to none.

So our focus for export growth in Asia is on high-quality agricultural products and premium produce: that is where our future lies.

But the real value of trade, like the value of agriculture itself, goes far beyond dollars and cents alone.

Our international partnerships across Asia are also crucial to Australia’s agricultural competitiveness and profitability in other ways. I am a firm believer in open discussion and sharing ideas, working hand-inhand with our international and trading neighbours who have unique ideas of their own.

Australia has a great deal to learn from Asia, and a wealth of knowledge and agricultural commodities to share in return.

It gives me great pleasure to provide this foreword to The Australian Farmer. I commend its ideals and its aims.

The Australian government places a high priority on our relationship with Asia and we are committed to building the best foundation for mutual success into the future.

“Australia has a great deal to learn from Asia, and a wealth of knowledge and agricultural commodities to share in return.”

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

FIRST UP

BOTH A DIGITAL BOOK AND DAILY-UPDATED WEBSITE

How to Navigate The Australian Farmer Foreword Table of Contents Peak Body Acknowledgement Editorial Advisory Board Letter from the Editor Leaders Speak Our Partners – direct access to productivity enhancing gear and knowledge Credits

UNDERSTANDING CONSUMER TRENDS Overview: Jeremy Lomman on why it’s better to be different when it comes to the food marketplace Case study: A growing passion in rice farming feeds millions Case study: The apple farmers exporting Tasmanian Gold Case study: Innovation driven by a changing consumer market Essay: Does Australian agriculture need a national brand?

Related Links

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THE DIGITAL REVOLUTION

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Overview: Big data, big money: Jonathon Dyer on how to capitalise on the information revolution Case study: Agriculture’s robots: Rise of the machines?

Case study: Getting ahead by farming SMART Case study: Everybody’s nuts for macadamias Case study: Topcon brings efficiency and productivity to farming operations Case study: Tackling the data drought in rural Australia Case study: Deep history of agronomy gives Back Paddock software the edge Related Links

SOCIAL LICENCE AND SUSTAINABILITY Overview: Paul Martin discusses why we need to be partners in rural stewardship Case study: Art4Agriculture: celebrating young farmers Case study: Orange: The gourmet destination with a reputation for sustainability Case study: Wanneroo: A peri-urban food bowl with sustainable export ambitions Essay: Facts are only part of the story Related Links

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SCIENCE AND INNOVATION

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Overview: David Hamilton explores why close collaboration in agriculture is key Case study: The complicated partnership between science and food Case study: Leveraging image and machine learning developments to better analyse cattle herds Case study: Focus on innovation drives Nufarm’s success in global ag market Related Links

SOIL MANAGEMENT Overview: Walter Jehne cracks the soil debate Overview: Lyn Abbott and John Bennett provide a scientific introduction to soil health Case study: From chemical accident to booming natural fertiliser business Case study: Against all odds: Turning sand into profit Case study: A fresh approach to soil Case study: Changing the Australian approach to soil health Case study: Managing erosion for better yields Related Links

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FARM FINANCE AND SUPERANNUATION

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Overview: Isobel Knight asks what financial planning means for farmers Case study: Planning for a successful life after work Case study: Telopea Downs: from desert to pasture Related Links

PROVEN AND PREMIUM FARM PRODUCTS AND SERVICES Australian fertiliser company changing the approach to agricultural chemicals LSW tyre technology to revolutionise Australian agriculture Close relationship with rural communities and customers defines Liberty Oil Lindsay: the one-stop shop for farming needs A livestock agent network built on reputation Looking after animals improves profitability Better farm management in the palm of your hand Polaris leads the way with safety-first innovation Innovative solutions for harvesting rainwater New Colorado showcases Holden’s engineering expertise Metalcorp – strengthening rural Australia with the highest-quality steel

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

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Qantas Freight drives Australia’s food exports KUHN brings cutting-edge creativity and precision in farm machinery to Australia Essential Energy keeps farmers safe around electricity CJD Equipment meets the heavy-duty machinery needs of rural Australia Feed quality and safety ensured from farmer to farmer by nationally-certified SFMCA Aussie-made oil for Australian farm conditions New online platform provides farmers with higher level of equipment service and technology Rex: the aerial lifeblood of regional Australia High quality farm machinery made in Australia for Australian farmers Farmers see the bigger picture with advanced spatial technology

Click here for an index of our specially selected partners and their premium products and services

AGRICULTURE IN EDUCATION

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Overview: Cameron Archer talks about how to access and engage with ag at school Case study: Making farming cool for little tackers Case study: Virtual farms take ag life to city students Case study: Experiential learning gives students a taste of modern ag Case study: PNG vegetables are educational health gems for Top End children Case study: QATC prepares ag workers of the future Case study: A history of education with an eye on the future of food security Case study: Farrer taps into growing appeal of ag careers Case study: Outback Queensland: A rite of passage for Aussie kids Case study: RCS offers agricultural education with a difference Case study: Guiding the next generation Case study: A BIG opportunity for Australian farmers Related Links

RURAL HEALTH Overview: Martin Laverty tells us how the RFDS tackles the tyranny of distance Case study: Telehealth has rural Australians talking Case study: Connecting the dots for rural resilience Related Links

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YOUTH AND SUCCESSION PLANNING

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Overview: Professor John Hicks discusses the importance of farm succession planning Case study: Young ideas and farmers feeding the world Case study: Macadamia farmers easing the path to succession Related Links

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NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT AND COPING WITH DISASTER Overview: Dr Richard Thornton on the land of the Rainbow Gold – and its payback Case study: Community strength in the face of disaster Case study: Managed by us mob Related Links

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WATER AND IRRIGATION

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Overview: Steve Whan talks about how Australian farmers are doing more with less Case study: Rural importance of rainwater harvesting Case study: Israeli company helps Aussie farmers grow more with less Related Links

TRIBUTE TO FARMERS

Essay: The vision splendid, by Graeme Philipson Photo Essay and Bush Poetry Extract: A passage from Don Watson’s acclaimed book, The Bush Interview: Pat McEntee, Director of Woolworths Meat Interview: Mark Bernhard, Managing Director of Holden Case Study: Nufarm: Australian-based, global success

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INTERVIEWS WITH AGRICULTURAL LEADERS

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Interview: Peter Moller, General Manager of Irrigation at Rubicon Water Interview: Tony May, Managing Director of Monsanto Australia and New Zealand Interview: Charlie Perkins, General Manager Fertilisers of CBSP Ltd Interview: John Cleland, CEO of Essential Energy Interview: Dr Ian Lambert, Principal of The Scots College Interview: Terry McCosker, Director of Resource Consulting Services

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The outstanding leadership of Australia’s peak farming bodies In the making of The Australian Farmer over a two-year period, it’s no exaggeration to say the many peak bodies involved truly made this happen.

Without the support of Australia’s peak farming bodies – who represent the farmers that produce $63.8 billion for our nation’s economy – The Australian Farmer would never have been possible. Their support was especially vital for us as a social enterprise with a great team but limited resources. We owe our gratitude to these excellent and hardworking peak bodies for their much-appreciated assistance in distributing The Australian Farmer to their many farming members. We are also grateful that some peak bodies have even offered to conduct social media activities in order to promote and distribute this major publishing event.

In addition, many peak bodies and their representatives provided important and valuable input – and sometimes editorial – that enabled us to fine-tune our content and make sure the publication was interesting, informative and instructive to Australia’s farmers.

As such, it is with our warmest thanks that we would like to acknowledge the following peak bodies: •

NSW Farmers

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Australian Brahman Breeders’ Association

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Queensland Farmers Federation

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Australian Mango Industry Association

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Victorian Farmers Federation

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Avocados Australia

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Primary Producers South Australia

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Soil Science Australia

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Australian Dairy Farmers

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Australian Certified UAV Operators

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WA Farmers

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Australian Limousin Breeders’ Society

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AUSVEG

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Santa Gertrudis Breeders Association

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Future Farmers Network

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Australian Table Grape Association

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Wine Grape Growers Australia

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Australian Macadamia Society

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Australian Livestock and Property Agents Association

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South Australia No Till Farmers

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Canegrowers

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Australian Women in Agriculture

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Angus Australia

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Cherry Growers Australia

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Primary Industries Education Foundation

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Australian Association for Unmanned Systems

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Grain Producers Australia

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Australian Brangus Cattle Association

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Society of Precision Agriculture Australia

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NT Farmers

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Rice Growers Australia

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Australian Lot Feeders Association

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Apple and Pear Australia Ltd

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Kimberley and Pilbara Cattlemen’s Association

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Herefords Australia

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Onions Australia

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Editorial Advisory Board We are indebted to our esteemed editorial advisory board for their guidance and assistance on The Australian Farmer. We thank them all for their invaluable contributions, but in particular our patron, Major General Michael Jeffery, for his particular devotion and contributions on soil science and his overall leadership.

MAJOR GENERAL MICHAEL JEFFERY – PATRON Major General the Honourable Michael Jeffery AC, AO (Mil), CVO, MC (Retd) was Governor-General of Australia from 2003 to 2008 and is Australia’s first Advocate for Soil Health – a position quickly emulated by other countries.

His role is to raise public awareness of the critical role soil plays in underpinning sustainable productivity and to advise the government on soil science.

He had a distinguished military career, seeing action in Malaya, Borneo and Vietnam, where he was awarded the Military Cross and South Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry.

He commanded Australia’s elite Special Air Service Regiment and became Deputy Chief of the General Staff in 1990 before retiring from the army in 1993. He was the first Australian soldier to be appointed Governor-General, after having served for seven years as Governor of Western Australia.

MATT BRAND Matt Brand is Chief Executive Officer of the NSW Farmers’ Association. He has held numerous senior marketing and commercial roles prior to his appointment in 2010, including several years as General Manager of Strategy and Marketing with the Australian Rugby Union. He has also worked with Milk Marketing (NSW), Pfizer Animal Health and NSW Agriculture, as head of the Tocal Dairy Apprenticeship Program. In addition to holding an Agricultural Science Degree and a Masters in Business (Marketing), he is a multi-generational farmer who owns a dairy cattle stud and a boutique cheese business.

JAN DAVIS Jan Davis is Managing Director of Agribusiness Tasmania and Executive Officer at the Launceston Chamber of Commerce. She is a farmer with a long history of senior roles representing Tasmanian and Australian farmers, most notably she was CEO of the Tasmanian Farmers and Graziers Association for five years and CEO of the Agribusiness Association of Australia. She is currently a member of the boards of Landcare Australia, the Tasmanian Institute

of Agriculture and Fermentation Tasmania Ltd, and has previously served on the boards of Plant Health Australia Ltd, Horticulture Australia Ltd and the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation.

LACHLAN BAIRD Lachlan Baird is Chief Executive Officer of Prime Super, a superannuation fund initially designed for the agricultural sector. Since its expansion into the mining and other primary industries, Prime Super now has over 130,000 members and manages more than $2.3 billion in funds.

A fourth-generation farmer, Mr Baird began his career as an auditor with KPMG and subsequently held senior positions with SuperPartners and Grant Thornton. He previously worked as Operations Officer at Host Plus, one of the fastest growing industry funds in Australia, and is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

DOUG SNELL Doug Snell is the General Manager of Business Banking and Agribusiness at the Bank of Queensland, helping to establish the bank’s presence in the agribusiness market. Prior to this role, he was the Commonwealth Bank’s General Manager for Regional Commercial and Agribusiness Banking for Queensland and the Northern Territory. He has nearly two decades of experience in trade finance and financial markets in both Australia and Asia, also managing the Commonwealth Bank’s national Specialised Agribusiness Solutions team.

ANGELA ELLIOTT Angela Elliott has 15 years of experience in corporate agriculture across a number of companies and is also a founding partner of a company that connects Australian farming families with Chinese business partners. She holds a degree in Applied Science and is a scholarship recipient for her work in agriculture, studying leadership at the Macquarie School of Business. Angela is passionate about bringing diversification and innovation to Australian agriculture, as well as promoting the agricultural sector as a career path for young Australians.

ANDREW WEIDEMANN Andrew Weidemann is Chairman of Grain Producers Australia, an association representing Australia’s broadacre, grain, pulse and oilseed producers. He is also Group Deputy President of VFF Grains, Deputy Chairman of the Birchip Cropping Group and Deputy President of the Grains Council of Australia. Holding an Advanced Diploma in Agriculture, Mr Weidemann is passionate about sustainability and applies the latest technology to his own mixed grain farm in Victoria, which is one of only three in the country that supplies barley for Crown Lager brewery.

SIMONE KAIN Simone Kain is the co-creator of popular children’s character George the Farmer, an educational tool for farm and city kids alike. She grew up on a farming

property in southeast South Australia, where her family still works the land, and is Director and CoOwner of the Hello Friday creative agency that services businesses associated with primary industries.

Her work in education with George the Farmer has led to a string of accolades, including being named the South Australian winner and national runner up of the 2017 AgriFutures Rural Women’s Award and the winner of the 2015 NAB Women’s Agenda Entrepreneur of the Year.

PETER SCHUTZ Peter Schutz is Chairman of Food Innovation Australia Ltd (FIAL), which was founded in 2013 under the Australian government’s Industry and Innovation Initiative. Mr Schutz also serves as Co-Chair on the CSIRO Agriculture & Food Advisory Committee, as Chair and President of the Australian Institute of Food Science and Technology, and serves on the boards of Lupin Foods Pty Ltd, Fermentation Tasmania Pty Ltd and GLNC Ltd. From 2000 to 2011 he was Group Technical Director for George Weston Foods and CEO of George Weston Technologies. He has also worked for Meadow Lea, Serrol Ingredients, Quality Bakers, Good Food Products and NSW Egg Corporation.

DR PETER STAHLE Dr Peter Stahle is Executive Director of the Australian Dairy Products Federation, a peak policy group representing Australia’s dairy manufacturers, processors and traders. Dr Stahle oversees the management of addressing and solving issues that member companies face in the dairy manufacturing sector, ranging from international trade to food labelling, animal health, government decisions and legislation and export quota administration. Dr Stahle has a PhD in zoology from La Trobe University and an MBA from the Melbourne Business School. He is also a truffle farmer and President of the Australian Truffle Growers Association.

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The Australian Farmer: What and Why So, the question: why put together a 280-page digital book for farmers with another 2,000 or so pages of linked information?

And why create such a big compendium and send it out free to over 100,000 farmers?

Many books are created by a single person, some by a small group. And a very few, like The Australian Farmer (TAF), just spring to life naturally because many people get involved. This happens when these people – in our case, peak agricultural bodies and their farmer members – see a need for such a book.

In our 30 years as specialist publishers, never have we had such a collaborative book project. And the experience was pure pleasure – over the course of producing this digital book, we met and spoke with farmers, agricultural specialists and a number of editors, as well as writers from some of the famous, long-standing rural publications.

What we have tried to do is make a practical ‘knowledge tool’, for today’s forward-looking farmer – something to keep and read over time or use as a reference. Fittingly, the subtitle of TAF is “Access to Science, Innovation, Technology, Productivity and Profitability”. These themes are important. A new generation of farmers are on the move. There is new thinking swirling around and plenty of excitement.

New opportunities are everywhere – we look at many within these pages.

They say today that collaboration is one of the cornerstones of innovation. We believe that. And it’s clear that innovation, technology and new thinking are taking the already world class Australian farmer to new levels of success. Prices are up, demand is high, new markets are opening up and life has rarely looked so bright for Australia’s farmers. TAF is our modest effort to help in that.

Will there be another edition? That depends entirely on you, the farmer and user. We’d like to hear from you – criticisms, new ideas, whatever. Our

website is updated daily, and there you can find a place to post a comment – we value your contributions.

This publication, as an off-shoot of the larger Boundless Plains to Share project, was significantly assisted by our Patron – former Governor-General Michael Jeffery, now Australia’s Advocate for Soil Health. We owe him our deepest gratitude. We also extend our thanks to The Honourable Barnaby Joyce, Deputy Prime Minister of Australia and Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources, and his team for endless patience and the production of an excellent foreword.

We are indebted to a massive number of people – too many to name here – from across the spectrum of agriculture and agribusiness for their comments, assistance, enthusiasm and encouragement. Those people know who they are and we thank them heartily – they have not been forgotten. We would like to single out Graeme Ford, CEO of the VFF, for suggesting the Tribute to Farmers chapter, and John Dwyer, former Editor of The Land for his continued advice and wise words.

Above all, we would like to thank you for being involved as a reader. We hope you get something out of The Australian Farmer and find these pages informative, interesting and instructional. After all, satisfying you – the farmer as reader and user – has been our only goal.

Respectfully, Keiron Costello Managing Editor, One Mandate Group

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UNDERSTANDING CONSUMER TRENDS

Overview:

Case study: Case study: Case study: Essay: Related Links

Back to Contents

Jeremy Lomman on why it’s better to be different when it comes to the food marketplace A growing passion in rice farming feeds millions The apple farmers exporting Tasmanian Gold Innovation driven by a changing consumer market Does Australian agriculture need a national brand?

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understanding consumer trends

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UNDERSTANDING CONSUMER TRENDS

It’s better to be different than just better Despite the hype about food bowls and dining booms, the harsh reality is Australia’s farmers are precariously exposed to the continued transformation of the global food system.

WRITTEN BY: JEREMY LOMMAN SOS INTERIM MANAGEMENT

Australia has often been mentioned as the agricultural powerhouse most able to capture the opportunities in emerging food markets, but in many cases our farmers have been distanced from the action and remain price takers, not price makers.

Yet we have a national food vision based largely on the proposition that by producing more of the same, farmers will be able to sell their way out of trouble. But concentrating on volume is cruel for the many farmers whose businesses are not healthy enough to benefit.

‘Doing things right’ is undeniably important, but true opportunity is captured when farmers ask if

they are in fact ‘doing the right things’. Often this comes down to how they can add value to what they’re already doing.

To be profitable, farmers must not only increase productivity and reduce costs, but increase the value of their outputs. Food innovation in Australia requires farmers to have the information to identify emerging consumer trends and adopt new ways of thinking.

A different story has been emerging in recent years. Australian farmers are increasingly concentrating on productivity, not profitability. According to latest research from IBISWorld, the profitability of

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agriculture in Australia is slipping. Survival means farmers have adopted a short-term approach resulting in two key challenges: the problem of shifting the burden and the problem of diminishing goals.

THE IMPORTANCE OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR Profitable businesses understand what drives consumer behaviour. They constantly adapt their value proposition to give their customers what they need before anyone else does. This is a key principle of what it means to be innovative.

Achieving this depends on how much intellectual capital the business holds. Intellectual capital refers to the extent to which the business has an advanced understanding of what people care about, then using these trends to create new value.

The only way Australian farmers can solve the long-term challenge of poor profits is by getting the incentives right for emerging markets, not by simply producing more of the same for existing markets. An example of this is producing non-genetically modified (GM) canola for markets demanding it.

But information to help farmers understand consumer trends in advance is often not making its way back to them in a timely or accurate manner. This means farmers are not able to implement the detailed knowledge needed to improve returns. They remain constrained by the basic forces of supply and demand and have little impact on the price received for their products.

There are two types of businesses – price makers and price takers. The first group comprises consumer-centric businesses that follow market signals. The second group is product-centric and follows price signals. Market signals are driven by emerging trends, while price signals are driven by historical demand, often based on numbers that are past their profitable peak.

Price makers are concerned with making profit, and will only produce more if it is profitable to do so. Price takers must produce more just to cover costs, even if it is not profitable to do so. Sound familiar?

If the price you receive is driven by demand, then your business will always be a price taker. So while there is a lot of talk about food trends, Australian farmers very often only get to respond to demand, by which time the market is congested and competitive.

Although the product may be preferred, there is no premium.

There is much work to be done in Australia’s agricultural industry to help farmers strengthen their knowledge about markets and who they should rely on to provide that information. It’s the productivity versus profitability discussion we need to have.

WHAT PRICE MAKERS DO Price makers participate in markets when profit and demand is at its highest point. How do they achieve this?

Market-centric businesses use powerful information systems to gather, sort, analyse, evaluate and distribute timely and accurate information. This information is then used to evaluate the size, growth and profit opportunity of each emerging consumer trend.

Australian farmers can use information systems to develop good trend-spotting skills and the ability to look at the big picture, predicting which trends drive consumer behaviour. Joining member-based peak industry bodies is a way to help farmers learn the food system beyond the farm gate.

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There are also private organisations, such as Dunnhumby, the world’s ‘leading customer science’ company, based in the UK, which apply research insights from over a billion shoppers across the globe to help food companies create personalised product experiences.

A destination-based approach to food production means farmers can continuously engage in market oriented planning, and monitor export and domestic markets for changes in peoples’ lives such as: • Population growth • Demographic patterns • Household incomes • Spending habits • Consumer sentiment • Cultural influences and values • Concern for the environment • Use of technology • Trade agreements and regulations.

Product-centric businesses have traditionally viewed obtaining market information as another extra cost. But while many Australian farmers are now learning how to compete in the challenging environment of global competition, they do not have access to an appropriate information system to help them adapt their business model. The importance of anticipating people’s needs and wants has never been clearer.

IDENTIFYING THE MARKET Selecting target markets and identifying people’s future needs is not an easy task. And in many cases the information needed is not readily available.

Economists know people have ‘stated’ preferences and ‘revealed’ preferences. For example, most Australians say organ donation is a good thing and we should all donate because it saves lives. Not many do though and the reality is Australia has one of the worst organ donation rates in the world.

The consumer’s approach to food is similar. At the point of purchase, the factors that make them decide what to put into their supermarket trolley could be vastly different to their stated intentions. Personal experience, society and community norms, religion and culture are all factors. It is important to dig beyond a consumer’s stated needs to find two or three conspicuous messages that fit within quality and price.

People are spoilt for choice and difficult to engage. At the same time, the constant pressure to do better, and unrelenting market changes, are causing something of an identity crisis for Australia’s food producers.

Most people want to be liked. Farmers are no different. “If only people understood how hard farmers worked and appreciated what we produce, they would buy our products and pay more for them.” But contrary to popular belief and what we see in social media, being liked is not a business strategy.

To bridge the perceived gap between farmers and consumers, people are now bombarded with messages about provenance, sustainability, organic, fresh, ethical, healthy, natural and so on.

As the University of Adelaide recently discovered when researching consumer demand for food, consumers are totally confused about the benefits of food claims.

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UNDERSTANDING CONSUMER TRENDS

The simple motivator of quality and price is all about guilt-free choice: “I don’t want to make the wrong choice, but I want the right choice easy to recognise.” Put simply, the average consumer seeks guilt-free choices, delivered by a guilt-free food system.

Being noticed and being liked is about putting creative products in front of consumers. People the world over don’t want more choice, they just want better products. The powerful and very profitable message for farmers is that consumers already trust you to do this.

What’s required now is farmer influence moving beyond the farm gate and further down the food system.

Unfortunately, the word ‘farmer’ has been hijacked and exploited by everyone who sells food. There is a solution – but it requires farmers changing how they view their place in Australia’s food system.

Not often used to great effect in Australia, value chain thinking is a profit-based approach to lifting the performance of farms in food supply chains. Value chains allow the flow of market information to reach those who have a vested interest in planning and profiting from consumer trends.

Value chain thinking is a catalyst for farmers to change their business model and involve themselves in the food transformation process. An example of improving farmer involvement in the downstream food system is Dunnhumby which, in collaboration with the University of Kent, undertook a major project to identify consumer trends via supermarket chain Tesco’s Club Card, and used this information to help farmers and food producers understand important market insights.

There are various stages of food transformation such as highly transformed or partially transformed products.

Farmers transforming their stake in the market PANGKARRA FOODS The Maitland family runs a mixed broad acre cropping enterprise in the Mid North of South Australia. Durum grain is grown and stored on the property using sustainable farming practices and organic fertilisers. Wholegrain pasta is made from durum flour produced using traditional stone milling methods.

Pangkarra Foods is a farmer-owned and -operated national food business, with a range of wholegrain products including pasta, lavosh, flour and grissini supplied direct to food retailers.

AUSTRALIAN CAROB COMPANY The Jolley family runs a carob orchard of 6,000 trees in the Mid North of South Australia. The property uses sustainable farming practices and zero chemicals. When the carob beans are harvested, they are processed on the farm using state-ofthe-art equipment including kibbling, roasting and milling.

Australian Carob is a farmer-owned and -operated food business suppling unique products to health food shops and supermarkets in Australia and also exporting throughout the world.

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Value chain thinking requires a large amount of cooperation between participants in the food supply chain, something that has been lost throughout the years.

The 2014 World Cooperative Monitor demonstrated the strength of the collaborative business model for food producers. Of the world’s top 300 cooperative businesses, 27 per cent operate in the agriculture and food industry sector, second only to the insurance sector at 46 per cent.

These are highly-adapted food producers successfully competing for global market share.

OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS One of the great opportunities in Australian agriculture is to clear the way for a new generation of profitable farmers who are natural collaborators.

Until then the profitable benefits of value chains and cooperative behaviour will remain misunderstood and ignored.

Government policy has an important role to play by pulling economic levers to encourage value chain behaviour and help food producers adopt a multifunctional role. In 2013 the South Australian government announced its ‘Premium Food and Wine from our Clean Environment’ strategic priority for the state’s economy, melding food production into tourism.

It has adopted an integrated approach to growing South Australia’s economy and its food industries, by integrating food and the food production environment with tourism, announcing food tourism as a strategic priority.

Interestingly, in a public and industry response to a 2013 discussion paper introducing the ‘Premium Food and Wine’ strategic priority, those involved in South Australia’s food system acknowledged that interdependence is becoming more important for success.

In response, the government has moved to develop, prioritise and commit itself to a range of programs that encourage a collaborative business environment in South Australia’s food industry.

Multifunctional and collaborative behaviour is stressed by policymakers the world over, as an economic goal for industry and business.

Australian farmers will not survive by simply doing a good job – markets do not pay for effort. The key to

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profitable performance is to understand and satisfy people with superior offers. This means farmers using collaborative behaviour to get more involved in the food transformation and marketing process.

The current lack of consumer insight among food producers is a major impediment to a profitable agricultural industry in Australia. What’s needed is an agricultural industry characterised by imagination and sophisticated thinking. It is those businesses with the strongest information that will make the hard decisions needed to survive.

Anticipating and providing tailored food solutions is the best wealth-creation strategy Australian farmers have.

SOS Interim Management are specialists in agribusiness and food business marketing and strategy.

QUICK TIPS 1. Understanding what consumers want doesn’t have to be like asking an 8-ball what your future holds. Consider your business plan. Are you doing things right or doing the right things? Answering this can be helpful in adding value to your production. The Australian government has a list of apps and plan templates available for free.

2. Market researchers like IbisWorld offer access to reports, research and data on more than 500 industries. Organisations like this usually send free newsletters which offer market insights and tips and tricks.

3. If you aren’t involved with the peak body or organisation relevant to your industry, consider joining. Horticulture Australia produces a quarterly magazine with a grower focus and undertakes research that benefits its growers. Rice Growers Australia works with SunRice, plant breeders and growers to ensure they’re meeting emerging trends as well as meeting demand.

4. Get proactive – make sure your industry body is helping its members stay ahead of the curve. This might mean joining the board, taking time out to attend meetings or penning some stern letters. Your industry’s future and its profitability are what matter!

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UNDERSTANDING CONSUMER TRENDS

Growing passion feeds millions Passion and family are what drive Nick Morona every day. Growing rice at his property ‘Bilkurra’, near the NSW Riverina town of Deniliquin, combines the two.

WRITTEN BY: ANNIE SCHUBERT

Nick’s family has been in the rice game since rice came to Deniliquin. In 1969, his father planted the Moronas’ first rice crop. The eldest of the family, Nick finished Year 12 in 1980 and came home to join the family business.

The rest is history. Today, Nick and his wife Diane, Nick’s brother Steve and his wife Julie, their sister and her husband, plus father Frank and mother Anna, together farm about 14,000 hectares. It’s a rotational enterprise – fat lambs, cereal, canola, wheat and of course rice – that keeps the whole family, plus a couple of full-time staff and contractors at harvest, busy all year round.

The Morona rice story began years ago, when Frank and Anna came to Australia from Italy after the Second World War. “I think they came here after the war because they said there was no future in Italy,” Nick said.

“When they left their families and homes behind, they wanted to do good things.”

Little did Frank and Anna know that when they planted their first rice crop, they would not just be establishing a new family tradition. Their foray into rice would be a contribution to the Australian rice industry’s world-class development, which has set Australia apart from the rest of the rice-growing

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world – and is helping feed about 20 million people a day.

That number is on the increase, too, as casual and takeaway diners embrace the Big Mac of the modern era – sushi. Quick and cheap to pick up and much healthier than a Quarter Pounder or Zinger burger, sushi restaurants are popping up everywhere.

It’s been called the ‘global sushi revolution’ – and it’s even made its way to little Deniliquin (population 7,494) with the opening of a sushi and smoothie café this year.

GROWING AND SHARING SUCCESS Helping lead the sushi rice charge is SunRice, the company responsible for processing and marketing Australian rice food products locally and overseas. SunRice was a co-operative before becoming a privately-listed company in 2005, and growers are still at its heart.

“If you’re a ricegrower, you’re an A-class shareholder,” Nick said. “We ricegrowers have shares in the operation – and we feel very much that it is our business.”

Instrumental to the revolution is years of plant breeding, which has led to varieties such as Opus, a short grain rice with all the perks of traditional Japanese sushi rice Koshihikari, without its nuances. Opus is a semi-dwarf plant with similar cooking qualities – sticky, slightly sweet and soft – and higher yield potential. It also grows shorter than its predecessor, meaning it’s easier to harvest, and germinates faster and with less water.

Nick’s family planted their first Opus crop in 2011. They harvested in 2012 – and haven’t looked back. He says the industry signalled it needed short grain rice, and offered premiums to en-

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courage ‘the tonnages’. Aussie-grown Opus promised to be worth the hassle normally associated with short-grain rices.

“It was an Australian-bred variety, which gave me confidence it would yield well, have cold tolerance and not lodge,” he said.

“We’ve gone slowly from zero per cent (area sown to Opus) to 30 per cent – as we get more comfortable with the variety and know how to grow it better, we’re increasing the area.

“In the 2014-15 season, we planted 30 percent Opus, 20 per cent Illabong (risotto rice) and 50 per cent medium grain.”

FROM LITTLE THINGS A month or two before planting, SunRice communicates with growers about what the market wants. Demand profiles are assembled, identifying the performance and demand of SunRice products across the world, and are then distributed to growers.

Based on that profile, growers then decide which varieties they’re going to plant and order seeds through the company.

Planting more Opus at ‘Bilkurra’ is a no-brainer, says Nick. “It’s a wonderful product. It’s a great credit to our breeders – it’s high quality, it’s a great variety. We own the business, and we want our business to be successful, so we produce varieties the business needs.”

According to SunRice’s Senior Marketing Manager Craig Young, filling the demand for sushi rice is a priority for the business. The growing popularity of not just sushi, but Japanese cuisine and increasingly Korean cuisine, means demand is growing as well – and growers will need to harness this to get ahead.

“There’s a definite trend toward specialty varieties like Koshi and Opus. It ties in with global food trends, and sushi fits in with

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health and wellbeing trends,” Craig says. “We still can’t meet the demand for sushi rice across the world, so you know it’s going to be a variety to grow for years to come.”

WHERE IS IT ALL GOING? SunRice exports branded short grain rice across the world. Destinations include Canada, the United Kingdom, Russia, the Middle East, Thailand, Singapore and Hong Kong – as well as Japan and Korea.

Appealing to growing middle classes the world over, the company’s success in markets like Thailand is pretty exciting. “We’re exporting Koshi to Thailand,” Craig says. “That’s the world’s biggest exporter of rice!”

Bringing that information back to rice growers like Nick to help them get the plant in the ground is essential. “When you’re in the Riverina, it’s not obvious there is a boom in sushi rice,” Craig says.

Ahead of last year’s growing season, a rice field day was held at ‘Old Coree’, a farm near Jerilderie, in the southern Riverina. A collaborative effort by NSW Department of Primary Industries, Rice Research Australia Pty. Ltd., SunRice, the Ricegrowers’ Association and Murray Local Land Services, it was the first event after a three-year hiatus due to flooding and a trial of smaller regional field days.

“We took down some sushi chefs and made sushi for about 400 farmers and their families,” Craig said.

“We did demonstrations and some of the farmers got up and

made sushi. That raised the profile of growing short grain rice, and helped the farmers understand the end product. It certainly sparked discussion, and we grew more Koshi than the previous year.”

Nick was at the 2014 field day – though he didn’t make any sushi. “I’m not that good in the kitchen!” he laughs. “I would have been the top comedian if I went up.”

For him, field days are an opportunity to see what’s new in the industry. Results from field trials and presentations about the latest research and development are key parts of the agenda, designed to bring growers and information together.

Getting an understanding of how end-consumers used his rice was an eye-opening experience and helped him understand the value of his product.

“The Japanese love our rice,” Nick says. “Italians love – and know – pasta to the point where they can taste how long it has been in the packet, and the Japanese can tell with rice. We come in halfway through the year and they taste the freshness and they love it!”

Nick is very aware that the quality of his product is as important as yields. “We know what grows best in our land. Each year we buy new, pure seed, which is important for quality reasons.

“It underpins varietal integrity – or grain quality – in the market place. We are able to offer high quality for niche markets.

We start with the seed and tick off everything we do along the production line.”

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Through the summer, the rice has run of the paddock before it’s harvested in April or May. Wheat is then planted into the subsoil moisture left by the rice, surviving off the moisture left by the rice.

“You’re getting two crops off that water,” Nick says. “Clover, ryegrass, rice and wheat are all piggy backing off each others’ moisture – everything’s clean and fresh. A rice system where you can grow three or four crops (rice and rotating crops) in 24 months is one of the highest return systems of our region, if not the highest.”

Ask Nick about sushi and he’s pretty enthusiastic too. “I’m Italian, and I love it!” he laughs. “I love the salmon – the flavours are clean and fresh.”

With four of his children studying or working in Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne, he and Diane try to spend some time off the farm each year – including trips to supermarkets and sushi restaurants to see their product on shelves or plates.

“I like to see our rice on the shelves,” Nick says.

“I’m always looking to make sure ours is in a very good, prominent position. Supermarkets can drive demand – if they don’t present it right and at the end of the day it doesn’t sell, it comes back to us!”

Of the family’s total 14,000ha, only 300 to 400ha is sown to rice each year, yet ask Nick what he does and he is quick to answer: “A ricegrower,” he says.

“The other things all flow on... we do struggle to express this to others, especially those who don’t know much about farming.”

A SYMBIOTIC SYSTEM A typical year at ‘Bilkurra’ goes something like this: autumn sees a clover and rye planting, which the fat lambs are fed on until July or August. The clover and rye is used to produce hay, and once it’s cut and the paddock is clean, rice goes in.

COMING FULL CIRCLE Nick and his family aren’t the only ones who believe in the power of sushi rice produced in the Riverina.

Until recently, Corrine Ellul ran Denilicious Sushi, a mobile sushi and food business popular at markets and events in the Riverina.

Corrine used both SunRice medium grain and sushi rice in her business. “I always tried to use local product where I could,” Corrine says. “SunRice seems to be the superior quality – the manufacturing process seems to leave less impurities than imported rice.”

Deniliquin locals can get a sushi fix seven days a week. The opening of a new fresh food eatery in the small Riverina town echoes the waves of the global sushi – and health – boom. In April, Maria Raftellis opened Sushi Bite, embracing both the sushi and health food trend. “Sushi is something different,” she says. “People love it.”

After finding out the sushi rice she was importing from the US was actually an Australian export, Maria is on the hunt for a local distributor of SunRice sushi rice. “We use SunRice brown rice and now we’re trialling SunRice sushi rice – we quite like it, plus we like to support the locals,” she says.

It shouldn’t be surprising then that SunRice in 2016 reported a 47 per cent increase in profits for the year ending April 30. The sushi boom continues to echo across the world, even in the Riverina as Maria plans to open another sushi business in nearby Echuca. Across the world, demand for healthy, fresh food is growing, and as middle classes the world over swell, time-economies are slowing down – we have less and less time for food preparation.

Sushi fits the bill perfectly – hand rolls are easy to grab and gobble on the go, and with options like salmon, tuna, avocado and chicken, consumers can feel very good about this particular convenience food. Brown rice options for the zealously health conscious are becoming more popular and as long as small towns like Deniliquin continue to embrace the trend, local growers like Nick and his family will continue their passion.

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UNDERSTANDING CONSUMER TRENDS

Exporting Tasmanian Gold WRITTEN BY: SOPHIE CLAYTON APPLE AND PEAR AUSTRALIA LIMITED First published in Australian Fruitgrower

Dane and his brother Brett Griggs of BW Griggs & Sons in Tasmania have successfully secured the sale of 120 tonnes of Rubigold® apples into China.

Dane was also awarded the Apples and Pears Australia Limited 2015 Innovative Marketing Award.

While Dane will be the first to note his export success is based on a relatively small quantity of apples and that the business doesn’t have ambitions for huge growth, he is still one of only a few apple producers who have successfully exploited the market access Tasmania has to China to ship apples there. Their case also demonstrates you don’t have to be a largescale grower to reap the benefits of exporting fruit and to trade with buyers in Asia.

“We’re still only a family business and we don’t have dreams of becoming one of the big players,” explains Dane. “We’ve probably got about 50 hectares of orchard growing the mainstream varieties of Gala, Pink Lady™, Fuji, a few Golden Delicious and the Rubigolds.”

Dane manages the packing and marketing side of BW Griggs & Sons alongside his brother Brett, who looks after the production and harvesting. Together they developed Rubigold apples both as an apple variety and, now, as a coveted speciality brand.

RUBIGOLD APPLES It all began in the orchard in February about 15 years ago. Just before harvest, Dane and Brett were looking through one of their four orchard blocks in Tasmania’s Huon Valley. It was looking a bit grim.

“This particular block was on sandy soil and every year the fruit would never colour, but we noticed one limb on the bottom of one tree and there they were: six or eight highly coloured red apples,” says Dane.

The limb was a sport – part of the tree that simply looks different and is genetically different to the rest of the plant. Sports can spontaneously arise at the point where a new bud develops and are effectively a natural mutation. In the apple world, sports are fairly commonplace and have been the birthplace of many apple varieties including Red Delicious.

“You come across these things every year or so, you find an odd limb, a bud mutation, and you just take a cutting of it, graft it onto another tree to see what happens,” says Dane. “Some years they revert back to their original varieties and sometimes they stay as they are.”

In the case of Rubigold (although the variety hadn’t yet been named at that time) the apples retained their differences and their attractive attributes.

Dane took the apple to APAL’s intellectual property manager Garry Langford for advice. They compared it to the original variety and observed a number of unique features including taste, texture and skin colour.

To obtain Plant Breeder’s Rights, which basically means you own the new variety, a proposed new plant must demonstrate “distinctness, uniformity and stability”.

The unique features Dane and Garry observed in the Rubigold apples were enough for Dane to decide it was worthwhile to apply for Plant Breeders Rights, which he subsequently achieved with Garry’s help.

He followed this up and secured the registered trade mark brand name Rubigold.

“After we trademarked the name Rubigold, we just slowly built it up from there,” says Dane. “It’s kind of a gamble with something new and you’ve got to create a whole new market. Out of all of it, that’s probably the hardest part – creating a brand and getting it accepted. The process has evolved over probably the last four years or so.”

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A SOPHISTICATED EATING APPLE As for the Rubigold fruit, Dane describes it as having a multi-dimensional flavour profile with more to it than the simple sweetness of a Gala or Fuji apple.

“It’s a large apple, which is good for the export market,” explains Dane. “It’s harder to explain the flavour. It’s a complex sweet and sour flavour. When you first bite into it you get a crisp sweet burst and then by the end of your mouthful there is a dry cleansing sensation on the palate – like when you have a red wine. But that works perfectly because you crave that sweet hit again so you go for the next bite.

“It’s an 80 to 90 per cent deep red coloured apple with lime green background and golden flesh. That’s what the Chinese like because their favourite colours are red and gold.”

And yes – that’s where the name came from. Well, it’s part of the story anyway. The ‘Rubi’ part of the name is because of the rich red skin colour and the ‘gold’ is from the golden flesh.

“Also my grandmother’s name was Ruby, so there’s a bit of the family in there as well,” says Dane.

THE ROAD TO EXPORT Even before Rubigolds landed on foreign shores, Dane had already had some experience with exporting cherries into China and other apples across Asia when he first joined the family business in the 1990s.

“When I first came back to the farm in Tasmania we did a lot of exporting of Red Delicious into South East Asia and India and Democrats into Sri Lanka,” says Dane. “So, we’ve done exporting but always through an exporter; we were just a packing shed.

“The exporters we’re with now have an office and staff in Shanghai as well as Sydney, so they are there to check quality and temperatures on arrival. If there is an issue, we have personnel there to inspect and collect data to deal with it.

“Through our exporters we have aligned distributors in each of the three destination markets: Guangzhau, Beijing and Shanghai.”

Dane has also exported Rubigolds into Hong Kong for the past two years and to Vietnam before market access was closed.

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“At the moment we’re only sending small consignments into Hong Kong and they’re going into just the exclusive top-line supermarkets,” says Dane.

“They were selling at HK$28 for two apples, which works out about AUS$4.50 an apple.”

Dane airfreights the Rubigolds to Hong Kong while the ones sent to mainland China are seafreight. They are sent loose in 12kg boxes then the retailers pre-pack in-store. “I was in China three weeks ago and had a look through all the markets,” says Dane. “There’s Galas and Fujis from all around the world and Red Delicious from America.

“If you haven’t got something different you’re really just there competing on price with the rest of the world including Chile and South Africa who have much cheaper production costs.

“With Rubigold we have something unique in that it only grows in one valley on one island just north of Antarctica! That’s something the importers are really interested in as it gives them an exclusive product with a story attached and because we have control of supply it gives us more negotiating power to set an acceptable price.”

Dane adds that Australia’s reputation as a producer of food to high quality safety standards is also an important attribute in the Chinese market where affluent consumers are demanding safer food and willing to pay a higher price for it.

BETTER DOMESTIC PRICES A key value benefit Dane derives from exporting a proportion of his Rubigold apples is increasing his pack out rates and, in effect, the capacity to control supply domestically and negotiate with local buyers.

“Now we’re exporting, our pack out rates are a lot higher because Rubigolds are a large fruit,” says Dane. “It’s harder to sell the really large fruit at a high price into a domestic market, but the export market wants the large fruit. So these goes to export and then the medium and smaller sized fruit I sell domestically.

“It’s just nice to have the two markets – you’ve got the domestic and the international, so price-wise you’ve got a bit more bargaining power.”

Rubigold apples are sold into the wholesale markets in Melbourne, South Australia, New South Wales and Queensland. Dane and Brett’s total production is around 1,200 bins and at this stage they are happy keeping it at that and maintaining control of the supply, although they do have a couple of smaller scale growers producing some Rubigolds – all restricted to the Huon Valley.

“We just want to keep hold of what we’ve got and keep it under control,” says Dane. “We may not change the world but at least we’ve got a product that’s ours. It may be just an exclusive, small boutique line but if it keeps our family business going and our family fed, well, that’s fine by us.”

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UNDERSTANDING CONSUMER TRENDS

Does Australian agriculture need a national brand?

Answering the question, ‘Does Australian agriculture need a national brand?’, Matthew Cawood’s essay was a finalist in the Australian Farm Institute’s 2014 John Ralph Essay Competition.

WRITTEN BY: MATTHEW CAWOOD Published with thanks to the Australian Farm Institute and Farm Policy Journal

France, 2001: In an infamous experiment, 57 wine experts were each asked to evaluate two bottles of Bordeaux wine.

One bottle was designated grand cru (as coming from a reputable vineyard), the other vin du table (the lowest classification in the French system).

The experts were largely in agreement: the grand cru was “agreeable, woody, complex, balanced, rounded”, while the vin du table was “weak, short, light, flat, faulty.”

In fact, researcher Frédéric Brochet had filled both bottles with the same average Bordeaux red.

“Forty said the wine was good when they thought it was expensive, but only 12 when it was cheap,” Adam Sage reported on the experiment for The Times.

We can scoff at this example of human failing, but none of us are immune to it. Philosopher Wilfrid Sellars believes it is virtually impossible to divide human sensory experience into what is ‘given to the mind’ and what is ‘added by the mind’.

If this seems dismayingly irrational, Yale psychology professor Paul Bloom, the author of How Pleasure Works, suggests it also offers us something solid to stand on in the shifting sands of human affairs.

“We can fool ourselves about facts, but it’s hard to be wrong about pleasure,” he observed in a TED talk.

LEARNING A LESSON FROM BRAND PLEASURE The world’s top brands agree. Mercedes doesn’t market generic cars. Apple doesn’t sell generic electronic devices and LVMH doesn’t sell generic handbags. They sell the promise of pleasure, distilled into the shorthand of a brand.

Here lies the point for Australian agriculture. Most of Australia’s food and fibre is produced in ways that inherently delivers safety, health and ethics. Those qualities are vigorously marketed, but not packaged

into the long-term identity of a brand.

“Marketing is what you do,” says John Heaton of the Tronvig Group, “brand is what you are.”

The wave of demand thrown up by Asia is a historically special time for Australian agriculture; a prime point at which to consider issues of identity, of “what you are”, and whether that identity can be packaged as a unique promise of pleasure for consumers.

Australian agriculture has long traded on absolute values like price, protein and fibre diameter.

Farm commodities are occasionally subject to the winds of irrationality that blow through global commodity markets, but otherwise they are subject to the cold logic of numbers. That logic doesn’t always work out well for Australian farmers – high-cost unsubsidised producers who are often competing with lower-cost and/or subsidised production.

MIND THE QUALITY If trading purely on function – on what is “given to the mind” – is no longer adequate, then the sector should start considering what it can “add to the mind”. Starting with what you have is always sound policy, and Australian agriculture has from necessity built a reputation for quality.

“Quality” is no longer a straightforward description of function, David Horlock told the Northern Territory Cattlemen’s Association conference in Darwin in 2013. The managing director of British Standards Institute (BSI) Asia Pacific, Horlock argued consumers are constantly stretching definitions of quality.

Where the term was once associated with functional matters like engineering, it now also includes less tangible elements like ethics, environmental issues and safety.

EXPRESSING QUALITY: SLOGANISM, STANDARDS OR SOMETHING ELSE? An Australian agriculture brand could embrace all

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these attributes and wrap them into a brand expressing ‘quality’. But in doing so, it needs to address a fundamental question: does the brand exists merely as a slogan or a symbol, like the Nike “swoosh”, or a promise, like the ISO standards?

A brand that exists as a brand alone is a far cheaper and easier option. New Zealand agriculture’s adoption of the slogan devised for a phenomenally successful tourism campaign, “100 per cent Pure New Zealand”, appears to have been a powerful off-the-shelf device for sharpening consumer perceptions already primed by the Lord of the Rings films.

But that campaign wasn’t underpinned by the rigour necessary to make it a promise. That fact began to draw some unwanted media attention, listed by Geoff Cumming in the New Zealand Herald in 2010: “In the past year we’ve been taken to task for our performance on greenhouse gases (by a columnist in The Guardian) and for the impact on hoki stocks from bottom-trawling (by The New York Times). A report by one of our own, the Cawthron Institute, found we had one of the dirtiest rivers – the Manawatu – in the western world. And our dairy industry was criticised for high use of palm kernel imported from plantations in Malaysia and Indonesia cleared of forest where orangutan once lived.”

Sub-editors had a lively time with these contradictions, devising headlines like “100 per cent pure manure” (the Daily Mail); “100 per cent pure hype” (NZ Herald); “100 per cent purely evasive” (Idealog).

After a milk contamination scare, the combative China Daily wrote that “100 per cent pure New Zealand is nothing but a festering sore.”

The damage is unlikely to have greatly diminished the value New Zealand has extracted from the ten-year-old slogan, but the headlines wouldn’t have appeared at all had not New Zealand appeared to have been making a promise unfounded in fact.

The more robust option for a brand, and the vastly more expensive one, is to build a system that underpins its promise.

DETERMINING THE DEPTH OF A PROMISE Each Australian agricultural sector already operates within a web of quality control regulations. It is conceivable that this network of regulation could be partly standardised and refined into a system that underpins any claims Australian agriculture wishes to make for its output.

The more effective and robust method would be to apply a standard across all the food and fibre being branded.

In the event that there is ever the political will to explore a standards-backed brand, the Austral-

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ian Land Management Group (ALMG) has a robust foundation in its Certified Land Management (CLM) program, built on the BSI ISO14001 environmental standard.

Instead of the complexity of certifying product, ALMG argues, it is simpler to certify the land management used to produce it. ISO14001 has the virtue of being recognised around the world by major companies. On the ground, anyone running any enterprise can be accredited for the standard, providing they address its underlying criteria: continuous improvement.

Where those improvements must be made depends on the outcomes being sought. For CLM, key criteria are improvements in biodiversity and animal welfare – outcomes that would not go astray in any brand messaging. The standard allows its users to overlay any criteria they want on the basic framework, so producers themselves could determine the level of promise they make through a brand.

Adoption of any standards-backed brand must be voluntary. For voluntary uptake to be substantial enough to give any credence to the notion of a national brand, the return on investment must be attractive.

PROMISES FOR THE PRICE WE NEED Which returns us to the initial question: does Australian agriculture need a brand?

Not identifying the exceptional qualities of Australian agricultural production leaves producers slugging it out on the uneven playing field of global competition – unless they supply a brand, or build their own and elevate their commodity to “product” status.

Creating a brand that isn’t underpinned by a quality control system is cheap, but dangerous. As David Horlock said in Darwin, failure to live up to the brand’s promise could result in “a train crash, and someone else telling your story”.

A brand backed by a system will be expensive, and a political challenge to get off the ground. But if Australian farmers want to get consistently profitable returns for their produce, they need to target the global consumer demographic that can pay the price they need. To get those consumers on board, producers need to make a promise – a promise of satisfaction and pleasure in the purchase of Australian product.

The best way of conveying that promise, and sinking it deep into consumer consciousness so that Australia is perceived as the grand cru of food and fibre production, is via a brand.

Yes, Australian agriculture could benefit from a brand.

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UNDERSTANDING CONSUMER TRENDS

Innovation driven by a changing consumer market Woolworths is one of Australia’s largest retailers, providing Australians with fresh food and groceries for nearly 100 years. In a competitive market characterised by more choice than ever before for shoppers, Woolworths’ ongoing success depends on its ability to innovate and understand consumers.

Today, this means finding better ways to work with farmers in developing and transporting fresh produce and an increased focus on digital technology to provide easier access and traceability.

In today’s fast-moving society, the key aspects for Australian shoppers are price, convenience and quality. Woolworths has maintained its success by staying ahead of the curve in responding to consumer needs, pioneering the development of a range of foods that meet the modern need for convenience, addressing consumer demands for product traceability and applying digital technology to connect with consumers.

A PRIORITY ON PRODUCERS AND CONSUMERS For Woolworths’ fresh food supply chain, the two largest sectors of the business are the fruit and vegetable and meat categories. Working directly with producers on the farm is crucial in these categories, and constant innovation is necessary to stay ahead of the competition and meet the challenges of the changing consumer market.

In the fruit and vegetable category, Woolworths has pioneered several initiatives to deliver produce that meets the wants and needs of modern customers. One

of these is ‘The Odd Bunch’, a range of fruit and vegetable products that are considered imperfect or outside specification, providing growers an opportunity to sell more of their crop. Woolworths also offers free fruit for kids, which gives children the chance to eat their favourite, fresh seasonal fruit for free when they visit the supermarket.

In the meat sector, Woolworths has developed a vertically-integrated meat supply chain that is quite a unique model: the company buys its own livestock, contracts the slaughtering and boning and processes the meat in case-ready facilities before shipment to Woolworths supermarkets. With stores spread across every corner of the country, transportation of live animals is a massive challenge, and animal welfare is an ongoing concern that Woolworths tackles by locating its processing facilities in the main livestock supply areas.

“Logistics is our biggest challenge when you break it down – we’re moving a huge amount of livestock through our processing network and into almost 1000 supermarkets, from Broome to Bundaberg,” says Pat McEntee, Director of Woolworths Meat. “What’s really important is aligning our livestock producers with our customers’ expectations. The focus for us is putting the customer at the centre of what we do and putting great quality Australian meat on the tables of Australian families.”

One area in which the supermarket is currently looking to expand is its provision of organic goods. Organic is a booming market, and Woolworths presently sources its organic produce through third parties. Particularly in the organic meat industry, Pat believes the company can replicate its world-renowned, vertically integrated conventional meat supply chain and build direct relationships with organic farmers.

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“If you look at what we’ve been able to do with our conventional beef, lamb and pork supply, it’s probably the best in the world – plenty of international retailers come and spend time with us to learn about our programs with our farmers and manufacturing facilities,” says Pat. “I truly believe organic is a real opportunity for us, and in the near future we plan to work closer with organic farmers to develop those relationships and create a direct supply into our system and into our stores.”

In the organic fruit and vegetable category, Woolworths is working directly with growers to meet the rising demand. One recent initiative to support growers through the certification process (that can take up to 3 years) was the introduction of the ‘in conversion’ Macro Organics range, which allows better returns for growers while they transition to full certification.

INNOVATION IN THE DIGITAL SPACE The biggest shift in the supermarket industry in recent years – a shift that is only going to grow in the near future – is the impact of digital technology. Online shopping has been around for a long time now and is a high growth area in Woolworths’ business.

The company is ready to take its online presence to the next level with a range of initiatives that will provide greater convenience for customers.

Enhancing its online shopping service, Woolworths has rolled out a pick-up service in stores across Australia, the first supermarket to go national with this convenient shopping solution. The idea is that you could do your online shopping with Woolworths and then pick up from your most convenient pick-up point.

Digital technology is also driving potential change in the way Woolworths displays and produces food provenance and traceability information. People are more curious than ever about the origins of their food and the production systems that develop it, and technology is providing an opportunity to break down the wall between producers and customers and craft stories that benefit both sides.

“We need to have more personalised relationships with our customers and online is a wonderful vehicle to tailor more of our range and promotions to individual customers, as well as bring our producers and customers closer together,” says Pat. “When I visit a farm and talk to our producers, they’re talking more and more about the customer and looking at different markets and placements for their product.”

For Woolworths, the future is in converting the technology it currently uses to track products through the supply chain into material that can be easily discovered and read by customers. The company uses technology to track things such as the ori-

gins of produce, the length of time the produce takes to move from farm to market, storage and refrigerated transportation temperatures and the overall efficiency of the transportation system. Pat envisions a future where this information is made available to customers in order to build trust and confidence in the product.

“I think there’s no doubt that our customers want to know more about their food,” says Pat. “And as more customers wish to find out where their food comes from, retailers and manufacturers will need to provide this kind of traceability as the norm rather than the niche – it’s all about product integrity.

“There’s a lot of technology that has been developed for logistics and quality standards rather than the customer, but I think these will translate very easily to help build stories for the customer.

I don’t think it will be very far into the future at all when customers will be able to scan a barcode on a punnet of strawberries and see where it was picked and how long it’s been on the shelf.”

Looking to continue its long standing service to Australian shoppers, Woolworths is embracing new developments and technologies in the retail sector that will benefit both producer and customer. By forming and maintaining strong partnerships with farmers and prioritising customers’ needs, Woolworths is well-placed to continue to deliver great products at great value well into the 21st century.

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UNDERSTANDING CONSUMER TRENDS

Related Links A collection of links relating to understanding consumer trends, in Australia and worldwide, that may benefit the farmer.

the australian farmer

New Vision for Agriculture Project An initiative of the World Economic Forum to deliver food security, environmental sustainability and economic opportunity that also links farmers with businesses and government.

Farm Policy Journal

The World Economic Forum Food Security and Agriculture Agenda

Wine Australia

An up-to-date forum on agricultural trends, with a look at global food security and agriculture.

Marketing beef and lamb Meat & Livestock Australia’s resources for producers looking to get an idea of what consumers are doing with end-products.

Includes links to domestic and international marketing as well as promotion of the industry.

Effie Worldwide Case Studies

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Links to peer-reviewed reports and essays available for purchase via the Australian Farm Institute.

Market insights and export market guides from the Australian wine industry regulatory body, which invests in research and development, marketing and disseminating knowledge about Australian wine.

Australian Export Grains Innovation Centre Market intelligence and in-depth economic analysis from one of Australia’s leading organisations for market insight, innovation and applied technology to help the Australian grains industry understand what Australian customers want.

Effie Worldwide recognises the most effective advertising and marketing communications in the world. Their library of finalist and award-winning cases includes case studies on effective marketing communication strategies, ideas and results, including Caterpillar machinery and soil nutrition resource Ekonomics.

Australian Wool Innovation

Horticulture Innovation Australia

Growing Almonds

Resources and publications from Horticulture Innovation Australia, the grower-owned research and development corporation for Australian horticulture.

The Almond Board Australia facilitates further growth of the industry by providing a platform for industry members to collectively respond to industry wide issues, invest in research and marketing and share knowledge.

Choice Consumer research and advocacy group that provides comprehensive report and articles about consumer behaviour, preferences and trends.

Australian Macadamia Society Who is the Aussie nut consumer? Trade news and reports by the Australian Macadamia Society.

Dairy Australia

Australian Wool Innovation provides wool production forecasting, retail and trade market reports, consumer insights and trend monitoring and fibre market research to its partners and woolgrowers.

Fertilizer Australia Fertilizer Australia’s role is to effectively manage issues that are common to members and provide market insights and consumer trends in the fertiliser industry.

Irrigation Australia Irrigation Australia helps Australian farmers to achieve sustainable water management and increase the productivity of each drop of water.

Markets and statistics including links to prices, export information and other Dairy Australia research and facts.

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THE DIGITAL REVOLUTION

Overview:

Case study: Case study: Case study: Case study:

Case study: Case study:

Related Links

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Big data, big money: Jonathon Dyer on how to capitalise on the information revolution Agriculture’s robots: Rise of the machines?

Getting ahead by farming SMART Everybody’s nuts for macadamias Topcon brings efficiency and productivity to farming operations Tackling the data drought in rural Australia Deep history of agronomy gives Back Paddock software the edge

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the digital revolution

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THE DIGITAL REVOLUTION

Big data, big money: capitalising on the information revolution

WRITTEN BY: JONATHON DYER http://nerdfarmer. com

Historians point to three major shifts or revolutions in the span of human history that have changed the ways people live and work: 1. The agrarian revolution, in which people ceased being hunter-gathers and started growing crops and domesticating livestock. At this time, the majority of the working population became involved in agriculture.

2. The industrial revolution, in which the industries and wealth introduced by mass-production pulled people out of rural areas and into cities.

(Globally, this process is still underway as the role of the majority of labour in the world economy has now shifted from agriculture to manufacturing.)

3. The information revolution – the one we are living in right now. Jobs are shifting from the manufacturing sector to the services and knowledge economies.

These trends offer an eye-opening perspective on the future of our agricultural communities. The skills required to flourish within each of these revolutions are often completely foreign to those living in the years preceding the revolution. Imagine a hunter-gatherer staring out across the river at a group of people planting seeds in the ground, thinking: “Why do that when plants grow by themselves?” To a hunter-gatherer, farming would make little sense; it requires a completely different skill set from his existing one.

If the information revolution proves to be as monumental as the two that preceded it, are we soon going to find ourselves as hunter-gatherers looking out across the river? Will we have to adapt new technologies, skills and attitudes to face an information-driven world?

For agriculture, as with everything, forging into the information revolution will require new approaches and ways of thinking. We will have to adapt our mechanised, industrial farming methods to the new reality of the information age – a process that many have already started.

New and affordable sensors are allowing farmers

to measure more than we ever could before. Grain farming alone has seen the emergence of the ability to record: • Yield data – For nearly a decade, tractors and harvesters have been sold standard with GPS guidance and steering, tools that can enable the gathering and mapping of yield information during harvest. We are even starting to see detailed mappings of grain quality parameters such as moisture, oil content and protein levels.

• Telemetry/machine data – Recent advancements in telemetry have meant farmers can choose to log machine performance data captured by the GPS in real-time as it is happening in the field.

• NDVI and aerial photography-based information – Drones and satellite imaging can be used to keep close tabs on plant and soil activity.

• Paddock operation data – Data is collected showing details about what inputs we apply to the fields – including seed, fertiliser and chemical applications – as they’re applied.

• Information about soil moisture and temperature levels at various depths – Developments in remote water monitoring, for example, have necessitated more tools to gather information about water availability and use.

Sectors other than grain have had their own advances in data gathering, too; dairy farmers can collect production data for each cow milked and record information on individual animals such as body temperature, milk production and daily movements.

Horticulturalists can monitor levels of radiation, humidity and temperature in greenhouses, optimising them all for the best plant growth without even having to be physically present!

Collecting this data allows farmers to more precisely apply inputs. What precision agriculture stresses is ‘doing the right thing, in the right place, in the right way, at the right time’. This is where technology empowers farmers to be both more productive and better environmental stewards. Using herbicides in a more targeted way, for example, is

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a good practice for the environment, farm and business. Likewise, appropriately timed use of fertiliser allows for better yields, efficient application and the minimisation of runoff leaching into the environment. Digital agriculture is helping make better farmers and a healthier environment.

The ability to collect and store all of this farm-related data presents many opportunities for farmers, and also more than a few challenges. The opportunities lie in being able to consistently identify overand underperforming areas of the farm, and use that information to make informed decisions about what to do with these areas.

Understanding in a more nuanced way what happens on farm allows farmers to be more targeted with inputs and to be more informed when it comes to putting money into capital-heavy investments such as machinery upgrades. As ‘big data’ becomes a commodity, a number of companies are even willing to pay for the information that farms store and collect. An American start-up called Farmobile has developed a proto-marketplace for farmers to sell the data they’re already passively collecting to those interested in using it. Willing buyers are projected to include researchers and larger agribusiness companies, a reality that means that this data may lead to the discovery of things of which we were previously unaware.

While there are many business and economic incentives to modernising farming, there are certainly also challenges in harnessing the power of new tools and technologies. Not many farmers have been

taught how to collect ‘good’ data, so it’s imperative that new tools and applications come along which are well-designed and easy to use for people with no research background. Growing skills and digital demands need the connectivity and infrastructure to support them, and the hope is that the National Broadband Network, as it is rolled out across the country, will offer the solution to lagging internet speeds and spotty rural connections.

Whether or not the underlying infrastructure is in place in time, these new technologies are coming to agriculture in a big way, and soon. Agricultural tech’s bellwether event occurred in 2013, when agribusiness corporation Monsanto spent nearly US$1 billion to buy The Climate Corporation, a company that used climate data to help farmers manage weather risk.

New investment capital is coming into our industry in a way that could shake it up. This new money flowing into agriculture requires a fair bit of belief in technology, but it also requires the years of industry knowledge leaders like us have acquired. Farming is complicated: we deal in the infinitely complex natural world, which naturally means dealing – either explicitly or in practice – with huge amounts of data.

As computing power gets cheaper and sensors become more widely available and easier to use, it will simply become assumed that farmers will need methods of data collection and analysis.

As early adopters, farmers can capitalise on our use of these technologies, or else we can wait for those we deal with to profit off of it instead.

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THE DIGITAL REVOLUTION

Agriculture’s robots: Rise of the machines?

Humans learned how to cultivate crops about 10,000 years ago. This massive step brought us from being primitive hunter-gatherers to being able to reliably grow food and textiles, live in villages and towns and create lifestyles that involved a lot more than foraging.

WRITTEN BY: CASEY BROWN AGRI LABOUR

From those early days until the mid-1700s, farming remained more or less the same. But thanks to the past two centuries of technological development, we now have everything from pesticides to GM crops – and of course robots.

These machines, whether we like it or not, play an ever-increasing role in food and fibre production. In the US, the agricultural workforce has already fallen from 40 per cent to two per cent of total employment over the last century.

Now imagine what it’ll be like in another hundred years.

AGRICULTURE’S SHRINKING WORKFORCE If history is anything to go by, we’re going to see much fewer people doing unskilled agricultural work in the coming decades. And as their numbers decline, we’re going to see a movement of campaigners and lobby groups trying to prevent jobs from disappearing. This has already happened in the automobile industry.

You’d expect that agricultural labour hire and recruitment companies like Agri Labour Australia would be worried about what the future holds; after all, if there are no jobs, there’s no need for candidates or recruiters.

But actually, that’s not quite the case. Some may see cause for concern, but a better approach may be an optimistic one. This might surprise you, so let us explain.

PRODUCTIVITY MEANS PROFIT First, let’s take a look at why we use machines and robots in the first place.

There’s one main reason: productivity. The most obvious reason to use machines is that they work faster and more reliably than people, which in turn makes them more profitable over the long term.

For example, poultry farming hasn’t seen much of a downside. Dedicated egg-collecting machines

have brought automation to this traditionally labour-intensive role, which has helped free up farmers’ time and increased their margins.

Profitable farmers mean a healthy agricultural industry, and that’s a good thing. But at what cost?

MACHINES DO REPLACE WORKERS, BUT NOT ALWAYS FOR THE REASON YOU THINK Profit and productivity aren’t the only reason machines are replacing people – in Australia, many farming businesses use machines because the access to labour simply isn’t there, for example in fruit picking. There’s also the fact that in some agricultural roles, human hands bring the best results.

Without the required workforce available to them, farmers are forced to invest in machines. These machines might not give the same quality results, but they have no other choice.

What’s more, this equipment is prohibitively expensive for many smaller-scale producers, although they do reduce labour overheads in the long term.

So we see family-run farms going out of business or being forced into costly equipment hire agreements that eat away at their margins.

A TOUGH CHOICE FOR FARMERS To stay in the game, farmers therefore have a decision to make. Do they protect their human workers, or do they spend the money upfront and invest in technology?

One thing is for certain: as technology develops, the face of the agricultural workforce will have to change. There’s no use in fighting automation, so the only option is to embrace it and try to put ourselves on the right side of history.

FOCUS ON WHAT ROBOTS CAN’T DO There will always be roles robots can’t fill. We may one day have machines that can hand-pick berries without damaging them, or that can pick the ripe

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fruit from the branch while leaving the unripe ones.

To meet the needs of farmers and the consumers they feed, the workforce will have to change what part of the supply chain it services. We may see more skilled workers who, instead of doing the actual picking, are operating the picking machines or grading the produce.

What we would like to see is an increase in semiskilled and skilled roles, which will be great for the industry and the regions in which they operate. We are already suffering from a dire shortage of unskilled and semi-skilled staff, so any influx of better-qualified people will be great for rural communities.

We have to look at the future as an opportunity.

We must invest in training and education for our producers and agricultural workers, and we must give them the knowledge and tools to embrace technology and meet the new demand for technically proficient staff.

AN OPPORTUNITY FOR CHANGE AND GROWTH If you’d asked a 1960s office-job recruiter about computers, they would’ve told you that clerks were an indispensable part of the professional workforce.

It’s true – they were.

But since then, we haven’t seen a generation of clerks go hungry because there’s no work for them.

They upskilled, learned how to use computers and

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helped contribute to the further growth and evolution of clerical roles.

WHAT ABOUT THE HUMAN COST? On the other side of the coin, we might take the example of the car industry replacing factory staff with robots. The loss of thousands of jobs is a real and painful truth, but we have to also consider that consumer trends and competitive performance rely on getting the most out of our manufacturing. Fighting these hard truths won’t make them untrue – it’s time that could be spent more productively.

Agriculture mustn’t follow this example. We need to be able to compete with other nations and continue making the best food and fibre we can – and we need to be able to sell it at a competitive price.

If this means some of our manual roles become obsolete, there’s nothing we can do to fight it. Instead, let’s look at helping to further train and educate our unskilled staff so that their passion and skills can be put to use elsewhere in the supply chain.

THE FUTURE IS BRIGHT! We see a future where robots and humans work in harmony. We mustn’t allow ourselves to fight progress in our industry. We should be at the forefront, providing the manpower that will drive Australian agriculture into the next era.

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THE DIGITAL REVOLUTION

Getting ahead by farming SMART If you’re keeping an eye on emerging technology in agriculture, a good place to look would be Armidale, in the New South Wales Northern Tablelands. Here, the University of New England’s SMART Farm is applying cutting edge technology to agriculture.

WRITTEN BY: KEIRON COSTELLO

The SMART (Sustainable, Manageable, Accessible Rural Technologies) Farm is a commercial farm and a research station on a 2,900 hectare property just outside Armidale. Predominantly a grazing operation, the farm supports a flock of roughly 7,000 sheep and a small number of cattle. A farm manager and livestock manager are the only full-time employees, supported by two part-time technicians and an array of casuals and shearing and fencing contractors.

The farm fulfils a double role, its research equally of interest to the agricultural industry and the university sector. Overseen by Professor David Lamb – the head of the UNE’s Precision Agriculture Research Group – the SMART Farm exists to introduce, de-

velop and test farm technology that will benefit the industry. At the same time, it is being used to educate farmers and agribusiness professionals of the future to use and develop cutting edge technology.

Key to this is the $2 million SMART Farm Innovation Centre, which opened in March 2015 and operates as a technological and educational hub for UNE. Up to 200 students a year pass through the centre, and not just those studying agriculture: students from science, mathematics, business and education degrees are visiting the centre to learn about the technology being used.

“First and foremost, the UNE SMART Farm is about research and education,” says David. “Research gives

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rise to education, education gives rise to interest and adoption and guides research. That’s why the Innovation Centre has been such a critical addition to our capability on the farm; we can now properly run a shopfront for our vision.”

Despite the research and education focus, the SMART Farm definitely still operates as a commercial farm – to do otherwise would jeopardise the practicality of the research. The lambs and cattle produced are sold to abattoirs and local saleyards, while the wool is sold through the Sydney wool markets.

“It’s a real living and breathing farm with all the same problems that farmers have,” says David. “We try not to get in the way of the farming, because it’s got to be a real farm. But the beauty of it is we get wonderful feedback and wonderful performance metrics that are real-world based.”

CONNECTING THE SCIENCE David’s academic background is in physics, which he says naturally led him to precision agriculture.

“I came to UNE to run a physics department, because I knew damn well that it had a perfect connection with things like farming, and with UNE’s international reputation in agriculture and environmental science, and its extensive land holdings, it was my chance to get physics up and outdoors.”

With the Precision Agriculture Research Group well established,

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the launch of the National Broadband Network (NBN) in 2009 allowed UNE to convert its existing property – the Kirby-Newholme farm ten kilometres outside Armidale – into a fully connected SMART Farm.

“We’ve been doing research in precision agriculture for a number of years,” says Doctor Mark Trotter, senior lecturer in the School of Environment and Science at UNE. “One of the key things that we thought was missing was a place to actually pull all the stuff together and try and bring different technologies to bear in the one spot and look for synergies between the technologies. That was the start of the SMART Farm.”

And while precision agriculture as a discipline has been used extensively in the grains industry for at least two decades, David saw an opportunity to apply the same theories to cattle and sheep farming.

“Precision agriculture has its heritage in the grains industry,” he says. “But we’re heading towards the point where there’ll be a similar awakening of the benefits of ‘spatially-enabled farming’ in the livestock industry.”

CUTTING EDGE TECHNOLOGY The technology being tested and developed at the UNE SMART Farm is all chosen with the needs of the agricultural industry in mind.

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•

•

•

“We’re not pure basic researchers,” says Mark. “We go to industry and say, ‘right, what are the problems?’ and then look for the solutions to those problems.”

Technology currently being evaluated on the SMART Farm includes: • Livestock Tracking – GPS collars and Radio Beacon Triangulation (RBT) are used to track animals as they move around the farm. This builds on the existing National Livestock Identification Scheme (NLIS) and not only tracks an animal’s physical location, but also detects when they suffer from stress, such as a lack of feed or a dog attack. “Ultimately you end up with a system that can detect when an animal’s in trouble or a disease state starting to come on,” says Mark.

“There’s enormous value in that to the industry, not just in terms of increasing productivity, but also in terms of social licence to farm. We need to up our game in terms of welfare standards and being accountable and having objective systems to measure that.”

• Auto Drafting – Using a Radio Frequency Identification Device (RFID), or smart tag, on livestock to automatically weigh and draft sheep. According to farm manager Paul Arnott, the auto drafting system used provides huge savings. “It saves us probably two-thirds of our labour requirements. It’s massive in terms of efficiency.”

• Pastures and Space – Using satellite imagery, active optical sensors and laser sensors to understand pasture growth rates and biomass in paddocks. This helps not only inform stock rotations and stocking rates, but also protects pastures from

environmental damage. “There’s massive value in that in terms of dollar returns in the industry around increasing stocking rates,” says Mark.

Soil Probes and Sensor Clusters – An extensive soil moisture network of 100 probes – as well as clusters of plant and soil sensors that are capable of monitoring and modelling plant growth – support research into new pasture and crop monitoring and management tools. All of the data can be accessed remotely using the farm-wide telemetry network.

Drones – The SMART Farm currently uses two drones, a large one for carrying heavy gear over trial sites and a smaller one for scouting and imaging. Three-dimensional imaging of trees and pastures for quantifying biomass and carbon storage, and of cattle for live-weight estimation are all examples of the sorts of innovations under investigation on the farm.

According to David, legislation is the biggest challenge affecting what can be done with a drone. Currently, drones can’t be flown out of sight, can’t reach a height greater than 400 feet (123 metres) above ground, and can’t be operated via camera alone. Safety is paramount so any innovative tools need to be compatible with operating constraints.

Virtual Fence – The SMART Farm team is working on technology that could potentially control the movement of animals via a virtual fence. However this technology is in its infancy, as researchers are still grappling with the problem of animals associating the shock they receive when crossing a virtual fence with an unrelated physical object such as a tree or rock.

TRANSLATING THE TECHNOLOGY The huge amounts of data all these technologies create is undoubtedly valuable, but is also one of the biggest problems David and the UNE team are tackling. While all this connected data helps turn the SMART Farm into what David calls “the ultimate Internet of Things”, it can be information overload for the users.

“We’ve been working on precision agriculture, but what we have created is a need for ‘decision agriculture’,” David says.

“What tools have we got that can render all this enormous amount of information you can potentially generate down to single decision points? Decision agriculture comprises getting computers to think more like farmers and making sure farmers understand the agronomy that flies back to them.”

The challenge for the SMART farm team is converting these swathes of data into a simple tool that can guide a farmer’s methods.

“There have been a lot of technologies that have gone to market, and they’re just too complicated,” says Mark. “You really need to think about how can these technologies be readily applied or used by the average farmer.”

“If rendered down to a simple SMS recommendation, the farmer can pull it out of their pocket, look at it and go, ‘yes, that’s alright’, or ‘no, ignore it’, put it back in their pocket and move on,” says David. “But now, they knock off and they’ve got enormous amounts of data to trawl through. At the end of a long hard day sitting on the tractor and fencing, farmers have got to go back into their office and make sense of numbers, and they didn’t do farming because they love math.”

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VALUE TO THE AVERAGE FARMER While all this technology might sound impressive in theory, how can it help the average farmer in Australia? “There’s no question that farmers have an unshakeable belief they can manage what they know, and if they know more, they have a better chance of managing things,” says David.

SMART farm manager Paul Arnott can see firsthand the improvements these technologies can make to his business. It all comes down to taking control of the measurements and using them to his advantage. “In a group of animals there might be $100 production difference between the best and the worst individual animal,” Paul says. “So if you can measure that and keep the better performing ones, your breeding program makes much faster gains.”

The technologies being used on the SMART Farm also help Paul cut down on labour inputs. For example, the auto drafting system means only one person is needed to do a job previously done by three or four, and the pastures and space program and sensor clusters mean he spends less time checking up on each paddock. “The less you have to do on foot or in a vehicle and the less time everything takes, the less labour you need to employ to get it done.”

And while some of the technology – such as the soil moisture probes – might currently be too expensive for most, it is only a matter of time until this isn’t the case. “So what we do is we watch and get involved in tech early, understanding that no farmer is going to be able to afford this now, but we know the price will come down,” says Mark.

“That’s part of what the SMART Farm is,” agrees Paul. “It’s cutting edge, but they’re always looking for new tech to make it cheaper.”

TRAINING THE NEXT GENERATION As all the new technology is cutting costs and improving efficiency, the educational side of the SMART Farm is helping to tackle the problem of engaging students in the industry. “One of the key challenges we’ve got in agriculture and food production systems is a lack of interest from the very brightest students in this sector,” says Mark. “And what we find when we open up some of these technologies to some of the very brightest students is that they are really engaged.”

With its Innovation Centre giving access to SMART Farm technology to UNE students from different disciplines, traditional views of agriculture are changing. “That’s the beauty of this,” says Mark.

“We’ve got a whole range of problems we know we need solved, and we can bring together the agriculture specialists with the technology guys, the computational scientists, the physicists, the mathematicians and the statisticians, and they get a buzz

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out of applying their skills to a real world problem.”

And it’s not just university students benefitting.

Mark recently took a group of Year 10 and 11 high school students around the farm, demonstrating the technology being used and how it translated back to the computer. “It was astounding to see their ability to take what they’d learnt in the field and apply that to analysing data,” says Mark. “All of a sudden they could see there was a lot more to agriculture – or there is going to be a lot more to agriculture – than just killing a weed.

“So the overall ability of what we’re creating is to ultimately expose these very bright students to some of the challenges we’ve got in food production, hopefully capture those really bright minds and get them back in to become our industry leaders and research leaders in this space.”

ALL EYES ON THE FUTURE David and his team hope the UNE SMART Farm can send a message of what is possible in agriculture with the use of technology. “Our farm is a sheep and beef farm – primarily sheep – but the message is the same for any farmer, be it dairy, cotton, wheat, rice, grape growing, whatever,” David says. “It’s about soils, it’s about the weather, it’s about optimising your production system and reducing your cost of inputs and targeting your quality.

“In ten years, I want SMART Farm to be one of 137,000 of its kind. I want every other farm to be connected just like the SMART Farm is – on good, reliable high-speed internet – because that’s what sets us apart. We want ourselves to be exemplars of this, but not some shining light that nobody else can be. Everybody can be like this if they’re connected.”

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THE DIGITAL REVOLUTION

Everybody’s nuts for macadamias Macadamias are a unique Australian success story. Fetching premiums in markets across the world, their history begins on the sub-tropical North Coast of New South Wales. And now the Australian macadamia industry is setting a cracking pace in the realm of social media marketing and engagement.

WRITTEN BY: ANNIE SCHUBERT

The Australian macadamia industry recorded a crop of 47,000 tonnes in 2016. More than a quarter of that was exported to China, with hungry markets in Germany, Japan, Korea and Taiwan taking shares of the rest. But plenty of Aussies at home are keen to get their hands on macadamias, too.

Building awareness for macadamias has always been a key concern for the Australian Macadamia Society (AMS), which has ramped up its presence in its key markets by utilising relevant social media platforms. According to the AMS’ Market Development Manager Lynne Ziehlke, “social success drove social focus”.

“It’s about building awareness of our product,” Lynne says. And with a Facebook account in every market, Instagram and Twitter accounts in Japan and Australia and soon Weibo and Wechat accessibility in China, that awareness is growing every day.

However, Lynne isn’t necessarily concerned with how many users follow the AMS Instagram or who is liking or favouriting content on Facebook and Twitter. Rather, she’s hopeful a presence in international digital spaces will simply boost consumer awareness of macadamias, their value and their health benefits.

“It’s not a numbers game,” she says. “It’s more about making sure we’re really maximising our organic reach.”

Organic reach refers to original content being seen by audiences without the creators having paid to promote the post. Sponsored content is now popular and affordable on social media channels like Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, and means small and large business owners alike can advertise side by side.

But some markets are trickier than others: while the AMS has been working with bloggers in Japan’s digital space since 2009 and has had a ‘serious’ presence in Germany since 2012, navigation of the digital terrains of Taiwan and China presents a new challenge.

“We’ll look at paid or other mechanisms in mar-

kets such as Taiwan where product knowledge is lacking,” she says. “We’ll be learning a whole new language when we launch social media in China!”

Research in all its markets has given the AMS serious insight into its international consumers. While most are after just macadamia kernels, which are generally enjoyed as a high-value snack, the Chinese market is mostly after nuts sold in shell.

“The vast majority of nuts in China are consumed in shell; that’s cultural,” Lynne says. “The Chinese really like the process of sitting down and opening the shells – it’s quite social.

“We are seeing a change in that market, though, and consumption of kernels has increased significantly as demand for convenience increases in that market.”

The increase in social media presence has come hand-in-hand with commercial success. “We haven’t necessarily produced any more product, but we’ve certainly sold everything we’re producing. Consumers are paying more now than they ever have,” Lynne says.

The AMS and Lynne’s strategy has been choosing key messages to communicate. Four points of interest guide the content that is shared by the AMS: • How macadamias can be used in cooking • How to best store the nut • Farmers’ stories • Where macadamias are grown “Social media enables us to communicate those benefits or those attributes in a way we haven’t been able to do previously,” Lynne says.

“So now what we’re intending to do with these campaigns is to build the value around the product.”

Every two to three years, the AMS undertakes benchmarking to track the effectiveness of its campaigns. This is important, especially as tastes and trends change rapidly in a global and digital world.

“In Japan, we did a benchmarking study in 2013

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and found consumer awareness and sentiment had changed along a number of parameters – namely, it was more likely to be considered a premium product compared to results from a 2008 study,” Lynne says.

“A key thing we’d been communicating was health and beauty benefits. We could see from the

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study that awareness had changed significantly.”

As the AMS knows, social media today is changing the way farm produce can reach and influence consumers all over the world. Below are some tips for farmers and producers looking to establish a presence on social media:

FIVE IMPORTANT TIPS FOR GETTING STARTED ON SOCIAL MEDIA WRITTEN BY EMMA BOURKE

1. HAVE A PLAN Before you get started on any social media platforms, make sure you sit down with a pen and paper and work out a quick plan. A little bit of early thinking could save you months of wasted time sending out the wrong messages on the wrong channels.

Ask yourself: Who do you want to connect with on social media and why? What platforms are the people you want to connect with already using? What kind of messages will interest the people you want to engage with?

Ask around town and do some research online to find out what platforms leaders in the agriculture industry, colleagues, clients and locals in your community are already using and the kind of content they are sharing. The platform you choose should be the one that best meets your planning objectives.

Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram are all great platforms to consider looking at during your research and planning.

2. FIND YOUR OWN VOICE A lot of people use social media to bypass traditional advertising and connect with real people and their businesses, so making sure your messages are useful to others and written in an authentic and honest tone is important.

When you are writing your next tweet or Facebook post, don’t be afraid to let some of your personality show through. Use your account to share advice, personal insights and information that will reflect well on you and your business.

Your followers will appreciate your authentic and honest approach and will be more likely to recommend your business and expertise to others.

3. EMBRACE THE #HASHTAG The Australian farming community is well established on social media channels like Twitter and Facebook, using hashtags like #AgChatOz and #AusAg to connect fellow Aussie farmers and give urban dwellers a glimpse of Australia’s diverse and innovative agriculture industry.

If you aren’t already using hashtags in your messages, you should start now. It’s a great way to insert yourself into existing discussions and to make sure your messages are being seen by the right people.

A word to the wise: use hashtags for keywords only and try not to use any more than one or two hashtags per message. Too many hashtags in a single message might distract your audience from what you’re trying to say.

4. THINK VISUALLY Since more people are now using social media to connect with others and share their stories, posting an eye-catching photo or a short video is a great way to stand out from the crowd.

A 2014 study by Twitter reported that users who attached an image to their tweets received a 35 per cent increase in retweets compared to what they would have received through a text-only tweet.

You might not think so, but people are interested in your day job – particularly those who live in urban settings. Take advantage of the visual trend and show your followers what happens ‘behind the scenes’ on the farm. Posting a picture of your healthy crops or a 30-second video of your happy livestock will say much more than 140 characters ever could. If you’re game, you could even post a #Felfie or two!

5. DON’T WANT TO ENGAGE? SIT BACK & LISTEN Social media is a great means of connecting with industry experts and like-minded members in the global agricultural community. For those who aren’t quite ready to get out there and engage with others on social media, consider using a platform like Twitter as a listening and newsgathering tool.

Set up a private Twitter account and start following your local news bureaus, MPs, colleagues and clients. The insights you will gain from checking your Twitter feed once or twice a day will ensure you are up to date with the latest news and innovations in agriculture.

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Emma has been a social media manager and communications advisor in the public sector since 2012.

She is passionate about using her skills and experience in online communications to educate and upskill newcomers to the online space. Follow Emma on Twitter @EmmaBourke_ Back to Contents

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The Future of F

Solutions for every phas

Farming is Here

se of the farming cycle

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THE DIGITAL REVOLUTION

Topcon brings efficiency and productivity to farming operations Agriculture, the world’s largest industry, faces a steep challenge to meet the growing demand for food as the global population expands. A high degree of efficiency and productivity is needed to ensure optimal and sustainable agricultural methods are in place for virtually every phase of the farming operation. Topcon Agriculture is helping the industry meet those demands by utilising the Internet of Things (IoT) in the agricultural space.

THE FUTURE OF FARMING Topcon Agriculture, a division of the global Topcon Positioning Group, offers a complete portfolio of products and services – including brands Topcon, Digi-Star, RDS Technology and NORAC – dedicated to creating end-to-end solutions for every phase of the farming lifecycle. The company’s commitment to innovation means that Topcon Agriculture products offer Australian farmers smart solutions to their problems. Through connectivity, the continuous stream of collected data provides agronomists, veterinarians and growers with varying types of infor-

mation – which can be evaluated to make the best possible farm management decisions.

“We exist to improve productivity and workflow to meet the global demand for sustainable agriculture,” says Fabio Isaia, CEO of Topcon Agriculture.

“We have a specific focus on the new agriculture paradigm – that is the integration of different technologies to collect data and find valuable and effective information patterns.

“We provide the agricultural sector with a full set of advanced analytics to improve the business decision-making process – that’s IoT for ag.”

THE TOPCON AGRICULTURE PORTFOLIO PLANTING AND SEEDING Topcon Agriculture advanced seeding technology includes the use of Apollo electronic control units (ECU). These units ensure seeds are planted according to fertility maps in order to minimise wasted seed and subsequent applications. In addition to this technology, Topcon GPS-enabled autosteering allows row crop planters to accurately place seed for maximum yield.

SPRAYING AND SPREADING Topcon Agriculture spraying and spreading solutions include a variety of connected applications: • The industry-leading NORAC boom height control systems allow farmers to reduce costs by applying nutrients at an ideal, automatically

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•

•

•

maintained height. Additionally, the systems reduce boom damage and operator stress, increasing overall farming efficiency.

Topcon on-the-go CropSpec crop canopy sensors use laser technology for non-contact measurements of growth status. Vehiclemounted measuring of the crop’s nutrients enables real-time adjustments to application, thereby contributing to optimal growth and higher yield.

The Apollo ECU variable rate spraying system offers multi-line support for up to four lines with automatic “on-the-fly” switching between lines. It allows a wider range of application rates, while keeping the desired droplet size of the spray pattern. Dedicated fence-jet nozzle support also allows the system to compensate for the additional fence-jet or end-row nozzles, so the correct rate is applied across the entire boom.

Developed by RDS Technology, Athene ECU spreader control offers a fast, accurate response in a user-friendly control and monitoring system for dry spinner spreaders or nutrient spreaders.

Its variable rate technology ensures the correct application rate is applied regardless of changes in forward speed or product density.

HARVESTING The Topcon autosteering systems use GPS receivers and guidance displays in tractors to achieve automated handling and driving control. High-precision operation also offers more stable pass-to-pass accuracy efficiency and higher yields.

The yield monitoring system, known as YieldTrakk, provides farmers with the real-time data needed to make intelligent business decisions in the combine cab and afterward. It includes monitoring and mapping of yield (in bushels or tonnes), moisture and cut rate and the total weight of crop during harvest.

The Digi-Star Harvest Tracker grain cart weighing solution allows farmers to meaure crop yield, compare performance of individual fields, save time weighing in-field and more.

LIVESTOCK: FEEDING AND WEIGHING Digi-Star livestock feed management sensors and software ensure proper nutritional rationing, which helps to improve animal health and production. By utilising weight sensors and control systems, TMR

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Tracker® Feed Management Software provides better solutions for feeding.

PLANNING AND PREPARATION Topcon SGIS data management software provides a powerful, sophisticated tool for agricultural mapping and crop planning. It allows for analysis of data to assist with decision making of relative seed and chemical varieties as well as other inputs.

Topcon Agriculture offers sophisticated land preparation and water management solutions vital to field performance and proper drainage. For grading, Topcon GPS positioning provides maximum accuracy with single or dual scraper control, plus the ability to grade more hectares in a single setup.

AGForm-3D software provides independent field surveys to minimise the amount of soil disturbed while ensuring proper drainage.

IOT CONNECTIVITY FOR HOLISTIC APPROACH Interconnectivity of the portfolio of Topcon Agriculture products and services and the data they offer helps meet the growing demands of today’s agricultural environments, particularly in the wide open spaces and often harsh climates of Australia.

“IoT enables the monitoring and analysis of virtually every part of the farming operation, from the paddock to the dinner table,” says Fabio. “As this vast amount of data grows, so does the industry’s ability to fine-tune all aspects of the workflow.

“This not only helps ensure that demands are met, but also quickly pinpoints areas of concern so that we can provide quicker and easier solutions.”

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THE DIGITAL REVOLUTION

Tackling the data drought in rural Australia Internet provision for rural Australia has had something of a rocky history – articles abound in the rural press concerning the ‘data drought’ and poor connectivity for farmers. This is changing with the rollout of the national broadband network, yet download speeds and general availability for rural Aussies have lagged far behind those enjoyed by their city cousins. However, one family-owned Internet Services Provider (ISP) is trying to change this with a commitment to rural Australia and competitive pricing packages.

Stacey Pound, Business Manager, and Melissa Tym, Co-founder

Established in Mudgee, New South Wales in 2005, Harbour ISP provides broadband fibre, fixed wireless and satellite internet to customers in every state in Australia. The company is a leader in satellite internet provision for remote customers and a growing provider in urban centres.

The company’s founders, husband and wife Charles and Melissa Tym, were inspired to create the company when they experienced the disastrous state of rural internet provision first-hand. After running a successful IT business in Sydney, the Tym family decided to move to Mudgee for a year and ended up staying in the town permanently, enchanted by the space and relaxed rural lifestyle.

Living just outside the centre of town, the Tyms were struggling to access the internet with a poor ADSL connection. With many of their farming friends receiving government grants to install slightly more reliable satellite internet, the Tyms approached the government about becoming a reseller and installer of internet services in 2005, and Harbour ISP was born.

From 2005 to 2011, the company signed up more than 20,000 customers on the Australian Broadband Guarantee program. However the launch of the national broadband network in 2011 changed the rural internet scene, and Harbour ISP were quick to harness the new technology – the company connected the first ever customer to the NBN Interim Satellite Service and was the first ISP to receive an invoice from NBN Co Ltd (now known as nbnTM).

Harbour ISP’s close relationship with nbnTM continued with the launch of the Sky MusterTM satellites in 2015 and 2016, designed to provide fast broadband internet access to regional and remote areas.

70,000 customers gained access to the Sky Muster satellites, with Harbour ISP the third-largest provider of connections.

While there were some early teething issues with Sky Muster connections, the satellite internet has changed the way farmers and rural Australians can communicate with family, friends and customers away from home. Long-distance and work phone calls using the internet (for example, with Skype) are a lot cheaper than home line rental.

“Although people were initially frustrated by the speed of their internet, Sky Muster allowed people in

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rural and remote areas to operate more online and even diversify their businesses,” says co-founder Melissa Tym. “People can also keep in touch with their kids over the internet, and not have to drive long distances to see their kids at boarding school or in capital cities.”

Harbour ISP’s point of difference to the bigger service providers such as Telstra, Optus and iiNet is not only their focus on rural internet services, but their commitment to providing dedicated customer service.

“We are big enough that we have a strong and direct relationship with nbnTM, but small enough that the customer means everything to us,” says Melissa. “Customers aren’t just a number to us, and we value every single customer – if there’s a problem, we’re there fighting for the customer and going that extra mile.”

And at Harbour ISP, that comes from the top down – both Melissa and Charles are in frequent contact with customers and are face-to-face with them at field days and events.

“We’re not removed from the customer,” says Melissa. “We know what they’re going through – a lot of them are our friends, so we want to provide a good service.”

In addition – and somewhat rarely for the IT industry – Harbour ISP places emphasis on appointing women to senior management positions. It is a progressive stance that is important to Charles and Melissa, and one that differentiates Harbour ISP from the bigger players.

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This mindset extends to Harbour ISP’s internet packages and pricing options, which are very competitive. The company also recently began including mobile SIM plans in its packages, bundling internet and mobile plans to make it easier for customers.

“Because we are a challenger brand to Telstra, Optus, TPG and iiNet, we have to be more price competitive, and we are,” says Melissa. “We always look at our pricing and readjust, and make it easy for our customers to switch to a better deal rather than lock them in.”

With the launch of the Sky Muster satellites and the national broadband network rollout continuing across the country, internet service for rural and remote Australians is slowly but surely improving. It may still be some time before rural internet speeds are comparable with those experienced in urban centres, but tens of thousands of people across the country are on the path to better internet thanks to the technical expertise and customer focus of Harbour ISP.

USEFUL TIPS FROM HARBOUR ISP 1. Why is my internet slow? There are several factors that influence the speed of your internet connection. The inherent delay in transmitting a signal, via the satellite, can give the appearance that the internet is slow. In actual fact, the data download rates are comparable with a line connected to ADSL. If you are concerned with the speed of your satellite service, we recommend you conduct your own speed tests with Speedtest.net. If you are still dissatisfied with the speed of your satellite service, contact your Internet Service Provider.

2. What is data allowance? Your data allowance is the amount of data you are permitted to transfer over the internet during each month, and is calculated on both uploads and downloads. Often, if you exceed your monthly data allowance, your speed will be slowed (or ‘shaped’ – see below). If you have chosen an unshaped plan, you will be charged an excess fee. It is advisable to monitor the amount of data downloaded (and uploaded, if applicable) to avoid any excess usage fees or to ensure your connection speed remains at its peak for the entire month.

3. What is shaping? Shaping means that once your data usage exceeds the monthly allowance (for example, 10GB), your provider reduces your speed rather than charge excess usage fees. All Sky Muster long-term satellite (LTS) plans are shaped.

4. What are peak usage times? For all LTS plans, on peak is 7:00am to 12:59am, and off peak is 1:00am to 6:59am.

5. How can I manage my data usage? Almost any time spent online will cause data to be downloaded and uploaded – it is important to keep this in mind when selecting your internet plan. For more information on how to manage your data usage, click here.

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THE DIGITAL REVOLUTION

Deep history of agronomy gives Back Paddock the software edge The Back Paddock Company has proudly served the Australian agricultural industry for 18 years, providing high quality easy-to-use management and agronomic software for both farmers and their advisors.

With 9,000 farming operations covering more than 12 million hectares using Back Paddock solutions, the company is an established market leader and has an eye on the future with a new integrated management platform currently under development.

A privately-owned, owner-operated business, Back Paddock has held national preferred-supplier agreements with Australia’s three largest agribusiness resellers – Landmark, Elders and Ruralco – for more than a decade. Almost a third of Australia’s total broadacre crop is serviced by Back Paddock software, along with 60 per cent of the independent agronomic consultant market.

With the rapid adoption of digital technologies expected to occur in the agricultural industry in the next five years, Back Paddock is developing a management platform that seamlessly integrates the

fundamental aspects of any farming enterprise: soil, water, plant and animal. To be known as Opterra, the platform will enable optimisation of the mixed farming, cropping-livestock enterprises and use of soil/water resources. It will cover the entire farming process from pre-season paddock-level planning and in-season recording through to the post-season delivery of key market research data back to the industry.

Opterra will enable mixed cropping-livestock businesses to be managed within a single integrated platform, allowing farmers and agronomists to jointly participate in the planning, recording and benchmarking process. With the first stage due for release in February 2018 the platform spans both cropping and livestock management and will drive better decision-making at the farm-gate level by making sure information is available when and where it is needed.

“The ability to integrate both plant and animal enterprises in the one whole farm plan enables mixed farmers to optimise their return on investment between enterprises,” says Chris Geeves, CEO of Back Paddock. “With ongoing volatility in commodity pricing and seasonal conditions, these are becoming very important decisions that advisors and farmers face, and Opterra will make it easy to test the various cropping vs livestock scenarios.”

While Opterra is a platform for the future, Back Paddock’s existing software solutions are already widely favoured by farmers and agronomists across the country. One such farmer is Ian Schmidt from

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Murra Warra in Victoria, who has been using Back Paddock Manager for five years to record data and plan operations for his 1,300-hectare mixed cropping enterprise.

Before Back Paddock, Ian was recording all of his farm data on spreadsheets using formulas. He found this time consuming, particularly when tiny errors meant that the entire spreadsheet needed readjustment. For Ian, Back Paddock records his data automatically and allows him to concentrate on other aspects of his business.

“The Back Paddock software saves me a lot of time sitting in the office at night inputting data – that’s the bit I really like about it,” says Ian. “And it easily produces reports that can give you a breakdown of the chemicals you’ve purchased and money spent, which allows you to hone in on expenses. It just simplifies the whole record-keeping process.”

Ian’s agronomist, Simon Severin from Agritech Rural in Horsham, collaboratively uses Back Paddock Adviser to create a farm plan with pre-cropping and in-crop recommendations that Ian can view on his iPad. These plans and recommendations are then used to record inputs such as seed, fertiliser and chemicals so Ian can efficiently view his costs and profit and drill down into deeper data on individual crops and paddocks.

According to Ian, using Back Paddock Manager gives him a better understanding of his production costs and therefore a better understanding of what he can and can’t afford. The software is especially useful for farmers struggling with (or yet to start) their record-keeping, though it is adaptable to farmers who already monitor their figures and inputs closely.

“The software has scenarios which allow for future planning with prices and production, whether it is above or below expectations,” says Ian. “Once you’ve got a plan in place on Back Paddock and a season done, it will give you a cashflow scenario and a budget.”

For agronomist Philip Hawker, Director of independent agronomy company Western AG in rural Victoria, Back Paddock Adviser is essential to developing his clients’ whole farm plans and ensuring they understand the cost base and all the details.

Western AG works in broadacre crops and pastures, employing 15 agronomists across Victoria that all use Back Paddock Adviser.

Western AG agronomists use the software to plan every aspect of the farming enterprise, from crop rotation plans and gross margins analysis to production strategies and benchmarking. It allows the company to generate in-paddock recommendations

on crop production and protection all through the year for farming clients.

“From a customer’s point of view, it provides clarity on what the strategy is going to be,” says Philip.

“We can plan the rotations, fertility programs, crop protection programs for herbicide, pesticide and fungicide and provide a fully costed plan that can be used for finance planning.”

As well as providing agronomic services, Western AG is also an input supply business and uses Back Paddock to have advance warning on farmers’ chemical and fertiliser requirements. It allows them to not only provide an important service to farmers, but anticipate their needs in advance.

“Farmers are time poor, so anything that improves organisation and prevents any delays with getting the inputs they need is vital,” says Philip. “Back Paddock helps with this, and it is also very user-friendly with a logical layout and great flexibility in preparing reports on multiple or specific paddocks and recommendations.”

For both Philip and Ian, despite their different roles as agronomist and farmer, Back Paddock software empowers them to properly plan and manage all aspects of the farm cycle. The company’s long history in agronomy and technology, and deep understanding of the agricultural industry, means the Back Paddock software is able to drive production and profits for farmers both now and into the future.

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THE DIGITAL REVOLUTION

Related Links A collection of links relating to the digital revolution, in Australia and worldwide, that may benefit the farmer.

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Open data from the SMART Farm

Precision Agriculture Australia

Live public data from UNE’s SMART Farm using satellite weather data and on-the-ground sensor readings of air temperature and soil moisture and temperature.

Society of Precision Agriculture Australia promotes the development and adoption of precision agriculture technologies.

Overview of farm data start-ups The Wall Street Journal takes a look at the spread of data streaming start-ups offering their services to farmers.

Find the latest updates on CSIRO’s digital innovation and agriculture endeavours to improve decision making for farmers, agribusiness, policy-makers and researchers.

“What is Ag Big Data?”

Agriculture and the ‘Internet of Things’

A primer from AgFunderNews on getting started on integrating tech (both hardware and software) into your agricultural practises.

Demystifying the ‘Internet of Things’ and exploring how Australian agriculture will change as big data analyses are increasingly applied to the production, processing and marketing of food and fibre.

Australian Farm Institute on “Big Data” An abstract of part of Farm Policy Journal’s inquiry into the effects of big data on farming practises.

Ag drone buyers’ guide An in-depth breakdown of what to look for and keep in mind when deciding on agricultural drone equipment. Includes models of problems that can be solved using drone data, as well as information on image-processing software.

“Farmers of the future”

CSIRO Digital Agriculture

SproutX SproutX identifies, funds and accelerates leading Australian agtech start-ups, where innovation within the sector is enabled through the empowerment of entrepreneurs.

How Robots Are Feeding The World As populations expand and consumers become more discerning, this is an insight into some of the incredible ways robot technology is changing the future of farming.

Predictions about what the future of agriculture might look like – including the practise of high-throughput plant phenotyping (HTPP, a scientific look at which is offered here) – in the age of automated tech.

Agriculture Apps Advice from The Land

The Digital Farmer

This website gives valuable information about farm-related apps and how farmers are using apps in their operations.

Reviews of and blogs about agricultural apps and digital farm products.

The ten most useful ten farming apps to download, according to farmers, to save time, energy and money.

Farming with Apps

AgTech News TechCrunch’s columnists and contributors bring deep insights from the heart of the tech community, including the latest collaborations in agriculture and technology.

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SOCIAL LICENCE AND SUSTAINABILITY

Overview:

Case study: Case study:

Case study:

Essay: Related Links

Back to Contents

Paul Martin discusses why we need to be partners in rural stewardship Art4Agriculture: celebrating young farmers Orange: The gourmet destination with a reputation for sustainability Wanneroo: A peri-urban food bowl with sustainable export ambitions Facts are only part of the story

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SOCIAL LICENCE AND SUSTAINABILITY

Partners in rural stewardship?

Dorothea Mackellar’s poem starting with the words “I love a sunburnt country” was etched into the minds of a previous generation of school children, at a time when the idea of the farmer as the trusted steward of the land was largely unquestioned.

WRITTEN BY: PAUL MARTIN DIRECTOR, UNE AUSTRALIAN CENTRE FOR AGRICULTURE AND LAW

The rugged independent farmer pioneering the harsh land was an idealised image of the self we wanted to be, celebrated in poems, plays, movies and advertising images.

Though the poem may be unknown to a current generation, the romantic attachment to our unique landscape remains part of our self-image. Australians love our country, even if most have little personal experience of the bush.

Overlaid on popular images of the inland are far less positive pictures of the destruction of the habitats of iconic animals such as koalas, the effects of climate change and farm practices seen with drying rivers and starving livestock and farmers being perceived as benefiting from cruelty and environ-

mental harm. Statistics on the decline of our natural environment add factual weight to the images seen on the news.

“Australia’s highly diverse and predominantly endemic biodiversity is seriously imperilled. In the past two centuries, at least 27 mammals, 23 birds (including island species and subspecies), 4 frogs and over 60 plant species have vanished ... In addition, over 1500 mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and plants are currently threatened with extinction, along with over 3,000 ecosystem types... In Victoria, for instance, ~30% of the original native vegetation remains, and some vegetation types, such as grasslands and open woodlands, have been reduced by more than 99% since European settlement... The situation for marine systems is far more uncertain owing to data limitations even for economically important species...”

Ritchie, E. G., Bradshaw, C. J. A., Dickman, C. R., Hobbs, R., Christopher, N., Johnston, E. L. & Woinarski, J., 2013. ‘Continental-Scale Governance Failure Will Hasten Loss of Australia’s Biodiversity’. Conservation Biology, vol 27, issue 6.

As a result, the farmer as the trusted steward of the land has taken a hammering. The images that speak of stewardship failure have driven pressures for restrictions upon farmers, to safeguard the welfare of animals and the environment. Demanding standards have come partly as legal requirements upon farmers. Higher requirements also come in the form of supermarket chain environmental and animal welfare purchasing standards, or standards for ‘ethical’ brands.

Other than in truck or beer advertisements, the image of the farmer in media has changed from the rugged individual fighting to win a living from a harsh land, to be the loving family man who cares for the environment and who is kind to his animals, or the modern rural businesswoman or caring mother who can combine ‘grit’ with style.

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Modern society wants the farmer to protect the romantic vision they have of the bush, and through the supermarket, the street march, the internet and the ballot box they make their feelings known. Many farmers have, sometimes with a sense of grievance that what is expected of them is not fair, changed how they manage their farms to meet higher expectations. They have joined Landcare groups, planted trees, adopted no- or minimum-till methods, joined voluntary environmental stewardship schemes, set aside land under conservation covenants and become much more sensitive to the winds of social change.

Community perceptions about what is going on in the bush are not finely tuned to differentiate between the farmers who try to be responsible stewards and those who do not. They are shaped by “the vibe” created through the media, and influenced by the statistics about the loss of our natural heritage, over-stressed waterways, drying soils and dying livestock. These are often linked to campaigns for restrictions on farming activities. Issues of image make it attractive for retailers to compete for consumer goodwill on the basis that ‘their’ farmers are more responsible than most.

What people see and hear does not provide them with a comforting picture of rural stewardship, and makes it easier to argue for controls on farmers.

RURAL CAPACITY TO INVEST IN STEWARDSHIP That irresponsible or incompetent farmers exist cannot be denied nor excused, but if the challenge of rural stewardship was only “stopping the bad guys”, things would be a whole lot simpler. Nature, space, evolution, demographics, history, climate, markets and many other factors work together to make rural sustainability surprisingly complex and very, very difficult. Really good people trying hard to do the right thing can experience depressingly poor stewardship outcomes.

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Australia is a vast territory with a population density similar to Mongolia or Iceland. While its GDP per person is similar to economies like the USA and Great Britain, in terms of GDP per hectare Australia has one fifth of the GDP economic intensity of Great Britain, one eighth of the United States and roughly the same as South Africa, Brazil and Argentina. Because business is also concentrated in cities, the economic density in the bush is very low.

Four out of five Australians live within 50 kilometres of the coast and two out of three live in capital cities. Roughly the same number of people live in Sydney as live in the whole of rural Australia.

A further challenge is the economic characteristics of farming.

Owning land is generally a requirement to be a farmer, so the activity is capital intensive. Because of the nature of commodity markets, agriculture has a low return on that farming capital. It is subject to climate and commodity market vulnerability. ‘Free cash flow’ from farming to spend on stewardship activities is limited and unreliable, and ‘stop/start’ spending is not a recipe for successful environmental management.

These broad brush statistics indicate the basic challenges of rural land stewardship: a special and vulnerable ecology, a massive territory to be protected or restored, powerful industrial farming and mining forces impacting on the land and relatively little money or manpower in rural areas to carry out protective or restorative work. This ‘high level’ picture reflects the lived experience of those in the country who try to be responsible stewards and to hand on the national natural heritage in as good, or better, condition as when they were handed it.

Controlling 456 million hectares of agricultural land, farmers are the stewards of almost 60 per cent of Australia but this percentage is declining. Non-farming landholders are increasingly essential to conservation, and face their own challenges.

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Throughout the last 20 years, Native Title has also allowed Aboriginal citizens to acquire a substantial estate, complemented by land acquired through other state and federal programs. National Parks are increasingly co-managed with traditional owners and complemented by Indigenous Protected Areas, often co-existent with farmland.

In addition, land-use has become diverse, eating into the lands used for traditional farming. More lands are being managed for conservation, as private conservation adds to the public conservation estate. Other uses that are increasing include mining, urbanisation, ‘lifestyle’ blocks and non-traditional agriculture. This diversification means landowners have increasingly diverse motivations and concerns in managing their lands.

There are significant variations in environmental and socio-economic conditions across the country. Socio-economic disadvantage is most evident in an arc from the south and east of Australia to the north and west, with large parts of the inland suffering significant disadvantage. There is a correlation between socio-economic disadvantage, low economic and population density and Aboriginal lands.

There is a hierarchy of welfare shown by the statistics, with urban Australians at the top, rural Australians in the middle and Aboriginal Australians at the bottom. There are also significant differences in the environmental challenges, with more intensely farmed or mined lands generally having lost a greater part of their natural biodiversity than areas that are less touched.

THE CHARACTERISTIC OF THE RURAL STEWARDSHIP CHALLENGE Until 1788, Australia was a mega-diverse continent untouched by the technologies of Europe, and by the economic imperatives of European man. All that changed the day Captain Philip brought his

1500 charges into Botany Bay. From that day, ecological destruction was inevitable. What was less certain was the degree of that harm.

Environmental harm comes in different forms, with different management challenges. Over-grazing, chemical contamination, land-clearing and other conventional farm environmental problems have simple and direct “farmer cause/environment effect” characteristics. Solutions involve stopping the harmful behaviour, then remediation. Conventional concepts of accountability can apply, though causes may not always be within the control of the farmer, and solutions may be beyond their capacity.

A more difficult problem arises where solutions require cooperation, perhaps spanning many land tenures and different types of enterprise. In emergencies, such as a bushfire, cooperation is likely to be limited only by the ability of people to respond. For many other problems cooperation is more difficult. Managing soil erosion by revegetation or earth works, or creating a biodiversity corridor, removing a weir that affects a number of properties, controlling the spread of a weed – these and many other rural stewardship responsibilities require collective action.

It is beyond the power of a landholder to force neighbourly cooperation, and there are barriers to that cooperation. For example, a weed that produces burrs may be a problem for a wool producer, but their neighbouring cattle producer may see that plant as a soil carbon or stream bank stabilisation resource; a landholder may have competing demands on their scarce time and resources; or the way the work is to be done may interfere with their enterprise management. Personalities may also be an issue.

The third type of problem occurs when individual complications combine into a ‘vicious’ mix. Controlling wild pigs that are destroying a wetland, for example, is very difficult because these animals breed and adapt, can travel large distances, are intelligent and are generally not eradicable. Control can be costly, and can require overcoming bureaucratic hurdles or obtaining specialist support.

Effective management typically requires close coordination that goes beyond mere cooperation, continuing investment and hard and sometimes unpleasant work.

Competing interests may pose difficulties. A grain grower may want control to take place at a time when their crop is vulnerable, but a neighbouring sheep grazier may prefer control close to lambing, or a nearby landholder may benefit from having pig shooters pay for a farm-stay holiday. The cattle farmer may be concerned about the risk to his working dogs or to native animals from baits, and other people may have ethical concerns about the use of poisons, or may object to any person entering their land. Co-ordinated action can also require complicated administrative work, obtaining

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landholder or government permissions, securing funds or materials, managing the work and reporting.

The protection or restoration of environmental values requires more than good stewardship on individual properties – many environmental services have to be functional across large areas if good environmental conditions are to be achieved. You cannot protect a mobile species, a major river or many other environmental resources, unless you can also manage at a landscape scale. Three difficulties deserve special attention: • Management of many rural issues requires sustained, coordinated positive action. Land-use and land ownership fragmentation is a fundamental management challenge. These difficulties overlap with the problems of rural economics and welfare, which limit the capacity of communities.

• Three levels of government and a plethora of bodies working through different laws, programs and strategies make it confusing and difficult for citizens to work with government. Private arrangements such as industry codes and standards, consumer branding and private environmental initiatives are also significant considerations for landholders. The result is a mosaic that is difficult to understand and co- ordinate.

• Expectations of good natural resource governance should reflect what is feasible for the people, if we are to maintain our sense of self as a fair and compassionate country. This should be a serious concern in managing the rural environment, particularly when considering the increasing lands under Aboriginal stewardship.

Overall, while good stewardship by individuals is necessary to meet community expectations for the environment and for animal welfare, responsible farming is not sufficient. The resources available from rural communities, including farmers, are far short of what is needed to cope with existing problems and to guard against new ones.

Even if large scale land-clearing were to be halted, resource conservation was to be improved and farmers were to embrace environmental initiatives, new problems will emerge due to the effects of climate change, new pest species and increasing human pressure on the landscape.

The opening up of Northern Australia to largescale irrigation will generate unavoidable environmental impacts, no matter how carefully farms are managed. The challenge of enabling Aboriginal people to lead good lives while exercising stewardship on their own lands will become increasingly important to all Australians.

Government alone does not have the money and

power to bridge the stewardship gap. The series of Intergenerational Reports justify the conclusion that government funding will continue to decline, and governments at all levels are demonstrating their inability to maintain, let alone increase, rural support. Other public funding demands are politically far more pressing. However, there are other possibilities. Around the world and in Australia there is a largely unacknowledged contest between the public and the private sector over who will govern for the environment and social welfare and how this governance will be delivered.

New hybrids are emerging, as the private sector pursues voluntary stewardship codes, codes of conduct led by retailers and civil society organisations, environmental and social branding, private conservation estates, philanthropy and new market instruments for the environment. None of these is a solution in itself, and many are as yet unproven or not reliable. These initiatives are neither coordinated nor systematic, but they could be. Embracing the potential of a true hybrid approach to governing for the environment, and for human and animal welfare, is a beacon of hope but it requires heroic commitment and a great deal of imagination.

What is lacking, which is essential, is a true strategic partnership between all sectors to tackle the challenge of rural lands sustainability.

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SOCIAL LICENCE AND SUSTAINABILITY

Art4Agriculture: celebrating young farmers Young people have plenty to say, and if Australian agriculture is to reach its true potential these voices need to be heard.

WRITTEN BY: MANDY MCKEESICK

Governments and industry, who drive policy direction, need to hear these voices. Consumers, who are taking an ever-increasing interest in the origin of their food and fibre, urgently need to hear them.

Art4Agriculture has developed strong programs and initiatives to champion and facilitate those who need a vehicle to have their say.

Art4Agriculture is a network of the nation’s youth with a vision to “design and deliver community events that are a true celebration of the diversity, sustainability, creativity and progress of the people, places and products behind the industries that feed and clothe us and will power us in the future”.

Art4Agriculture Founder Lynne Strong has long been a loud and proud advocate of the industry, although her journey to agricultural enlightenment took a somewhat winding path. “I grew up on a farm, but had pre-conceived ideas that farming was neither a profitable business nor one I saw myself involved with,” she says. A pharmacist by training, it wasn’t until her son expressed an interest in joining the family dairy farm at Jamberoo on the New South Wales South Coast that agriculture came back into her life.

“I realised we were going to have to seriously ramp up the business as our son took on more responsibility and I decided to bring my own business skills back home,” she says.

“Looking into the industry I was amazed at the innovation and technology in use and quickly realised

how important it was for farming to reconnect with a nervous general public.” Seeing society’s impressions as perhaps the biggest threat to agriculture, Lynne set upon a path of changing perceptions.

NEW VOICES CHALLENGE THE STATUS QUO Art4Agriculture sees the changing of perceptions as a two-way street. “Farmers need to have courageous conversations with the consumer, to explain and share in a familiar language, and consumers need to understand the issues facing the farmer and to take pride in what is produced,” Lynne says.

Recently crowned Young Farmer of the Year, Anika Molesworth (pictured left) has been involved with Art4Agriculture since 2014 and explains the importance of Generation Y in these conversations.

“We are the generation who question,” she says.

‘Why is it being done this way? Why don’t we change this? Why don’t we make it better?’ Our generation has been raised with a different perspective to previous generations. We have been taught our voices matter and we have the ability to change the world.

We need a seat at the decision table to shake up the system, share our ideas and help steer food and fibre production in a sustainable direction.”

Anika’s passion is tangible. She grew up with a love for the outback, which was fostered by the vast horizons of her family’s sheep station near Broken Hill.

She completed university at Charles Sturt University, worked as an agribusiness banker with Suncorp Bank and in 2015 spent most of the year in Laos working on a Master’s degree in sustainable agriculture.

As part of the Art4Agriculture network, Anika has been involved in the two signature programs that form the cornerstone of the organisation – Young Farming Champions and The Archibull Prize.

The Young Farming Champions (YFC) program is all about engaging leading young agricultural voices with the wider community, assisting them to share their stories and promoting them as role models for others considering a career within the industry.

Joining the program starts when 18 to 30-year-olds apply and write a blog post. The competition can be fierce – in 2015 there were 125 applications for 12 positions.

Most people discover the YFC Program through

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word of mouth, but Martin Murray – from Moree in the North West of NSW – tells a different story. “I like to think I was head-hunted by Lynne,” he says in his laidback laconic manner. While jackarooing in the Northern Territory he says a combination of too much rum and a little spare time led to him writing a blog.

Initially his words were about his work in the Territory – “every day was a big adventure” – but when he returned to Moree he wrote about the cotton industry. The blog morphed into an education tool explaining how things were done and why they were considered best practice. “Lynne started talking to me on Twitter and suggested I apply to be a YFC. So I did,” he says.

The YFC Program begins with a series of workshops where participants are mentored by experts in communication, marketing and professional development. They are taught media management including how to handle the tricky questions, given the ability to share their story in a way that resonates with diverse audiences and learn skills to equip them to be leaders of their generation.

It is not just farmers taking up the YFC challenge but any profession in the agricultural sector. The 50 participants the program has trained since its inception in 2011 include financiers, business owners, journalists, government policy advisors, researchers and students to name a few. Kylie Schuller joined the program in 2013 wanting to increase her communication skills and finds it invaluable to her current position as a supply chain co-ordinator with Andrews Meat Industries in Sydney.

“I work with high-end premium beef products in the export department, selling to more than 15 countries with my focus on southeast Asia,” she says. “When I began with Art4Agriculture my perception of what I could achieve was so small but I am now amazed at what can be achieved by connecting farmers with consumers.” Often on a plane for her job, Kylie is disappointed if she has nobody to sit next to – she sees it as a missed opportunity to speak about her love for agriculture.

Kylie, Martin and most other graduates from YFC first put their new skills to the test as part of Art4Agriculture’s second cornerstone program – The Archibull Prize. In this exciting initiative, primary and secondary schools are assigned an agricultural industry (for example cattle and sheep, wool, grains or cotton) and a fibreglass cow.

Students and their teachers must research the threats and opportunities to their industry, produce multi-media presentations and express their findings in art form as they decorate their “Archie” cow.

Corporate sponsors and industry bodies are also matched to the schools. “Who would have thought cotton, wool and grains industries would have gained so much publicity from a cow,” Lynne laughs.

In addition, each school is assigned a YFC. “Last year I went to Cloncurry and Charters Towers to speak about cotton,” Martin says, “which was absolutely brilliant. Everybody was really enthusiastic and keen to learn.” At the end of the year the finalists and their adorned Archies gather in Sydney for judging.

In 2014, the Archie from Sydney’s Hurlstone Agricultural High School was crowned Grand Champion.

Named ‘Ni Cow’ (pictured above), the entry represented the dairy industry and illustrated the growing association between Australia and Asia. Ni Cow went on to make an appearance at the China-Australia free trade agreement talks and now resides in the office of Niall Blair, the NSW Minister for Primary Industries, Land and Water.

Now in its fifth year, the Archibull Prize has exposed more than 100,000 students to Australian agriculture and more than one million people have seen the program through exhibitions and the multimedia presentations of students.

Voices like those of Anika, Martin and Kylie have been given volume by Art4Agriculture, but Lynne believes this is just the beginning. “Farming is a responsibility, not a right. Farming has long been a highly-respected profession, but farmers must acknowledge that in the 21st century many other professions are heavily regulated.

“To maintain public trust, everyday farmers must show the public why the faith they have in farmers to produce safe, affordable and healthy food for families here and many families around the world is justified. It is pivotal that today’s farmers recognise engaging with consumers beyond the farm gate is just as important as what we do behind it. If we fail to do this, we will find ourselves – like other professions – becoming more and more regulated.”

By giving the millennial generation a voice – to ask earnest questions and change the way things are done – Art4Agriculture celebrates not only Australia’s young farming champions, but the opportunity for all Australians to embrace and know more about our agricultural industries.

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SOCIAL LICENCE AND SUSTAINABILITY

In 2016, the town of Orange in Central West NSW and its surroundings welcomed over a million visitors – the first year in which the region has crossed that mark. Tourism to the area has grown in recent years as Orange’s beautiful scenery and heritage streetscapes have been bolstered by a burgeoning reputation for delicious food and wine. On top of this, organic and sustainable producers in the region are providing authentic experiences for a growing number of tourists interested in the social licence of farming.

Orange: the gourmet destination with a reputation for sustainability

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With a growing cellar door and farm gate sector supported by the FOOD Week festival in April and the Orange Wine Festival in October, Orange is gaining recognition as a gourmet food capital. Indeed, in 2017 it was named by travel website booking.com as the second-best food destination in Australia, behind only Mudgee.

The region’s wine industry is only young, but the elevation of the area (600m above sea level) allows for the production of cool-climate wines and gives the region a point of difference. The area drew the attention of internationally-renowned winemakers such as Phillip Shaw roughly 30 years ago. Restaurants serving sustainable and ethically-farmed fare – such as the award-winning Lolli Redini – have become food institutions, popular with locals and visitors alike.

According to Orange City Council’s Mayor Reg Kidd, the local population has embraced its newfound gourmet standing, yet retained an earthy and genuine approach to visitors compared to the slick operations of other known wine and food destinations.

“If you’re doing a wine tasting, for example, you haven’t got 15 young sales people in black tees giving you a spiel, you’re actually talking to the winemaker themselves,” says Mayor Kidd. “Orange is made up of small businesses, and there’s a lot of heart and soul that goes into that – you’re talking to the person who’s doing the work and connecting with our region.”

Orange’s naturally clean and nutrient-rich soils have not only made it an ideal destination for wine growing, but also for establishing organic farms. And visitors

with an interest in food provenance and organic produce are flocking in droves to experience and taste the city’s sustainable food and wine offerings.

Orchards and sustainable producers such as Carbeen Pastured Produce, Rosnay Organic and Borrodell Vineyard have gladly opened their gates to visitors, allowing guests to pick their own fruit and take a peek into real life on the farm with accommodation and hospitality options.

Borry Gartrell of Borrodell Vineyard regularly hosts weddings and other events in his vineyard, and believes helping people to connect with and understand the sustainable food production process is one of the region’s strengths. For producers like Borry it’s the personal touch that makes the difference – a sentiment that is echoed by Sam Statham of Rosnay Organic, located just over the river in neighbouring Canowindra.

“From the tourist’s point of view, you’re getting a more genuine experience – you’re not just visiting a cellar door with a pretty girl behind the counter, you’re getting a down-to-earth experience of our production,” says Sam. “And it helps when everyone around here is sending out the same message about the environmental benefits of sustainable farming and the quality food and wine it can produce.”

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Wanneroo: a peri-urban food bowl with sustainable export ambitions The City of Wanneroo has a rich food history that extends across generations of Aboriginal people and farming families. Located only 25 kilometres north of Perth’s CBD, Wanneroo’s coastal location has made it not just an ideal landscape for a variety of farming operations, but also a growing agricultural hub that can serve both national and international markets.

Wanneroo’s agricultural history dates back to 1852, when its first permanent settlers James and Mary-Ann Cockman successfully established a dairy farm and, in doing so, demonstrated the opportunities the land had to offer farmers. Over the next two decades, the city evolved into a pastoral and farming community with over 60 families setting down roots in the area.

Today, Wanneroo’s agricultural industry is booming, feeding not only its local population, but also the greater region of Perth. In fact, Wanneroo contributes 38 per cent of the total gross value of agricultural commodities produced in Perth and accounts for a significant percentage of vegetables and fruits grown in the region, including the vast majority of sweet corn and more than 90 per cent of the tomatoes and avocadoes.

With local government support, Wanneroo is looking to further expand its agricultural production to tap into the Asian market and sustainably feed the growing population of Perth, while still remaining the periurban food bowl of the region.

“The City of Wanneroo is Western Australia’s largest growing local government authority with a population that now exceeds 207,000,” says Mayor Tracey Roberts.

“With our continued growth comes a greater need to establish and support new and existing industries to drive economic growth, and subsequent employment growth.”

The support of the government has seen farming families thrive in the area. Third-generation and award-winning farmer Jim Trandos believes Wanneroo’s unique location makes it easily accessible to national and international markets, such as Dubai, where he exports his produce three times a week.

“Our family has been farming in Wanneroo since 1939, when my grandfather Dimitrios started growing tomatoes, cabbage and lettuce at Pappas Swamp,” says Jim. “Wanneroo being in the metro area is a huge advantage in terms of access to labour, freight and services, which helps keep the costs of processing and production down.”

Similarly, second-generation strawberry grower Van Truong believes Wanneroo holds an exceptional opportunity for farmers, more so with Australia recognised

internationally as a sustainable producer of quality and safe food. Having visited the Asia Fruit Logistica trade show in Hong Kong recently, Van was impressed with the significant numbers of Asian importers and retailers wanting a taste of Australian produce.

“In Wanneroo there are opportunities for growers to export to the Asian markets,” says Van. “The city is only a 30-minute drive to Perth International Airport and a short five-hour flight to Singapore or Malaysia.”

The local government is committed to ensuring long-term security for the agricultural industry by protecting the remaining viable agriculture land in its northern areas from urban encroachment. The government is also exploring alternative water sources for future agriculture use and establishing sustainable agriculture precincts in the city.

“Agribusiness is one of the emerging industries that has the potential to contribute greatly to economic growth and job growth in the City of Wanneroo,” says Mayor Roberts. “As such, we are now more focused than ever on ensuring we plan effectively when it comes to land retention and protection to help realise our agribusiness aspirations.”

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SOCIAL LICENCE AND SUSTAINABILITY

Facts are only part of the story Answering the question, ‘Do community perceptions of Australian agriculture really matter?’, Matthew Cawood’s essay was judged as the winner of the Australian Farm Institute’s 2013 John Ralph Essay Competition.

WRITTEN BY: MATTHEW CAWOOD Published with thanks to the Australian Farm Institute and Farm Policy Journal.

Those who speak for agriculture have long prided themselves in presenting ‘the facts’. Usually those doing the speaking are farmers who deal in the verities of life, death and fertiliser. They expect that audiences will respond to a truth expressed in facts.

But human truth is all a matter of perception, and perception doesn’t just deal in facts.

When a team led by American neuroscientist Sam Harris examined the human brain’s reactions to fact and belief, it discovered something that says much about whether ‘perceptions matter’.

Our brain apparently doesn’t much care for scientific veracity: it is capable of accepting facts and beliefs alike as true, in the same way, and mixing them into one often-perplexing worldview.

Harris and colleagues determined this by measuring brain activity while they presented a series of statements to a group of committed Christians and a group of equally committed atheists.

When the Christians were given a ‘belief’ statement like ‘Jesus Christ really performed the miracles attributed to him in the Bible’, part of their brain lit up. It was the same part – the ventromedial prefontal cortex – that lit up when atheists were given a ‘fact’ statement like ‘Alexander the Great was a famous military leader’.

It seems, Harris told Newsweek in 2009, that to the brain, facts and human values are inseparable.

“We seem to be doing the same thing when we accept a proposition about God or the virgin birth as we do about astronomy.”

Facts, cherished as the final arbiter of truth, apparently do not much matter. We meld fact and fiction alike into something we call reality.

This is the process that shapes perceptions of agriculture. It helps explain why those perceptions can run in confusing cross-currents, and why, when it comes to shaping perception, facts are only part of the story.

PERCEPTIONS SHAPE AGRICULTURE Farmers enjoy a high reputation in the community.

In the Readers Digest Australia’s Most Trusted Professions 2013 survey, farmers’ tenth ranking was only bettered by professions with people’s lives directly in their hands: firefighters, doctors, pharmacists.

What have farmers done to deserve their reputation, as opposed to, say, soldiers (12th), flight attendants (17th) or plumbers (28th)? Without disparaging farmers, it is likely that this ranking is more perception than hard data. Relatively few farmers now have a direct connection with the public. At a remove, ‘farming’ carries a folk memory of honest sons of the soil – a concept reinforced by retail advertising. This shapes a cultural lens through which farmers are seen in a generous light.

Animal welfare activism puts a different gloss on farming. In this view, the inhuman rigidity of factory farming stamps out humanity toward animals. Persistent, hard-nosed campaigning by the animal welfare lobby has changed regulations and industries.

The ratio of free-range eggs to caged eggs sold in Australia is now 13 per cent higher than a decade ago. (As this essay was being finalised, Woolworths announced plans to phase out sales of all caged eggs by 2018.)

Despite lengthy resistance from within the wool industry to anti-mulesing campaigns, nearly 10 per cent of Merino wool now comes from non-mulesed flocks, and pain relief is used on about 14 per cent of lambs who are mulesed.

These and other trends, initiated by relatively small numbers of people, promise to have considerable momentum: “... in the UK, almost 70% of consumers claim to buy free-range eggs ‘always or often’; a German study of chicken consumers found 59% expressed an interest in buying chicken from higher welfare systems with a further 82% of these willing to pay more for it; and in France, the market for higher welfare Label Rouge chicken in the whole chicken market was over 62% in 2006.”

Amos, N, Sullivan, R (2012), The Business Benchmark on Farm Animal Welfare 2012 Report

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Concepts of good farming versus bad farming – concepts seldom determined by farmers – are being embedded through all levels of society.

Chipotle Scarecrow is a new iOS game developed in collaboration between Moonbot Studios and Chipotle Mexican Grill: “An adventure game that takes place in a world where the evil Crow Foods, a stand-in for factory farms, has a monopoly on food production. You play as the Scarecrow as he tries to keep his fresh vegetables safe, move confined animals to open pastures, plant diverse crops, and feed better food to the people living in City of Plenty.” iMore.com, Chipotle Scarecrow wants you to save the world from industrial food production.

This sort of good/bad farming message takes a different hue in other areas, like the burgeoning Chinese food market. Australia, a high-cost producer, has a competitive advantage in its reputation for ‘clean green’ quality food, which is being deployed in a market weary of food contamination scares.

Whether Australian food in China is cleaner and greener than food from Vietnam will seldom matter, so long as the Chinese consumers are convinced of its worth in their flight from pollution.

The agriculture industry is being shaped by perceptions in other important ways. The Australian community has repeatedly told pollsters that it supports farmers – but that same public doesn’t want to actually work in farming.

Agriculture’s labour shortages are well documented. More troubling is long-term ‘brain drain’, which can’t be quickly reversed. In 2012, there were 700 agricultural graduates to fill about 4000 jobs. Conversely, in 2013 there are expected to be 580 dentistry graduates jostling for 250 places.

Worldwide, the ‘glamour’ professions like medicine, law and, more recently, computer science are attracting the brightest youth. Perceptions of these professions have been boosted by

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high-rating television dramas and feature films that present the work of doctors and lawyers as aspirational. Computer geeks, of course, can get phenomenally rich. Farming appears to offer neither fame, fortune or glamour.

If Australian graduates regard agriculture with caution, they are more open to it than Australian investors. The major property transactions of the past few years have involved overseas money.

Tim Hornibrook, joint Chief Executive of Macquarie Agricultural Funds Management, offered a reason for this phenomenon to The Australian newspaper: ‘When you talk to institutional investors in Australia about the merits of investing into agriculture, their response is that you are the same people that have been telling us for so long what a terrible sector it is. It is hard to argue with them.’

There are large sectors of Australian agriculture driven by pragmatic economics – commodity wheat exports, for instance – but look behind the economics of most agricultural products, and perception is almost always at work. The world is full of trade barriers erected for political reasons.

BUILDING PERCEPTIONS OF AGRICULTURE Perceptions shape agricultural markets, regulation and investment. It is a failing, although understandable, that the agriculture sector itself does little to actively shape these perceptions by telling its own stories.

How farmers, and agriculture, are perceived in the community is largely transmitted through third parties – advertising by retailers and input manufacturers, activists, the media. In turn, much of the activity of these third parties is influenced by consumer sentiment.

Agriculture itself is mostly passive in this swapping of narratives.

Allowing agriculture’s identity to be presented second-hand means that much of the depth, breadth and opportunity of the industry is lost. Not controlling its own story also makes agriculture politically weak. The community does not have a clear idea of the

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industry’s varied roles, its importance, and the imperatives that drive it, but community ideals drive political decision-making.

On the rare occasions that agriculture seeks to directly influence other sectors of society, its spokespeople assume the primacy of fact. Lay out a factual argument, the logic goes, and opinion will inevitably follow.

This thinking frequently fails. During discussion of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan, different sides wielded different facts, or different interpretations of the facts, to the point of impasse. An overwhelming body of factual evidence has been unable to persuade most Australians that anthropogenic climate change is a reality.

Facts are essential, but to be effective in shaping perceptions they must be employed in a device that wraps them in a framework of human meaning.

Apple, which has just overtaken Coca Cola as the world’s most valuable brand, rarely mentions product specifications in its advertising. You don’t learn that the iPhone has two gigabytes of RAM: you learn that it can change your life in several novel ways.

With an iPhone, Apple suggests, you can find new layers of meaning. The ‘spec wars’ are left to other handset makers.

“We are ‘meaning-seeking creatures’. We have imagination and this leads us to wonder about the larger context in which our lives exist. This can lead us into existential despair and since the beginning of human culture we have constructed stories that place us in a larger setting, and thus give us the sense that our lives have meaning. “Reality leaves a lot to the imagination,” to quote John Lennon, and these stories resolve the contradiction between these different types of human experience, providing our lives with a metanarrative to explain them that is integral to all human societies. This role is now performed by brands.”

Yakob, F (1997), Logocentrism, brands as modern myths

‘BRAND AGRICULTURE’ The human desire for meaning is well understood by brand-builders. Businesses like Red Bull, Apple, Nike and Starbucks produce nothing essential, yet through a potent mix of good product design

and myth-making they have built great companies.

Making sense and creating meaning of its ‘brand’ (a term used here for the sake of convenience) would help put Australian agriculture in a position of significantly greater strength. Developing an identity more accessible and appealing than a set of statistics will provide a platform, now almost entirely absent, through which to appeal for greater recruitment and investment, and give the industry added weight in political debate.

Agriculture is too complex and diverse to be a brand in the conventional sense, but it can borrow some of the brand-builders’ techniques.

Ty Montague of the co:collective branding consultancy has coined an awkward term, ‘storydoing’, for companies like Red Bull that ‘advance their narrative with action’. As a range of third parties are ready to advance agriculture’s narrative with their own action, this seems to be a prudent model to proactively adopt.

Montague lists a sequence of attributes for a ‘storydoing’ brand: • They have a story.

• The story is about a larger ambition to make the world

or people’s lives better.

• The story is understood and cared about by senior

leadership outside of marketing.

• That story is being used to drive tangible action

throughout the company: product development, human

resources policies, compensation.

• These actions add up to a cohesive whole.

• Customers and partners are motivated to engage with

the story and are actively using it to advance their own

stories.

Agriculture’s story is easy to summarise, and to sympathise with: producer of food and fibre to keep the nation fed, clothed and healthy; steward of the land for future generations; the social life-blood of vast tracts of Australia outside the capital cities.

However, the fourth and fifth points in Montague’s list present substantial hurdles to developing agriculture-as-brand.

A company is a cohesive entity, with the same values operating across business divisions. Agriculture is a collection of small

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businesses with values that run the full gamut of the values chart. Any agency presuming to speak for the entire agricultural sector is going to run into dissent.

Imagining agriculture as a brand, though, it is possible to see universal values that accord with social trends, and with agriculture’s long-term viability. Agriculture should, for instance, aspire to continuous improvements in animal welfare, a constant shrinking of its environmental footprint, a reinvigoration of rural communities and to deliver delight to consumers.

These are common-sense ambitions across all agricultural sectors – so why not present them as part of agriculture’s story? Rather than just being straightforward business goals, they become part of agriculture’s myth.

The hard bit: if any agricultural entity violates the values of the brand, they would have to be publicly denounced by the brand’s guardians (see below) – otherwise the brand immediately loses credibility. If a feedlot was found to be mistreating animals, for instance, ‘Brand Agriculture’ would be obliged to actively condemn the feedlot’s actions.

This could be extremely difficult – but the degree of difficulty would be inversely proportional to the degree of credibility gained by agriculture as a whole if it was seen to be supporting community values against its own internal transgressions.

In time, the realisation that violating Brand Agriculture’s values would, at best, get no support from within industry, and at worst invite condemnation from it, might be an extra incentive for operators to abide by a code of conduct. “... if I were trying to invent a mythic brand, I’d want to be sure that there was a story, not just a product or a pile of facts. That story would promise (and deliver) an heroic outcome...”

Godin, S (2012), Brand as mythology

BUILDING THE BRAND Creating a structure to support and promote Brand Agriculture will be no small feat: this is an industry where people can quarrel over the need for investment in basic research and development.

Ideally, brand development would be seen as an extension activity – not extension inwards to members of a farming sector, but extension outwards to the wider community: a long-term investment in community goodwill, recruitment, political capital and new sources of financial capital.

In this light, it might be financially possible to have one member of each agricultural Research and Development Corporation (RDC) board be a ‘Brand Agriculture’ specialist. These individuals would be chosen as ‘creatives’ able to pick out the brand narrative of each sector: the story it needs to tell.

That information could be conveyed to board chairs, to be incorporated into public statements; to

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those producing publicity material on behalf of the sector; broadcast through social media and conventional media; and delivered to producers, who can adopt the story in their own thinking.

The information would also flow up to a peak Brand Agriculture body, on which all the RDC creatives would sit along with a media-friendly chair and spokesperson. The spokesperson, perhaps operating out of the National Farmers’ Federation, would be the public face of agriculture as a whole – ideally, more public than its political leaders, who are often obliged to convey an unpopular message.

In crisis, a sector would channel much of its communications through Brand Agriculture – for instance, to reinforce how far removed the problem is from the sector’s aspirations, and how the sector is getting back on track.

Funding could be drawn from RDC extension budgets and sponsorships. Budgets would inevitably be tight, and large splashy advertising campaigns difficult – unless the industry or a sector believed enough in the value of a campaign to fund it.

The aftermath of the 2011 live cattle export suspension is an example of a critical point where an industry sector might invest in shoring up public goodwill as the most effective means of shoring up political support. Currently there is no mechanism to allow this.

Persuading the agriculture industry that it needed something like Brand Agriculture would be challenging, but it could be the first test of the concept.

Farmers and other players in agriculture need to be engaged by the story the brand wants to convey: getting that engagement from cynical levy-payers is likely to be the harshest test of the process.

CONCLUSION Perceptions matter. Perceptions are not shaped by facts, but by stories that help people frame their lives with meaning. Agriculture as a whole has lost control of its story, handing its telling off to third parties – even if some agricultural enterprises are making an outstanding job of crafting their individual narratives.

Taking control of its own myth – why it exists, how it contributes to society, its internal laws – could help agriculture regain a place in the affections of the community that it has not occupied for decades. Being recognised as being an intrinsic part of people’s lives, and the life of the nation, would make the industry more attractive to people and capital and establish a more sympathetic environment in which to respond to critics and shape political debate.

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“Reason is the natural order of truth; but imagination is the organ of meaning.”

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SOCIAL LICENCE AND SUSTAINABILITY

Related Links A collection of links relating to social licence and sustainability, in Australia and worldwide, that may benefit the farmer.

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Art4Agriculture

CSIRO research into agricultural sustainability

Founded by Lynne Strong, Art4Agriculture designs and delivers community events that celebrate the diversity, sustainability and creativity of the agricultural industry. Significant projects include the Archibull Prize and the Young Farming Champions program.

The CSIRO Agriculture team is conducting a wide range of research to help farmers and the agricultural industry improve sustainability and productivity.

Landcare

An online community dedicated to anyone living or working in agriculture.

Find your local Landcare group anywhere in Australia. You can also learn more about Landcare’s From Farm to Fork initiative, which supports sustainable Australian farmers and educates children about the origins of their food.

From Paddock to Plate An initiative from journalist Louise FitzRoy aimed at raising the profile of Australian agriculture and educating people about the origins of their food and the importance of supporting local producers.

The social licence aims of the National Food Plan from the federal Department of Agriculture and Water Resources

Farmz

The Farm Table The Farm Table is an independent, cross-industry information portal for Australian agriculture, providing information about sustainable agricultural techniques and natural resource management.

FutureBeef FutureBeef aims to assist graziers and the beef supply chain in northern Australia to increase production profitability and sustainability, as a partner of Meat and Livestock Australia.

Sustainable Farming Practices

In 2013 the federal government released the National Food Plan, which included a series of goals for the Australian agriculture and food industries.

A collection of sources and information for farmers about sustainable farming practices from the Queensland government.

Selected excerpts from Defending the Social Licence of Farming

Wheatbelt Natural Resource Management is an independent community-based organisation that focuses on the sustainable management of Australia’s natural resources through various strategies and projects.

Defending the Social Licence of Farming is a 2011 book published

by CSIRO Publishing and edited by Paul Martin and Jacqueline Williams. The above link is an excerpt, you can purchase the full book from CSIRO Publishing here.

The National Association for Sustainable Agriculture, Australia (NASAA)

Wheatbelt

Saltland Genie Providing farmers with information about dryland salinity and resources and techniques to sustainably solve salinity issues.

NASAA is a non-profit association of over 1000 members, supporting the education of industry and consumers on organic and sustainable agricultural practices. It also provides certification of organic products via NASAA Certified Organic.

Facey Group

Target 100

AGT is a market leader in grain technology, focusing on new grain varieties that will greatly impact on the profitability, sustainability and prosperity of grain growers all over the country.

Target 100 is an initiative by Australian cattle and sheep farmers to deliver sustainable cattle and sheep farming by 2020, leaving the land, waterways, vegetation and soil in a better state for future generations. You can watch a short video on Target 100 here.

The Facey Group is a farmer run group that aims to improve onfarm practice to keep farms healthy and profitable into the future.

Australian Grain Technologies

Grains Guide Grain Producers Australia, along with state farming organisations and other grain associations, has produced the Grains Guide – full of useful advice on all aspects of grain growing, including sustainable farming, biosecurity and upholding Australia’s reputation for high quality grains.

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SCIENCE AND INNOVATION

Overview:

Case study:

Case study:

Case study:

Related Links

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David Hamilton explores why close collaboration in agriculture is key The complicated partnership between science and food Leveraging image and machine learning developments to better analyse cattle herds Focus on innovation drives Nufarm’s success in global ag market

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Agricultural scientists deliver on innovation WRITTEN BY: DAVID HAMILTON - CHAIR AG INSTITUTE AUSTRALIA

Agricultural and Natural Resource Management scientists provide much of the innovation that has been essential to maintaining a profitable and progressive Australian agriculture. Our agriculture is among the most productive and efficient in the world, and is also regarded as being one of the most innovative.

Do we deserve this title? What leads to innovation?

What are our past successes and what do we need to do to foster innovation for future generations?

Science underpins much of the innovation in Australian agriculture, but the process of innovation is neither straightforward nor predictable.

Some of the innovations we have seen in the last thirty years have been transformational in nature, and some have been incremental. Both are

important. Transformational innovations, such as the technologies that the modern cotton industry has embraced and the changes in dryland cropping with zero or reduced tillage and controlled traffic, have been amazing for those of us who have worked closely with these industries.

But so have been other innovations such as the breeding of pest- and disease-resistant varieties, the development of new and improved pesticides which are environmentally benign, the solving of productivity problems associated with soil fertility, improvements in livestock fertility and nutrition – the list goes on. These innovations are incremental in nature but all are nonetheless very important in improving productivity in agriculture.

Most of these innovations have come from scientists, although scientists have not accomplished all of this alone. Most of their good ideas have been nurtured by agribusiness and developed and adopted by progressive farmers.

PRODUCTIVITY GAINS DEPEND ON INNOVATION While productivity gains in certain agricultural production systems have been substantial (more than 1.5 per cent yearly), other sectors have had more modest growth.

In the past three decades, for example, the cotton industry gains in productivity have exceeded 1.5 per cent yearly – the best gains in the world. But the gains in grains and sugar have been less than 1 per cent yearly.

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As the driest inhabited continent in the world, Australia has – by necessity – developed as a worldleader in innovative irrigation technology and management. Companies across the country are creating the technology and systems that allow Australian farmers to produce more with less and stay competitive in global markets.

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Variation exists even within the grains industry itself: in summer cropping regions for example, gains have been more substantial, although this is difficult to measure given the large seasonal variations experienced. Grain sorghum advances in productivity have exceeded 1.5 per cent yearly, but for wheat, for example, yearly gains have been less than 1 per cent.

In the sugar and animal production industries, advances in the efficiency of water use and labour have been substantial, even if productivity gains have been less than 1 per cent yearly. These gains in productivity and efficiency are directly related to innovation.

THE ROLE OF SCIENCE In many cases, transformational technologies have been created in the public sector (often at Universities and organisations like CSIRO and state departments of agriculture), developed and commercialised by the private sector and then subsequently embraced by farmers.

Significant examples include the use of genetically modified (GM) crop varieties, the development of Global Positioning System (GPS) technologies and the widespread adoption of zero till, controlled traffic farming (CTF) systems. The livestock industries have their own advances, including those in genetics such as estimated breeding values and meat quality (including innovations made through Meat Standards Australia).

Highlighting the roles played by scientists, agribusiness and farmers, there are two prominent examples of innovation at work.

Modern Australian GM cotton varieties

have delivered an 89 per cent reduction in use of pesticides (comparing five year averages for the periods between 2008-2013 and 1998-2003) and a 40 per cent increase in water use efficiency (1.1 bales/ML in 20002001 to 1.9 bales/ML in 2009-2010).

The origins of this transformational technology are found in the discovery of the structure of DNA. This discovery has been attributed to the scientists Watson and Crick, who first published their work in an issue of Nature in 1953. This was seen at first as ‘blue sky’ research – that is, research without a clear, real-world application.

Later, in the early 1970s, the first genetic transformations were made, again with university research, and in 1986 the first field trials of genetically engineered plants were conducted in France and the USA. Monsanto (which did not discover the genes for insect resistance and herbicide resistance but licenced the technology) worked in Australia with the CSIRO scientists in the cotton-breeding program and with Cotton Seed Distributors (CSD), who produced the seed for farmers to plant. The CSIRO cotton-breeding program provided the high yielding, regionally adapted, disease-resistant varieties with high-quality fibre attributes into which the insect-resistant genes were introduced.

Local Australian research and extension provided the essential knowledge to deliver Integrated Pest Management to the industry, as well as insect and weed resistance management strategies. Crop consultants provided the necessary farm advice to enable rapid farm uptake.

The first cotton variety containing Bt (a bacteria harmful to insects) was Ingard cotton – containing the Cry1Ac gene –

released in Australia in 1996. We now have commercial cotton varieties with two Bt genes (Cry1Ac and Cry2Ab) and two varieties for glyphosate resistance (RoundUp Ready Flex). Varieties with a third gene for insect resistance (Vip3A) were commercially trialled in the 2015-2016 summer.

This example of a transformational innovation highlights the roles of universities and CSIRO in agricultural ‘blue sky’ research; agribusiness (Monsanto and CSD) in the commercialisation of technology; local publicly funded research and extension efforts in the delivery of field technology to its end users; and private consultants in enabling farmers to make full use of the technology. The collaboration of all the necessary parties in the innovation process was essential.

The second example is the transformational innovation of minimum tillage and controlled traffic farming in Australia.

Machinery guidance based on GPS technology has its origins in the military use of the technology. The United States government created the system, maintains it and makes it freely accessible to anyone with a GPS receiver. The use of GPS technology specifically in tractor guidance had its origins in various US and Australian universities. This was then taken up by machinery manufacturers, who now market their machinery with advanced GPS technologies.

PROBLEM-SOLVING SCIENCE Transformational science is not the science of everyday agriculture. Most of the time, agricultural scientists take incremental steps in solving problems and improving agricultural productivity. Even this approach takes years of training, long-term development of skills, careful design and implementation of experiments and skilful analysis and interpretation of data – in some cases, large amounts of data.

Every day, agricultural scientists are working on problems such as creating disease- and insect-resistant varieties, understanding soils and how to maintain and improve soil fertility, improving irrigation techniques, improving crop establishment, enhancing livestock reproductive capacity, improving animal nutrition, building systems for better food quality and so on.

Even though sometimes these incremental innovations do not get the recognition some of the transformational technologies do, they are every bit as important. These ‘smaller’ innovations provide bases upon which to build the

the australian farmer pillars of progress. Transformational science makes the big steps, but agricultural scientists everywhere make their contribution through their own work, no matter the scope.

SO, WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED ABOUT INNOVATION? Clearly, serendipity plays a role in innovation. Having said that, we also need scientists working and focused on the pressing problems in agriculture. Most often these scientists have been publicly funded, but not always. But almost invariably, they have received training at university or another public institution.

Then we need the ideas developed by ag scientists to be tested and developed.

Again the public sector plays a role, but increasingly so, close engagement with agribusiness and farmers or other end-users of the innovation has become necessary to ensure practical application.

Private companies and independent consultants play a key role in commercialisation. In the examples of transformational innovations above, without farm corporations and the seed and

chemical companies the innovations would have most likely not succeeded. These companies thrive on a business proposition that generates wealth.

The other thing we have learned is that this is not a quick process, nor is it entirely predictable. If we knew the outcome before the work was undertaken, it would in no way be innovative!

For this reason, our science processes must enable long-term commitment to an area of science without rigidly managed work. Innovation needs space for creativity!

Investment in science requires acceptance of the risk that not all work will have a favourable outcome; sometimes even an ‘unfavourable’ outcome adds to the body of knowledge.

We also must have a mix of exploratory (‘blue sky’) and incremental science with science processes that encourage collaboration.

For successful innovation in agriculture to flourish in the future, we need strong leadership and commitment by farmers and farm leaders to participate in research in an active extension of the developmental processes that are started by publicly

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funded professionals working together with private consultants. Close collaboration is the key.

A FINAL EXAMPLE When considering the subject I think immediately of a friend of mine who welcomed researchers onto his property for field trials on insect pest management.

By participating in the scientists’ research on a daily basis, the friend learned about insect ecology and the nuclear polyhedrosis virus (NPV) that played a role in the method of naturally controlling insect pests in his fields that the researchers were exploring. He learned about how the virus propagated itself in the insect pests and then used his new knowledge to devise a way to mass-produce the NPV insecticide.

The company he established now has international markets success as a natural insecticide that is highly effective in a number of crops and has extraordinarily benign impacts on the environment.

He emphasises the importance of collaboration, highlighting in his company’s brochures the idea of farmers and agricultural scientists working closely together.

The future of agricultural innovation relies on agricultural scientists actively working in their field and working closely with farmers in actual fields.

Farmers who demonstrate leadership and support of RD&E and actively engage with scientists are most likely to be able to capitalise on innovation.

Agribusiness has a key role in commercialisation and farm advisors accelerate the rate of adoption of new technology.

This is how we should build our future.

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‘It’s complicated’: The relationship between science and food WRITTEN BY: DR HEATHER BRAY & PROF RACHEL A ANKENY SCHOOL OF HUMANITIES, UNIVERSITY OF ADELAIDE

Food and science have a complex relationship in contemporary Western societies. Although science has a fundamental role in providing access to affordable, safe and nutritious food for many, the role of science in food production seems to be challenged by movements such as political and ethical consumerism, natural and slow-food advocates and dietary trends such as the Paleo diet.

At the same time, the continued application of science and technology in food production is advocated by many as being the solution to ensuring global food security in the face of challenges such as an increasing population, altered distribution of global wealth and a changing climate.

However, the claim that science is needed to address food security needs in the face of a changing climate seems to be falling on deaf ears in societies where food is abundant, choice is overwhelming and diseases of excess are increasing. So is science the scourge or the saviour of food production?

We have used science to fiddle with our food for thousands of years; through plant and animal domestication, the development of fermentation and food preservation practices and the introduction of foreign plants and animals into new locales.

We used science not just to make our food safer and last longer or to unlock valuable nutrients, but also to experience new tastes. Foods have acquired sociocultural meanings beyond their nutritional content, particularly since we stopped eating merely to survive: for example, many religions have food restrictions and consumption practices as articles of faith.

Celebratory events became associated with special meals or dishes, and the development of culinary traditions allowed food to become an expression of wealth, status, nationalism and personal identity.

However it is the continued development of science and technology and its application

to food production, particularly in recent years, that seems to raise anxieties. Issues such as genetically modified (GM) crops and foods and the use of agricultural chemicals are key examples of situations where the use of science in food production is particularly complex.

The development of recombinant DNA techniques and their application to food plants in the 1970s is arguably the most important scientific intervention in the food system in recent years, and also the most contested. It may be less important than the “green revolution” in terms of actual impacts on agricultural productivity, but the ability to alter the DNA of plants and animals in new ways certainly led to increased government and public interest in agriculture and food production.

In its early years, particularly from the scientists’ point of view, GM technology showed great promise as a new and more efficient tool to do what agricultural scientists had always been doing: creating new crops and types of animals to feed a growing and increasingly sophisticated public demanding cheap and convenient food.

As environmentalism became more popular, and more recently with our understanding of climate change, GM was seen as fitting with ideas of producing less with more and was aligned with the sustainable intensification of agriculture as a way to both reduce the contribution of agriculture to climate change and adapt to its effects. The emerging food security issue soon became a dominant part of

pro-GM discourse, in particular the idea that GM was needed in order to be able to feed the projected 2050 population of 9 billion people. Overall rates of adoption of GM crops have been more rapid in developing nations than in developed nations overall, since GM is claimed to deliver tangible social benefits to small-scale farmers by increasing agricultural productivity through disease resistance and improved weed management.

The story of community attitudes towards GM crops is a little different. Putting aside the ethical conundrum of whether we should ever manipulate ‘nature’ via genetic modification or anything similar, the central narrative has been that GM foods are perceived as risky in various senses. Although the fear of GM foods, which heightened in the 1990s, seems to have lessened in recent years, many are still concerned that GM foods represent unknown risks not really worth taking.

GM is seen merely as a way for “Big Ag” to increase profits rather than something that is beneficial to the individual consumer (by making food more nutritious, for instance) or provides social benefits to farmers more broadly. For many in the community, uncertainty about benefits is reason enough to avoid consuming GM foods.

But the links to large, multinational plant protection companies is also a particularly dominant issue in Australia, where the only GM food crop that has been commercialised is a canola that has been genetically modified to tolerate the herbicide glyphosate, also known

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Farmers can now capture a huge amount of data concerning all areas of their production. The ability to refine this data into beneficial information using apps and digital technology is the way forward for Australian farmers.

as Round Up™. While it is true that in Australia multinationals are involved in the development of GM crops, a quick look at the licence applications to the Office of the Gene Technology Regulator shows that a number of public institutions are also involved, and many GM modifications are not related to herbicide tolerance but are rather intended to provide potential benefits for consumers, farmers and the environment.

The link between GM crops and chemical use is quite strong, with agricultural chemical use also being an issue of concern in the community. The use of pesticides in Australia has increased in recent decades, in part due to the adoption of ‘minimum tillage’ in the grains sector.

Minimum tillage aims to increase soil health, reduce soil erosion and maintain soil organic matter and water-holding capacity by keeping the previous crop’s stubble in the ground. In addition, the use of minimum tillage can reduce the loss of greenhouse gases such as nitrous oxide and carbon dioxide from cropping systems. Agricultural chemical use also has an important role in insect and disease control in the horticultural sector, ensuring that more of the food produced reaches the market.

Increased sales of organic food in Australia in the last decade have been linked to a desire to avoid agricultural chemicals because of concerns about their impact on human health and the environment, but there is also a perception among consumers that organic food is tastier and more nutritious than its conventional counterparts, making it difficult to estimate actual levels of concern in the community.

It seems as though those in the developed world – who have arguably gained the most from the use of sciencerelated agricultural practices that provide affordable, plentiful and safe food – are now rejecting those practices. So does this mean that people are rejecting science and technology, in which case the solution is to educate people about the importance of science and technology? Or should we be looking at this problem differently?

The public is right to be concerned about food production. The resources used to produce our food are not limitless, and in Australia it is particularly important to consider the impacts of food production on our unique and often extreme environment.

We also have public health issues such as chronic metabolic diseases that are linked to our food consumption habits. At an individual level, consumers have to make choices quickly based on increasingly complex and competing claims about what is better for them, for their communities and the planet. In this situation, people tend to resort to food producers who they trust (or brands, labels or certifications as proxies) based on the perception of shared values.

Research into community attitudes to science in food production is starting to move beyond the idea that rejecting things like GM foods is a rejection of ‘science’ and revealing that our relationships with both science and food are far more complex, involving numerous social and cultural aspects.

We know there are still high levels of trust in Australian farmers but Australians generally know little about current food production practices, which makes it

difficult to talk to the general public about the risks and benefits of agricultural innovations.

Although it might be tempting to fill this knowledge gap with facts about agricultural production, we also know from looking at science communication research on public education campaigns that increasing knowledge alone is not the answer to building trust. Shared values are more important, and understanding the values that producers and the broader community share about food production will be key to improving communication. Although we still need more research in this area to understand what these values are, we can already start to shift the conversation away from ‘educating’ the community about agriculture and towards thinking about ways to improve trust in the food system.

Science will always have a role in food production, but particularly science that is done by and for the benefit of people.

Through our research we hope to identify new ways of looking at public engagement with food production and more constructive ways to engage the community in conversations about how we sustainably produce safe, healthy and affordable food now and into the future.

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Hi-tech imaging of livestock, from paddock to plate AUTHOR: FIONA McGILL UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY SYDNEY

Farmers will soon have new ways of raising prime beef that will better satisfy market requirements and meet consumer demand. The University of Technology Sydney (UTS) is developing an artificial intelligence system able to give an objective assessment of animal conditions to guide livestock producers as they prepare their herds for market.

Robotics expert Alen Alempijevic, a senior lecturer in the Faculty of Engineering and IT at UTS, is developing technology that uses inexpensive, offthe-shelf cameras to analyse cattle as they pass through a yard. Sensors operating at 30 frames per second capture 3D images of each cow’s fat and muscle deposits, which are then used to calculate an accurate “condition score” for each beast.

A beef producer could then use this analysis

to decide, for example, the nature and duration of a feeding regime to bring an animal to prime condition, or how to manage their breeding program. The technology could also be used by saleyard buyers and meat processors when selecting live animals.

Dr Alempijevic has now received funding for his research through to 2020 under a $4.8 million federal government grant awarded to Meat & Livestock

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Australia (MLA). The next stage of his work will include monitoring live animals and carcasses to better understand what determines yield and product quality.

Richard Apps is the research program manager at MLA, which is using the Rural Research and Development grant to finance a range of projects for the beef and lamb industries while also collaborating with the pork industry.

Mr Apps, also a beef producer at Armidale on the NSW northern tablelands, says beef and lamb producers are crying out for better tools to measure and manage their stock to hit yield and eating-quality benchmarks.

When an animal at slaughter does not fall within the industry grid and Meat Standards Australia (MSA) grading for eating quality, the loss for non-compliance can be as high as $300 per beast.

“At the moment we rely on poor information from a range of different measures, and accuracy can be as low as 20 to 30 per cent. This technology could double that accuracy rate and that would mean a transformative shift in livestock management.

“A novel project like this fits with our commitment to Australian red meat producers to support good science that will

improve production efficiency and create better food products for our markets.”

Dr Alempijevic used cattle assessors’ expertise in visually grading fat and muscle as the starting point for developing his live animal imaging device.

“An animal deposits muscle and fat in different areas of the body, which results in different shapes,” he says. “Humans do not perceive dimensions accurately, but they are inherently capable of discriminating shape differences.

“The next step was to turn a shape, such as muscling, into a mathematical description and assign it a value.”

Using the mathematical description along with a fat measurement obtained by ultrasound and the muscle score ascribed by an expert assessor, Dr Alempijevic and his team taught their machine to estimate an animal’s condition based on the 3D shape the machine senses.

“Essentially, we are enabling computers to think and reason about what they see,” he says.

The start of Dr Alempijevic’s research coincided with the end of a research project run by the NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI) that involved creating a genetically diverse herd of 230 Angus cows

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and their progeny. At the time, affordable sensors capable of providing 3D mapping were just hitting the market.

During the past four years, Dr Alempijevic has spent many hours in the cattle yards and paddocks of regional NSW where he has photographed tens of thousands of frames of the rear ends of purebred Angus cattle.

“This technology only became sufficiently accurate, fast and affordable within the past few years, which has really spurred the research,” he says.

Dr Alempijevic says his ongoing research with the NSW DPI and MLA aims to help farmers produce the product that is most in-demand from domestic and overseas consumers.

“If the farmers can match what we like in terms of expectation, then we’re satisfied and they get optimum value. If there’s a tool that will assist them, it’s passing the parameters of consumer demand straight to the farmer.”

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Focus on innovation drives Nufarm’s success in global ag market Nufarm’s strong relationship with Australian farmers (see page 26) is the backbone of its business, but the company’s commitment to local R&D and focus on Australian-led innovation is what sets it apart from its competitors.

Nufarm’s products are designed to help Australian growers effectively improve their yields, and this extends outside of the agricultural chemical sphere with Nufarm’s subsidiary Nuseed aiming to revolutionise the canola market in a sustainable and environmentally beneficial way.

Nufarm maintains its Australia-first focus with three major manufacturing sites that supply products for both domestic and international markets. And whereas other multinational companies are leaving Australian shores, Nufarm is investing heavily in Australian manufacturing. In the last two years alone, $15 million has been spent on a major reconfiguration of Nufarm’s ‘Raymond Road’ insecticide and fungicide manufac-

Nufarm’s global formulations centre for excellence in Melbourne designs and develops products specifically for Australian conditions.

turing facility in Laverton, Victoria, and more than $4 million in investment has funded a state-of-the-art wettable granules facility at the company’s ‘Pipe Road’ location in the same town.

“We know we can’t sit still, we have recently commenced a new major capital improvement program across our facilities to make them safer, more efficient and to ensure that we supply reliably to our customers,” says Peter O’Keeffe, Regional General Manager for Australia and New Zealand. “We’re proud to boast a strong Australian manufacturing footprint supported by a network of regional service centres in rural communities.

“With this backbone, we pride ourselves on our unmatched ability to quickly and reliably supply quality product to our customers all over Australia. Our ability to be responsive is a huge differentiator for us, as many of our competitors rely on long lead times because they are importing product formulated overseas.”

The bonus of Nufarm’s global headquarters being located in Australia is the significance placed on its home market by the local Executive team and access to the company’s best resources – including a global formulations centre for excellence – enjoyed by the local arm of the business. These extensive resources are leveraged by local R&D teams, designing and developing products specifically for Australian farming conditions.

“Big global companies and the smaller generics do not place the same level of importance on Australia as we do,” says Peter. “We specifically develop products for the Australian market.”

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At Nuseed’s Horsham Innovation Centre, scientists develop canola plant traits for top agronomic performance and nutritional benefits.

Through this commitment to Australian R&D, Nufarm has built a reputation for relevant and grower-focused innovation. In fact, Nufarm was collectively granted more unique label extensions by the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority from 2013 to 2016 than any other crop protection supplier. It is the sign of an innovative and committed manufacturer of products that prioritises Australian growers first and foremost.

CANOLA FOR TODAY AND TOMORROW In just over ten years Nuseed, a wholly owned subsidiary of Nufarm, has become the canola industry leader in Australia thanks to dedication and continuous investment in research and development. An important key to that success is the Horsham Innovation Centre.

This industry-leading facility opened in 2013 and brings together Nuseed Australia’s business services, logistics, sales and marketing plus research and breeding activities. It’s also the global centre for Nuseed’s canola breeding programs. The experts working in the Horsham laboratories and glasshouses are using the world’s best germplasm, molecular research and intense blackleg screening to make huge advances in canola production in Australia and around the world.

“From open pollinated canola varieties to hybrids with input traits, like our new HyTTec® canola with Triazine tolerance and increased blackleg resistance or our speciality oil Monola®, we’re delivering the products Australian canola growers want and need today, while developing tomorrow’s traits,” says Andrew Loorham, commercial manager for Nuseed Australia.

One of the traits in development at Nuseed that is aimed at tomorrow’s markets is an omega-3 can-

ola platform. Developed in collaboration with the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) and the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC), the omega-3 canola platform stands to be the first to produce longchain omega-3 oils similar to those found in fish oil, the major source of omega-3. Submissions for regulatory approvals have been made in Australia, Canada and the United States.

Omega-3 oils, particularly the long-chain EPA and DHA types typically found in oily fish, are important for human and fish health. Demand for these oils is increasing year-on-year, while existing supply from fish oil is limited. Developing new, sustainable sources of these healthy long-chain omega-3 oils is essential.

Omega-3 canola won’t be Nuseed’s first contract crop grown for its healthy oil profile. Over the last decade, the company has been directly providing end-use customers – such as restaurant chains – with higher stability oil that has a substantially healthier fatty acid profile through its Monola program. The program provides a valuable contract opportunity for Australian canola growers and a healthier choice for restaurants and their customers.

Nuseed’s revolutionary advances in canola is just one example of the commitment to innovation and beneficial product development that occurs under the Nufarm umbrella. This thriving Australian company is proving to be a world-leader in technological and genetic advancement, and a significant player in the global agricultural market.

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Related Links A collection of links relating to science and innovation, in Australia and worldwide, that may benefit the farmer.

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CSIRO’s Agriculture and Food team

National Primary Industries RD&E Framework

Conducts research into plant, food and animal sciences and many more agricultural areas, partnering with small or large producers to improve productivity and profitability.

RD&E priorities and strategies for individual sectors and cross-sector collaboration with the goal of establishing nationally inter-connected networks of industry and research.

Ag Institute Australia

National Soil RD&E Strategy An example of an RD&E strategy that details research on soil health and other advancements that can keep farmers up-to-date on agriscience. Additional details and goals can be found in the government’s Agricultural Competitiveness White Paper.

The peak industry body for agricultural and natural resource management professionals, with plenty of news concerning the industry.

The Rural Research & Development Corporations The 15 Rural Research & Development Corporations (RDCs) are government-funded to deliver tangible and practical improvements in terms of profitability, sustainability and productivity.

Agriculture at The Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (ATSE) Research and policy advice based on enhancing Australia’s agricultural prosperity through technological innovation, with submissions and reports on water use efficiency, new technologies, opportunities in food and fibre, pesticide use and many more.

The NSW government’s Farm Innovation Fund A loan package available to NSW farmers to address risks, improve infrastructure and ensure long-term productivity and sustainable land use. With up to $80 million in funds available, the website includes details on how to apply and successful case studies.

Australia’s Chief Scientist on technology and agriculture Audio of Dr Alan Finkel, Australia’s Chief Scientist, speaking about technology and innovation in Australian agriculture.

The Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) A government authority that invests in applied research to improve productivity and sustainability in developing countries.

Australian farmers and agribusinesses benefit through knowledge and technology exchange and the building of links to foster future trade relationships.

Videos from the Borlaug Institute Videos include a look into a U.S.-based initiative to establish small-scale irrigation systems in water-scarce regions, offering a fascinating look into the importance of international scientific collaboration.

Nuffield International Farming Scholar reports Research by international farming scholars dating back to 2006.

Agricultural Sciences Journal Publically accessible scientific research journal to keep people in the loop about ag science.

Agricultural and Food Science Journal An international, peer-reviewed research journal offering free online access to back issues.

Popular ag science from Discover Magazine Offers casual reads on quirks of and discoveries in agricultural science.

International Journal of Agricultural Sciences Another open-access ag journal offering downloads of research papers.

Agriscience tames an alien land An essay on the history of agriscience in Australia by Professor Lindsay Falvey that featured in our companion publication, Boundless Plains to Share.

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Overview: Overview:

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Walter Jehne cracks the soil debate Lyn Abbott and John Bennett provide a scientific introduction to soil health From chemical accident to booming natural fertiliser business Against all odds: Turning sand into profit A fresh approach to soil Changing the Australian approach to soil health Managing erosion for better yields

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Cracking the soil debate WRITTEN BY: WALTER JEHNE HEALTHY SOILS AUSTRALIA

Since colonisation, Australian soils have suffered degradation as farmers sought to feed a growing national – and global – population.

Walter Jehne asks how we can feed everybody while protecting the very lifeblood of agriculture.

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Australia has 770 million hectares and a population of less than 24 million people. But while we may have 20 times more land per person than the global average, what really matters is the capacity of that land to sustain all the needs of each person, not the relative area.

The key question is whether the land and its soils can sustain the essential water, food, clean air and services necessary for human health and survival in the face of increasing climate extremes, finite fossil fuels, demands on water and other resources, land degradation and increasing population pressure and demand.

We must regenerate and sustain the health of our soils and landscapes so they can not only supply these needs, but provide the knowledge and wisdom to help others do it as well. We need to address not only Australia’s current and future food security needs, but ensure the secure supply of adequate affordable food and the ecological sustainability of how that food is produced.

The Aboriginals’ skilled care of the Australian landscape enabled them to prosper for more than 50,000 years, despite climate extremes and resource limits. By contrast, throughout time most other human civilisations – who were less attuned to ecological limits – failed.

What was the natural condition of our soils that enabled the evolution of Australia’s highly resilient and productive biosystems, despite resource limits and a dry, variable and extreme climate? What have we done to these soils and the processes that governed this resilience and productivity? What must we do to regenerate these or otherwise sustainably secure key soil outcomes?

How do we best do this given our understanding, technological capabilities and impending crises?

Can we best meet our challenge and its desired performance outcomes at minimal risk, through either another engineered high technology green revolution (like that of the Second World War era which saw proliferation of synthetic fertilisers, intensive cropping techniques and expansion of irrigation infrastructure), or the ecological regeneration of the natural processes that govern soil health and outcomes?

To answer these questions we must first recognise the unique aspects of Australia’s soils and landscape.

THE DRIEST CONTINENT Relative to most other continents, many of Australia’s soils have developed on very old rocks and marine sediments that have been leached of the essential mineral nutrients needed for plant growth.

They are often highly oxidised, weathered, acidic and have high salt levels.

Furthermore, much of Australia receives relatively low rainfall, with an annual average of just 450 millimetres. In most places, this is variable in both its reliability and intensity, often causing acute floods or droughts. To overcome these constraints, Australia’s soils and the biosystems that evolved and adapted to grow on them evolved sophisticated means to repair, solubilise, access and recycle the often low levels of available soil nutrients. Our soils and biosystems similarly evolved sophisticated means to harvest, infiltrate, retain, efficiently use and recycle all rainfall and moisture to sustain plant growth and maximise drought resilience.

In large part these adaptations were made possible by the evolution and selection of a range of: 1. Unique microbes, particularly fungi that were able to fix, solubilise, access and recycle the limited supply of plant nutrients from these rocks and soils to sustain plant growth.

2. Highly adapted microbes that were able to biodecompose the often sclerophyllous plant debris in situ or in the intestines of herbivores to aid the formation of stable soil carbon.

3. Highly adapted plant species able to form symbioses with these microbes to access these essential nutrients for their growth and increased organic matter production.

This microbial formation of soil carbon has been critical in enhancing the structure, and thus the rainfall infiltration, retention and sustained water supply capacity of soils. These improved soil structures also enhanced the aeration and reduced the hardness of these soils, enabling roots to spread wider and deeper, helping plants to access essential water and nutrients and enhance their resilience.

It is these microbial processes and their resultant high soil carbon levels – and subsequent water and nutrient availabilities – that enabled productive resilient vegetation and herbivores to proliferate across the variable and often arid Australian landscape.

It was these soils and this protective shelterwood vegetation that ensured more than 90 per cent of the low and highly variable rainfall was retained and protected from evaporation in soil reservoirs and flood plains, and not lost out to sea. They enabled Australia’s highly adapted vegetation to efficiently access that water and sustain the longevity of its green growth and resilience despite climate extremes.

WHAT HAVE WE DONE? This hydrology and sustained green vegetation buffered and moderated our climate, extending

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weather systems such as the Australian Monsoon across northern and inland regions. So what have we done to our soils and biosystems throughout the past 220 years to change this?

The early colonists were awe-inspired by Australia’s open grassy parklands and the ease with which pastures could be converted into wool and profitable exports back to Europe. But just 50 years of continuous grazing by vast herds of sheep and then cattle changed things considerably.

The metre-high perennial grasslands were turned into thinly grassed plains on compacted dry or bare soil that often eroded down to subsoils, or incised to form more than a million kilometres of creek beds that drained and aridified many former surface wetlands, flood plains and slopes.

In their natural form, these pasture soils often contained up to 20 per cent organic matter. But continued overgrazing oxidised much of this carbon, leading to the structural collapse and erosion of soils, with the residual compacted subsoils now often containing less than 1 per cent organic matter. The residual low grass sheds most of the more variable rainfall, further aridifying extensive biosystems and regions.

With the extension of grain cropping, similar rapid declines in yields occurred. Organic matter levels, soil structures, rainfall retention and nutrient availabilities declined along with a resilience to drought and topsoil loss from wind and water erosion.

Efforts through the early 20th century sought to arrest and reverse this widespread soil degradation and productivity loss in both pasture and cropping systems through the use of fertilisers, clover leys, cover crops, conservation tillage and soil conservation works. Unfortunately, the resilience and productivity of the residual soils and biosystems still lags far behind their former natural condition.

With the intensification of industrial agriculture since the Second World War, farmers and scientists have learnt how to grow more productive pastures and crops on these degraded subsoils. This has been possible through increased cultivation, fertilisers, biocides, irrigation and the selection of plants and animal systems better adapted to secure yields and economic returns from such higher inputs.

But these ‘engineered green revolution’ approaches have also made these yields and farming systems more dependent on these sustained high inputs and their rising cost. Much of our industrial

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agriculture now depends on the continued subsidised input of up to ten units of fossil fuel energy for each unit of food energy produced, and is not viable without this subsidy.

More seriously, many of these engineered industrial farming systems continued to seriously degrade soil carbon, structure, water and nutritional processes and values, via their oxidative or toxic effects. In many cases they are effectively mining soils, retaining it as a mineral substrate to support plants by their roots that they have to feed hydroponically via expensive fertiliser, irrigation and biocides.

No consideration is given to the natural capital value of ecological outputs from the residual soil or the cost of its regeneration, given that it is a finite and critical natural and national strategic asset.

WHAT IS THE COST? What cost must we put on this degradation of our former sustainable soils? Is there a better way?

Fortunately there are more effective and sustainable ways to meet all our food and ecosystem services needs, provided we are willing to understand, respect and use the unique processes that nature evolved to enable highly productive and resilient soils and landscapes to prosper despite minimal inputs and a dry and more extreme climate.

We can do this, but only if we restore the unique soil microbiological processes, soil carbon levels, hydrology and nutrient cycles that enabled and underpin our soil health and productive landscapes.

Nature can do it, through its colonisation and maintenance of productive biosystems across the land surface of old leached soils and harsh arid climates. So can we. We can rapidly regenerate the health, hydrology, nutrition, resilience and productivity of the residual soils and landscape by progressively restoring the former high stable carbon levels and structure of these soils.

In so doing we can limit the bushfires that burn and oxidise 30 million hectares of Australia each year, and instead biosequester that carbon into soils. This will restore the natural rainfall infiltration, retention and sustained availability from these soil carbon sponges and in soil reservoirs to enhance the longevity of green plant growth and further carbon fixation.

We can restore the natural availability and recycling of essential plant nutrients, even in soils with limited total pools, so as to further aid plant growth and carbon fixation.

Just as these processes enable rainforests in Australia to grow on sand dunes – a paradox of the world’s most productive terrestrial biosystems growing on soils of minimal nutrient content – so too can we regenerate and sustain productive agro-ecosystems with minimal inputs, while also restoring the health and resilience of our soil.

WHAT SHOULD WE DO? Innovative farmers across Australia are demonstrating how regenerative land management practices can restore former soil carbon levels. They are regenerating positive feedback benefits via enhanced hydrology, nutrition, longevity of green growth, resilience and still further carbon biosequestration.

These include graziers in all states who enhance yields and capital values and reduce costs and risks by sequestering up to 10 tonnes of carbon per hectare per year. They include innovators who, due to their high soil carbon and water retention, can sustainably grow premium grain crops on rainfall as low as 150 mm per year, while nearby crops under high input industrial agricultural systems fail.

They include leaders who are integrating natural shelterwood regeneration to reduce desiccation and enhance carbon sequestration and nutrient supplies. They include ecological innovators who integrate grazing with opportunistic crop production to mutually aid the productivity of both plants via synergistic carbon enrichment and nutrient recycling effects.

Some of these innovators and outcomes are outlined in the Soils for Life case studies and website.

Extensive further science and economic evidence substantiates these processes and their outcomes.

Collectively they provide a compelling case of Australia’s unique natural competitive advantage, via both the increased supply of high quality premium food and the provision of knowledge in how such natural ecological processes can be harnessed and refined to do this.

But we are short of time – time to demonstrate, implement and extend the adoption of these land management practices before climate extremes, resource limits, soil degradation and population demands overtake our ability to realise the regenerative and preventative imperatives we can enable through these innovations.

We need urgent national action to refine, demonstrate and extend these practices. Urgent action could be aided greatly by working closely with the strategic beneficiaries of these innovations, in close production joint ventures, market and value capture relationships.

There should be no debate about these imperatives. They are an inescapable reality. We need urgent action to regenerate the health of our soils and landscape as our only means and last chance to restore productive ago-ecosystems, feed the 10 billion and secure our safe future.

Walter Jehne is a soil microbiologist and director at Healthy Soils Australia. For more information and case studies, visit the Soils For Life website.

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A scientific introduction to soil health WRITTEN BY LYN ABBOTT AND JOHN MCLEAN BENNETT ON BEHALF OF SOIL SCIENCE AUSTRALIA

Soil health can be a complex and often-misunderstood facet of farm life.

Yet it is the most essential piece of the puzzle when it comes to producing healthy and successful crops and pastures. The processes that create and define healthy soils need to be better understood by farmers across the country in order to maximise efficiency and profits.

UNDERSTANDING SOIL HEALTH Because soils are derived from different parent materials (for instance, rocks or biological material), the physical, chemical and biological characteristics of a healthy soil will differ. The same applies to the capacity of soils to deliver nutrients for agricultural production. Two different soils at their absolute best in terms of soil health can still have very different nutrient capacity. This means when managing soils we should seek to optimise their performance against specific characteristics, rather than seek to reach a universal upper benchmark.

Therefore, a healthy agricultural soil is not defined by its nutrient status alone. Also, the nutrient requirements of different plant species differ. With this in mind, the specific definition of healthy soils used in agriculture will be very different from those of healthy soils in natural ecosystems, which can sustain highly diverse natural plant communities.

There has been a long history of heated discussion about the definitions of soil health and soil quality – essentially these are exactly the same thing. Furthermore, many attempts have been made to identify an index of soil health or soil quality. It is not possible to find a single index that is useful in all situations, but a suite of characteristics that are applicable to local conditions is more appropriate.

Differences among soil types, management practices and environmental factors can alter the interpretation of soil health. Furthermore, the health of soil is often in transition, because it is influenced by management factors that may improve or reduce its capacity to deliver or maintain a range of environmental services, such as stabilisation of landscapes, agricultural production, recreation or diverse urban

uses. This occurs at all scales. Many producers seek a uniform-looking crop with the intention that this represents optimised yield, but even within the same field soil factors can vary substantially, meaning that a field may have different optimal conditions in terms of production by area, depending on these factors.

The soilquality website presents a very clear overview of the range and suitability of physical, chemical and biological characteristics of soil under agricultural production across Australia. For some data sets collected so far, it highlights characteristics most likely to be within a good range for agricultural production according to broad soil categories of clay, loam and sand.

Soils have a wide range of physical characteristics, and they differ in relative proportion of the size of particles (clay to sand). It is not possible to change the basic physical composition of soil, except, for example, where clay is added to sandy soil to improve its structure and productivity or where it is possible to build high levels of organic matter into the soil.

Claying is a practice that is used in some regions of south-western Australia.

The chemical status of soil is routinely used to make fertiliser recommendations for specific agricultural plants according to soil type and local environmental conditions. It is possible to define soil chemical extremes (such as pH, salinity and contamination) because they occur along a gradient of soil health which can also depend on soil type or position in the landscape. Overall, while local benchmarks for soil chemistry are commonly used, these measurements alone do not define the health of the soil.

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The chemical characteristics of soil are usually considered to be the dominant factor contributing to soil fertility, but this is a very narrow interpretation of soil fertility. Also, while the underlying soil chemical characteristics of a healthy soil depend on the proposed land use, good soil structure is also of overriding importance for soil health. Most nutrient deficiencies are relatively easy to manage through the addition of appropriate fertilisers, but fertiliser application should be considered in parallel with the contribution that soil biological processes make to soil chemical fertility. Some, but not all, contributions of soil biological process are accounted for in soil nutrient tests.

In contrast to management of soil nutrients, issues such as sodicity (soil structural instability due to excess sodium) and salinity (excess salts in the soil; not just sodium-based salts) are not so easily addressed, especially if they occur in the subsoil.

Where these soil constraints are not easily amended, they become an issue of management for sustained production.

Applications of chemicals alter soil conditions, and in combination with some rotations can alter soil pH and increase salinity. This may be detrimental and reduce the health of soil. Excess nitrogen (N) reduces soil health through increased nitrification and the accumulation of N in soil water. Excess phosphorus (P) may also have negative environmental impacts through leaching into waterways, but it can also build up in soil and become inaccessible to roots unless it is released by activity of certain microorganisms.

Efficient use of fertilisers and best practice in management of pesticides and herbicides contribute to a healthy soil environment. However, this cannot occur in isolation from physical constraints to soil health and soil biological processes. Indeed, in combination with roots, biological soil activity can contribute to the alleviation of some physical soil constraints over time.

Local monitoring is encouraged to identify changes in soil characteristics linked to improved soil conditions and soil health. Personal observations by farmers are important for building their own understanding of soil health in the context of their land’s capability. On-farm monitoring using a set of characteristics (biological, physical and chemical) over time can be complemented by external soil tests. Together, the on-site and external monitoring will enable internal farm-based benchmarking to be established. The soilquality website demonstrates benchmarks at a regional level for a number of sites across Australia.

THE IMPORTANCE OF INTERACTIONS BETWEEN PHYSICAL, CHEMICAL AND BIOLOGICAL COMPONENTS OF SOIL HEALTH There is an integral role of biological process in building the bridge between the chemical and physical components of soil health. Emphasis on only the physical, chemical or biological aspects will not maximise soil health benefits.

A good example of how these components of soil health interact is in the development of soil aggregates. Soil structure is essential for healthy plants, and organic residues contribute to stability of aggregates but this only happens during interactions with soil organisms. This three-sided biological/physical/ chemical integration leads to: improved soil pore structure for root growth, controlled release of nutrients from organic matter and protection of organic matter from biological degradation within the aggregates, leaving it to contribute to moisture retention and structure.

Various forms of soil management can have both short and long term effects on soil health. The naturally diverse genetic character of soil and the intensification of agriculture will cause changes in soil health over time. This can occur both within and between seasons and rotations.

Perhaps the overriding detrimental factor for soil health, universally, is soil compaction. This occurs when soil density is increased at the expense of the large pores used for water movement through

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soil, transporting nutrients and facilitation of root growth. The physical, biological and chemical interactions that form soil aggregates over hundreds of human lifetimes can be completely overridden by a single pass of a machine in the field.

A 10 per cent increase in the density of soil can result in as much as an 80 per cent decrease in larger pores, causing substantial run-off and not recharging soil moisture stores during rainfall events. Even light machinery causes compaction, and tracked machines do not stop compaction, but only limit it. Use

of true controlled traffic with wheels always in the same place and only using a single wheel per axle, with all wheel spacing matching, is the best management practice to avoid unnecessary soil compaction.

Livestock also cause compaction, therefore maintaining healthy perennial pastures and not over-grazing is the best approach.

Where compaction is controlled, local monitoring will identify positive or negative impacts that can be addressed, but there are also overriding principles which can be used to maintain improvements in soil health.

PRINCIPLES FOR MAINTAINING AND IMPROVING SOIL HEALTH

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1. It is important to manage soils to avoid compaction Soil compaction due to machinery and animal traffic leads to a reduction in the large soil pores responsible for transmitting water into the soil and facilitating nutrient and root movement. This subsequently affects all other soil health attributes.

2. It is important to manage soils to avoid erosion Soil erosion leads to loss of nutrients, carbon and soil organisms, all of which are most abundant in the surface layers of soil.

3. It is important to retain as much organic matter in soil as is practical This is because carbon, in combination with activities of soil biological life, is essential for nutrient cycling and soil aggregation.

4. Reduced and/or minimised tillage helps to conserve soil organic matter and improve bulk density of soil While it is important to minimise soil disturbance, some minimal levels of disturbance from time to time are beneficial in maintaining good soil structure and diversity of soil organisms.

5. Application of fertiliser should be calculated to replace nutrients Loss of nutrients can occur through natural processes – such as in product removal – but it is essential to avoid nutrients being lost via leaching, water or wind erosion.

6. Symbiotic microorganisms, bacteria and fungi, should be maintained at effective levels in soil This is so that these microorganisms can contribute to nutrient use efficiency and reductions in the use of nitrogen and phosphorus fertilisers where relevant. Furthermore, beneficial fungi have the potential to improve water use efficiency, even without contributing to nutrient use efficiency.

7. Some soil biological amendments (such as biostimulants, organic materials or microbial inoculants) have potential to improve soil health and reduce the risk of plant disease Local trial-based evidence of the efficacy of these amendments needs to be evaluated prior to their widescale adoption.

8. Soil chemical fertility can override some beneficial contributions of soil biological fertility Therefore, use of fertilisers and biological amendments needs to consider an efficient and profitable balance between management practices that address both chemical and biological fertility.

9. Some crop rotations and tillage practices decrease the suitability of soil for plant pathogens Therefore, land management practices should be selected to ensure natural disease suppression occurs.

10. Soil biological processes develop slowly, and the time required will differ with the type of soil, environment and land management practices applied Therefore, a soil that is balanced in terms of the contributions from its chemical, physical and biological properties will be one where long-term practices to develop and maintain the soil environment for plant production will be most profitable and most sustainable.

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From chemical accident to booming natural fertiliser business NutriSoil is a company with a unique story – a farm chemical accident for Victorian farmer Graham Maddock in the mid-1980s triggered a rethink on chemical and fertiliser applications and set in motion the establishment of what is now a thriving all-natural fertiliser company.

While recovering from serious health problems caused by chemical exposure from the accident, Graham had time to think about the risks that using such strong chemicals posed to not only farmers, but also the health of the consumer at the end of the supply chain.

His research led him to experiment with a more natural approach to fertilisation through worm castings.

Encouraged by significant increases in growth and quality to his produce, Graham set up his own vermiculture system to produce a liquid spray, and NutriSoil was born.

Graham’s daughter Rachelle Armstrong came back to the family farm in 2005. “Having a background in public health, I began to see the human health connection with food production,” says Rachelle. “My father was getting chemicals out of the food chain, and coming up with a much healthier way to farm.”

Rachelle and her parents decided to form a partnership. Under her guidance as Managing Director, the family business has grown substantially. NutriSoil is now used by farmers Australia-wide, and was named the Best Certified Product of the Year (Non-Food Item) for 2016 by Australian Organic.

Rachelle’s belief is that farmers have to learn how plants and soil function naturally in order to change their mindset on the use of synthetic fertilisers and chemicals and restore soil health and productivity.

“The effect of replacing the functions of your soil organisms with high levels of synthetic fertiliser is you remove the organisms there to prevent disease,” says Rachelle. “This creates disease and/or insect problems,

and the need to apply fungicides and insecticides to the point where eventually the soil ends up being just dirt, devoid of life.”

In contrast, NutriSoil’s Biological Liquid Fertiliser is made from a unique vermiculture system that feeds organic materials – manure, straw, seaweed, fish and other materials – to a system of worms and microbes.

The vermiculture system mimics what the top soil naturally does to make nutrients available. The biological fertiliser therefore feeds the plant and microbes, but doesn’t take over the natural nutrient cycling. By feeding the microbes in the soil, NutriSoil delivers a more stable productivity despite seasonal impacts compared to conventional fertilisers.

And Nutrisoil is putting its money where its mouth is to back up its claims – the company has invested heavily in R&D through Microbe Labs Australia, to conduct growth trials and confirm the positive anecdotal evidence about the biological fertiliser.

“The data we’ve gained during growth studies is much more useful than an analysis of the contents of NutriSoil,” says Rachelle. “Farmers need to realise that it is the natural plant and soil function that is crucial to production – in order to grow a crop to make money, you need to support the life in the soil, and then you get the healthy, resilient production outcomes for a stable financial future.”

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Against all odds: Turning sand into profit Ian and Dianne Haggerty, along with their son James, run a holistic and integrated program of cropping and grazing at their farm in Wyalkatchem around 190 km north east of Perth.

COURTESY OF SOILS FOR LIFE

The program is underpinned by their deep commitment to the regeneration of marginal soil fertility through use of biological fertilisers, zero tillage and the growth of healthy cereal plants. This natural approach to soil management has also lead to the Haggertys’ development of their own Merino stud and working sheep flock bred to be totally acclimatised to their land.

Ian and Dianne came to the original property in Wyalkatchem in 1994 after having run a successful business at Derby in the north west of Western Australia. They had a long-shared desire to be farmers and naturally gravitated towards their origins in the Eastern Wheat belt of Western Australia.

The Haggertys’ production area is now spread over a number of holdings equaling 8,000 hectares

of owned property, leased land and share-farming enterprises. This diversity of soil quality and rainfall levels has enabled more effective management across various landscape conditions.

Though few in number, the dry seasons of the 1990s and the resulting production decline made the Haggertys realise the vulnerability of the farming system they were following at the time. Observations of poorly developed root systems and the low resilience of plants to short springs instigated an ongoing pursuit of knowledge regarding soil health and productivity. Rising input costs without a corresponding rise in productivity also provided cause for concern. From this grew a desire to enable the soil to produce optimum outcomes regardless of the seasonal conditions and without the use of expensive inputs.

The new decade heralded the arrival of mostly below-average rainfall patterns. This gave the Haggertys a clear indicator that moisture was king, and rainfall preservation and its optimal use would be the most powerful profit driver for the enterprise.

In Derby, Ian and Dianne learned the principles of using livestock as “weeders, seeders and feeders” in soil management – a system meant to keep the soil’s microbiome healthy and to encourage natural irrigation. This experience was an early instigator for Ian and Dianne’s investigation into how careful management could enable successful utilisation of nature’s efficiencies at minimal cost.

Ian and Dianne are careful to ensure that each practice that comprises the holistic management of their cropping and grazing operations contributes to the whole. Each of the properties managed by the Haggertys produces sheep for wool and meat, cereal hay and cereal grains (wheat, oats and barley – grains commonly used before the introduction of farming techniques that rely on high levels of chemical intervention).

To grow their cereals, Ian and Dianne use a process of no-tillage direct drilling of grain seed supported by an application of biological fertilisers. Ian has integrated a low-pressure liquid fertiliser circuit into the farm’s seeder so that the microbiologically coated seeds are drilled directly into a microbial environment that the coating can stimulate. This en-

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sures that the plant is supported from germination through its early growth.

When Ian digs over a shovel full of heavy red soil in the paddock it becomes obvious how each plant growing in it acts as a carbon pump: by not providing water soluble fertilisers with the seed, extensive root system growth is stimulated and the plant is able to reach wider and more deeply for moisture and nutrition.

As Ian describes, “Healthy, flourishing plants slow down runoff from the meagre rainfall; the microbial activity and associated improvement in soil structure maximises the retention of moisture in the soil.”

Enhanced microbial activity in the soil and the use of specially bred sheep as the above-surface ‘farm machinery’ has lifted the resilience and fertility of the land, improving the soil function, structure and water-holding capacity and continued to valueadd to the productivity of the landscape.

“Once grain is harvested, the stubble of the crop grown in this high microbial environment provides nutritious grazing fodder for the sheep. In due course, remnant stubble is trampled down and is broken down by fungi to add to the organic carbon in the soil. Together with the dung provided by the sheep and their stimulation of the soil surface by walking on it, the soils become a gift that keeps on giving.”

Ian and Dianne have carefully bred their line of sheep to be adaptive to their local environment.

Through a combination of their breeding and grazing practices, the sheep are resistant to stomach parasites and do not require drenching. As the sheep’s rumen flora is totally adapted to maximising nutrient extraction from local roughage, they do not receive any grain supplementation.

Dianne points out, “The grazing operations are integral to the whole. The cropping and hay production contribute to our production of premium wool and lamb, but the sheep are [also] playing their part [by] fertilising the land and working the soil for us.”

The sheep also help combat some specific issues the Haggertys face being so close to Lake Wallambin, from where salt is picked up by wind and deposited on their land. Ian and Dianne have planted lanes of saltbush and acacia in these areas to encourage sheep to graze there and contribute to soil fertility through dung deposit. In the more saline areas they sometimes put out hay to attract the sheep to these areas and concentrate dung around the chosen feeding point.

Dianne explains “none of this would be completely effective without our understanding of the land as a living organism and our connection to its life cycle. As we contribute to it, we live from it, we live with it – we must understand its nature and its inner life, what it gives to us and what it needs from us to work on our behalf.”

Below the surface, the action of microbes, fungi, worms and dung beetles is obvious in any shovel full of paddock soil. Above the surface, trees, shrubs and ground cover sustain other micro bio-diverse environments that support insect life and reptiles, including a few hardy frogs. There are numerous bird species and macro fauna using these areas. This biodiversity can be traced back to the strategies and practices Ian and Dianne have developed under their vision for biological farming.

This requires a deal of respect for the remaining native ecosystem: Ian and Dianne are careful not to impact on the residual paddock trees or clumps of bushland. They have also planted salmon gums (Eucalyptus salmonophloia) and other species to foster the growth of stock shelter and wildlife corridors, and to additionally reduce the impact of salt from Lake Wallambin. In one location they have fenced off a particularly representative plot of ancient residual Mallee soil to preserve its integrity.

As they work up and develop the potential of each newly acquired piece of land, Ian and Dianne will immediately mobilise their livestock to begin the process of biologically inoculating soil that may not have had biological activity encouraged for some time. They are quickly able to reduce rates of chemical use by altering the soil surface and not providing the excess nitrogen and phosphorous that weeds seem to thrive on. In some cases of heavy radish infestation, which is hard to kill with herbicides, Ian prefers to slash whole paddocks and then turns them over to grazing, significantly reducing seed set for the following crop season.

Together, the Haggertys are continuing and improving regeneration of the farming landscape in every part of the enterprise in terms of both soil fertility and soil water-holding capacity while also minimising the impact of ground salinity. Their production is showing a continuing trend to higher yields per millimetre of rainfall and higher quality of cereal grains and cereal hay. The homegrown Merino stud and flock ewes acclimatised to the property are producing high-grade wool and fat lambs for ‘boutique’ butchers.

When asked to reflect on their success, Dianne and Ian explained their belief that landholders must monitor carefully the transitions in their own land and their financial capacity to enact change. They also reinforce the idea that farmers must be prepared to try things that may not necessarily work.

They note that there is always good advice out there somewhere but, even when you find it, external input can only help you so much without running trials on your own land. Ultimately, the farmer is responsible for their own learning and farm development – but not without the help of Mother Nature, of course.

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A fresh approach to soil WRITTEN BY: KEIRON COSTELLO

Faced with falling yields and rising instances of disease in his vegetable crops around six years ago, Fresh Select chief executive John Said decided to conduct some routine soil tests. What he found frightened him.

“The soil tests were very clear: our soil was very, very poor,” he says. “Thinking about the levels of nutrition that are available and levels of organic material that are left there today is scary, very scary.”

Low nutrient levels, low microbial content and soil crusting meant that John had to make a change or risk damaging the soils to a point where they were beyond repair.

The solution? An entirely different management plan for the soil that focused not only on improving the quality and yield of the vegetables, but also on sustainability. “Yes, the soil management plan was developed through necessity, but it was also developed because we wanted to make certain that we’ve got sustainable soil for future generations,” John says.

BACK TO THE FUTURE Based in Werribee South on the outskirts of Melbourne, Fresh Select also has growers in Queensland, South Australia and Victoria. The company has been operating for nearly fifty years and supplies Coles and international markets with fresh lettuce, broccoli and cauliflower. Company-wide, they harvest 50 million kilograms of vegetables each year.

Harvesting vegetables weekly, growers push the soils harder than any other producers. And throughout the years, this practice has taken its toll on the soils of Werribee South. Funnily enough, Fresh Select growers were practising soil sustainability in their early days without knowing what it was.

They were using chicken manure as fertiliser, composting and using alternative cropping before increased competition and the weather forced them to change their ways. “We were doing soil health 30 years ago. We just didn’t know what we were doing, we didn’t know what sustainability was,” says John.

“We started ignoring it because competition meant we had to farm differently, then we went through a drought and that depleted our soil.”

Having abandoned healthy soil management techniques for decades, Fresh Select was left with

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nutrient-poor soils and an over-reliance on synthetic fertilisers.

Not only this, but they were suffering produce losses of 10 to 20 per cent each harvest due to poor vegetable quality and diseases.

“Soil borne diseases are typically a result of poor soil management practices, really heavy cultivations and heavy cropping programs,” says agronomy consultant Stuart Grigg. “If you’re exposing the good bugs and soil carbon to UV light and the atmosphere regularly with a cultivation process, then you’re killing a lot of those good bugs in the soil and allowing a system where the bad bugs can actually proliferate.”

With the rising incidence of disease and poor yields, Said knew continuing this way was completely unsustainable, both for his business and the environment.

DEVELOPING A PLAN Stuart Grigg runs his own agronomy consulting business and works with Fresh Select to manage and monitor their soils two days a week. He and John Said began developing a soil management plan for Fresh Select approximately five years ago, with a focus on improving soil health.

With more and more modern consumers interested in environmentalism and wanting to know the history of the food that sits on their dinner plates, the decision to focus on sustainability was a no-brainer.

“What we discovered was that soil is like fuel. Fuel eventually runs out, and you use different fuels for performance,” says John.

“Soil is no different. It needs to have organic matter filtered back into it and it needs to be reactivated. So one of the initial questions we had to answer was how to put organic matter back into the soil” “I think the biggest part of it is to be seen as a good environmental citizen, a good sustainable producer for the longer term,” Stuart says. “Our customers want to know the vegetable production is sustainable, that it can occur in a manner that’s not going to damage the environment.

“People want to hear the good story that we’re all working on together, trying to make sure we’re all here in the future and we’re not damaging our soils to the point where they won’t be any good.”

To begin with, Fresh Select’s soil management plan had to focus on reducing the impact on the soil in order to let it heal and regenerate. Traditional vegetable farming practices of tillage and heavy cultivation were doing too much damage to the soil, disrupting runoff and leaving poor nutrient and sodium levels in the soil.

“We asked ourselves, ‘do we need to cultivate as heavily as we have in the past?’ And the answer is no,” says Stuart. “We’re looking at challenging the standard farming principles which involve heavy cultivation and damage to soil structure and texture, and looking at working with the environment better rather than hammering it all the time.”

The first step was the use of alternative cropping, replacing an existing vegetable crop with a cover crop, such as oat or sorghum, which would not be harvested at all. The lack of cultivation and disruption to the soil that follows allows it to regenerate and recover.

“What we’ve done is effectively taken a cash-generating crop and replaced it with a non-cash generating crop,” says John. “So

what that begins to do is it begins to rejuvenate, so you get a lot of worms, a lot of worm castings. It brings back all of that matter that tends to live in that little microbial environment.”

Following this, the next step was to modify the existing harvesting machinery to allow vegetables to be planted in the crop residue of the cover crop.

“I’ve brought in some technology used in broadacre agriculture and we are trying to implement that into intensive horticulture,” says Stuart. “That involves putting coulters on the front of planters and reducing tillage practices, and looking at spray technology other than just cultivation technology.”

While these changes necessitated an increase in costs in the short term, both John and Stuart are confident the long-term advantages will be well worth the trouble. Indeed, the machinery modifications and cover cropping have brought down the costs associated with labour and diesel for the harvesting machinery.

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“It has driven costs up, yes. But at the same time, it will reduce our inputs in the long term and has put us in a position where we have a reduced dependency on synthetic fertiliser and a better soil health culture,” says John.

And of course, the added environmental benefit is a bonus. “If we can minimise nutrient runoff and soil erosion and reduce our impact on the environment, then it’s a win-win for everyone,” says Stuart.

“And at the same time, we’re reducing our diesel and labour costs and producing the same quality crop. Why wouldn’t you do it?”

CONVERTING THE DOUBTERS Unsurprisingly, Fresh Select’s soil management plan has been met with some opposition, both inside the company and from the vegetable growing community. According to John, overcoming the opposition has been a gradual process.

“It’s like any change: you need to have buy-in, you need to get everyone on the same page,” he says. “This industry is rather complex when it comes to change, and that’s farming. You can’t just jump in at the deep end, you have to dip your toe in and then go a bit further and a bit further.”

But of course, the quickest way to change minds is with results.

Vegetable growers needed to see the benefit of Fresh Select’s soil

management plan before they were willing to change their ways.

“We’ve been working on this now for approximately three to four years, and slowly but surely we’re starting to see results,” says John. “Better yields, less disease.”

“We really saw a massive difference to soil structure and soil viability, and since then we’ve been starting to challenge the philosophy around our cultivation techniques,” Stuart says.

And he reckons it’s not just the vegetables that are showing improvement in the newly healthy soils – even the cover crops are flourishing. “We’ve now had sorghum crops in that have grown about seven or eight foot tall, up to the point where you could walk five metres into the crop and physically be lost in there, it was amazing.”

SPREADING THEIR ROOTS The success of the Fresh Select soil management plan at Werribee South, even in such a short period of time, encouraged both John and Stuart to expand the scope of the project. Seeing that both projects were working toward similar purposes, Stuart aligned with Applied Horticultural Research’s Soil Wealth program and runs a trial soil management site at Bulmer Farms in East Gippsland.

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Soil Wealth is run jointly by Applied Horticultural Research and RMCG, and funded by Horticulture Innovation Australia Ltd. With seven demonstration sites across the country (including Bulmer Farms at East Gippsland), Soil Wealth works with vegetable growers to promote soil management practices and improve soil productivity. “Our challenge was to use different methods to produce an equal quality, equal yielding crop that would compare acceptably with their standard practices,” he says. “There was definitely some resistance to start with – or some cautious optimism, I suppose.

“After 12 months, there’s been a real understanding of what we’ve been doing and some very clear benefits, and they’re definitely looking at implementing a number of the techniques we’ve used in their standard production practices.”

After sowing a cover crop into the Soil Wealth paddock at Bulmer Farms, Stuart and his team then planted iceberg lettuce in the residue of the cover crop with modified machinery. The results were almost instantaneous compared to the rest of the trial Bulmer farms crop.

“Initially, planting the lettuce crop through the cover crop had the trial area looking pretty messy,” he said. “But as broadacre producers note, you get used to that.”

“The yield was actually better in the iceberg lettuce crop in the non-cultivated bay, significantly better,” says Stuart. “There was also a lesser amount of varnish spot, which is a breakdown of lettuce, in the non-cultivated paddock as well. So it was high-yielding and had fewer diseases.”

AN EYE TO THE FUTURE Even though it is early days, Stuart says word is getting out about the benefits of the Soil Wealth program. A field day held by Soil Wealth at the Bulmer Farms site attracted about 60 vegetable growers and industry representatives.

“There were really positive responses to what we’ve been able to achieve. They were all talking about what they could be doing, what they could do to further reduce their impact on soils and manage soils better,” says Stuart. “When you’ve got a grower saying, ‘I don’t want to plant as much crop, I want to get the cover crop in’, you know you’re having an impact.”

At Fresh Select, the majority of growers across the country are now using the techniques that were developed at Werribee South. But for John Said, getting everybody on the same page is just the tip of the iceberg.

“My belief is it will take ten years to get right around every property and get everybody bought in on the idea. But eventually what it will become is an ongoing approach to soil health,” he says.

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“And that’s the difficulty, because the only way you’re going to commit to something like that is if you see the results. That’s what we spruik: if you can see results, then you have the confidence to keep going.”

QUICK TIPS Soil conditions are of course different on every farm, but there are a few things you can consider: 1. Contact your local government, LLS, CMA or NRM to find out about soil health programs in your region.

2. Have your soil tested to get an idea of the chemical properties of your soil. This can be done by government agencies, commercial outfits or with a soil testing kit.

3. Develop a soil management plan to enable any damaged soils to regenerate.

Check out our Useful Links section for a few options.

4. Consider protecting your soil by changing your farm practice to limit cultivation and tillage.

5. There are many methods to choose from, but consider using cover crops and modifying your harvesting machinery.

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Changing the Australian approach to soil health In 1995, South Australian farmer Brenton Byerlee was frustrated with the advice he and his fellow farmers were being given on soil health. With a passion for soils, a degree in soil science and a stint on the South Australian Soil Conservation Board, Brenton believed he had something to offer. After many years of putting his knowledge into practice to reclaim degraded land on his own farm, he started the company Soil Management Systems and has spent the last two decades working with Australian farmers to improve their productivity and profitability.

Since 1995, Soil Management Systems has expanded to a network of seven warehouses around Australia, with a product line of soil-friendly fertilisers aimed at providing better nutrition and treating soils as a living environment. The company also works with farmers to conduct comprehensive soil analysis that provide data and information on how to improve their soil health.

“The catalyst for starting the business was that a lot of the advice we were being given as farmers wasn’t necessarily wrong, but we were only getting

part of the picture,” says Brenton. “If you had a bigger picture of the state of your soils, then you’d make different decisions and have different management practices.”

THE PROBLEM WITH AUSTRALIAN SOILS Australian soil is more vulnerable to degradation compared to the soils of Europe, Asia and the Americas due to our harsh climate and geology. The widespread use of some synthetic fertilisers often has a negative impact on not only soil health, but also food nutrition and integrity. According to Brenton, two of the most common problems when it comes to treating agricultural soils are the lock up of phosphorous and leaching in lighter sandy soils.

“We continually read that our soils in Australia are really low in phosphorous, and that’s only partly true,” says Brenton. “What they should be saying is it’s low in available phosphorous, because we’ve been using phosphorous fertiliser in most agricultural soils in Australia now for nearly 100 years. The problem isn’t total phosphorous levels – it’s how to unlock and utilise the existing phosphorous that is trapped in our soils.”

Rather than adding more phosphorous to the soil, Brenton and his team believe in investing time and money into changing the soil nutrient balance in order to best support plant growth. For the same amount of money spent on traditional synthetic fertiliser, farmers can instead target soil nutrition and balance.

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“There needs to be a real adjustment in how we think about the soil,” says Brenton. “The reliance on fungicides, insecticides and chemicals for weed control has grown dramatically in recent years, from where farmers were hardly using them at all to what now seems to be a constant application. This is hugely detrimental to soil health, and therefore the health of the farm business.”

THE SMS SOLUTION To combat soil health issues, Soil Management Systems offers a range of fertiliser products that are aimed at restoring the nutrient balance in the soil.

For instance, the company’s phosphorous product – SMS Guano – has a high level of phosphorous but also a good level of trace elements such as manganese, zinc, copper, calcium and silica, is 10 per cent organic carbon and is very friendly in the soil environment.

Most importantly, the company’s application of fertiliser is not done blind. Brenton always recommends his clients first undertake a comprehensive soil analysis to pinpoint what nutrients are needed to provide a better balance. Soil Management Systems produces these analyses in a very user-friendly manner, to provide farmers with the understanding needed to improve their soils.

An example of the benefit of the work done by Soil Management Systems can be seen in trials conducted by the South West Goulburn Landcare Group in Victoria. The trials were conducted over the course of four years from 2012 on Paul Fleming’s beef cattle property in Broadford. The property features two different soil types – a light clay silty loam and a heavy black basalt clay.

The first year of the program involved the establishment of separate trial and control areas, and the testing of core soil samples to gain a better understanding of the remediation work that would be needed. Brenton’s recommendations after testing the soil were to avoid the use of nitrogen fertilisers and instead apply a combination of soil-friendly fertilisers and elements including lime, gypsum, dolomite, SMS Guano, ammonium sulphate and other trace elements over the first two years of the program in order to enhance the biological activity of the soil.

“From the soil analysis and visual assessments in the first year, I indicated with confidence and from experience that the applications applied would result in the soils coming alive with a change in pasture composition,” says Brenton. “I was confident this would result in greatly increased production and hence higher stocking capacity.”

By the third and fourth years of the trial, significant gains had been made. Improvements between the treated and control paddocks were clearly visible to even an untrained eye (see photo above) – winter pasture production in the treated paddocks compared to the control paddocks was 147 per cent better in the light loam soil and 38.5 per cent better in the heavy black basalt soil. In spring, these pasture production measurements saw improvements of 240 per cent and 37 per cent respectively.

The positive results seen at Paul Fleming’s farm in Broadford shows the kind of improvements that can be made to productivity simply through gaining a better understanding of soil health and taking steps to address specific nutrient deficiencies.

As the soil becomes more biologically active from the right application of fertilisers, nutrients are mineralised and made available for pasture growth. This means that there is less reliance on fertiliser inputs, and when they are applied, the products are more efficiently utilised in the soil. And an added bonus is greater water use efficiency from the seasonal rainfall. That’s the message Brenton has been spruiking for over two decades, and it’s the solution that Soil Management Systems offers to Australian farmers.

“At the end of the day, the soil is the foundation of every farming enterprise – whether it is horticulture, or vineyards, or broadacre or dairy,” says Brenton. “The health of that soil affects the economics of farming.”

From the Broadford trials: the SMS-treated paddock on the left, and the control paddock on the right.

Link to the Website

Email the Company

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Managing erosion for better yields The Australian Macadamia Society (AMS) secured funding from the North Coast Local Land Services (NCLLS) to run a project to assist growers to develop erosion and drainage management plans specific to their orchards.

WRITTEN BY ROBBIE COMMENS AUSTRALIAN MACADAMIA SOCIETY

The plans were developed with a combination of new technology, LIDAR mapping (remote sensing technology that measures distance by illuminating a target with a laser and analysing the reflected light) and the trusted old technology of walking the orchard. An erosion and drainage management plan provides growers with an understanding on what needs to be undertaken, highlights the specific areas within the orchard and provides options on how to undertake the work.

The AMS, with the assistance of the NCLLS, has developed case studies on three of the growers who developed an erosion and drainage management

plan as part of the project to help other growers understand the benefits.

BACKGROUND Meandering down Eyears Road, McLeans Ridges, you will find Rod Sproule’s 34-hectare property, with 14.7 hectares planted with 3,000 macadamia trees in 10 by 5 metre rows.

The property is a triangular block, with a northern elevation and a southern slope, steep in many areas, down to river flats. The trees are less than 8 years old. As is common in many Northern Rivers macadamia orchards, the soil type is a Red Krasnozem.

When asked what Rod saw as the biggest issues facing him on his property he indicated losing the topsoil was a major concern. “If we lose the topsoil it won’t be here for the next generation,” he says.

Rod’s property is in flood country and with heavy downpours the topsoil is easily washed away.

EXISTING DRAINAGE AND STATUS OF PROPERTY A minimal amount of erosion and drainage management has been carried out in the past. Natural drainage lines exist within the orchard, though trees have been planted in these areas and erosion is occurring.

Grass cover currently exists on all interrows, however within the tree line bare dirt is present.

The current practice is to maintain bare soil under the tree lines during the harvest season (about six months of the year), and at other times weed spraying is carried out with mown grass spread over the bare soil using a side discharge mower attachment.

These factors combine to produce a high likelihood of erosion.

Erosion is evident under the trees in a large section of the orchard ranging from mild to severe in parts. This has resulted in root exposure and decline symptoms in trees in these areas.

THE LINK BETWEEN GROUND COVERS AND SOIL EROSION Bare soil is the most vulnerable to erosion – there

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is a proven direct relationship between the level of ground cover and the level of erosion. At high levels of ground cover (both living, such as sweet smother grass, and non-living, such as mulch) the likelihood of soil erosion is very low, however when soil is left bare (very low ground cover percentage) the likelihood of soil erosion increases dramatically.

On Rod’s orchard there is excellent grass cover over all of the inter-rows and practically zero evidence of erosion within the inter-row area. However, there is mainly bare soil along the tree lines (under the drip line). It has been common practice in the past for the Australian macadamia industry to spray herbicides under the trees to aid in harvesting operations.

Unfortunately this practice produces a high likelihood of erosion within that strip, and there was some evidence of erosion within the bare soil tree line strip on Rod’s orchard. A modification in the management practices ensures further erosion can be minimised, and some recommendations on how to achieve this were presented in the erosion and drainage management plan created for Rod’s orchard.

“After twelve months, there’s been a real understanding of what we’ve been doing and some very clear benefits, and they’re definitely looking at implementing a number of the techniques we’ve used in their standard production practices.”

RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THE EROSION AND DRAINAGE MANAGEMENT PLAN Priority Areas: The plan developed for Rod’s orchard focused on four key issues: 1. Increase ground covers on soils, especially under the tree line: • Restricting or preferably ceasing herbicide use and reverting to mowing under the drip line.

• Using organic matter under the trees to protect and help bind the loose soils and further minimise soil loss due to erosion.

2. Start planning now for a shaded orchard floor with shade tolerant grasses, such as sweet smother grass: • The trees are quite young and planting smother grass while there is sufficient light for their establishment will maintain grass cover for a longer period of time as the trees grow.

3. Install drains to slow the flow of water throughout the orchard.

4. Cover exposed roots: • Recommended use of the grader in sections

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with severe levels of exposed roots (greater than 100 millimetres) and recommended use of soil profiling equipment in sections with moderate levels of exposed roots (50mm), as these machines will move soil and organic matter from the inter-row to the tree line (under the drip line).

Specific Actions: Engaging professional assistance to develop an erosion and drainage management plan for an orchard provides details about what needs to take place and where, with a range of options on how. In Rod’s case, the plan identified four key actions to drastically improve drainage and reduce erosion.

1. Remove trees along the length of the gully (seven rows affected) and install inter-row drains at the headwaters of the gully.

2. Trees are planted down the gully line, so either remove the trees or install an inter-row drain on both sides of the gully line. Install a headwater drain along the road to feed into the inter-row drains.

3. Install three inter-row drains centred on the main gully.

4. Erosion is occurring down the tree line, so cease herbicide applications under the tree line and cover soil with a ground cover (either band spread mulch or profiled material from the inter- row back under the tree line).

A PLAN ON PAPER Rod knows erosion leads to loss of crop, which in turn leads to loss of profit. The erosion and drainage management plan has provided Rod with a structured path on how to improve drainage on his orchard and reduce soil erosion.

Without an erosion and drainage management plan it can be a very daunting task as many growers do not know where to start. Rod has started work on improving the drainage on his orchard this season, but understands it will be an ongoing part of orchard management for 4 to 5 years.

Rod says everybody is under an obligation to do something about soil erosion and water management. For him, getting such a plan down on paper means he can start working immediately on making his orchard better.

“Everybody should have a mandate on soil erosion and water management,” he says. “After all, we’re only here for one generation and then it’s over to the next.”

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Related Links A collection of links relating to soil management, in Australia and worldwide, that may benefit the farmer.

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Soils for Life

Saltland Genie

Chaired by Major General Michael Jeffery, Soils for Life encourages wide adoption of regenerative landscape management practices, supporting farmers and land managers nationwide.

Includes a large number of comprehensive case studies showcasing soil management techniques.

Saltland Genie is a resource hub for farmers looking to combat dryland salinity and improve soil health.

Australian Soil Resource Information System

Healthy Soils Australia

ASRIS provides online access to the best publicly available information on soil and land resources across Australia, with CSIRO Land and Water.

A not-for-profit volunteer organisation raising awareness of the benefits of healthy soils and assisting land managers to increase living carbon in their soils.

The National Soil Research, Development and Extension Strategy

First report and second report from Australia’s Soil Health Advocate Major General Michael Jeffery is Australia’s first Soil Health Advocate, and produced these two reports as part of his role in raising public awareness of the role of soil in productivity and sustainability.

Soil Wealth program, with fact sheets and demonstration sites, and its Applied Horticultural Research section As referred to in A Fresh Approach to Soil, Soil Wealth is a program run by Applied Horticultural Research and RMCG. The program works with growers to improve soil productivity and promote soil management practices.

CSIRO water repellent soils research Funded by the GRDC, CSIRO is developing new research to explore how to increase water infiltration in water repellent soils, with a focus on the sandy soils of western and southern Australia.

CSIRO SoilMapp App SoilMapp is in iPad app from CSIRO which uses Australia’s national soil databases to inform farmers about the physical and chemical characteristics of their soil.

The National Soil Research, Development and Extension Strategy helps to ensure soil research and development becomes more targeted and collaborative and that research will better meet the needs of farmers.

Global Soil Partnership The Global Soil Partnership is where global soil issues are discussed and addressed by multiple stakeholders, and aims to improve the governance and promote the sustainable management of soils.

Report: Status of the World’s Soil Resources This United Nations report aims to make clear the essential connections between human wellbeing and the soil, and to provide a benchmark against which our collective progress to conserve this essential resource can be measured.

The 4/1000 Initiative: Soils for Food Security and Climate The 4/1000 Initiative engages stakeholders in shifting towards resilient agriculture through sustainable soil management that generates jobs and incomes, thereby ensuring sustainable development.

Australian Soil Management

Find your local Landcare group anywhere in Australia.

Australian Soil Management assists farmers in building better quality soils through the scientific management of soil organic matter and soil organic carbon.

LLS, CMA and NRM

The State of Australia’s Soils

Find your regional Local Land Services (LLS), Catchment Management Authority (CMA) or Natural Resource Management (NRM) organisation.

This report aims to develop soil knowledge to inform key policy and decision makers of the state of Australia’s soils and what needs to be done to address the continued decline in their fertility.

Landcare

Soil Quality Soil Quality believes that developing cost efficient management practices and farming systems to improve soil quality is essential to sustainable agriculture in Australia and world-wide.

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FARM FINANCE AND SUPERANNUATION

Overview:

Case study: Case study: Related Links

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Isobel Knight asks what financial planning means for farmers Planning for a successful life after work Telopea Downs: from desert to pasture

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farm finance and superannuation

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What does financial planning mean for farmers?

For farmers, financial planning is usually a foreign concept introduced by the farmer’s accountant. It’s often based on a tax outcome and not always presented in the context of considering off-farm investments for retirement and to build a superannuation fund.

WRITTEN BY ISOBEL KNIGHT PROAGTIVE

From a farmer’s perspective, there is generally little known about superannuation except that it has a reputation of rarely performing well. In the agricultural sector, this reputation is the result of farmers (who happen to be the investors) and their advisers making poor investment decisions. Most don’t separate the entity, which is superannuation and therefore economic security, from the investments sitting inside that entity. A poor investment in any structure will result in a bad outcome.

Education for clients about the world of financial advice often comes too late, is left to chance or is simply not done at all. Given that it is a confusing and complex area for many, more emphasis needs to be given to this aspect of whole-of-business planning. Without this education, farmers are forced to lean too heavily on advisers instead of being empowered to control their own financial decisions and therefore outcomes.

One of the greatest blockages to effective generational transfer and succession of farming businesses is a lack of retirement planning by the current business owners. When this planning process is started early, options and opportunity are presented by the nature of time having allowed the accumulation of capital needed to fund later years. In turn, this frees up the business’ cash flow, which might normally be spent maintaining the farmer and their family. This money could be used in additional ways depending upon the priorities of the business owner(s) and their families – for example, to educate the next generation, grow the business or provide inheritance or opportunity for the next generation without having to wait for that random date of death to offer a longawaited windfall.

Often, farmers feel comfortable continuing to invest further in agricultural land because it is what they know and therefore feels less risky. The one phenomenon most farmers forget when they say, “we will buy that block down the road and then sell it if we need funds to retire” is that farmers rarely want to sell land and therefore aren’t really in the best place to set themselves up for independent retirement.

WHAT RETIREMENT PLANNING IS REALLY ABOUT There are a few points to be mindful of when addressing retirement plans for family business owners. Firstly, ‘retirement’ does not necessarily mean going to the coast to die. It is important to define our ideals for the remainder of our lives. We must be able to consider where we would like to live and how much we need in today’s dollars to fund ourselves on an annual basis after we finish working. We need to be cognisant of the fact that every human being needs to maintain a sense of purpose in his or her life. Farmers especially struggle with this because their sense of purpose has emanated from their occupation, which is on the whole quite physical and challenging given the many elements in their environment that are beyond their control.

So as they become older, tired, physically worn out and, dare I say it, grumpy, they struggle to envision the rest of their lives.

To some extent, this needs to be faced with pragmatism. If we are fortunate enough as retirees to be able to continue to have a role in our family’s business, albeit a smaller one or one with fewer responsibilities, our purpose can be to support the success of the next generation and nurture our treasured family relationships.

However, if we choose or have to leave agriculture, retirement becomes about reinventing ourselves and discovering what we can offer our community. Farmers underestimate their own problem-solving and practical skills, which can be helpful in promoting various causes within our communities. There is no greater reward than giving, and this is something farmers could consider further when contemplating that next stage of life.

Being independently funded in retirement gives us a sense of security and allows us to more easily let go of the reins. Not having confidence in the next generation’s ability to manage our businesses while we continue to rely on funding from these businesses could be difficult. Due to a decreasing window of time and opportunity in which we can

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undertake novel pursuits such as travel, we need to do this when we can and not leave it until a time when the business is having a good year or can afford it. The nature of our life cycles and those of a farm are such that when we want to travel and kick back, the business may be entering its next necessary growth phase and require an influx of funds.

We don’t want to feel guilty for taking the money to do the things we dreamed of doing just because the business is pursuing other things, or possibly in drought, or facing low commodity prices. Therefore, the psychology of ‘our needs’ is important.

PLAN TO START EARLY Independent retirement funding, when considered early enough, requires a much smaller sum of money given to the farmer from the business than the alternative, which is to be funded by the business until we die. Starting early allows the advantage of time and compound interest.

A business’ purpose, timing, future horizons and the relationship between our life cycle and that of the business are all aspects that need to be considered during financial planning. If we are lucky we usually have thirty good years as competent business managers, so we need to take a long-term view and not wait for the perfect moment to start putting something aside for the future.

It is my view that good financial planning is about clear strategy development that is measured, reviewed regularly and reported effectively to all stakeholders. Decisions about the types of assets and investments to be pursued are really best addressed after this basic strategy is clear. The best financial planners know this to be true and communicate this clearly with all parties involved.

In the past, farming families have focused on building their businesses and growing wealth, leaving those who lead these businesses with a builder mentality throughout all of their lives. It has been a winning formula.

Farming families of today have significant wealth sitting on their balance sheets and so the business owners of today – and the future – have an additional challenge: to think in the long term and regard that wealth as generational, able to benefit a family beyond the current generation. As such, farmers in this situation require the education, knowledge and skills to both protect this wealth and to continue to grow it from today onwards.

MANAGING WEALTH FOR THE FUTURE The responsibility of managing family capital is an

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onerous one, and the advisers who sit beside farming families must also look to the future. Risk identification and management is a critical component of managing, protecting and growing family wealth.

Risks can be internal and external and may also relate to our attitudes. A phenomenon families are now dealing with is how to manage a sense of entitlement of those who come after the initial builders. Entitlement occurs when privilege exists without responsibility. As business owners, the challenge is to teach the next generation so they may understand the risks and benefits of agricultural wealth and business.

As a simple example, if you wanted a yearly income of $90,000 (at the zero per cent tax rate on pension out of superannuation), you need to have $1.5 million worth of assets returning an average of 6 per cent yearly to achieve this goal. So, in one sense, working out how much you need to save is not too hard if the overall objective is clear.

Some key points to consider when thinking about planning for independence and transition from the farm include: • Understand the difference between strategy and investments; find an adviser who is clear on both.

• Consider that if the fund is meant to also form part of an inheritance (often for off-farm family members), this will impact the investment strategy.

• Understand time can do a lot of the heavy lifting, so saving small amounts early is better than focusing on that 1-in-30-year crop or sale.

Incremental saving works.

• Retirement does not mean having to leave the farm.

• When looking for an adviser, consider interviewing a number to discover if they are right for you. You may need to travel beyond the local area to find the right person.

There are about 17,000 financial advisers across the country working in banking, accounting and financial planning firms. Finding the right one for your circumstances is a challenge and can be time-consuming. For most farmers, the shift of farm funds to off-farm investments happens in a short period of time – which is all the more reason for taking your time to find an adviser or planner. The planner needs to understand that managing risk in the investment will often be a bigger need than doubling the size of the pool. The most important thing to consider?

Start your financial planning now.

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Planning for a successful life after work Sometimes it feels like we could go on forever, but Father Time has a way of catching up with us all and the time will come when we start to scale back on work – by choice or otherwise – or step away from work altogether and enjoy our retirement.

PROVIDED BY PRIME SUPER

Putting a plan in place for your business and your personal finances can set you up for a successful life after work. And for anybody who owns their own business or is involved in a family partnership, planning for a successful retirement is an important and valuable exercise.

recommends setting a realistic timetable and achievable targets to work toward. It recommends giving significant thought to what will happen to a business once the owners retire, and, if all their assets and investments are tied up in the business, where they will live if not in the family home.

SUCCESSION PLANNING When it comes to a family business like farming, having a succession plan in place may help to make an easy transition to retirement and at the same time safeguard the business into the future.

Where family members and assets such as the family home form part of the business, planning well ahead of time is crucial. Questions to ask should include things like, “where will I live once I retire?” and “how will I finance my lifestyle when I’m no longer involved in the family business?” Working these things out and sharing your plans with those involved in the business gives everybody security about the future.

The government has put together some helpful tools for succession planning including a Succession Plan Template and Guide which are available to download from www.business.gov.au. The guide

FUNDING RETIREMENT Whether retirement is a long way off or just around the corner, it pays to consider just how to fund life after work. This is particularly important for people whose assets and investments are significantly tied up in their businesses, as is the case with many farming families.

As a starting point, people need to consider how much time they have left in the workforce before they retire. This is a major factor in the retirement planning process. The more time a person has left to work, the more time they potentially have to save for retirement. But it can also influence how they choose to invest their super savings.

For example, for someone in their twenties it is possible to take greater risks with their super investment as they have a much longer timeframe to ride out the ups and downs of the markets. On the other hand, for somebody who is planning on retiring in five years, investment in less risky assets (such as fixed interest or cash) might have a greater chance of protecting the value of their super in case the markets take a tumble in the relatively short time before they retire.

PENSION, SUPER, OR BOTH? A person’s retirement timeframe will often be guided by when they can access their super and when they can access the Age Pension. Still, relying solely on the Age Pension will provide people with only a modest lifestyle in retirement.

Superannuation savings can supplement the Age Pension to help people enjoy a more comfortable retirement. Most super funds offer retirement income stream products which allow members to keep their money within the tax effective super environment while drawing regular payments. Generally, Australians can access their super when they reach their preservation age – currently 56 years (based on a

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person’s date of birth).

Income stream accounts are also used as a tax effective means of topping up a person’s super while they continue to work or as a way of supplementing their income when they scale back on work in the years leading into retirement.

The Age Pension meanwhile is means tested based on income and assets. If eligible, access to the Age Pension starts at age 65 but from 1 July 2017, the qualifying age increased to 65.5 years and will increase by six months every two years, reaching 67 by 1 July 2023. This means there may be a five to seven-year gap between when somebody can access their super and when they may begin supplementing their super savings with the Age Pension.

For someone currently aged in their forties, this may not seem significant. But history shows that no matter what a person’s age, it is never too early to plan to ensure they can support themselves once they stop work.

HOW MUCH IS ENOUGH? In November 2013, the Australian Bureau of Statistics announced that “for those approaching retirement age (say 65 years), males could expect to live a further 19 years and females a further 22 years.”

This means Australians will spend on average about a quarter of their lives retired.

In terms of the cost of different retirement lifestyles, the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA) Retirement Standard benchmarks the annual budget required by Australians to fund either a comfortable or modest standard of living in their post-work years, and is based on the real spending of current retirees.

The June quarter 2017 figures show that funding a basic modest lifestyle costs a single person $24,270 per year (and $34,911 for a couple), while a more comfortable (although not extravagant) lifestyle is $43,695 for a single (or $60,063 for a couple). More detailed figures are available from the ASFA. PUTTING A FINANCIAL PLAN IN PLACE A basic financial plan sets out in writing a person’s current financial state, future financial goals and the strategies to be taken in order to achieve their goals.

Taking a long-term view of retirement and thinking about the different phases is worthwhile because a person’s spending will generally alter as they age.

For instance, the first part of retirement might involve the purchase of a new car, travel expenses or the costs involved in taking up a new hobby, while the second phase may mean moving into a retirement community, downsizing or undertaking different, less active hobbies. The third phase may necessitate moving in with adult children or to an aged care facility.

Everyone is different, and whatever an individual’s preference, different financial strategies may

apply. This is where professional financial advice can help. Depending on somebody’s personal circumstances, particularly where wealth is tied up in a business or partnership, personal financial advice could be beneficial.

Financial advisers are offered by most super funds and can help people to put in place strategies to maximise their retirement income, protect their assets and avoid costly mistakes. For instance, when approaching retirement, the temptation is to withdraw it all in a lump sum. However, there are different tax implications associated with keeping money in the super environment and these may have a significant impact on a person’s financial bottom line in retirement.

ESTATE PLANNING AND SUPER Nobody likes talking about death or thinking that somebody close to them is ever going to pass away.

In fact, it is probably one of the main reasons so many of us put off making a will or taking out life insurance. However, when it comes to superannuation, beneficiaries should be registered with a person’s super fund to ensure their super savings and any associated insurance benefits are paid out in accordance with their wishes.

Under the law, the primary purpose of super is to provide for Australians in retirement and, in the event of a person’s death, super is also meant to provide for their dependants. This means a person’s super death benefit (that is, the balance of their super together with any insurance benefit) can generally only be paid to their dependants, or to their estate. To qualify as a dependant, nominees must meet the definition of dependant under the law at the time the benefit is paid or be financially dependent on the person who has passed away.

There are two types of super beneficiaries. A non-binding beneficiary is a preferred recipient of the person’s death benefit and upon their death the Trustee of the super fund will take that preference into account when paying out the death benefit.

However, the super fund will ultimately decide who is eligible to receive the benefit in accordance with the law.

Alternatively, a person may nominate a binding beneficiary with their super fund. This is a legally binding nomination, meaning the super fund must pay the super benefit to that person or persons, as long as the person nominated qualifies as a dependant under the law at the time of the person’s death.

This type of nomination lasts for three years and must be renewed to be effective.

Prime Super is committed to helping its members grow, manage and protect their wealth and retirement income. If you have any questions about planning for retirement or wish to arrange an appointment with a financial adviser, you can call Prime Super on 1800 675 839 or visit www.primesuper.com.au to find out more.

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DISCLAIMER This article contains general information only and does not take your personal circumstances into account.

You should obtain personal advice where appropriate.

This article is current as at the date of publication and subject to change. Prime Super is issued by Prime Super Pty Ltd (ABN 81 067 241 016, AFSL 219723, RSE L0000277, RN 1000276).

A Product Disclosure Statement is available from the issuer by phoning 1800 675839.

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FARM FINANCE AND SUPERANNUATION

Telopea Downs: from desert to pasture Telopea Downs is a large area in northwest Victoria that throughout its relatively short history has benefited from major capital inputs and new technologies. It is an excellent case study on the benefits of the application of capital to agriculture, both in the past through a precursor to today’s superannuation funds, and currently through foreign investment.

WRITTEN BY PROFESSOR LINDSAY FALVEY

Telopea Downs was developed after 1954, taking part in a pattern in agriculture where there was a constant opening of new frontiers. Having been planned for more than a century as part of a 2.5-million-hectare semi-desert straddling the South Australia-Victoria border (known as the ‘Big Desert’), the sparsely vegetated, undulating sands attracted attention for a reasonably reliable rainfall (an average of 235mm a year). Agriscience breakthroughs throughout the 20 years before Telopea Downs’ opening finally made development feasible.

Soil surveys of the area in the 1930s showed phosphate and nitrogen deficiencies, which led to pasture trials that showed lucerne to be the most promising crop. But production was limited by some other nagging deficiencies revealed from trace element research of pastures and sheep, including copper, zinc, molybdenum and sometimes manganese.

With tiny additions of these, lucerne grew better and the grass phalaris became viable.

But a subsequent limiting element showed up as symptoms in grazing sheep, which had developed a deficiency of cobalt. Lucerne establishment remained problematic on the deeper acid sands, but was found to be solvable by pelleting seeds with lime and rhizobium and by modifying sowing machinery. By the 1950s, these waves of innovation had provided the integrated management approach necessary to make huge areas productive.

The amount of labour needed to clear the stunted mallee scrub was beyond what was available in the 1950s, and so technology substituted for labour in the form of specially designed machinery, which meant increased investment. Australian insurance and financial services giant, the AMP Society, became the source of capital after it was granted leases in the region with the objective of developing cropping and sheep grazing land for settlers.

Farms with pasture and watering points were divided into blocks able to support 1,500 sheep each. When AMP completed its job in 1974 it had developed about 47,000 hectares in Victoria, which were sold as 91 blocks with an additional 78 blocks sold in South Australia. Initially, prospective settlers provided the labour and received financial assistance from AMP, but a severe drought in 1982-83 and increased debt soon forced many from their farms.

The need for capital in larger operations led to more wealthy investors buying blocks and funding brush control and pasture establishment.

As is usual, new constraints arose. These included an aphid that devastated lucerne, the invasion of weeds hazardous to sheep and rising soil acidity.

These were addressed through research that produced aphid-resistant lucerne varieties, judicious regimes for herbicide application and soil liming.

By the late 1980s, the farmers of Telopea Downs had access to technologies to increase sheep production, but were now hampered by structural changes in the Australian economy that highlighted, to different extents, the lack of capital necessary

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for farming such terrain. Further research revealed cost savings in phosphate fertiliser applications, but farms still remained constrained by their small size and debt loads. This led to many adjoining farms being combined into much larger properties, and a consequential rise in absentee ownership.

So far, the story differs little from many others in Australian agriculture. But the tenacity of those who remained demonstrated that mixing subsoil clay with the surface sand doubled productivity for the few who could afford to employ the expensive earth-moving technologies necessary to do this. To extend this across the wide area and apply other agriscience developments again required large stores – and patient sources – of capital.

In 2010 such an investor arrived, and the 47,000 hectares of Telopea Downs is now being developed to reach its potential. The investment by the foreign-owned Australian company Hassad has allowed new technology and expertise to be brought into the area to produce an adapted sheep breed on highly productive, resilient pastures supporting five sheep per hectare. In 1886, the region required 20 hectares to support a single sheep, and even then they had to be rotated to other regions to survive.

Technologies and expertise that are now being applied include: electromagnetic resonance for clay and water depth assessment; GPS-directed machinery movements; precision soil amelioration through controlled claying; pasture renewal through wheat and barley rotations; precision application of

nutrients and chemicals; remote sensing for crops, pastures and stock water; optimised pasture utilisation; national occupational safety and environmental standards; integrated pest management; welfare-sensitive drought feeders; geneticist-managed sheep breeding; and ewe pregnancy scanning and electronic sheep tagging for individual management, marketing and packaging.

The Middle Eastern source of capital is also important to Australia as it comes from a major market for our produce. Such alignment of producers and consumers without middlemen offers higher returns for products in demand, in this case a sheep breed that is new to the region.

By providing stimulating employment on productive farmland, this investment collaboration with others has reinforced the resurgence of demand for an agricultural education as new capital has flowed into the region.

An increased farming population has helped to keep rural schools alive, as well as revitalising purchases of farm inputs locally and the support for community provisions ranging from rural fire services to university scholarships for local students.

Telopea Downs is an example of the transition occurring in Australian agriculture. As technology becomes a substitute for labour and the need for new land, it is clear that promoting the flow of capital that can engage the expertise of our agricultural education and the technologies of our agriscience is critical to our future.

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FARM FINANCE AND SUPERANNUATION

Related Links A collection of links relating to farm finance and superannuation, in Australia and worldwide, that may benefit the farmer.

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Information on the age pension

Assistance, Grants and Tenders

A good place to start if you’d like to know what basic income provisions you’ll need to be building upon in retirement.

The Australian government and the Department of Agriculture and Water Resources provide grants and financial assistance programs to Australian businesses and individuals to help boost productivity and exports.

Business Enterprise Centres Australia BEC Australia is a network of not-for-profit organisations that offer services, training and advice – including help with succession planning – to small businesses.

MoneySmart financial guides by ASIC

The Farm Table The Farm Table has a comprehensive list of funding, grants and concessions available for farmers.

Basic information and superannuation calculators provided by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission that includes information on available and popular income sources during retirement.

ATO Primary Producers

ASFA Annual Reports & Research

Financial Information Services

Reports from the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia on super fund performance. ASFA also provides access to a number of policy and research papers.

The Department of Human Services provides information, resources and free seminars to help you understand your finances. It also provides a free savings planner and online budget tool.

Super Guru

Payment and Service Finder

Information, calculators and tips to make the most of your superannuation and understand what life after retirement will look like financially.

The Department of Human Resources site helps you find, estimate and compare services you may be eligible for.

Family Business Adviser directory ATO’s retirement transition advice

The Australian government provides a number of financial assistance measures to support farm families, farm businesses and rural communities to prepare for, manage through and recover from drought and other hardship.

Near retirement but don’t know what practical steps to take? ATO offers advice and direction.

Farmer Assist

A tool to connect with FBA’s accredited business advisers.

Retirement planning articles from SuperGuide Writing on pensions, super funds and general retirement finance questions.

Tips on transitioning to retirement Industry SuperFunds has tips and calculators to help you decide if you should retire gradually or all at once.

Visit the ATO’s webpage dedicated to Primary Producers, explaining the provisions available to help farmers manage uneven income flow.

Australian Government Assistance

Rural Business Support is a not-for-profit organisation that provides a range of financial services including financial assistance and financial literacy programs.

Rural Financial Counselling Service The Rural Financial Counselling Service (RFCS) provides rural financial counselling to a range of clients who are suffering, or at imminent risk of suffering, financial hardship.

The Queensland government’s retirement checklist A thoughtful checklist to aid you in preparing for retirement.

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PROVEN AND PREMIUM FARM PRODUCTS AND SERVICES

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proven and premium farm products and services

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PROVEN AND PREMIUM FARM PRODUCTS AND SERVICES

Changing the approach to agricultural chemicals Kerry Watts’ family has a history in Australian agriculture that stretches back five generations. This wealth of experience has led him to challenge the accepted mindset regarding chemical applications on crop production and promote an integrated approach to crop management. His company, Growth Agriculture, has developed a unique range of products that allow farmers to maintain a viable enterprise while taking care of the land and environment.

While the practice of integrated pest management – controlling pest populations with a focus on using all available resources (including biological and chemical options) and minimising environmental damage – is broadly accepted by both farmers and agricultural chemical companies now, Kerry has been preaching these principles for over two decades. He believes in a holistic approach to nutrition and plant and animal management on the farm – the guiding principle being that if you have a healthy soil feeding your crops, you’ll end up with

a crop that is better able to resist pests and insects and provide feed for healthier animals.

“Integrated pest management is a reasonably popular and accepted practice now, but I believe at Growth Agriculture we were one of the few chemical companies to get stuck into it back in 1992,” says Kerry. “In essence, it’s about reducing our reliance on synthetic fertilisers – if we don’t stop the ‘urea treadmill’, where we use more and more urea every year, then we won’t have a long term viable ag industry in Australia.

“As soon as you start spraying harsh chemistry around, you will have an impact on the environment that disrupts its natural processes. Heavy chemical application might help in the short term, but in the long run it isn’t going to help us feed more people.”

After a long history in the agricultural chemical industry, Kerry and his wife Merre, along with a couple of friends, established Growth Agriculture in 1992 to import, manufacture and sell a range of products focused on foliar nutrition and integrated pest management in crop production. While originally involved in retail of agricultural chemicals, the business quickly shifted to concentrate on manufacturing and importing unique chemistry and products aimed at providing sustainable alternatives to synthetic chemical fertilisers. Growth Agriculture’s products support a system in which predators control insect pests and maintain a true integrated pest management system.

“I really wanted to get away from

mainstream chemicals because I had thought for a long time that we needed to change the way we go about improving agricultural production,” says Kerry.

“Our approach to insect control and crop nutrition hasn’t been correct – all we seem to do is keep pouring in chemical fertilisers and inputs. Sure, this might improve crop production in the short term, but you’ve got to constantly increase the use of chemicals to do so.”

Growth Agriculture initially focused on integrated pest management using predator attractants and food sources – controlling pest populations by introducing natural predators that attack the harmful insect pests. Rather than spraying a crop to remove pests (and in the process removing the beneficial insects and disrupting the predator/prey balance), predator attractants and food sources build up – and importantly, maintain – the populations of predatory insects that will assist in taking out pests.

While Growth Agriculture still manufactures a predator food source – Pred Feed – the company has extended its range into fertilisers and plant nutrition products with the development of B&B Flow Fine: Liquid Blood and Bone. This product is made from ovine meat and bone meal, which is ground into a liquid solution and provides the minerals and trace elements to ensure healthy soils and plants.

The blood and bone provides organic material, protein, amino acids and cholesterol to feed crops and the soil’s micro-organisms – an integral part of the organic cycle. The soil organisms break

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down the organic material into humus, release locked up nutrients and improve the retention and release of nitrogen. It also improves the soil structure by creating a biologically active soil for earthworms, soil microbes and bacteria.

Extensive long-term trials of the B&B product were conducted on a cotton farm in northern NSW, and the results showed that application of the blood and bone liquid fertiliser achieved similar yield results to traditional urea, but at a reduced cost and long term benefit to soil fertility. The B&B product also increased nitrogen use efficiency in the cotton crop, allowing growers to reduce their reliance on synthetic nitrogen applications.

Not only is this beneficial for the environment in the long term, but it also has the added benefit of providing farmers with the flexibility to apply and spend money on fertiliser as and when the season allows, as opposed to up front expenditure.

“The trials prove that the use of Liquid Blood and Bone alone, coupled with good management techniques, will compete with a traditional fertiliser regime,” says Kerry. “We have consistently developed similar yields when checked against traditional chemical applications, and generally it has cost less to do so.”

The results may be impressive, but blood and bone-based fertiliser products have been used since at least the 1950s. Growth Agriculture has taken a traditional product, and refined it with constant research and development to improve it and make it relevant in modern farming practices. For Kerry, this constant refining is what he believes keeps Growth Agriculture at the forefront of the industry.

“R&D has to be an ongoing process – if you think you have a perfect product, you’ll fail,” says Kerry.

“We keep working on it and pour a lot of money into R&D as we know we need to keep improving.”

Emphasising the company’s focus on R&D is its development – via sister company Innovate Ag – of the world’s first peptide-based pesticide, Sero-X. Innovate Ag is a joint venture of Growth Agriculture and a private investor, operated by Growth Agriculture and established to handle the commercialisation and regulatory process of Sero-X. Only commercially released this year, Sero-X is a bio-pesticide formulated from the butterfly pea plant that has extremely strong direct toxicity and repellent properties for pests and harmful insects.

Developed over the course of nearly two decades

of scientific research, Sero-X controls pests without having any impact on non-target insects such as bees or predator insects. With the potential ability to rescue declining bee populations around the globe, Sero-X will be something of a game changer for the agricultural industry. But for Kerry, developments like Sero-X are all just a part of his central philosophy about changing the way we farm.

“It can be hard to talk to a person about a liquid blood and bone product or a peptide-based pesticide and try to convince them not to pour chemical nitrogen into their soil or use traditional synthetic pesticides – often they look at you like you have three heads,” says Kerry.

“More people are looking at integrated pest management and these sorts of solutions now, which means we’ve got a higher chance of finding a better way of doing things. Farmers have to be prepared to work with the natural environment rather than competing against it – our soils are a living, breathing thing, and if we’re going to be successful in the future, we have to let them live and breathe more naturally.”

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PROVEN AND PREMIUM FARM PRODUCTS AND SERVICES

LSW tyre technology to revolutionise Australian agriculture As farm machinery grows more sophisticated every day, so too does the technology and innovation that goes into making every part of each machine. The wheels, tyres and axles of modern tractors and other agricultural equipment need to allow for higher speeds, extra traction, improved fuel efficiency and reduced soil compaction. In a fast-moving industry, Titan Australia is ahead of the curve with its revolutionary new Low Sidewall (LSW) technology that has just hit the Australian market.

With ten warehouses spread across the country, Titan Australia is the largest provider of tyres, wheels, axles and undercarriage tracks in Australia and is backed by the world-leading Titan International brand. A quarter of the company’s Australian business is in agriculture, with Titan providing 55 per cent of the original equipment manufacturer market for axles and wheels in the industry.

“We’re not just a tyre supplier, and not just a wheel or undercarriage supplier – we’re a one-stop shop that supplies it all,” says Titan Australia CEO

Mike Franklin. “Our own agricultural products that are manufactured here are all made using our Australian labour force and quality Australian steel.”

Titan’s 22,500 square metre manufacturing hub in Mildura is staffed by a group of 30 experts with a deep understanding of agricultural products from engineering through to design, production and logistics.

This expertise allows Titan to work closely with its agricultural customers to provide customised machinery parts for unique farming needs.

No two farms are the same, and Titan prides itself on its ability to design and manufacture machinery components to any specification. It’s a valuable service to offer, and a feature that differentiates Titan from its competition in the eyes of farmers.

“Farmers come to us quite often looking for solutions to issues they have, and we like to work with them,” says Mike. “It’s an interactive relationship we’re developing – and even though we’re an international company, we’re not afraid to invest in Australian manufacturing to help the Australian farmer.”

LSW TECHNOLOGY TO REVOLUTIONISE THE AG MARKET Agricultural machinery needs to be robust to handle demanding terrain and climates, and modern tractors need to be able to not only adapt to different farming conditions, but also handle higher speeds and provide extra traction without having a negative impact on the farming environment. Heavy tyres can cause soil compaction, cut grooves into the ground and adversely affect germination rates and subse-

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quent crop yields.

Most current tractor wheels are incapable of supporting the increases in size and horsepower necessary for modern farming without these negative consequences. Until now, the only alternative for farmers had been to purchase an expensive tracked machine or run the risk of inadequate machinery performance and poor soil health.

In an exciting and unique response to these issues – without compromising on performance either in the paddock or on the road – Titan has developed the Low Sidewall technology. The LSW is a hybrid of tyre and wheel technologies, featuring a larger rim diameter and a smaller sidewall than the standard tyre.

The upshot of this is a significant reduction in power hop, road lope and soil compaction, thus improving both the safety and performance of the machinery.

LSW wheels and tyres are available for a range of machines including combines, tractors, grain carts and field sprayers. Developed over 15 years in the US, the technology has gained broad market acceptance there in the last two years and has only just hit Australian shores. Farmers played a vital role in the development of the LSW, a process that focused on improving performance in the paddock.

“In the US in particular we did a lot of on-farm trials comparing our products to competing machinery, and these trials were critical in the evolution of the LSW technology,” says Mike. “As a marketing tool, testimony from farmers who are using our products is pretty strong – not only does it enable us to

develop the best product, it allows the farmers to tell our story.”

The smaller sidewall featured in the LSW technology evens out the swaying motion of the vehicle while travelling at high speeds, thus eliminating power hopping in high-drawbar applications. The LSW also improves performance in boggy conditions by providing increased flotation, and reduces soil compaction significantly by allowing for weight to be carried at a 40 per cent lower inflation pressure than a standard tyre.

These features allow a farmer to operate their machinery more efficiently, therefore also lowering fuel consumption. On the environmental side of things, the minimised soil compaction also means a more aerated soil and consequently an increased crop yield.

“It’s the first major change in the industry for a long time, and it’s going to have a major impact on agriculture,” says Mike. “We’re seeing that already, and the feedback from the farmers who are using it is that once they’ve tried the LSW technology, they won’t go back.

“The LSW provides a better ride, but also has better efficiency and significant economic benefits.

That’s the impact it’s having in the US, and we think that’ll happen here in Australia too.”

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PROVEN AND PREMIUM FARM PRODUCTS AND SERVICES

Liberty Oil’s mantra is to be local and stay close to the customer. Over the last five years, the company has actively restructured its wholesale business to fulfil these aims.

Unlike its competitors, Liberty is re-opening regional fuel depots around Australia and employing locals to run the business – both expanding the customer base and bringing employment opportunities to regional towns and centres.

Staying close to rural communities and customers

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Liberty Oil has been undergoing major growth in regional and rural areas since it launched as an independent fuel supplier for Australians in 1995. The company has been steadily growing since its launch, expanding throughout Australia both organically and through acquisitions. Today, Liberty distributes hundreds of millions of litres of fuel each year, achieving an annual turnover in 2016 of over $1 billion.

Liberty has more than 30 locations around the country, and a fleet of 80 trucks to enable delivery to users and retailers across Australia. With recently opened facilities in regional centres such as Emerald and Goondiwindi in Queensland, Horsham and Bendigo in Victoria and Katanning in Western Australia, the company is well attuned to the rural ethic of longterm relationships and the meaning of real loyalty – a commodity no longer present in the cities.

Liberty’s point of difference is its reliability and customer service in regional areas, where fuel supply can be critical during times of extreme need such as harvesting season. Liberty prides itself on delivering exceptional service to farmers, through their availability in regional areas and a sensitivity to the needs of farmers.

“We like to think of ourselves as approachable at all layers of the organisation, and if the customer wishes to speak to anyone in the company they can,” says Liberty CEO Paul Edmends. “One of our main focuses is to make life easier for our customers, and we are constantly looking at ways to do this.”

Liberty Oil’s loyalty to their rural customers extends beyond just a reliable fuel supply. The company actively supports a range of local regional activities,

football clubs and other sporting associations in towns such as Emerald, Gindie, Maxwelton, Kooroorinya, Richmond, Griffith, Coreen and Osborne.

“We look to get value back from the sponsorship through exposure, but that’s not the main reason we do it,” says Edmends. “We know we can make a significant difference to the community fabric of these small towns by contributing.”

A good example of the effect Liberty’s support can have on a town can be seen in Richmond, a town of just over 500 people in Western Queensland. Liberty supports the Richmond Rodeo, the Richmond Swimming Club Carnival and Richmond Fossil Festival, in addition to supporting clubs and facilities in the surrounding towns.

“If it wasn’t for Liberty’s investment and great support of the town, we would not be able to hold and participate in key activities that bring businesses and outlying farmers into town,” says John Wharton, Mayor of Richmond Shire. “It’s with their generous support that we can stage these events, which are great for socialising and networking for everyone in the town.”

By supporting towns like Richmond through both sponsorship and employment, Liberty Oil continues to grow its footprint across regional Australia, truly staying local and loyal to its customers and their communities.

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Lindsay: the one-stop shop for farming needs Lindsay Australia offers farmers a complete range of services and solutions via the three arms of its business – Lindsay Rural, Lindsay Transport and Lindsay Fresh Logistics. The three businesses work hand-in-hand to make sure farmers can maximise their returns, with advanced technology and an integrated approach putting Lindsay ahead of the competition.

While Lindsay Fresh Logistics handles the export and shipping of produce, Lindsay Rural has agronomists and a sales team on the ground to handle farm inputs such as seeds, fertiliser, chemicals and packaging. Lindsay Transport brings all of these inputs to the farm, and then delivers the finished goods to market.

“We know farmers spend a hell of a lot of time and effort getting their produce out of the ground and into a box – our attitude is that it doesn’t stop there,” says Wolf Lorenz, General Manager of Lindsay Rural. “We need to make sure the produce arrives at the market in the best possible condition, so the growers get the maximum return available in the market.”

INTEGRATING THE SUPPLY CHAIN Lindsay’s advantage over its competitors is best seen in the integration of its three businesses. Having control over every point of the supply chain means that the product packed by the grower arrives at market in the best possible condition in the quickest possible time. It also means that rather than sourcing different services in the supply chain from multiple vendors, the farmer can use Lindsay as a one-stop shop.

“Farmers want the headache taken out of the chain – they don’t want to deal with multiple people, they’d rather have one account manager that can fix it from the farm gate until the end,” says Craig Baker, General Manager of Sales and Marketing at Lindsay. “It’s our network that sets us apart – we’re not just a transport business, we’re a rural merchandising, export and transport business.”

EXPERTISE ON THE GROUND The Lindsay Rural arm of the business focuses on providing the expertise and inputs necessary for farmers to get the best out of their produce. The business provides services in the form of expert technical advice and analytic services (such as plant and soil tests and nutritional analyses), as well as offering the supply and delivery of essential farm inputs such as nutritional products, pesticides and fungicides.

Lindsay Rural’s service to farmers is enhanced by a partnership with Visy, Australia’s largest packaging manufacturer. The partnership allows Lindsay to pro-

vide the last piece of the puzzle for growers: the packaging in which their product is transported and sold.

“The partnership with Visy has allowed us to provide a new level of competitive products with our inherent high service levels,” says Lorenz. “It’s taken the packaging distribution and delivery system to a new level in the Australian horticultural sector.”

RULING THE ROADS With over 20 branches across the east coast of Australia, providing services from Cooktown in the north to Melbourne and Adelaide down south, Lindsay Transport has operated an extensive network for over 60 years.

Managing the transport needs for such a network is a challenge that Lindsay meets by using the latest in technology to ensure safety and driver health.

In-cab devices track every truck in Linday’s entire fleet, all monitored from a central office in Coffs Harbour that operates 24/7. These devices allow Lindsay to manage driver health and workload, and make informed decisions on how to best optimise the transport of perishable produce across the network in the shortest possible time.

With the use of advanced technology such as this, combined with the integration of three businesses to offer complete service from paddock to port, it is easy to see why Lindsay Australia is leading the pack when it comes to serving farmers’ needs.

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A network built on reputation Over the past two decades, Rural Marketing Agents Ltd (rma network) has built itself a reputation as being a leading force in the agricultural industry. It has constantly adapted to the rapid changes in the agricultural market place and continues to support independent local agents with valuable resources, information and training.

There is a big difference between the livestock agent of past generations and today. The eyes of the world are on agricultural practices and this affects the way agents operate. New standards, regulations and technologies come at a cost in both time and money.

Now in its 23rd year, the rma network philosophy is embedded in Australian agriculture. Today there are 86 head offices and 22 branch offices with approximately 800 staff members, 550 of whom are livestock agents. These agents value their independence and local identity, yet also see the benefits of a collective that works on their behalf in the background.

“There is a big difference in approach when it is your own business,” says rma network General Manager, Michael O’Brien. “They put their heart and soul into it, they put in more blood, sweat and tears.”

He says prospective new agents shy away from joining a collective organisation, fearing they will lose their independence and local identity.

“We offer our members collective strength, organisational structure and resources with independence,” says O’Brien.

When governments introduce new rules and regulations affecting the way agents operate, whether it be for a property security register or an animal management protocol, an agent could be required to spend thousands of dollars and hours of his time to understand and implement the new standards. For many independent, small operations these costs often outweigh their ability to make ends meet.

For members of the rma network these changes are made through rma network’s central office, which also provides the information required to initiate the changes. Access to key information such as market and sales reports allows agents to remain up-to-date in all facets of livestock sales.

“We might spend up to $50,000 to get the technical information and provide it to our members on something like the property security register,” says O’Brien. “Often this would be beyond the reach of a small agency. But as a member

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of the rma network, an agent gets access to this information in addition to any training and advice the agent needs.”

Furthermore, through rma network’s partnerships, agents have access to a quality network of likeminded livestock and property agents throughout Australia and are able to utilise a range of print and digital advertising solutions to gain maximum exposure for a sale.

To ensure rma network’s credibility and high standards, members are handpicked and go through a series of training and information regimes designed to improve their skills and knowledge.

These include being: • Highly-trained auctioneers and agents, equipped with the skills to gain the best results for livestock, property and clearing sales • Equipped with up-to-date industry information (such as live export, processor contracts and

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market information) Bound by a code of ethics that promotes honesty, integrity, knowledge and service in all business transactions.

With a strong presence in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, Tasmania and South Australia, rma network covers the majority of the Australian states and continues to grow in strength and numbers.

Recognised as being the best of the best in the industry, the group remains a significant force in the agricultural industry with a wealth of talent, resources and information at its disposal.

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Animal wellbeing has moved out of the shadows over the past ten years and is now front and centre in the active debate around livestock producers’ social licence to operate.

Looking after animals improves profitability

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One company that can lay a strong claim to leading the field in improving animal wellbeing, from livestock farming to domestic pets, is Boehringer Ingelheim. This global pharmaceutical company, with its 129-year history of developing innovative medicines and services, has carved out a niche for pain management and more efficient reproductive performance in livestock animals.

“Boehringer Ingelheim wants to foster the health and wellbeing of mankind by contributing to an adequate supply of safe, nutritious food and promoting the emotional and physical benefits arising from the humananimal bond,” says Australian Head of Animal Health, John Heath.

The long-held belief that livestock animals feel little or no pain through procedures like disbudding, mulesing, marking and tail docking or from conditions like mastitis, has been well and truly disproven through recent studies – to the extent that Boehringer Ingelheim can point to significant productivity and reproductive improvements associated with reducing pain.

The company’s signature non-steroidal antiinflammatory drug Metacam® has been prescribed by veterinarians in combination with antibiotics in a recent study in dairy cattle, which showed that conception rate to first service increased from 21 to 31 per cent.

“The therapeutic efficacy and productivity benefits of Metacam® are well known, but what we didn’t expect were such significant fertility benefits,” says Dr Erick Lelouche, Head of Global Marketing at Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health. Metacam®, with its active ingredient meloxicam, can provide long term pain relief to a number of different species including cattle, pigs, horses, sheep, dogs and cats.

FEEDING DEMAND Australia’s signing of Free Trade Agreements in the Asian region, particularly with China, point to a future in which

the nation’s agricultural products will continue to be in high demand.

To address the animal productivity improvements required to meet that demand, Boehringer Ingelheim has developed Selenta® – a comprehensive suite of hormones that improve fertility and calving rates by synchronising oestrus in cows.

“When we maximise fertility synchronisation we get more calves on the ground earlier and in a shorter period of time. Calves are weaned at heavier weights and reach maturity more quickly,” says Heath. “This has benefits for marketing and herd management.

“With more cows pregnant early in the mating period and tighter calving patterns, we are able to increase the rate of genetic gain and get cows back in calf sooner.”

Developed in South America, the Selenta® fertility suite is also well suited to Australia’s northern beef herds where it has been shown to improve reproductive performance, particularly with cattle in leaner condition.

The Selenta® program offers specific protocols for the Bos Indicus and Bos Taurus breeds and different approaches to meet the needs of heifers and mature cows.

“Our planned breeding programs maximise livestock production and profitability,” says Heath. “They are important tools to optimise the performance of the herd.”

In the agricultural sector, Boehringer Ingelheim has recognised a need to develop products and strategies for veterinarians and livestock producers that reduce the stress and pain imposed by the management of livestock, and ultimately improve livestock wellbeing.

The company’s cutting-edge technology is making a difference to the productivity, reproductivity and health of both animals and people.

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Better farm management in the palm of your hand Since 1988, Fairport Farm Software has been working with the world’s leading farmers to offer an online farm management system that has bettered – and outlasted – many rivals. A leader in agricultural software development for almost three decades, Fairport has maintained its innovative edge by creating a software system that thinks like a farmer.

Fairport’s flagship farm management software product PAM (which stands for process, analyse and manage) was launched in 1989. Today, the system is used across both corporate and privately-owned farms in Australia and around the world.

PAM allows farmers to record virtually any important farm information, from on-farm data on cropping, horticulture, viticulture and livestock operations, to machinery, irrigation and general farm overheads.

The software also tracks costs incurred and income generated to help farmers manage their businesses better.

In addition, the software provides a range of modules that record essential information such as weather data, soil, tissue and laboratory analysis results, farm mapping, precision farming data analysis and variable rate control maps.

Founder and Managing Director Roger Wiese worked for 15 years as a farmer in Western Australia before establishing Fairport, and he attributes the company’s success to his farming background.

“Just thinking like a farmer has made the difference,” says Roger. “We started with a product that was extremely simple, and then adapted according to the demands of our clients.”

Fairport has stood the test of time by building high quality, user-friendly software that is efficient and sophisticated, but not complicated. The software’s layout, menu options and labels have been designed for easy use, and a help panel is available should the user need assistance on the spot.

“Farmers kept telling us that they simply didn’t have the time to track and record all this informa-

tion,” says Roger. “We had to bear this in mind when designing an online system for farmers and try to make the software consistent in usability, no matter the task.”

In 2001, Fairport developed the new PAM Enterprise product specifically catered for corporate clients, which instantaneously gained traction locally and abroad. In addition to the regular features of PAM, PAM Enterprise allows large volumes of data to be handled easily, providing security, accounting and data storage as well as customisation.

Over the years, Fairport has worked for prominent clients such as national research organisations, state departments of agriculture and established entities such as Hardy Wines and Pulse Australia.

They have been at the forefront in developing agricultural software systems for online platforms.

Fairport was the very first company in Australia to develop precision farming software with the FarmStar system, and PocketPAM – first released in 2000 – was the world’s first mobile app for collecting farm records onsite.

Constant development has been Fairport’s strength over the past three decades and will see them continue to lead the way in the future.

“We have to adapt to the modern landscape, just as a farmer would with his land,” says Roger. “Our goal is to develop the next generation of PAM for the next generation of farmers.”

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PROVEN AND PREMIUM FARM PRODUCTS AND SERVICES

Polaris leads the way with safety-first innovation Polaris is Australia’s number one off-road vehicle brand, with a range of vehicles perfectly suited to the unforgiving conditions found on Australian farms. A focus on safety and innovation has driven Polaris to the top of the pack, reflecting a changing market in which safety-conscious drivers are moving away from the traditionally popular all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) to the side-by-side vehicle market. As a result, you can now find Polaris vehicles such as the Ranger and ACE models on farms across the country.

Polaris was founded in the US in 1954, as a manufacturer of small vehicles for work and play, such as snowmobiles, ATVs, motorcycles and commercial vehicles.

The company has grown exponentially to now house 8,100 employees in over 100 countries, with 2016 sales totalling over $4.5 billion globally.

The company has been in Australia as a whollyowned subsidiary for more than a decade, and prior to that Polaris vehicles were imported and distributed independently. Unlike in the US where the majority of Polaris products are used recreationally, in Australia Polaris is chiefly a provider of vehicles for farming purposes. The brand has risen quickly to dominate the farming scene in Australia, becoming the first ever brand in the off-road vehicle market to exceed 6,000 sales in a single year in 2016.

“Australia has the highest per capita market for farmers for the Polaris line in the world,” says Alan Collins, Country Manager, Off-Road Vehicles at Polaris.

“There are a couple of reasons for this: one is that we don’t have a huge pure recreational market, and the second of course is that Australia is a major primary producer market in the first place.

“This has led to innovations in safety and comfort and other areas – these are hard-working vehicles for hard-working people, not toys.”

Polaris experienced a stunning 19 per cent growth in 2016, and the company attributes that to the booming side-by-side market and an increased focus on safety in the consumer market. This has translated to massive growth in the sales of vehicles with rollover protection structures (ROPS), a structure built to protect drivers and operators from injuries caused by vehicle rollovers.

Polaris manufactures 23 models with ROPS, and this has been its main area of growth in the last few years – sales of the Ranger side-by-side models grew by 27 per cent in 2016, while sales of the single-seater ACE model grew by 47 per cent.

“Farming is always evolving and with that comes a demand for more features and safety innovations,”

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says Alan. “It’s been 35 years since the humble ATV arrived on farms and the demand has grown for higher load and towing capacities, more comfort from the elements including heaters, Four Wheel Descent Control, turf-friendly rear differentials and increased occupant capacities for up to six people. It’s simply a logical progression for the transition away from ATVs to side-by-sides and the ACE model.”

TOUGH ENVIRONMENT PERFECT FOR LOCAL R&D While all Polaris vehicles are manufactured overseas, it is common for the company to send teams of engineers to Australia and New Zealand to do specific research and development work.

This is because the farming environments in both countries are among the most demanding in the world for off-road vehicles. Dairy farms are particularly harsh environments, with countless obstacles that test not only the handling and durability of the vehicles, but also the ability of materials and parts to withstand corrosion and degradation.

“Of course, our parent company in Minneapolis in the US has a massive R&D division where vehicles undergo extensive stress testing of both the entire vehicle and individual components in laboratories and in the field,” says Alan.

“Nonetheless, there remains no substitute for real world testing and Australia provides a tough and testing environment for our engineers due to its often hard and dusty terrain.

“New Zealand provides an intense dairy industry experience with hilly terrain and the highly corrosive environment that comes from following cows around twice a day. Our engineers visit both countries to assess how our vehicles stand up to this challenge and feed this information back into the development program.”

Pushed by the Australian development team and the needs of Aussie farmers, many features made specifically for farming environments in Australia and New Zealand – such as heavy-duty suspension and stronger brake pad materials – have become standard features across the Polaris range. Indeed, the Polaris HD models were first developed for the Australian and New Zealand markets before being introduced to other parts of the world.

“The Polaris farm transport line is heavily driven by farmer’s needs – though we are a global company, we have devised special features and innovations specifically for Aussie conditions,” says Alan. “Many of our ideas come from interactions with the farmers themselves – who knows better than the users?”

RANGER AND ACE: THE WORKHORSE AND THE STEPPING STONE Polaris’ Ranger series of side-by-side vehicles is its most popular product among Australian farmers, offering superior load-carrying and towing ratings across a range of models from two, three or six seats, petrol, diesel or electric engines and two-wheel or all-wheel drive. A standout is the top-selling Ranger Diesel 1000 HD EPS with electronic power steering and all-wheel descent control. Perfectly-suited to a farming environment, this model’s motto is ‘One Farm, One Fuel’ – a vehicle that utilises diesel, the most abundantly-used fuel in agriculture.

The Ranger Diesel 1000 HD EPS boasts a 37.6 litre fuel tank, class-leading 907kg towing capacity, 680kg payload capacity and a rear dump box with gas-assist dumping operation that can carry up to 454kg of materials and a full-sized pallet. It is powered by a modern 1028cc Kohler Diesel engine with three cylinders, overhead cam and liquid-cooling, and can also power additional accessories with a class-leading alternator output of 110 amps.

“The Ranger is and always has been a workhorse,” says Alan. “A Ranger needs to stand up to the elements every day and work hard – and do this all in comfort.”

While the Ranger might provide superior carrying capabilities and a larger range of accessories, Polaris’ ACE range of vehicles is gaining popularity for its compactness and price point. Without a category of its own, the ACE is seen as a transitional vehicle between an ATV or quadbike and the larger side-by-side models. For farmers who are used to the ease and comforts of ATVs but want superior safety features such as ROPS without a significantly larger and more expensive vehicle, the ACE is the answer.

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der, Managing Director for Australia and New Zealand at Polaris. “We have, and will continue, to partner with workplace regulatory bodies nationwide as we adopt a proactive approach to safety.”

For Polaris’ Ranger and ACE models, the commitment to safety goes well beyond just ROPS. These models also offer innovative safety technology such as SpeedKey, seatbelt interlock, side nets and Four Wheel Descent Control. Particularly for the Ranger models, these features – and others such as ride quality and carrying and towing capabilities – are industry-leading.

“The ACE is certainly unique and difficult to categorise, but is more like a side-by-side with a single seat because it shares the same car-like controls, ROPS and many other features found on the Ranger,” says Alan. “However, ACE retains a compact footprint much like a larger ATV and some applications simply are better suited to a narrow and compact vehicle like the ACE without sacrificing many of the comfort and safety innovations found on the Ranger.”

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LEADING THE WAY ON FARM SAFETY WITH ROPS In the last few years, state governments around Australia have attempted to address the concerning rate of on-farm injuries and deaths from vehicle rollovers with campaigns on farm safety and the importance of vehicle safety technology. As a response, Polaris has led the way in farm safety innovation for Australian farmers and farming families – vehicles equipped with ROPS are a much safer alternative, given the protection of a purpose-built, certified structure.

Reflecting the newfound focus on farm safety, WorkSafe Victoria and SafeWork NSW introduced generous safety rebate schemes in 2016 which provided significant financial support for customers to transition from less-safe ATVs or quadbikes to a side-by-side or ACE vehicle featuring ROPS. “We applaud WorkSafe Victoria and SafeWork NSW for allowing safety rebates to be utilised by farmers to shift from an ATV to a side-by-side,” says Peter Alexan-

INNOVATION LEADS TO THE RACE TRACK An interesting side point to the strength of Polaris in the Australian off-road vehicle market has been the recent growth of side-by-side stadium racing, also known on the Australian racing scene as ‘Superlites’. Born in 2015 with the Polaris RZR Australian Championship, racing in these vehicles has been expanded with new classes and is now known as the SXS Australian Championship – run by the national peak body for motor sports, the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport (CAMS).

Side-by-side racing provides not only high-energy and popular races, but with categories designed to keep vehicles as close to original specifications as possible, it is the most affordable racing event on four wheels. The vehicle of choice in these races is the Polaris RZR, a combination of power, suspension, agility and comfort that is designed for extreme performance.

The event’s growing popularity is reflected in the drivers taking part – both Cody Crocker and Simon Evans are household names in Australian rally car racing, and are now making a name for themselves in side-by-side races under the Polaris banner. Cody has actually won the Australian SXS Challenge in a Polaris RZR four times, adding to his impressive tally of national rally championship titles.

Polaris’ racing success is undoubtedly due to its commitment to innovation and the performance of its vehicles – a commitment that runs through all Polaris vehicles, from the RZR to the Ranger and ACE. The level of technology and effort Polaris dedicates to manufacturing vehicles that are not only durable and flexible, but also safe and comfortable on and off the road, is undoubtedly the reason why Polaris is the top name in Australian off-road vehicles.

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Innovative solutions for harvesting rainwater National Poly Industries – a privately owned Australian company – has been the leading and largest supplier of polyethylene rainwater tanks for over 15 years. Their reputation for high-quality rainwater tanks and excellent customer service has made them a household name for farmers across the eastern seaboard.

In fact, sales of 5,000-gallon tanks to farmers – to be used for the house or shed – account for 55 per cent of the company’s business. These systems include pipelines hundreds of kilometres long where tanks and pipes replace the traditional open channel system and, in doing so, save up to 80 per cent of water utilised.

“The majority of farmers harvest rainwater out of necessity rather than by choice, due to their geographic locations and lack of mains pressure water,” says CEO Matthew Roughan. “But with water being such a precious commodity these days, my advice to farmers would be to harvest every drop of rainwater you can.”

The first step in harvesting rainwater is working out how much water storage is needed, and the best way to do this is to calculate how much water can be retained off the surface area of the roof. A simple and effective guide is to measure the roof surface areas available for catchment in square metres.

“For every millimetre of rainfall on one square metre of catchment area, you will harvest one litre of water,” explains Matthew. “If you calculate that using your average rainfall as a guide, it will give a very good indication of the water tank capacity you require.”

Part of National Poly’s customer service includes providing customers with a wealth of information on how to purchase the right tank storage system for the farm. The company’s online knowledge base covers the basics – from learning the difference between stormwater and rainwater to advice on how to calculate soil water requirements and identify water storage options on the farm.

With five manufacturing plants strategically located across the country and a fleet of 40 trucks that cover over a million kilometres every year, National Poly is able to offer flexible delivery options and shorter lead times to their customers.

“We also offer the best warranty available on polyethylene tanks compared to our competitors, and can do this with confidence given the quality of our products,” says Matthew. “We use only the best raw materials and WaterMark fittings in our tanks to ensure quality from start to finish.”

Most importantly, the tanks are certified to the international AS 4766 design and manufacture standards and undergo rigorous quality assurance inspections before leaving the manufacturing plants.

Research and development play a substantial role in National Poly’s continued success, with plans to not only expand into stormwater harvesting solutions but also to broaden their range of agricultural products.

The company is forming a new partnership to market a range of revolutionary feeders that will improve the efficiency and safety for grain feeding livestock.

“New products and refinements to current products is a renewed area of focus for us after a period of consolidation,” says Matthew. “Our goals are to continue to bring the best possible rainwater harvesting solutions to customers.”

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New Colorado showcases Holden’s engineering expertise 2017 may mark the end of Holden’s Australian manufacturing capability, but local engineering knowledge and expertise will remain crucial to the company well into the future. The peak of this expertise is the 2017 Holden Colorado with in-depth testing and engineering from Holden’s talented team ensuring the ute is durable in Australian conditions and suitable for Australian farmers.

Released to the Australian market in late 2016, the new Colorado has proved enormously popular with Australian drivers, leading a 10 per cent growth in 4x4 pickup sales for Holden in 2017. The company’s relevance in the Australian market remains strong and the Colorado is just one of 24 new vehicles Holden has committed to launch in Australia by 2020. On top of that, Holden has retained its Australian expertise, with more than 300 local designers and engineers working on products for Australia and the world.

“Australia is a leader in advanced automotive design and engineering, which is why this important

part of the company’s capability will remain in Australia,” says Holden Chairman and Managing Director, Mark Bernhard. “We’re retaining our world-class Port Melbourne-based design studio as well as our vehicle proving and testing ground at Lang Lang in Victoria, where our engineers will continue to tune and develop Holden vehicles to ensure they are suited to Aussie conditions and our customers’ needs.”

Development work on the 2017 Colorado in Australia started some years prior to the ute’s release, soon after the previous model was launched. A team of local engineers identified changes in three key areas – noise and vibration, vehicle dynamics and energy and drive quality – and began making improvements to the vehicle’s body mounts and engine hardware. The steering and suspension changes to improve the ride and handling of the vehicle were co-developed by a team of Brazilian and Australian engineers, working both in Brazil and at Lang Lang.

“We tuned the suspension and the steering to give that really confident car-like handling experience on the bitumen roads,” says Holden Vehicle Development Manager Jeremy Tassone. “What we were really focused on was to make the 2017 Colorado feel and handle more like a passenger car than we ever had before but without losing any of its off-road capability.

“The added electric power steering not only has fuel consumption benefits, it also enabled us to improve the steering characteristics of the car to be more direct and responsive. Ultimately it’s about giving the driver confidence in the car’s handling with a very natural and progressive driving feel.”

Holden’s engineers also changed the spring rate of

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the Colorado’s suspension so that it would sit higher when fully loaded, ensuring every model of the ute has the ability to carry one tonne in the tray. The dampers were also modified so that the suspension was tuned to provide a comfortable ride despite the one-tonne payload.

Colorado’s new noise and vibration-reducing features – including an engine acoustics package that reduces engine and fuel system noise and improved glass thickness, seals, mouldings and foams – were all completely developed in Australia and tested in Monash University’s wind tunnel.

“A key component in reducing the vibration in the Colorado is the centrifugal pendulum absorber (CPA) torque converter – hardware that is normally only seen in high-end diesel passenger cars from the likes of BMW or Mercedes Benz,” says Jeremy. “We were able to get them added to our vehicles, and it really takes away a lot of the vibration that comes from the engine when you’re driving.”

In addition to the hardware changes, the 2017 Colorado underwent significant styling and technology improvements. The interior and exterior of the ute were updated, including the front fascia, headlamps, wheels and bonnet. The Colorado range is also loaded with safety and entertainment technology such as Tyre Pressure Monitoring, Front Park Assist, Lane Departure Warning, Forward Collision Alert, Apple Car Play and Android Auto.

All these features come in a package that boasts up to 500 Newton metres of torque and can tow up to 3.5 tonnes. This is important, so much so that for vehicles priced under $50,000, this engine power and performance is market-leading. It means it’s a

ute that has more than enough performance to cope with the harsh demands of the rural and outback life in Australia.

“The changes to the powertrain and the installation of the CPA torque converter mean that the car is great for towing – it really takes advantage of its torque and stays very connected,” says Jeremy. “For example, you can control it easily even when towing a trailer up a slippery slope and it has a locally developed Trailer Sway Control if drivers find themselves in a sticky situation at speeds.”

Mindful of the needs of farmers and rural Australians, Holden also worked hard to improve the capability of the Colorado when it is off-road or on gravel roads. A limited slip differential (LSD) was added to the rear axle – a feature normally found in sports cars such as the V8 Commodore. It helps the driver get the power down to the ground without spinning one wheel, even on gravel roads.

Engineered in Australia for Australian – and particularly rural Australian – conditions, the 2017 Holden Colorado is an example of the company’s continued commitment to this country. The work that has been done, and will continue to be done, on Australian shores will ensure Holden remains competitive, reliable and durable well into the future.

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Holden Colorado.

Designed with Australia in mind.

The Colorado is a serious workhorse with a 147kw Duramax Diesel engine with 500Nm* of torque. The steering and suspension have been developed by Australian engineers to make the Colorado durable enough to suit our roads, or lack thereof. So whether you’re working hard during the week or kicking back at the weekend, the Colorado can handle anything you throw at it.

View the entire Colorado range at holden.com.au/Colorado.

Colorado LTZ 4x4 Crew Cab Pickup, shown in Summit White. *Auto models only.

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Metalcorp – a permanent fixture in rural Australia Metalcorp is an institution in the Australian bush, dating back to the company’s original incarnation as Ashley and Moore in the late 1970s. Today, Metalcorp is renowned among farmers for its durable steel products – constructed using quality Australian-made steel and developed with an acute understanding of the needs of rural Australians.

Metalcorp uses Australian-made steel from Orrcon Steel to make superior rural products compared to those made with imported steel. The company’s wide product range is designed to withstand harsh environments, from piggeries to cattle yards and from coastal locations to inland farms. Metalcorp’s steel is used extensively across rural Australia.

In fact, a majority of Metalcorp’s business sales are rural-related – such as fence posts, sheds, cattle grids, barbed wire, welding equipment, gates and panels for cattle yards – while the balance are sales of tubular steel used by farmers for fencing, gates or flooring. The ability to trace Metalcorp’s core steel products all the way back to its source – BlueScope’s steel mill in Port Kembla – gives customers confidence and trust in the quality of the product.

The company is committed to servicing rural Australia, exhibiting at field days around the country to support the brand. At these field days, they are able to use farmers’ feedback to further enhance Metalcorp’s product range.

“We’re always looking to bring out new products, particularly in cattle- and sheep-handling equipment, so we’re talking to farmers about what can be improved and releasing new models every year,” says Matt Emmett, Rural Manager Queensland for Metalcorp. “Farmers know how best to use our products and what’s missing from our range, so we listen carefully to their feedback and use it to research our upgrades.”

Metalcorp’s knowledge of rural Australia is one of the company’s greatest strengths, and this knowledge is also gained through their dedicated team of Rural Managers. The Metalcorp rural team members come from farming backgrounds and are well-

versed in the challenges faced by rural Australia, and understand the qualities that steel products need to display in order to survive very harsh farming environments.

“Our Rural Managers – like Matt in Queensland, Victorian Rural Manager John Clark and NSW Rural Manager Tony Fenwick – know the hassles that farmers experience, and what they’re looking for in cattle- or sheep-handling equipment,” says Lester Kirkwood, National Sales and Marketing Manager for Metalcorp. “They’re closely linked to the bush, which is why we saw it as imperative to have these people on board.”

With the key role that rural Australia plays in the Metalcorp business, it is no surprise that the company is constantly on the lookout for ways to support the industry and those in the bush. As part of the company’s culture of giving back, Metalcorp supports a range of rural fundraising causes and seeks to link closely with the local communities in which they operate.

“Companies come and go, but it’s those who hang in there and do the things that actually help farming Australians improve their businesses and make operating the farm a little easier that matter,” says Lester.

Metalcorp is one of those companies, having been actively involved in rural Australia through long drought periods and devastating floods – and they plan to stay involved for the long haul, continuing to deliver on the needs of farmers across the country.

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Qantas Freight drives Australia’s food exports Through its freight business, Qantas provides the capacity for Australian food exports – both fresh and chilled – to reach international shores in a timely and safe manner. And as demand for Australian produce rapidly increases in Asian (and particularly Chinese) markets, this service has never been more vital. As the only airline to offer direct freighter capacity between Australia and China, Qantas is playing an undeniably crucial role in the growth of the Australian export market.

Qantas Freight has been flying fresh produce between Australia and China for more than 30 years, and boasts 13 years of continuous freighter operations to the country. Eighteen flights each week depart Sydney bound for the Chinese ports of Beijing, Chongqing and Shanghai, 14 of which are passenger flights with the capacity to carry freight, while four are dedicated freight services capable of carrying loads of up to 110 tonnes.

In the 2016-17 financial year, Qantas transported almost 1,500 tonnes of perishables to China across both freighter and passenger flights, with a huge

array of food and farm products being uplifted. Products typically range from chilled meat and seafood to fresh fruit and vegetables, as well as powdered and fresh milk.

The last few years have seen significant growth in the trade of goods between the two countries, and demand continues to grow. The China-Australia Free Trade Agreement (ChAFTA) – which started in December 2015 – has played a large part in facilitating this growth by eliminating the tariffs on 95 per cent of Australian exports to China, including most agricultural products.

In addition, the rise of eCommerce – and in particular the interest of Chinese consumers in Australian products given our reputation for food safety and quality – has also played a role in the increased trade between the two countries. The increase in demand means that more than 50 per cent of Qantas Group’s international capacity is now servicing Asia – a statistic that is exceeded when it comes to freight.

“Qantas currently offers the only direct freighter capacity between Australia and China, forming a vital link in the supply and transport of goods and perishables between the two countries,” says Nick McGlynn, Chief Operating Officer of Qantas Freight.

“Two-thirds of our 1,750 international services offering cargo capacity per week currently operate to and from Asia, and with the free trade agreement between Australia and China, this sector will no doubt see even more growth.”

Qantas is also seeing significant growth in chartered freight flights to China, including those chartered specifically for the transport of fresh produce and perishables. The airline operates up to a dozen

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chartered freight services a year to ports within China such as Taiyuan, Qingdao and Guiyang, carrying everything from farm equipment and machinery, to fresh seafood and even alpacas.

The growth of traffic in air-freighted goods between Australia and China is definitely a boon for Australian farmers, and Qantas is meeting that demand through a combination of innovation, experience and a commitment to providing best-in-class service.

Part of this commitment includes providing online tracking, which allows customers to track their freight to a precise location. To ensure food products reach their destination in the best possible condition for market, all Qantas aircraft have temperature controls to meet individual requests, while a number of Qantas’ terminals and ground handling agents offer specialised facilities such as cool rooms, freezers, warm rooms and dry and wet icing.

Impressively, Qantas’ International Melbourne Freight Terminal also features Australia’s only international, airside, temperature-controlled staging and perishables area. A fully automated facility, the terminal can protect shipments from extreme temperatures in a purpose-built, temperature-controlled zone, and offers a 24-hour operation and fully mechanised import breakdown facilities.

As has come to be expected of Australia’s flagship

carrier, Qantas ensures its cargo is transported to the highest standards of safety as outlined by relevant regulatory bodies. And while the list of regulations might seem exhausting to some, adherence to such high standards is part of Qantas’ strength. In addition to working with governing bodies both in Australia and Asia, Qantas collaborates with industry leaders to continually innovate its operations and help shape industry-best practice. After all, this expertise and innovation is vital to ensuring produce from Australian farms and agribusinesses reaches markets around the world and solidifies Australia’s reputation for delicious, healthy and safe food products.

“At its core, air travel is all about connecting, and that’s exactly what we do at Qantas – not just connecting people with different places, but also transporting perishables like milk, chilled meat, fruit or vegetables to those who need them,” says Mr McGlynn.

“What we’re moving matters to farmers and producers, it matters to consumers and it certainly matters to us. We’re very proud to play such a central role in connecting and championing the best of Australia to the world.”

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PROVEN AND PREMIUM FARM PRODUCTS AND SERVICES

A history of innovation, creativity and precision Founded in 1828 in France, the iconic KUHN brand is recognised worldwide for its cutting-edge, quality farm machinery. At the core of the company’s 180-year success is a focus to develop the best farm machinery through comprehensive R&D and precision engineering and manufacturing. it comes to the farmer buying a machine that they can rely on,” says Bruno. “When a farmer invests in a KUHN machine, they can be assured we want to provide 100 per cent satisfaction across our product range.”

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KUHN’s history in Australia goes back 40 years to when its first farm machinery was imported into the country. However it wasn’t until 2010, when the company invested $4 million into a distribution facility – strategically located between the airport and the wharf in Deer Park, Victoria – that it established a foothold in the country and founded KUHN Australia.

Predominantly catering to the forage and hay sectors in Australia, KUHN is now expanding into the cropping sector, with new products in its sights.

“We believe that growth and speed of development only comes with the launch of new products and technology,” says Bruno Fetiveau, Managing Director of KUHN Australia. “In order to feed the already expanding population, we need to produce food at a higher level of efficiency by adding more technology into the production process – this can be achieved not just by having bigger machines, but by developing more precise machinery and bringing software into play.”

A REPUTATION BUILT ON QUALITY KUHN’s worldwide reputation is founded on the fact that the brand stays true to its motto: quality is tomorrow’s quantity. While a lot of smaller companies feel the pressure to launch a product as quickly as possible to meet market demand, KUHN believes in investing not only money in research and development, but also time.

“An open secret to the success of KUHN is that we only place a product on the market when it is truly ready for the market – KUHN might not be the first to launch a machine, but we are certainly the first when

A FUTURE BUILT ON PRECISION ENGINEERING Embracing new technology is a step that KUHN has not shied away from throughout its global expansion. On the contrary, it is one of the world’s leading producers of precision farming machinery with over 2,000 patents under its name.

In fact, 4.5 per cent of the turnover from each of KUHN’s 12 factories is injected back into research and development every year. In the next five years, KUHN has an ambitious – yet realistic – plan to launch to market ten new products every year equipped with the latest technology.

The company has already taken steps towards that direction, with its revolutionary AXIS H-EMC W and AXENT 100.1 fertiliser spreaders, which are among the best precision farming tools available on the market.

“Our world is moving in a new direction with emerging technologies evolving at a rapid pace and it’s drawing in a younger population that was previously uninterested in agriculture,” says Bruno. “They are now seeing the agriculture industry from a different point of view; tomorrow they could potentially be in an office behind a computer driving an autonomous combine harvester – and that is truly exciting.”

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Essential Energy keeps farmers safe around electricity Essential Energy is a NSW government-owned corporation responsible for building, operating and maintaining one of Australia’s largest electricity networks – a massive 737,000 square kilometres across 95 per cent of NSW. In agricultural areas, Essential Energy invests a significant amount of time and money in keeping farmers safe through a combination of multimedia campaigns and the latest in technological advancements.

In the agribusiness sector, the biggest electrical safety risk is agricultural machinery coming into contact with powerlines and power poles. The risk is higher in harvest season when more equipment is in operation and, with GPS tracking and autosteer technology only creating further complications, safety around electricity on the farm has never been more important.

Essential Energy devotes a huge amount of resources to safety monitoring and campaigns in the agricultural industry. Driving this is David Nardi, General Manager of Safety, HR and Environment, who grew up in a farming environment and is well aware of the electrical hazards in the industry.

“We strive to ensure all farmers are aware of the locations of our power infrastructure in order to prevent not only injury to themselves and their staff but, with summer just around the corner, also minimise the risk of starting a bushfire,” says David. “We want our farmers and their workers to return home safely to their families at the end of each day.”

Essential’s central message for farmers is its LAND agribusiness campaign: • Look up and live – overhead powerlines should be marked and identified at ground level • Always be aware – check the location and condition of poles and wires before accessing paddocks and work areas • Need to know – know the height of farm machinery and equipment, both when raised and lowered • Don’t disembark – if it is safe to do so, stay in the vehicle if your machinery comes into contact with overhead power lines.

The LAND campaign, among others, aims to reach as many farmers as possible through a variety of avenues – television and radio ads, email and web campaigns, participation at field days, in-cab stickers for agricultural machinery and collaboration with NSW Farmers and other peak bodies and agricultural communities.

Essential Energy also provides a series of fact sheets on its website for farmers looking for more information.

In addition to its campaigns, Essential has used hi-tech Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) technology since 2014 to survey its electricity network and improve power safety and reliability. LiDAR uses aircraft-mounted laser imaging, in conjunction with high-definition photography, to record the distance between powerlines and vegetation, the ground and structures. It captures images of Essential Energy’s assets and shows minute details with precise accuracy.

“The improvement in our data collection has been immense since using LiDAR technology,” says David. “It is crucial to our asset management, our ability to rectify faults and helps to mitigate bushfire risk.”

At its heart, the LiDAR technology is just one of many implements Essential Energy uses to improve the safety of Australian farmers. Via its multi-faceted campaigns, the company’s aim is to ensure all those working and living on the farm are as safe as possible around its vast electricity network.

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PROVEN AND PREMIUM FARM PRODUCTS AND SERVICES

Meeting the machinery needs of rural Australia CJD Equipment is one of the largest and most successful Australian equipment and trucking distributors, selling over 20,000 machines and trucks throughout Australia to the agricultural, mining and construction industries. With a network of 17 branches nationwide – stretching from capital cities to regional towns and mining centres – CJD is perfectly suited to meet the heavy-duty machinery and trucking needs of rural Australia.

CJD Equipment was founded in 1974 in Western Australia, and has grown over the last 43 years to become the leading Australian distributor of performance equipment and trucks, with over 400 staff across the country. CJD stocks and sells the best and most-trusted brands in trucking and machinery – such as Volvo Construction Equipment, SDLG, Kenworth, DAF and Fuso – and also operates a spare parts division that offers a complete solution for all spare parts needs, with a national supply network

and 24/7 call-out service.

The company’s long history in rural Australia means it is finely attuned to the needs of its customers, and the demands that the harsh Australian climate and terrain can put on trucks and machinery.

“Our participation in the agricultural industry in Australia goes back to the birth of the company and its involvement with the Chamberlain John Deere product portfolios of the time,” says Alan Barnett, Managing Director of CJD Equipment. “Still today, CJD Equipment maintains close links to the agricultural community that has always been the backbone of the country, and we are proud to play a part in such a vital industry.”

In order to stay in touch with rural Australia, CJD also showcases the latest in trucking equipment at field days across the country, such as the Henty Machinery Field Days – southern Australia’s single biggest agricultural event – and the Dowerin Field Days.

These field days keep CJD in contact with its rural customers, and also serve as an opportunity to get a handle on the machinery and equipment needs of farmers.

“We showcase the latest in equipment and trucking solutions at many field days throughout regional Australia and our staff members really enjoy attending them,” says Grayden Leaver, Director of Sales and Marketing. “It gives us an opportunity to discuss face-toface not only our hard products such as machines and trucks, but also the parts, service and technological support on which our customers rely.”

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HEAVY-DUTY MACHINERY FOR FARMERS Two of CJD’s most popular products among farmers are the Volvo EC140D excavator and SDLG’s LG946L wheel loader.

The Volvo EC140D is a versatile medium-size excavator suitable for rural use. Under 2.6m wide and with an operating weight of approximately 14,050kg, it is simple to transport from site to site.

Outstanding fuel efficiency ensures lower input costs for the farmer, while its superior digging power and stability allow for increased productivity and versatility.

“The EC140D comes standard with plenty of features that make it versatile for the rural sector,” explains Lindsay Daniels, National Product Manager for CJD Equipment. “It includes two auxiliary hydraulic circuits to operate all sorts of attachments, as well as hose rupture valves for safe lifting and a hydraulically-operated quick hitch for fast and simple exchange of attachments.”

The SDLG LG946L wheel loader is widely used in farms thanks to its high level of reliability and excellent value for money. It has an energy-saving large torque engine, 5-tonne transmission, a fully-covered steel structure cab and full hydraulic steering.

“The LG946L is popular because it is not just a wheel loader – it comes standard with a Volvo designed quick hitch and a fully powered third function with quick connectors,” says Andrew Egan, General Manager SDLG at CJD Equipment. “Farmers can use multiple attachments on the one machine, thus increasing its versatility with pallet forks, hay forks and crane jibs, for example.

“When you couple this with the LG946L’s value for money and our nationwide support, it is easy to see why it is our number one selling wheel loader to the agricultural market.”

DIVERSIFYING THE FARM BUSINESS WITH CJD EQUIPMENT The Lang family are lifetime beef producers on their ‘Broadmeadows’ property at Nankin, near Rockhampton in Queensland. Facing a challenging business climate eight years ago, they made the decision to diversify by converting the stomach waste from their processed cattle into compost. They began doing this with a simple agricultural tractor, but this ‘sideline’ business in compost soon became so lucrative that equipment upgrades were desperately needed.

Producing up to 10,000 cubic metres of compost annually, and with demand increasing, the Lang family recently upgraded to SDLG’s LG938L loader – purchased through CJD Equipment in Brisbane. Attracted by the increased hydraulic capacity, lack of wear and value for money, the Lang family have been ecstatic with their upgrade.

“It’s been a good decision – we are wrapped, and the value for money is outstanding,” says Rob Lang.

“The loader’s articulated performance is right up there. They are well engineered – we have had zero wear – and they have a heap of hydraulic capacity.

“CJD have been very good, you can always get someone on the phone and they know what they are talking about.”

CJD even continues to offer support to the Lang family by travelling to their property to undertake major servicing on the SDLG loader. It is just another sign of a distributor that is going above and beyond to supply rural Australia with the best in trucks and heavy-duty equipment.

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PROVEN AND PREMIUM FARM PRODUCTS AND SERVICES

Ensuring feed quality and safety from farmer to farmer The Stock Feed Manufacturers’ Council of Australia (SFMCA) was founded in 1961 to benefit the stock feed industry as a whole. It plays an active role in addressing national industry issues with a focus on developing and implementing a quality assurance program that aims to protect stock feed safety and improve risk management in the supply chain.

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SFMCA currently consists of over 200 members, who produce 5.5 million tonnes of feed annually, supplying commercial poultry, pig, beef, dairy, sheep, horse, aquaculture and household livestock producers. Collectively, they represent over 90 per cent of all commercial feed sold in Australia.

“The organisation is very much one that looks at opportunities or issues in the industry with a shared interest of working together to benefit everyone,” says Executive Officer John Spragg. “In the very early days, our work related mostly to government regulations and interaction with government – these days it’s moved more to food safety and supply chain issues.”

At the very heart of the SFMCA’s work is a focus on managing quality assurance throughout the supply chain. In today’s fast-paced mechanised world, if things go wrong even at one small point in the supply chain – be it a chemical residue, improper medication use or incorrect formulation of feeds – it can be a problem for the broader agricultural industry. This risk is obviously compounded when you are responsible for almost the entire nation’s stock feed.

An example of the global catastrophic risk inherent in the supply chain is the rapid spread of bovine spongiform encephalitis (BSE), or mad cow disease, in the 1990s across Europe and the United Kingdom.

The devastating event prompted the Australian government to work with SFMCA to put together an Australian response, which included creating an Australian-based quality accreditation program for the stock feed industry.

The result is the FeedSafe quality assurance accreditation program, operated and monitored solely

by SFMCA. As such, SFMCA members are only given a full membership once they have completed mandatory FeedSafe accreditation.

TRACEABILITY AND ACCOUNTABILITY The FeedSafe program aims to provide safe feed for animals, protect the safety of human food (meat, eggs and milk) and protect the reputation of Australia’s food and livestock markets. It does this by highlighting traceability throughout the supply chain.

The central aspect of FeedSafe accreditation is a code of Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP), which SFMCA developed together with each state Department of Agriculture and is endorsed by the Primary Industries Ministerial Council.

It includes setting minimum standards for: • Raw material sourcing and purchasing • Raw material quality and storage • Feed manufacturing and formulation • Product labelling • Building and equipment • Personnel training and qualifications • Loading, transport and delivery • Customer complaints These minimum standards allow all inputs and outputs to be traced, from the raw ingredients through to storage, processing, packaging and the delivery of products to customers.

RAISING THE BAR In order to ensure the minimum standards are being met, SFMCA requires that all manufacturers undergo annual site audits, which are conducted by independent third-party food safety auditors.

“Manufacturers have to demonstrate that they comply with the code of GMP, with audits completed onsite and conducted by a qualified food safety auditor,” John explains. “What we have done is get all manufacturers up to a minimum standard and raise the bar across the industry. We are continuously try-

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ing to make improvements and progress in terms of the quality controls in place.”

Individual companies are required to have their own complaint registers and address any quality issues that arise. Should a bigger or broader issue arise affecting the entire industry, SFMCA has the capability to modify or add requirements to the FeedSafe program, having designed it to quickly respond to a problem.

“In recent times, there were issues in China of melamine in milk that affected stock feed. When these kinds of issues come up, SFMCA highlights them as additional quality issues and requires manufacturers to address anything specific to them,” John says. Additional FeedSafe requirements that respond to feed safety issues are typically implemented in consultation with Departments of Agriculture.

The benefit of being part of a program such as FeedSafe is that SFMCA is able to immediately notify their members of any underlying issues.

“We’ve got direct contact with our members so we can very quickly get a message out to them – we can actually get information out to our members quicker than the government can, because they have limited direct contact with most of the industry,” says John.

“Instead, their contact will be via media or organisations such as SFMCA.” A SECURE FUTURE DIRECTION SFMCA has not left anything to chance when it comes to securing quality assurance in the supply chain. For the past couple of years, the council has been working with the University of Queensland to develop an advanced feed mill training course as part of the university’s registered training organisation.

“One of the weaknesses within our industry is the lack of adequate training, and having companies commit themselves to enrolling students and paying for the cost of training,” John says.

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SFMCA seeks to change all of that with its new training course.

The vocational online course takes approximately 12-18 months to complete and contains six different modules, each one consisting of a series of subjects that students have to work through and complete with assessment work onsite.

An essential aspect in the development of the course was to provide both employers and employees the flexibility of conducting the course in their own time.

“The nature of the course is that students can complete it anywhere, because it’s online. It’s a low-cost and easier system of delivery,” John says. “It’s left to individual companies to structure their time with their employees, whether it is done as part of the working day or in their own time away from work.”

THE IMPORTANCE OF GETTING IT RIGHT “The feed mill sits between farmers in the supply chain. We have grain growers who supply the mills, which then make the feed and send the feed back out to livestock farmers,” says John. “There are farmers on either end and FeedSafe is the national program providing quality assurance and food safety throughout the entire feed supply chain.”

SFMCA is continuously working to ensure its safety standards are raised across the industry – the FeedSafe quality assurance program does not just minimise the risk of outbreaks, it highlights the importance of getting it right from the beginning to the end of the supply chain.

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Aussie-made oil for Australian farm conditions Celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, Atlantic Oil is an Australianowned company that supplies engine oils and lubricant to a wide range of industries, from transport and agriculture to mining and earthmoving. Atlantic is quick to respond to constantly changing oil demands and manufactures all of its products locally in a state-of-theart, purpose-built facility. The company sells directly to farmers to keep prices competitive and stays relevant to rural Australia with a range of sponsorship and charitable activities.

Atlantic Oil produces more than 20 lubricating oils suitable for use in the agricultural industry, as well as a range of non-lubricant products such as engine coolants, brake fluids, degreasers and transmission fluids. Fulfilling the oil needs for all types of machinery, Atlantic has clients across the spectrum of farming and agribusiness enterprises that use a range of oils for everything from headers and tractors to highway vehicles and mulchers.

Atlantic’s local manufacturing and development

arm gives it an advantage over larger multinational suppliers such as Mobil and Shell, as it allows the company to adapt its oils to the harsh conditions experienced by Australian farmers. To handle the Australian climate, engine oils need to have heavier viscosities – Atlantic is able to develop these oils and ensure they still adhere to the latest requirements of international machinery manufacturers such as John Deere and New Holland. Another advantage over international competitors is Atlantic’s ability to utilise its extensive R&D capability and tailor oil products for specific customers if needed.

“A lot of Australian farmers are operating machinery in dusty conditions and extreme heat,” says Steve Kalamvokis, Managing Director of Atlantic Oil. “Unlike our competitors, we make oils for Australian conditions, not European or North American standards – they experience much colder climates and therefore have different oil requirements.”

LATEST PRODUCTS MEET MARKET DEMANDS Atlantic’s newest oil product is the Pro Diesel Extreme 15W-40CK, which has been in development for six months and was released late in 2017. The oil meets the latest standards and specifications for diesel engines, even for brand new 2017 models of machinery that haven’t hit Australian shores yet.

The Pro Diesel Extreme 15W-40CK has an extended drain time, meaning the engine will be able to run in the field for a longer period without the need for servicing. It will be the highest specification diesel

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engine lubricant available in Australia, designed to perform with reliability under the most difficult conditions.

In addition, Atlantic has produced a new type of tractor transmission fluid guaranteed to meet the most stringent requirements of modern farm equipment. Specifically made for the agricultural industry, Farmtrans Plus is suitable for machinery manufactured anywhere in the world, and is one of the most technologically advanced oils on the market. FarmTrans Plus provides farmers with superior gear performance, chatter suppression, hydraulic pump operation and low temperature performance.

TACKLING ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSIBILITY WITH INNOVATION Atlantic has a culture of in-house and external testing, conducting field tests as well as 1,000-hour tests under laboratory conditions. The company ensures its products undergo external assessment, but also has an in-house chemist on hand to assist with research, product development and fine-tuning.

In an industry that is constantly raising the bar in terms of standards and requirements, in-depth research and development is needed to stay competitive. New oils need to surpass their predecessors in terms of drain time, cleanliness and environmental friendliness.

“We use our chemist for product development, in consultation with the major additive companies around the world who provide us with the latest technology and the cutting-edge information that we need,” says Steve. “The standards are getting higher and higher every year – you have to continually innovate to reach the required level of performance and at the same time meet emission standards.”

Atlantic takes its environmental responsibility seriously, particularly in a self-regulating industry that has a major impact on issues of environmental health and wellbeing. Atlantic recycles its oil drums, uses ethanol-friendly lubricants and even produces biodegradable oils that have a reduced environmental impact.

The biodegradability of oil products is important, particularly when it comes to machines that may leak or drip oil onto the ground or into waterways.

Atlantic makes oils with biodegradables fluids that are harmless and non-carcinogenic, meaning any accidental spillage or leakage onto the ground or into river systems won’t cause damage.

“We work towards making healthier products for the environment that at the same time are healthy for your engines and machinery,” says Steve. “The type of products we’re making now have less emissions, release less carbon in the atmosphere and

create fewer pollutants, including our general engine and hydraulic oils.”

CONNECTING WITH RURAL COMMUNITIES Atlantic Oil sponsors a long list of events, clubs and individuals in rural sport, particularly motor racing.

Perhaps the biggest name the company sponsors is legendary wood-chopping world champion David Foster, who is a long-term Atlantic Oils ambassador.

Foster was part of the Atlantic team at the Henty Machinery Field Days to give wood-chopping demonstrations and address mental health issues among rural men.

For Atlantic, such sponsorships are not just about building brand awareness, but also about staying connected with rural and farming communities. It is why the company spreads its sponsorship and charitable activities across a number of smaller clubs, benefits and causes rather than committing the majority of its funds to a larger name, such as a V8 Supercars driver. In keeping with its commitment to farmers, Atlantic also has door-to-door salesmen – a rarity in the Australian agricultural industry – and exhibits regularly at field days and events such as Henty.

“We have a natural affinity for the guys and girls on the land, and would rather support more causes and help more people than have our name emblazoned on the side of a car,” says Steve. “We think it’s a better fit for the company and a better way to spread the love.”

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PROVEN AND PREMIUM FARM PRODUCTS AND SERVICES

Equipped to support farmers the right way A company that has more than 60 years of success in Australia, Clark Equipment has dominated the industrial and construction industries with its impressive range of equipment. A desire to expand its agricultural equipment business has seen Clark Equipment launch an online platform to provide farmers with a higher level of service and technology: Clark Farm Equipment.

Clark Equipment’s history in Australia stretches back to the Second World War when forklift trucks and material handling equipment were brought into the country from the United States to help support the logistics of the Pacific War effort. Australia’s industrialisation period after the war inadvertently placed Clark at the forefront of the equipment field, and an Australian subsidiary in 1952 was soon established.

Following a management buyout in 1988, Clark Equipment Australia became 100 per cent Australian-owned and managed. The company has grown from strength to strength in its 60-plus year history and is highly acclaimed for its range of products, equipment design and manufacturing. The international success of its own line of trucks (the Omega heavy truck range) has seen Clark Equipment gain

recognition for its capabilities and core technical competency in the industrial, construction and farm equipment fields – and it is now looking to apply that same level of expertise to the agricultural industry.

UNDERSTANDING AND SUPPORTING FARMERS The company’s expansion into the agricultural sector initially took place in 1992, when Clark Equipment acquired Daken Farm Machinery, which itself has a successful and proud history of serving Australian farmers for 65 years. And the company’s CEO, Robert Hammond, has a farming background that stretches back several generations – indeed, Robert’s family is still involved in livestock farms in New South Wales.

This first-hand experience not only gives him insight into the needs of the farming community, but has also made him particularly passionate about helping Australian farmers reduce their operation costs.

“Somebody once described Australian farming as the only business where you buy all your inputs for retail and then you sell for wholesale,” says Robert.

“What we’re trying to do is readdress that by finding novel ways of serving our customers and reducing the distribution costs without jeopardising the local support from dealers or branches.”

Clark Farm Equipment was established to complement the company’s wide network of branches and dealers, at the same time providing farmers the convenience of purchasing equipment and machinery directly online, often with free delivery. Anticipating the needs of farmers, the company went a step further and simultaneously established a local service call centre to assist with product support and to provide help and advice to farmers seven-days-a-week.

“From a manufacturing standpoint, we are very conscious that farmers need to be offered value with

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the equipment they buy,” says Robert. “A lot of the existing distribution methods add multiple mark ups and high distribution costs that have to be borne by farmers. What we’ve been able to do is significantly reduce those costs to get our product to the farmer but still maintain – and improve – the level of service and support that they require.”

The company’s efficient distribution methods allow farmers to access high-quality equipment, almost directly from the manufacturer. One of Clark Equipment’s brands is McCormick Tractors, which is manufactured in Italy and has recently seen a resurgence on the market due to its quality and affordability. Another range that is gaining popularity is the multi-purpose Bobcat Telehandlers. Long favoured in the construction industry, its flexibility to attend to a wide variety of jobs on the farm – such as bale handling, mulching, digging and moving bulk feeds – makes it popular with farmers.

Clark Farm Equipment also offers farmers the opportunity to buy used equipment and rent farm machinery through the website. Customers are guaranteed the same level of efficient service no matter which option they choose.

“What we want to be is a trusted partner for our agricultural customers,” says Robert. “If you look at areas like construction, rental plays a very critical point in assisting customers to get the right equipment for the right job, and is therefore of enormous assistance to the farming community.”

APPLYING TECHNOLOGY THE RIGHT WAY A number of Clark Equipment’s products cater to livestock management, with innovations such as electric fencing and fodder protection systems. Most recently, the company has given particular focus to the development of solar fencing.

“We are seeing enormous growth in demand for high-quality, clean protein and that’s really a principle focus of ours, to help farmers produce it efficiently,” says Robert. “We are putting a lot of effort into solar fencing, where the energisers are running off solar panels and allowing farmers to place them closer to critical areas that need fencing.

“This means farmers do not have to worry about running mains power lines through the farm, the cost of maintaining those lines or the time spent on servicing batteries regularly. Our investment in research and development has been focused on looking at the ways farmers can beneficially use technology utilised in other industries, and through our global network we have insight into the latest cutting-edge technology.”

As an example, Clark Equipment is now looking to install telemetry systems into its range of farm ma-

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chinery. Utilised heavily in the construction industry, telematics will allow the company to remotely monitor the status of equipment and contact farmers directly to address maintenance issues. Furthermore, Clark Equipment is looking to expand their online presence to achieve a better level of communication with farmers through various social media platforms and newsletters.

“We want to use technology to serve farmers at a greater level, but not lose that fundamental issue of being able to relate to them,” says Robert. “We do not plan to hide behind an overseas call centre – we want to use technology to get closer to our customers and support them, as well as our dealers, better than in the past.”

STRENGTH IN EXPERIENCE The establishment of Clark Farm Equipment comes on the back of Clark Equipment’s success in the construction and industrial fields – the company’s strength lies in its ability to harness the technological benefits used in those areas and apply it to the agricultural industry.

“My favourite picture is that of a spade and a trench,” says Robert. “The spade represents today’s modern technology, but if you don’t get up there and dig, you won’t get the trench. And that is the problem with technology – not that it’s anything new, but it’s being prepared to do the hard work so you know how to apply it and get a successful result.”

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Regional Express (Rex) has been servicing rural Australia for 15 years – it is the lifeblood of more than 50 remote towns and communities across the country that would otherwise have no flight access. Nowhere is Rex’s service more crucial than Outback Queensland, where the difficulties posed by sheer distances and flooding in the wet season means some communities are cut off entirely from land transport.

Rex: the aerial lifeblood of regional Australia

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Rex operates to 24 different locations in Queensland, the majority of these operated under contract with the state government’s Department of Transport and Main Roads, servicing communities as small as Burketown (population of 201), Windorah (population of 158) and Birdsville (population of 115).

Covering the state of Queensland is an effort in itself.

The city of Cairns (considered part of Far North Queensland) is 800km south of Cape York, the northernmost point of the state, and the state capital of Brisbane is closer to Melbourne than it is to Cairns.

Among its routes in servicing this giant state, Rex offers the unique journey from Brisbane to Mt Isa, which makes seven stops at small communities along the way and takes just over nine hours in total. For these communities, and others that Rex services around the state, regular Rex flights really are a lifeblood.

“Because the distances involved are just so huge and these communities are all susceptible to being isolated during wet seasons, they rely on the air services for crucial health and education reasons and for freight and medical supplies,” says Steve Jones, Queensland State Manager at Rex. “Local residents that travel on these runs are much less likely to do so for leisure reasons as opposed to more critical reasons – for work, education and health purposes, for example. The flights also increasingly support the growing tourism industry in outback Queensland, with a new type of visitor from the city interested in short trips to the region.”

In the wet season in Outback Queensland, land-based transport is practically impossible. In providing vital services to these isolated communities, Rex also has to overcome the challenges of remoteness and a lack of

support facilities – trying to secure engineering services in towns with a tenth of the population of the Rex company as a whole can be quite difficult.

But despite these difficulties, the relationship between these small Queensland communities and Rex endures.

“We’re well aware of how important air services are to them,” says Steve. “We put all our efforts into trying to provide the reliable, quality air service that they really need.”

One of these communities is Burke Shire – a region of over 40,000 square kilometres in North West Queensland that has a population of just 550 and can be cut off from the rest of the state in wet season for up to eight weeks.

Its main town, Burketown, is served by Rex flights to the larger population centres of Mt Isa and Cairns.

“We get completely cut off from road access in the wet season, so Rex means a lot to our community,” says Ernie Camp, Mayor of Burke Shire. “The flights are so crucial for the provision of health and education services, but they also help farm businesses bring employees to the local area.”

Connecting smaller rural communities like Burketown to the rest of Queensland – and indeed Australia – is a crucial service that differentiates Rex from all other airlines. Their enduring commitment has made them one of the most dependable and trusted aerial services in regional Australia.

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Agrifarm’s history goes back to 1986, when three skilled engineers with a background in manufacturing farm machinery founded the company in Taree, New South Wales. The company has developed a reputation for being a reliable and trusted brand among Australian farmers, and its dedication to provide durable machinery for local farmers extends well into the future.

Made in Australia for Australian farmers Agrifarm has its origins in the decision by farm equipment company Howard Australia in 1985 to cease its manufacturing capability and instead focus to importing, assembling and marketing farm machinery.

Three of Howard’s engineers decided to leave the company and establish an Australian-based manufacturing facility – Agrifarm.

“Our expertise was manufacturing, and we decided that producing a high-quality, Australian-made range of equipment would be our goal,” says Brett Trengove, Managing Director at Agrifarm.

From mulchers and slashers to mowers, aerators, and utility components, all of Agrifarm’s products are designed and manufactured to Australian standards and offer farmers durability, accuracy and versatility.

“We don’t cut corners by using cheap components,” says Brett. “We incorporate unique features in our equipment that stand out over any imported competitors’ machines.”

Some of these unique features can be seen in the new generation of Agrifarm Cotton Mulchers (ACMs).

The company’s pride and joy, the latest range of ACMs offer farmers optimised mulching ability and efficiency, with two internal mulching bars, a 325mm diameter rotor tube, eight-row blade configuration and high blade tip speed.

“Mulchers have been a key focus for us since the late 1980s, and we have now manufactured well over 1,000 mulchers at our Taree facility,” says Brett. “The Agrifarm mulchers are well-respected due to their advanced design and substantial features.”

Agrifarm’s commitment to providing farmers with durable farm machinery has sparked contin-

ual improvement of products throughout the years, engineering better parts to fit the needs of farmers today. Investing in research and development and gaining feedback from farmers is a key component of the company’s success.

“The success of our products relies on research and development,” says Brett. “For example, before the first ACM Cotton Mulcher prototype was built, we spoke with farmers who utilised different mulchers to find out what were the positives and negatives of using the machine. We then set upon producing a mulcher that we believe addresses the majority of issues put forward by Australian farmers.”

The same detailed process is applied to all of Agrifarm’s products. Equally sought-after by farmers is Agrifarm’s Agrivator Aerators. Available in four sizes, these machines are made for extra heavy duty construction, ideal for shattering the soil to allow for thorough water and air absorption into the ground, as well as expansion of root zone in pasture and crops. Its heavy-duty frame design and high wear-resistant tines provide farmers the assurance of a strong machine that will withstand harsh conditions.

Agrifarm’s vision has been clear from the moment the company was founded, and it continues to be the company’s vision for the future. That goal is to supply Australian farmers with top-notch farm machinery and equipment that the company are proud to call truly Australian-made.

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PROVEN AND PREMIUM FARM PRODUCTS AND SERVICES

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Seeing the bigger picture with technology Entrepreneurship flourishes in the rapidly growing Spatial Technologies – a company with numerous hi-tech skills under one roof.

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Spatial Technologies is little more than a year old, yet combines 40 years of mapping and technological expertise to provide complete and easily digestible end-to-end services for companies in construction, architecture, mining and agriculture.

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Spatial Technologies specialises in high resolution imaging and contour mapping for a variety of purposes, deploying an impressive range of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVS, also known as drones), 3D laser scanners and geographic information systems (GIS) to identify and analyse data beyond the capabilities of the human eye.

Unlike many of its competitors, Spatial Technologies provides a complete service for its clients: not only capturing the data, but also doing the analysis and then presenting it in an easy-to-read format.

“From a client’s perspective, it’s cheaper to work with one company that does everything rather than several different companies doing one task each,” says Anton van Wyk, Director and co-Founder of the company.

The suite of expertise provided by Spatial Technologies has numerous benefits for farmers and agribusinesses: 3D models can be developed to provide contour mapping to help planning and drainage; aerial imaging can identify vegetation; multi-spectral imagery can identify detailed information from crops in terms of diseases, health and growth and provide data for use in precision agriculture; and thermal imagery from UAVs can identify feral animals and then drop bait at these locations.

One particularly useful application for the horticulture industry is the use of multispectral imagery and GIS in yield estimation for crops. The imagery gained from UAV flights can be compared to previous seasons to determine growth rates and accurately calculate future yields. And as with all the data gained by Spatial Technologies, it can be presented in any format the customer chooses.

For farming customers, the data collected

by Spatial Technologies provides a platform to gain a better understanding of what is happening on the land and be more productive.

“We can provide information on certain areas that might have diseases, so then farmers can spray using our map and therefore only apply chemicals or fertiliser

wherever it is needed – meaning they save money, have healthier crops and a more accurate prediction of yield,” says Anton. “We have also seen the advancement of ‘machine control’ or GPS guidance applications to control the position and height of farming machinery. This allows farmers to accurately place fertilisers, seeds and insecticides, and also record information about the crop at specific locations for analysis.”

An example of the capability of Spatial Technologies is the company’s recent work on Hollydene Estate Wines in the Hunter Valley. Surveys were conducted over the 600 hectares of the property, producing maps to identify vegetation and the topography of the land and also capturing high-definition video to be used for promotional purposes.

Nine UAV flights produced 2,800 pictures, using a high-quality sensor which gave mapping accuracy to 20-30mm. After two days’ work and data processing, Spatial Technologies could extract any information related to the site as needed – analysis of catchment areas, calculations of the height of structures and trees, contours to be used as a guide in machine control systems and measurements for the growth and changes of crops over time.

It goes without saying, the benefit to farmers from the use of this technology is sizable.

“For a small cost, farmers get a good return on investment that makes running the farm easier,” says Anton. “You can see the bigger picture and make more informed decisions using this technology.”

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DRONE TECHNOLOGIES

THE EBEE The eBee is a fixed wing plane used for large area mapping and can carry an RGB camera for mapping and imagery, as well as multispectral cameras for crop analysis.

THE S1000 The S1000+ is a heavy lifting copter, capable of carrying large SLR cameras for HD photos and video. It is also used to carry a thermal camera and drop bait.

THE INSPIRE The Inspire 1 UAV is used for small area mapping to capture detail 3D models and imagery of up to 100ha per day. Also used for capturing 4k video in HD.

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Cameron Archer talks about how to access and engage with ag at school Making farming cool for little tackers Virtual farms take ag life to city students Experiential learning gives students a taste of modern ag PNG vegetables are educational health gems for Top End children QATC prepares ag workers of the future A history of education with an eye on the future of food security Farrer taps into growing appeal of ag careers Outback Queensland: A rite of passage for Aussie kids RCS offers agricultural education with a difference Guiding the next generation A BIG opportunity for Australian farmers

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Accessing and engaging with ag at school The common mantra that today’s children do not know where their food comes from is unfortunately true.

WRITTEN BY: CAMERON ARCHER CHAIR, PRIMARY INDUSTRIES EDUCATION FOUNDATION AUSTRALIA

It is really a metaphor for the disconnect that exists between the natural environment and the life of humans in modern cities.

We are becoming more and more insulated from the natural world – living in concrete and glass towers, travelling to and from work in air conditioned vehicles, working in an air-conditioned environment and so on.

The closest many get to the natural world is a tree that they may see out of the window of a train or bus, some parkland or the turf when they go to a sporting event. This is a problematic condition, one which Richard Louv labelled ‘nature deficit disorder’ in his book Last Child in the Woods. He came to this term through examining the issue from an environmental point of view rather than from the perspective of food and fibre production, though the concept applies equally to both. He examines the evidence and concludes that direct exposure to nature is essential

for the healthy physical and emotional development of children and adults.

The modern world does not let this occur. We can lament the situation and say how bad it is and do nothing...

Or we can do more than talk, and strive towards a world in which we are more connected to our natural surroundings.

SHARING KNOWLEDGE For us in agriculture it is really a wider issue of consumers having knowledge of their food, such as where it comes from and how it is produced.

Because the practices involved in producing agricultural products are now foreign to most people, if they learn about them from extremists they may reject modern agricultural production methods and set about opposing agriculture.

If these views become mainstream it is then very difficult for agricultural industries to operate and progress. This is the core of what is now known as social licence. We have seen the mining industry and the coal seam gas industry lose their social licence.

Other industries seem to have struggled with this for many years. Often pressure on an industry from the community can be turned to an advantage, but to do this there needs to be leadership which can deal with this and communicate the benefits of change.

There have been many initiatives throughout the years to address matters concerning social ignorance of agricultural practices. Most, unfortunately, do not meet the expectations of their proponents.

The following issues need to be addressed on a number of fronts: • The school curriculum has to promote opportunities for students to learn about food and fibre production.

• Teachers need access to relevant resources.

• Teachers must feel competent to teach this topic.

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It is not an easy matter: there are myriad industries and organisations dedicated to this, all of which have their own view on how to solve public education about agriculture.

GETTING ORGANISED Fortunately, there has been much development in this space in the past decade. In May 2007, Peter McGauran, then the federal Minister for Agriculture, called a meeting co-chaired by the then chief executive of the National Farmers Federation, Ben Fargher, to establish a working party to create an organisation to promote better learning about food and fibre production in Australian schools.

As a result, the Primary Industries Education Foundation of Australia was born. Known as PIEFA, it has since gained the strong support of the Australian government and a number of industry organisations.

Those who support PIEFA include Meat and Livestock Australia, Cotton Australia, Fisheries Research and Development Corporation, Forest Industry Research and Development Corporation, Pork Australia and the National Farmers Federation. In the education sector, PIEFA has been supported by the Australian Council of Deans of Agriculture, National Association of Agricultural Educators and the CB Alexander Foundation.

All these industries and organisations have seen the need for collective action and as a result much has been achieved. However, it has not been without its challenges.

One of these challenges is terminology.

Agricultural education is restrictive when we often wish to cover primary industries in general, incorporating agriculture, horticulture, fisheries and forestry. However, agriculture is a high school subject in many states. In primary schools the focus is mostly across all elements of agriculture, horticulture, fisheries and forestry. I tend to use the phrase ‘learning about food and fibre production’.

WHAT HAS BEEN ACHIEVED BY PIEFA SINCE ITS ESTABLISHMENT? We can broadly divide what needed to be done into a few areas.

Curriculum At the time of the establishment of PIEFA, the Australian government was also establishing the national curriculum which is developed by the Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA). At the time of PIEFA’s establishment, the Australian curriculum had little or no reference to modern agriculture – in fact, the references in it at that time were to medieval agriculture!

Fortunately PIEFA has been able to work closely

with ACARA and other organisations to improve the coverage of primary industries in the Australian curriculum. Today’s curriculum focuses on outcomes that are quite broad, so there is latitude for teachers to creatively use primary industries and related topics.

Resources The Australian government, through the Agriculture in Education Project, has funded the creation of learning resources for agriculture in Australian schools. PIEFA has overseen the development of many of these resources, which support the ACARA’s curriculum.

As a result, there are 75 units of work available for teachers to use. PIEFA now has the support of the Australian government to support teacher professional development and the further development of the PIEFA website Primezone to hold and promote these resources.

The states have also supported improving learning about food and fibre production with the former NSW Minister for Education Adrian Piccoli establishing lighthouse schools to improve learning about agriculture.

Teacher professional development Now the curriculum matters have been addressed and resources are in place, the time has come for teachers’ professional development. PIEFA has been funded through the Agriculture in Education Project to deliver teacher professional developments throughout Australia. It will need to be an ongoing collaboration between PIEFA, teacher professional associations and teachers, along with participating industries.

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PIEFA has developed productive relationships with a number of teacher organisations including the National Association of Agricultural Educators and their state branches; the Science Teachers Association of Australia; and Geography Teachers of Victoria. PIEFA will continue to develop these linkages and relationships.

Networks PIEFA has identified dozens of enthusiasts around the country who support these initiatives. It has a newsletter which goes to more than 4,000 people across Australia and internationally. The challenges we face in Australia are no different from those in other western countries – in fact, as western economic development continues, the challenges are just as great in any country with a large urban population.

PIEFA works with and promotes other initiatives through its newsletter and in as many ways that it can. PIEFA has never set out to do everything, but aims to facilitate, support and promote any initiative which encourages greater learning about food and fibre in schools.

THE ROLE OF INDUSTRY It is important that the primary industry bodies and policy councils do not sit on their hands. Education is usually relegated as a low priority in industry policy because more pressing needs are always at

the forefront of many industry leaders’ minds.

Fortunately, there have been some champions for education in primary industries and it is through these channels that PIEFA was established and has flourished.

We in PIEFA always need industry champions who continue the important work of encouraging greater learning about their industries in schools. We are indebted to the leaders of those organisations, some of whom have become industry members of PIEFA, and we hope their ranks will grow into the future.

The other role of industry leaders is to make sure their industry acts in a responsible and socially acceptable manner so that they do not kick own goals.

In other words, the consequences of irresponsible actions by industries in areas such as animal welfare or environmental management cannot be airbrushed away simply through education. We therefore need strong industry leadership that will drive good practice within their industries supported by appropriate government legislation.

Consumers have become much more aware, critical and discerning of industries and their practices. The growing prominence of social media means that irresponsible industry practices can be identified and made public quickly. PIEFA can only represent what is happening in industry in a true and accurate way – industries need to do their bit by regularly monitoring and maintaining conscientious practices.

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WHAT NEXT? The continuing support of the Australian government is most heartening and augers well for the future. A September 2015 media release from Minister for Agriculture Barnaby Joyce stated: “Government has reaffirmed its strong commitment to the next generation of farm leaders, committing $500,000 for a range of initiatives aimed at improving agricultural education in schools and building leadership skills in young rural Australians.”

The challenge is to secure the ongoing support of all industries so that collective action is taken and we develop a generation of teachers who routinely teach about food and fibre production.

It is a long-term initiative; it can’t be resolved in just a few years but needs to be addressed year after year, in school after school, if we are to be effective.

The first years of PIEFA’s operation has been spent building relationships, networks, systems, a profile and methodologies that will work to further access to and engagement with agricultural education in Australian schools.

Much, much more needs to be done. There are more than 3.5 million school students in Australia, 250,000 teachers and 9,500 schools. Creative and targeted programs will be needed to ensure every student knows where milk comes from.

We have made a start.

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QUICK TIPS Every family and school is different.

Consider what and when you’d like your children to learn about food and fibre.

1. Check out your state or territory’s curriculum. Queensland, Western Australia, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia and the Northern Territory all vary – each link will take you to the state education department’s curriculum page.

2. Start conversations at home. George the Farmer can help children learn where food on the table has come from or how the fibre to make clothing has been produced.

3. UAC, TAFE and Apprenticeships Australia are good starting points for those nearing school-leaving age.

4. Stay up-to-date with the Primary Industries Education Foundation here.

5. Check out the Archibull Prize to see how schools across Australia are encouraging dialogue about Australia’s farm industries.

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Making farming cool for little tackers Hello Friday is the South Australian creative agency behind George the Farmer, a character created for farm and city kids alike. George is clever, compassionate and is helping tell the story of Australian agriculture to little tackers across the country.

WRITTEN BY SIMONE KAIN ONE HALF OF THE HELLO FRIDAY CREATIVE AGENCY BEHIND GEORGE THE FARMER

What we expose children to in their formative years is pretty important to their understanding of the world around them. Kids on farms grow up knowing about livestock, crops and machinery. Children in cities grow up with buses, parks and supermarkets.

My son George is a farm kid. He’s obsessed with the farm, the natural environment and machinery. It was while trying to locate some fun apps and books on his favourite topic I discovered there weren’t many apps or books with Australian farming content.

Those I could find were either American or English and used terms like barn instead of shed and field instead of paddock. There also wasn’t a character anywhere on television, in the app market or in books who was telling sequential stories about farming and life on the land. Where was the Bob the Builder of the farming world? I couldn’t believe what he was missing!

It was after this realisation that my business partner Ben and I decided to put our skills to use creating a fun Australian character for children. While researching the first story we came across some

staggering statistics, highlighting to us a greater need for this children’s character beyond just being entertaining.

A survey conducted with school students by the Australian Council of Educational Research in 2012 revealed 75 per cent of Australian Year 6 students believed cotton came from animals, 27 per cent thought yoghurt grew on trees and 45 per cent could not identify that everyday lunchbox items such as bananas, bread or cheese came from farms.

Secondly, the Australian Bureau of Statistics also reported a dramatic decrease of people remaining in farming careers, with about 300 farmers leaving the industry per month for the 30 years prior to 2011.

That’s more than 105,000 farmers who are no longer connected to their city cousins or sharing stories about farming and food production!

Lastly, the United Nations predicted that by 2050, food production worldwide would need to increase by 60 to 70 per cent to feed our growing population.

These statistics point to three issues which could have serious implications for Australian and global food security. These are: the lack of knowledge about farming practices and food and fibre production, particularly in younger generations; the declining numbers of people taking up or remaining in farming as a career; and the increased requirement of nutritious, well-produced food for Australia and the world.

Food security on the whole encompasses a lot more than just whether we can produce enough food. We probably do have the ability to produce enough food, but the challenges lie in how we do it, where we do it and how we get that food to the areas that need it in order to ensure there won’t be future shortages. As such, a fundamental understanding of where our food comes from is required for appropriate decisions to be made.

GETTING READY FOR THE FUTURE Now, fast forward to 2050. Consider the people who will be dealing with these critical food security issues. They’re more than likely currently toddlers or in primary school.

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The goal behind George the Farmer is to bridge the gap in knowledge by educating both rural and city children about farming practices and food and fibre production using stories, songs, games and activities.

We first released George on the market as an interactive story app in July 2014. The first story follows George, his very talented wife Ruby and Jessie the dog as they plant a wheat crop. It explains to children the processes you need to follow to successfully plant a crop and then highlights the foods created from wheat, once the grain has been milled to make flour.

LEARNING IS FUN When we launched our app, we had absolutely no idea what sort of response it would get. We knew our kids – the test dummies – loved it, but we really couldn’t gauge what the uptake or feedback would be from the public. The app soon hit the number one book position on the iTunes chart, where it stayed in the top 10 for months and is still regularly listed in the top 10 educational apps in New Zealand and Australia.

Since then, we’ve released three stories in book format, a CD of fun and educational farm songs and a small stage show. We’ve also released two free learning sequence for the classroom to support

food and fibre education using George the Farmer resources and lots of creative and entertaining activities. The learning sequences are available through George’s website and via Scootle (an online digital resource supporting the Australian curriculum).

Dunkeld Primary School in Victoria trialled our first learning sequence, and when we arrived at the school for a George the Farmer concert the reception teacher rushed over to show us six pages of writing that one of her students had just completed – it was the most text that she had written all year. She was obsessed with George! The principal commented

that George’s character really resonated with the children. This was a great validation for us. Children are not only successfully ticking off Sustainability, Design and Technology, English and Science learning outcomes – they’re also having great fun while doing it!

GEORGE IS GROWING Looking to the future, we plan on producing many more stories that cover all aspects of primary industries, from dairy to bush foods and aquaculture to forestry. It’s important to us that we highlight sustainable farming practices and how people involved in agriculture are positively interacting with their environment to secure its use for future generations.

In 2016 we released a free gaming app for children and adults alike. Taking advantage of smartphone technology, the games on the app include steering a header to harvest a wheat crop and then shaking the device to mill the grain into flour and make bread; milking a cow by pinching the screen and then turning the cream into butter; shearing a sheep with a finger and then using the wool to make a jumper. And we’ve even incorporated a beef production game as well!

George is also very active on social media and shares a lot of information about different aspects of primary industries, the environment, sustainability, school grants and opportunities through his Facebook page. The idea is for people to initiate conversations about farming practices, food and fibre within their own homes. George is also on Twitter and Periscope so followers can stay up to date with his adventures.

George’s following is made up of a variety of people, including those who are passionate about the environment, are from farming backgrounds or who are involved in agriculture. We want George’s followers to feel as though they have ownership over George and his messages. He is becoming a voice of Australian agriculture – a voice which is non-pervasive and light-hearted yet is able to connect with a broad demographic to initiate change.

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Virtual farms take ag life to city students Veterinary science students at universities across the country are getting a year-round glimpse of farm life without leaving campus.

WRITTEN BY ANNIE SCHUBERT

4D Virtual Farms allow students to experience onfarm life so they can see the lay of the land before heading out on placements thanks to crisp, clear, high-resolution images stitched together to create navigable panoramas.

Developed at the University of Melbourne, 4D Virtual Farms is now a collaborative effort between a group of universities across Australia and New Zealand. One of the creators is Doctor Stuart Barber, a lecturer of veterinary science at the University of Melbourne.

Stuart believes the concept is working out particularly well: it’s a resource that helps students experience seasonal conditions across the country and the Tasman and identify environmental health and safety risks before heading out. There’s also the possibility that in years to come, the wider community will have the opportunity to see what goes on beyond the farm-gate.

According to Stuart, a lot of students who are studying veterinary science currently tend to be

from city backgrounds. Many haven’t actually ever seen a farm, much less gained practical experience on one. Considering their job pathways may lead to some kind of rural or agricultural work, and all Australasian vet students are required to go on placement, a resource linking students to farms became obviously necessary.

“There weren’t a lot of resources for students to see what happened on-farm before they went out on placement, where they stay and learn on a farm,” Stuart says.

“A lot of students studying vet science aren’t from rural Australia, and so a lot of farmers reckon the city kids don’t have a lot of common sense,” Stuart laughs.

“That’s a learned skill though, and there’s a bit of stuff in the ag community we’re not very good at sharing – this program brings students into that environment before they’re there. Many of them are setting foot on a farm for the first time, and this allows them to be prepared.”

In the early stages of the project, Stuart only had access to farms in Victoria. He was working with Professor David Shallcross and Jo Dalvean, who were working on a similar concept for a chemical engineering course.

“David and Jo’s work could be adapted into a 4D farm, so the students could see the farm and how it looked all year round,” Stuart says.

SHARING THE PROJECT ACROSS AUSTRALASIA Now, the 4D Virtual Farm is being used and bolstered by the participation of Murdoch University in Perth, Massey University in Wellington, New Zealand, the University of Sydney and the University of Queensland. Thanks to this level of collaboration, the project has also attracted funding from the Office of Learning and Teaching.

“I knew we needed to get more breadth to the farms – my goal was greater geographic coverage given the complexities and costs around student travel,” he says.

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AN ELABORATE SET UP A number of farmers across Australia and New Zealand have allowed Stuart and his team on-farm to take photos. The use of multiple Go-Pro cameras or a high-quality digital SLR camera with a fisheye lens and a GPS ensures almost seamless panoramas.

“Where we take the pictures is quite important,” Stuart says.

“We developed a suite of ten learning outcomes that the project would help deliver. There was a lot of thought within our group as we came up with the learning outcomes to give us what we needed to show in the pictures – it’s great having pretty photos, but they need to work for the students and staff in terms of activities and assessment later on.”

The team takes four sets of photographs per year and collates average temperatures and rainfall for each farm. The four sets of images correspond with each of the four seasons, showing their effects on crops and pastures.

“Students are able to see the impact of nutrition on animal health and production, or the impact of natural resources on animal health. We’re assessing them on this, so to expose them to it means it’s not a new idea.”

SHOWING THE VARIABILITY OF FARMING Photos from the project’s contributing farms in Western Australia, Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and New Zealand show rather different seasonal impacts from place to place.

“From a teaching point view, you can ask students

questions about feeding strategies and stocking rates based on those seasonal variations,” Stuart says.

“We can look at drought or dry season pasture and talk about feeding animals on reduced pasture, or we can look at the dairy farms from New Zealand and you can see the difference in seasons there – it’s a different machine.”

Exposing students to on-farm risks is another important aspect of the 4D virtual farms, as common sense knowledge about fencing, machinery and livestock can be learned without leaving the classroom.

“Environmental health and safety is important – knowing about getting around on ATVs (all-terrain vehicles), tractor safety, silos and knowing which paddock the bull’s in are things students may not consider, but they can learn using this site so they can be safer when they go out on farm,” Stuart says.

Another component driving the project along is the accessibility it enables. Time and money spent getting to farms – limiting factors for students and teaching staff – are better utilised.

“It’s tough teaching in the time we have,” Stuart says. “We need to make sure we look after students’ welfare, including how much time they have to do things, so if we can deliver the same amount of understanding in less time, or better-utilised time, that’s a good thing.”

The future of the project may be beyond the classroom. The 4D Virtual Farm team are building a multimedia glossary tool to add to learning and teaching aids for students, and Stuart says that future versions may also become available to the wider public.

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An image of a Queensland cattle farm on the 4D Virtual Farm program

An image of a Victorian beef property on the 4D Virtual Farm program

“It could be helpful in reducing the country-city divide,” Stuart says. “People in the city could see what happens on a dairy farm, or what’s on a wool farm via the glossary.

It is also a really good way of showing export customers who purchase our products how they are produced.”

A VISUAL TOOL BOX Indeed, the glossary already shows some on-farm practices such as artificial insemination, shearing and seeding.

The plan is to build the contents of the program to showcase what happens on farm.

“We could show shearing, for example, in a 360-degree video,” says Stuart. “You’re seeing everything in the shed, and there’s nothing you can’t see. If you’re in an

8-stand shearing shed, and you run the video for ten minutes, you could see the whole thing.

“That’s a really good way of seeing if it’s appropriate or not – it’s up to the viewer to make their minds up, but at least you can show that’s what standard shearing looks like.”

In the early days, the creators of 4D Virtual Farm imagined that the project would be run from each university through a desktop application. However, advances in technology mean that the program is now available to everybody via a cloud-based web app. Its creators are committed to the longevity of the project and consistently work to ensure it remains of use to all participants.

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“It’s mobile, accessible from OSX (Mac computers) and also uses the Gyro function on iPhones,” Stuart says. “We’re trying to develop a learning resource that is as flexible as possible. The goal was to develop something that works for everybody, being able to see it as a virtual tour.”

While the project has already been very successful with the development of eight 4D farms in Australia and two in NZ, and with students responding positively to material to be embedded into next year’s curricula – there is still much to achieve. It’s a unique story that Stuart and his collaborators are hugely excited about.

“As far as we’re aware, it’s the only project in the world doing this – you can never be entirely confident – but certainly it’s the only one I’m aware of,” Stuart says.

SOMETHING FOR EVERYBODY Participation in the project by farmers has been mutually beneficial, he reckons. Students and teachers are grateful to be able to be “on-farm”

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at any time year-round without actually being on the farm. They are appreciative that farmers have opened their gates to allow them that opportunity, and Stuart says the participating farmers get something out of it too.

“Most of them at this time seem pretty pleased at being involved,” he says. “It works for them having this visual cue – contractors benefit from the illustration of properties, as an example.

“As well, when you’re going through those tough times, it’s nice to look back and see it was green once, and remember it’s probably going to get green again.”

The potential for the project to go live to a wider audience could mean great things for helping urban Australians understand their agricultural or rural counterparts.

“One of the problems agriculture has is ‘selling its story’ to those outside of it,” Stuart says. “We think we can make a difference to our students – but is this something we can use to educate the broader population as well?”

Images of a cattle farm in Victoria in January, above, and July, below, show the difference in pasture from season to season.

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Experiential learning gives students a taste of modern ag Located in Sydney’s Bellevue Hill, The Scots College has had a close relationship with the Australian agricultural community for well over a century. Not only does Scots take a significant number of boarding students from country regions, but agriculture has been an important part of the college’s educational experience for a long time. This has only been reinforced by the practical learning experiences on offer at the new Bannockburn campus.

The Scots College was founded in 1893, when its first Principal – Reverend Arthur Aspinall – saw a need to educate boys from isolated farming families in the Central West of NSW. While it has since expanded its cohort to include students from Sydney and all over the world, Scots has retained country boarders to this day – in fact, boarding students make up roughly 250 of the school’s 1200 high school students.

Agriculture as an educational discipline was dropped for a period of time at Scots, though under the guidance of Principal Dr Ian Lambert it has made a comeback to the curriculum in the last few years.

This is not only because of the importance of remaining true to the origins and heritage of the school, but

also because teaching about agriculture allows boys to get back to nature and recognise the significance of issues such as food security and animal welfare.

In addition, the modern agricultural industry now offers a broad scope of roles and interest for prospective employees – agriculture is not just limited to ploughing a field or herding livestock, it incorporates science, technology, business, marketing and myriad other industries. As such, preparing boys for a successful career in the agricultural industry requires a different type of learning, one that enables students to understand and get excited about the use of drones and robotics, genetic testing and the analysis of water and soil.

“Modern society’s ideas about food have changed – being interested in agriculture is not just about wanting to be a farmer,” says Dr Lambert. “Here in Australia, we have to redefine how we’re going to be a food producer in the future and think about the sustainability of our regional cities and how we’re going to attract people into these industries.

“Environmental degradation and food security are the biggest threats facing the world, and when you think along those terms in education, there’s a lot of problem solving that students really enjoy doing. Many of the students at Scot’s will be involved in trying to solve such problems

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with technology and science in the future, so we need to be preparing them for this reality in order to position Australia as a major provider of food and other resources.”

Key to the college’s innovative teaching in agriculture and related sectors is the Bannockburn campus – 300 hectares of pristine natural environment and farming land in the Shoalhaven area of NSW. In an isolated area of considerable natural beauty, Bannockburn provides students a chance to connect with the land.

Located in a historic beef cattle and cropping area, the property was gifted to Scots in 2008 and opened to students in 2016, offering Scots boys the chance to experience nature and learn about agriculture, food and fibre provenance, environmental sustainability and much more. Far from being limited to a traditional agricultural program, the campus is enjoyed by boys studying a range of subjects including geography, science, mathematics, cadets, technology, history and languages. Indeed, the eco-buildings planned for short term accommodation at the campus had design input from a Year 10 technology class.

“Here at Bannockburn we have incredible experiential learning opportunities. With semi-native bush, a rocky ridge, river flats and mangroves the Bannockburn landscape can be used to achieve a multitude of outcomes across the curriculum,” says Kym McMaster, Coordinator of Experiential Education at Bannockburn.

“I’ve been involved in education my whole life and I’ve not come across a school that can offer these experiential activities and connections on such a large scale. Bannockburn allows an opportunity for boys to spark an interest in the food production cycle and become passionate about being good stewards of the environment.”

Dr Lambert’s vision for Bannockburn is to have a campus that promotes sustainability and good stewardship of the land. The experience for the boys at the campus is geared towards minimising their environmental footprint. Plastic bottles are not permitted on site, rubbish is sorted and recycled and all food is sourced locally. Future planning includes building accommodation with biodegradable toilets, recycled water and solar power. All food waste from the Bannockburn, Glengarry and Bellevue Hill campuses will be recycled in the farming system.

Technology also plays a big role in the educational experience at Bannockburn. Genetic testing, cross-breeding and the use of drones are all trialled

to give students an idea of how to improve animal or crop returns through the use of science and technology.

Digital connectivity provides live data on climate, rainfall, windspeed and soil temperature, which students are able to access from anywhere via a phone app that allows the boys and the wider Scots community to feel more connected and involved with the activities on the land.

And these experiences are not just for the country boarders – Bannockburn enables city kids the chance to sample rural life as well. For these kids, it opens their eyes to life outside the city bubble and a potential future career they may not have considered before.

“In some ways there’s a real deficit for a lot of city kids these days – a lot of boys have never really seen a chicken lay an egg, or seen a cow give birth or a calf feeding,” says Dr Lambert. “I think camping overnight in a rural area and being surrounded by a natural pristine environment is really quite eye-opening for them.”

It is this sort of practical, hands-on teaching that is informing the curriculum at Scots and offers a novel way to capture the minds of young students.

It works hand-in-hand with the lessons taught in the classroom, as the boys can see the theory of what they are learning put into practice at Bannockburn.

“Experiential education is really about engaging in the real experience, reflecting on the relationship of that experience to theory and the reason behind these practices,” says Dr Lambert. “Students can monitor how the theory they learnt in a classroom unfolds in a practical setting, providing a cycle of reflection that moves from theory to practice.”

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PNG vegetables are educational health gems for Top End children COURTESY OF AUSTRALIAN CENTRE FOR AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH

A research team at Charles Darwin University (CDU) has uncovered some vegetables from Papua New Guinea that are great for growing and selling in Australia’s Top End. In an initiative funded by the Australian Centre for International Research (ACIAR), the team from the Horticulture School at CDU are connecting communities from Papua New Guinea with primary school teachers and students across Darwin to grow highly nutritious, tasty and leafy green vegetables in school gardens. The goal of the initiative was to find hardy but nutritional vegetables that children could successfully grow at school and want to eat.

MORE THAN JUST GROWING ANOTHER VEGETABLE Many schools around the country have a teacher who works with the children to plant and look after food

gardens as a means of encouraging healthy eating habits. However, the growing conditions in the Top End mean that the vegetables with which we are most familiar often do not survive or thrive. By identifying vegetables growing in similar climates in PNG and growing them in Darwin, the university has added new life and vigour to school gardens.

The school gardens have not only become a great teaching resource for learning about plants, photosynthesis, agriculture and sustainability, but by combining teaching with some arty influences, the children are learning more about how to eat healthy.

The university team used visual aids and activities

Schoolchildren eating Aibika fritters

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to increase children’s engagement in the learning material. Vegetables were transformed into cartoon characters to carry the healthy eating messages, and a game of specially designed snakes and ladders meant that playing was learning. The cartoons and the games were a big hit with the children both in Darwin and in Papua New Guinea.

ONE PLANT WONDER One of the plants in the project, Abelmoschus manihot, known as ‘Aibika’ in Papua New Guinea and ‘Bele’ and ‘Slippery Cabbage’ across the Pacific, turned out to be a great food resource in the Top End. Aibika is a member of the Hibiscus family with a yellow flower and large green leaves. Nutrient testing on Aibika revealed that it has twelve times the beta carotene, 20 times the iron and five times the Vitamin C as a tomato – far more nutritious than some of the standard greens we regularly eat. It has a mild taste, and children find it palatable and easy to eat.

“The plant comes from the humid coastal lowlands of PNG, which is a perfect match for the Top End climate,” says project leader Dr Tania Paul of Charles Darwin University. “It needs irrigation in the long dry season but can survive on low levels of moisture and still produce enough leaves to supply the cooking demands of the schools. It survives quite well with minimal attention, but of course does much better with watering and fertiliser.”

CDU’s horticulture students carried out trials in Darwin to work out how suitable Aibika is for growing in the Top End, and if it is susceptible to insect and disease attack. It turns out that it is quite resistant to pests and diseases and does well in the Top End’s nutrient deficient soils with low levels of moisture.

IN THE BEGINNING The university research team from CDU knew that Aibika was introduced by missionaries to Croker Island in Arnhem Land in the 1950s.

“At the start of this project, we planned to collect samples and cuttings from the old mission on the island to propagate in Darwin at our university horticulture compound,” says Dr Paul. “However, we also suspected that the local PNG community might be growing Aibika in their backyards, so we put a call out over the radio for Aibika cuttings: we were surprised by the response!

“We now have three varieties growing in the university’s horticulture compound and are in the process of collecting more plants from other backyard growers around Darwin so that we can be a storehouse for others seeking to source the different varieties.”

MANY VARIETIES MEANS OUR OWN COLLECTION One of the strategies of the ACIAR supported project is to conserve and maintain a local collection of Aibika

at Charles Darwin University. ACIAR Research Program Manager, Dr Richard Markham, said that there are possibly more than 20 different varieties in Papua New Guinea.

“The research team has so far identified at least five varieties around Darwin, and the plan is to collect these, plus more, to include in a university managed Aibika collection,” says Dr Markham. “The varieties have a range of different leaf shapes, from long, fingershaped leaves with red margins to broad, leafy leaves with a lighter green colour.

“Aibika is a resilient plant that’s resistant to insect attack and doesn’t require much attention, making it an ideal garden vegetable for PNG communities in drought-prone areas. This also makes it ideal for remote communities in the Northern Territory, where access to cheap and nutritious vegetables is an ongoing problem.”

SUCCESS CONNECTS Another benefit from the project has been the collaboration with The Plantsmith nursery in Darwin to supply Aibika seedlings to stock retail nurseries.

New plant labels were designed to include growing information from the trials and links to recipes and nutritional information.

Rungia klossii, called Rungia in PNG, was another plant identified as suitable for the Top End growing conditions. It is the next plant to be tested in the retail nurseries, and Emily Hinds from the university team is working with The Plantsmith on the next steps.

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Aibkia plantings being trialled in 2016

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“Both plants needed an image make-over to give them more appealing names for the local market,” says Ms Hinds. “Aibika was re-branded as ‘Hibiscus Spinach’, and Rungia was re-branded as the ‘Mushroom Plant’ because of its slight mushroom-y flavour.”

FROM PADDOCK TO PLATE The university team also created tasty recipes for Aibika along with other vegetables such as Rungia and Winged Bean (Psophocarpus tetragonolobus), to increase interest and purpose for growing the PNG greens locally.

Claire Webb from the university is designing, cooking and testing a collection of tasty recipes using the traditional PNG vegetables.

“The large green leaves of Aibika can be picked from the plant and used straight in any recipe where you might use spinach or zucchini, and the Rungia leaves can be used in soups, omelettes, quiches, or any recipe where a light mushroom flavour is wanted,” says Ms Webb. “Ensuring that recipes are available helps people imagine the endless possibilities for cooking these highnutritional value, green leafy vegetables from PNG. “We have already created many recipes and shared them through our Facebook page: Promoting PNG Traditional Vegetables, where we regularly post updates, cooking tips and project discoveries. A new recipe book called ‘A Taste of Papua New Guinea’ is planned for release in 2018.”

Recipes are also available online, along with growing factsheets, videos on seed saving and plenty of other information about the vegies: http://traditionalvegetables.cdu.edu.au.

ACIAR: BROKERING RESEARCH THAT WORKS FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES AND AUSTRALIA Since 1982, the Australian Centre for Agricultural Research (ACIAR) has been a key part of Australia’s development assistance program.

ACIAR works with researchers from Australia and developing countries to improve the productivity and sustainability of agricultural and food systems that help overcome poverty and build healthier, more equitable and prosperous societies.

ACIAR is recognised as a world leader in generating, applying and sharing new knowledge to meet the challenges of feeding the world.

The result is innovative, lasting local solutions that aim to bring choice and change to those who need it most.

The ACIAR project based at Charles Darwin University is an example of how research abroad brings benefits home to Australian communities.

The project, ‘Promoting traditional vegetable production and consumption for improved livelihoods in Papua New Guinea and northern Australia’, started in 2014 and is led by Dr Tania Paul from the Horticulture School at Charles Darwin University.

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QATC prepares ag workers of the future As the agricultural industry modernises and embraces innovative technologies and business models, agricultural careers are changing to encompass a more diverse range of roles. To prepare students for this future, Queensland Agricultural Training Colleges (QATC) offers a mix of practical skills training and classroom-based learning to deliver skilled employees to rural industries and regional communities.

QATC commenced operations in 2014, but has a history that stretches back 50 years in Queensland to the establishment of Longreach Pastoral College and Emerald Agricultural College. An amalgamation of Queensland’s Agricultural Colleges occurred in 2005, forming the Australian Agricultural College Corporation. In 2014, the corporation became statutory and was renamed the Queensland Agricultural Training Colleges, now operating a network of ten training hubs across the state.

With global food production needing to double by 2050, QATC’s goal is to support that growth and be a flagship enterprise for technological training and adoption in the industry. Offering a diverse range of courses in everything from livestock management and cropping to farm safety and land conservation, QATC provides courses for high school students right through to those studying a PhD. “Our focus is a ‘cradle to grave’ emphasis on learning – learning opportunities can be established with us as early as grade 10, and can be completed on the day of your retirement 50 years later,” says Mark Tobin, CEO of QATC. Faced with a changing employment landscape in the agricultural industry that now offers a wider range of careers, QATC has seen a demographic shift in its cohort over the last few decades as modern students pursue higher education – and even research-based – qualifications. And a considerable proportion of these students are now coming from non-agricultural backgrounds.

“The perception of agriculture being a hard place to work is now being replaced as the industry modernises,” says Mark. “Students are beginning to think, ‘I

can use my science or business skills in this, I’ll have a good working life that will be rewarded appropriately and, more to the point, I’ll be making good things happen’.”

Keeping one eye on the future, QATC prepares its students by integrating hands-on practical learning with digital platforms and trialling pre-commercial and commercial agribusiness solutions. QATC uses partnerships with organisations such as CQUniversity and AgForce, among others, to add value to its courses and enrich the future of the industry.

“The reason we are supporting and investing in agri-related technologies is the industry itself has woken up and is now starting to realise that technology is not its enemy,” says Mark. “If the industry is to survive, agribusinesses of the future will be technologically-based businesses, and therefore QATC must showcase tech savvy production systems.”

After all, education and training of the next generation is essential to the health of the agricultural industry in the future – and this is a role that Mark and QATC definitely do not take lightly.

“What I want to see my children and grandchildren doing when they come into agriculture is that they have a long-lasting career,” says Mark. “With the involvement of science and business, I hope they are able to grow and develop over time in a career in agriculture that could see them in any number of rewarding positions over their working life.”

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A history of education with an eye on the future of food security The King’s School is Australia’s oldest independent school, founded by the Royal Decree of King George IV in 1831. When it opened its doors in February 1832 at the eastern end of George Street in Parramatta, in a modest building down by the river, three little boys – James Staff, and James and Ebenezer Orr – turned up to start a legacy.

There should have been a fourth boy – George Fairfowl Macarthur, who would become a future head of the school – but he was struck down with bronchitis. Young Macarthur was grandnephew of the great pastoralist John Macarthur, the Macarthur family immediately bestowing onto the school via their patronage the antipodean culture and values that comes from boarding and farming heritages.

Upon the school’s opening, Archdeacon William Grant Broughton declared, “The education received in The King’s School is not for the exclusive benefit of

those upon whom it is bestowed, but for that of the entire community”.

185 years on, The King’s School remains true to its founder’s ambitions.

ANTIPODEAN EXPERIENCE The character, culture and nature of The King’s School remains authentically Australian. Newly commissioned as 20th Headmaster of the school, Mr Tony George describes his perspective on the school in the 21st century: “If we are authentically Australian, in this century that can mean many things – Indigenous Australian, white Anglo-Saxon rural Australian, new Australian-born Chinese, third generation Australian merchants. ‘Australian’ becomes a very racially-oriented term under those circumstances.

“If we use the term ‘antipodean’ we immediately relate to that sense of people of Australia and New Zealand being people at the opposite end of the world. Outdoorsy, problem solving, adventurous, as comfortable outside as much as we are comfortable inside. Something that’s earthy and grounded in our antipodean lifestyle.

“I think that when the world today is looking to Australia, it’s that antipodean experience that they want from an Australian education. King’s, of all the schools available in Australia, is uniquely placed to offer that authentic antipodean grounding to humanity.”

AS COMFORTABLE IN THE OUTBACK AS THE BOARDROOM The King’s School has remained true to its founding

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heritage. These days, the school has the capacity to enrol as many as 400 boarders in a total population of 1,800 students at its North Parramatta campus.

This population expands by another 100 boarders and 200 day students at the Tudor House campus at Moss Vale in regional NSW. “With the 360 acres at North Parramatta, 160 acres at Tudor House and a further farm of 13,000 acres in Futter Park at Harden in NSW, there are very few schools that are positioned with that kind of heritage,” says Tony. “This means our students are just as comfortable in the outback cattleyard as they are in the city boardroom.”

AN EDUCATION IN FOOD AND AGRICULTURE In his contemplation of a vision and strategy for the future of the school, Tony says that it’s not difficult to suppose that The King’s School must continue on its established trajectory.

“Australia is still a very rural country – our aggregate agricultural production is in the top five exports for this country, along with education,” says Tony.

“To be Australian, to be antipodean, is to have an understanding of the grounding and foundation of our economy. We need to be sensitive and informed about where our food is coming from and where our school is going to.

“The challenge for King’s presently is figuring out who we are, versus who we might be.”

The King’s School is committed to a new partnership in education and private enterprise known as ‘The Future Project’. The Future Project is about enriching the study of sciences, technology, engineering and mathematics by partnering with universities and private sector research firms to allow King’s students to work on genuine research projects designed to solve problems and create a sustainable future.

One area of study being undertaken in The Future Project is in food sustainability. Sydney-based scientific research company Quantal Bioscience and King’s students have been working on a study of the effect of supercooling on the shelf life of foods. The study hopes to discover the next generation of food preservation techniques without resorting to chemical imbalance. The study is in its early days and early results, while optimistic, need further work.

A FUTURE IN FOOD SECURITY Headmaster Tony George sees this as the path The King’s School can travel down as it considers how

education might have an impact for the good of society.

“We should be considering if we extend this notion emerging from The Future Project and take it to its fullest extent. We should have a greater emphasis on education in food production and security as a holistic focus of our education offer,” says Tony.

“Our boys don’t all need to be in agricultural classes, but boys studying economics can place emphasis upon the role of food production in our economy and in the world economy, for example.

“It’s not unrealistic to consider that at some point King’s might develop its own food precinct with faculties dealing with food security and agricultural economics. We can offer residential education in these disciplines right now, either here at Parramatta or at Tudor House. What is certain about our future is that a King’s education will continue to be not just for the exclusive benefit of those upon whom it is bestowed, but for that of the entire community.”

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Farrer taps into growing appeal of ag careers In recent years, the agricultural industry has evolved to offer a diverse range of employment opportunities, with careers in technology, science, robotics and marketing – to name just a few – attracting a growing number of young people. Reflecting this changing landscape, Farrer Memorial Agricultural High School in Tamworth offers a comprehensive, technological and experiential learning environment in an agricultural setting.

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Established in 1939, Farrer has a long and distinguished record of producing leaders in the agricultural industry. It is the only public, all-boys agricultural high school in Australia and draws boarding students from rural and remote areas across NSW. While education is Farrer’s core business, it also oversees two farming properties that are managed as near as practical to a commercial operation. Extending over 500ha combined, Farrer’s farm operations cover several enterprises including dairy cows, beef and sheep studs, seasonal cropping programs, a wool flock, a piggery, an egg-laying shed and a horticulture centre.

“Our learning always has a practical component – obviously that’s not available at every school,” says Principal Clint Gallagher. “Our school is very lucky in that we have specialist teachers in areas such as sheep meat production and beef production, so our students can experience unique courses.”

Of particular note is the Primary Industries Beef course, a specialty course for Years 11 and 12 in beef production that is very hands-on in every facet of the industry, from animal husbandry and genetics to marketing and sales. On the school’s Angus cattle stud, students vaccinate, tag, weigh and feed the animals, and then run the bull sale each year. It is experiential learning such as this that uniquely prepares Farrer students for further study and the workforce.

“Our success rate in terms of converting students into industry jobs or university study is pretty much 100 per cent every year,” says Principal Gallagher.

“That’s one of our biggest selling points to pro-

spective students.”

Key to this success rate is the involvement of cutting-edge science and technology in the learning experience. Emerging technology is a focus at Farrer, where students learn about new developments such as DNA blood cards, artificial insemination, drones, remote control devices and GPS-controlled irrigation systems. Training students to use this technology is a crucial and expensive endeavour that is made possible

by Farrer’s partnerships with research institutions and commercial companies.

Via a partnership with the University of New England’s SMART Farm (see page 38), Farrer students learn how to use mapping software and soil tests, and can then apply this knowledge to address nutrient deficiencies and change fertiliser application. Companies such as Clipex and Meril supply the school with the latest in agricultural equipment, and students further benefit from work experience and placements with local stock and station agents and auctioneers.

For Farrer, this level of practical engagement and experiential learning is not only key to preparing students for agricultural careers, but also ensuring they see agriculture as a viable, exciting career path.

“Traditionally, the only time agriculture ever received media exposure was when there was a drought,” says Principal Gallagher. “Now there are more and more stories on breakthroughs in technology and increases in production and prices, which are great because if you want to attract young people into an industry, they need to hear positive news stories.”

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Outback Queensland: a rite of passage for Aussie kids Rich in Australian heritage, culture and social history, Queensland’s Outback region is an ideal place to experience the great outdoors. Offering an exclusive opportunity to schools, Tourism and Events Queensland (TEQ) is giving students a chance to step out of the classroom and enjoy a unique educational experience.

Launched in 2011, the Outback Queensland Education Experience Program encourages schools to take their students to Outback Queensland to experience real life on the land through a range of activities and visits to unique cultural landmarks.

“The program was initially developed to build a new market of travellers to the region, however it quickly evolved into more than just an exercise in attracting visitors,” says Matt Bron, Director of Outback & Country Queensland at Tourism and Events Queensland.

“We discovered we were doing more than just that – we were actually helping to close the gap between city and country by introducing young Australian city kids to a whole new world.

“The program also gives hope to small local communities as they witness young kids learn about and show interest in rural Australia’s future. It has become a really good project on so many levels, socially and economically.”

The program offers many different itineraries, ranging from five to seven days, which can be tailored to suit the needs of students and teachers. Carefully crafted to cater to all different types of interests, the itineraries feature a variety of experiences. Students can learn about Australia’s heritage and pioneering history, experience life on a farm and uncover extraordinary geological formations and ancient fossil deposits at national parks, as well as visit one of numerous dinosaur or astronomical attractions.

For teachers looking to connect the outdoor experience with classroom curriculums, TEQ provides an education handbook filled with factsheets that cover topics such as archaeology, astronomy and social history. It also provides suggestions for classroom activities, explores different types of itineraries and lists experienced transport providers.

To assist with the cost of travel, a subsidy scheme has been developed to help schools, with up to $130 available for each student in Years 5 to 9, depending on the distance travelled. Currently only open to Queensland schools, TEQ hopes to extend the scheme to all schools in the future.

“The best thing about this project is that both stu-

dents and teachers are affected differently,” says Matt.

“Many teachers have commented on how the trip has been a really big transformational experience for the students, as they leave the city with mixed feelings about where they are going and return with a new maturity and an enhanced respect for their peers, teachers and their school.”

“I think the students benefit from having a sense of a lived experience,” says Simon Marsden, a teacher from Brisbane Christian College. “Rather than learning through books or technology, they were able to have a first hand experience of life in the outback today and in the past.”

Real-life experience is undoubtedly one of the best forms of education, regardless of whether the student comes from the city or a rural area. And with Outback Queensland’s riches in Australian heritage and history, the experience is more than just an education; it’s a rite of passage.

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RCS offers agricultural education with a difference RCS Australia was established in 1985 by Dr Terry McCosker, the first company to offer professional education and development for the agricultural industry. Over more than three decades, RCS’s approach has gained industry-wide recognition as thousands of farmers across Australia have benefited from the company’s expertise in farm economics, animal production, agroecology, soil health and people management.

RCS Australia encourages a holistic approach to farm management and regenerative agriculture, with a focus on developing sustainable, profitable businesses and changing people’s lives. With a team of more than 30 staff providing advice and education to farmers all around Australia, RCS targets education and development in four key areas: people, land, livestock/crops and business. They strive to empower their clients – largely from family farming businesses, but also from large corporate outfits and indigenous businesses – to maximise their returns and create profit by enabling them to better understand every aspect of their business.

Since its inception, RCS has challenged traditional thinking on farm management with a unique,

hands-on approach that aims to provide farmers with a better understanding of their business and financial situation. Similar to a standard business degree or qualification, RCS teaches strategic thinking, professional management and communication skills in order to get farmers to think like business managers.

“We teach farmers how to take control of their business, rather than relying on their bank manager, accountant, agronomist or any external advisor to do it,” says Adam Curcio, Operations Manager at RCS Australia. “If you empower people to learn how to take control themselves, then they are more invested in it and have the ownership and ability to really understand the needs and performance of their businesses, enabling them to drive it forward.”

RCS tailors its courses to each person’s needs, providing intensive support regardless of the stage and size of their agricultural business. The company looks at each business from a holistic point of view, focusing on improvements that can be made to not just the production, but also the people and economic sides of the business. RCS’s teachings are based on solid business principles which are transferrable, and all RCS teachers and facilitators have not only been through the courses themselves, but are still in business and on property.

“We invest heavily in staff training so we’re ahead of the curve and can offer the best possible service to clients,” says Adam. “We’ve built a team by employing for attitude and a shared vision for regenerative agriculture, rather than just having an academic qualification – that’s what sets us apart and enables us to offer a product second-to-none.”

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TAILORING COURSES TO SUIT FARMERS’ NEEDS The GrazingforProfitTM School is RCS’s flagship offering, an intensive seven-day program held all across Australia. It was born through the recognition of a need for accessible, quality education and training for farmers who understand there is much more to running a farm business than raising livestock and growing crops. Since Dr Terry McCosker began teaching the course in Australia in 1990, GrazingforProfit has seen over 5,500 graduates.

The course exposes participants to methods of running a profitable livestock and/or cropping business while regenerating their land, and RCS has also developed a course suitable for mixed farming operations with a stronger focus on regenerative cropping principles. All participants leave the course with an action plan for how to manage all facets of their farming business.

“GrazingforProfit gives you the insight you need into the factors that affect your business at the base level and a plan for how to manage them,” says Adam. “We often get young people coming to the school that say they’ve learnt more in seven days than they did in three years of university, because it’s real.”

Upon completing the GrazingforProfit course, RCS provides an avenue for farmers to continue their professional development with Next Steps and ExecutiveLinkTM. The Next Steps program matches farming businesses with an experienced coach to guide them in mastering and applying the skills learnt through the GrazingforProfit course.

After Next Steps, farm businesses looking to extend themselves further can continue in the three-year ExecutiveLink program – a unique, multifaceted course that is the pinnacle of RCS’s offerings. ExecutiveLink teaches farmers to implement all the knowledge they have gained and turn their newfound financial literacy and acumen into business management and profit.

The program groups six different businesses together to form a peer advisory board, each one assessed to complement the others based on personality, enterprise mix, geographic location, goals and target market. There is an intake for ExecutiveLink every three months and over the period of the course, the board members meet in person three times per year to review each other’s businesses.

“The board gives its members the confidence to make decisions and know they’ve got a professional team around them who not only understand the business, but can help them make these decisions,” says Adam. “Essentially, you’ve got five other businesses looking at your business, helping in the decision making process, providing accountability and

trying to generate the maximum power and return out of the resources you have.”

Among other features, the ExecutiveLink program also offers farmers a chance to benchmark their business with the RCS Profit Probe – a tool which compares farming businesses against the rest of the industry. It allows farmers to really explore the different facets of their business, and identify the areas that could be improved and those that should be eliminated. Profit Probe’s power comes from the fact it has been used for more than 20 years by RCS and thus has a huge amount of data to benchmark against.

Much like the GrazingforProfit course, the ExecutiveLink program offers farmers something out of the ordinary when it comes to skills training and knowledge acquirement. It is developed through relevant, hands-on education that is actually of value to the farmer. And at the end of the day, that is what RCS is all about.

“Rather than offering a certificate our students can put on the wall, we’re offering education that farmers can implement and that will change the way they do business,” says Adam. “Realistically, our customers go home knowing that what they learnt can be put into practice on their farm and it will bring a return on their investment.”

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St Joseph’s Nudgee College has a rich history that dates back over 125 years, with a grand reputation built by successive generations of students, staff, parents and community members.

Guiding the next generation

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Located only 16 kilometres from Brisbane, the college’s campus sits on 136 hectares of sprawling bushland and ovals. The founder of the college, Ambrose Treacy, recognised the need for a Catholic boarding school in rural Queensland in the 1880s, as boys from the region were sent to boarding schools located far away in New South Wales. To achieve his vision, Treacy raised money for the college and gathered boarding enrolments while travelling on horseback around regional Queensland.

“We say that Nudgee College was originally built by funds from the bush, for boys of the bush,” says Principal Peter Fullagar.

Since those early, humble beginnings, the college has continued to grow from strength to strength throughout the years. Today, Nudgee College has 1,300 day-school enrolments and 250 boarders.

At Nudgee College, students are taught, cared for and challenged by teachers who want the best for each student. A focus on the holistic education, personal development and wellbeing of each student remains important for the college.

Offering some of the best facilities in the country, Nudgee College has everything available to students on “one footprint”– modern, technologically advanced classrooms, an exceptional agricultural centre (that includes cattle yards), state-of-the-art science labs and a trade centre designed for vocational education learning areas.

“In any one day, boys can move from one of our many Google classrooms to the agricultural centre to tend to the on-site cattle, take a PE class on our Olympic-grade athletics track, or perform on stage in our purpose-built 400-seat auditorium,” says Principal Fullagar.

One of the main draws at the college is the sporting facilities: 13 playing fields for cricket, rugby and football;

12 tennis courts; indoor and outdoor basketball and volleyball courts; Olympic-grade athletics tracks and two heated swimming pools.

As one of the nine members of the prestigious Greater Public Schools Association of Queensland (GPS), Nudgee College has a proud tradition of outstanding results within GPS sporting competition over the last century, with 40 rugby premierships to their name.

The most outstanding facility the college has to offer however – and one of their proudest achievements – is the newly redeveloped boarding village that was completed in 2015.

“The boarding community has been at the heart of the college since its founding, and is a valued and thriving facet of Nudgee College, with plenty of fantastic opportunities to further all aspects of a student’s development,” says Principal Fullagar.

The Bathersby Boarding Village features spacious individual rooms, shared common areas for study and recreation and a large communal courtyard with ecofriendly design. It also offers a health centre staffed with skilled nurses, doctors and physiotherapists that are available 24/7 and a kitchen staffed with chefs that prepare nutritious, well-balanced meals. Boarders include students from all over Australia, the South Pacific and beyond.

“Our focus in Nudgee College Boarding is to help boys to find and develop their strengths,” says Principal Fullagar. “We do this by creating a safe, supportive environment where boys have multiple resources and opportunities to cater for their interests.

“Ultimately at the end of their Nudgee College journey we hope that we have moulded an independent, empathetic, culturally aware young man who is able to fulfil his potential.”

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A BIG opportunity for Australian farmers Banora International Group (BIG) is an Australianowned company that dominates the student travel market in Queensland. They also operate nationwide, offering farm stays, homestays and tailor-made programs to international students, government delegations and visiting business people from Asia, Europe and the USA. The company is currently looking to expand its presence and connect more international visitors with Australian farms.

Since 1996, BIG has focused on being an innovative leader, offering licensed and accredited educative tourism to students from around the world. They are not only renowned internationally for their professional and skilled service, but also for their network with local Australian schools and farmers.

Building on its success in the niche student market, BIG purchased Australian Farm Tourism (AFT) in 2010, a national operation focused on farm stays that was initially established in 1978 by a local farmer in the Hawkesbury region. Since the purchase, BIG has finetuned the program’s operations, established two new regions in Australia, gained national accreditation and expanded its Asian market.

The AFT division of BIG provides professional farm tourism and services to international students, government delegates and international farmers. Its programs feature various types of tours including farm stays, internships and technical visits.

The farm stays are designed to offer international students a unique chance to learn outside the classroom, experiencing Australian’s outback lifestyle and farm practices first-hand. Technical visits are aimed at foreign government staff or corporate entities eager to learn about Australian agricultural science, technology and innovation.

“Everyone is different but we cater for all ages, nationalities and requirements,” says Janine Bowmaker, Managing Director of BIG. “We have international dairy farmers wishing to meet a local dairy farmer and view their current milking systems in action, or an international packaging firm wishing to visit a farm with a factory that does its own sorting, packaging and distribution.”

AFT’s clients can also include international farm-

ers’ groups looking to implement better farming practices that are sustainable and environmentally-friendly, as well as government groups eager to review current markets and import/export logistics.

For Australian host farmers, Janine believes that the opportunities to showcase their brand and business to international governments, agribusinesses and students are endless.

Farmers interested in being a host first fill in an online form, and are then guided and trained

by AFT’s skilled staff members to ensure the farm and business is an effective match for everyone involved. Most recently, the company has seen a sharp increase in demand for organic and sustainable living farms. The benefits for farmers who enlist with AFT as a host go beyond just financial gains.

“Aside from the financial benefit, farmers gain an intercultural experience and have the fulfillment of showing tourists their farm and local region,” says Janine. “Additionally they may learn new farming techniques themselves from other farmers and often make lifelong friends.

“At present in Australian Farm Tourism we focus on regions that are within close travelling distance to airports. However, there are so many other smaller farming regions that would benefit from hosting – we want to show our international clients farms from all across Australia and encourage farmers from all walks of like to apply to become part of our expanding network.”

Link to the Website

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AGRICULTURE IN EDUCATION

Related Links A collection of links relating to agriculture in education, in Australia and worldwide, that may benefit the farmer.

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Primary Industries Education Foundation Australia A tripartite organisation dedicated to providing credible, relevant and factual information to teachers, students and the wider Australian community. Information about the organisation, reports and press releases as well as a contact section.

George the Farmer George is an Australian farming character designed to introduce young Australians from all walks of life to food and fibre production. The site contains smartphone apps, merchandise and national curriculum information.

Target 100

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Australian tertiary admissions centres for all states and general links of interest including information about alternative pathways, TAFE and the Australian Qualifications Framework.

Education case studies Case studies from students who’ve completed the Victorian Certificate of Education are available as PDFs or Word documents.

StudentsFirst StudentsFirst is a government website aiming to help parents and students to be “able to make informed decisions that will affect their education.”

The Target 100 initiative contains Primary school level lesson plans that link agriculture with history, science and economics, as well as National Curriculum Study guidelines in a landscape format to suit electronic whiteboards as well as computer screens.

High school and primary programs available.

Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development

Journal of Agricultural Education

The NAAE is a rich resource hub for education and curriculum resources.

A publication from the American Association for Agricultural Education, older issues are available for free, however a subscription is required for newer editions. A useful resource for peer-reviewed articles and case studies as well as being insightful and comparative for Australian readers.

International Journal of Agricultural Education and Extension This is an international scientific journal dedicated to high quality articles about the teaching of agriculture, natural resources and land management. All articles published are available for free download.

Global goal #4 – Quality Education Quality education is number four on the UN’s Global Goals for Sustainable Development. This site contains facts and figures about why inclusive, equitable and lifelong education is key to a sustainable future for agriculture and the global community.

TAFE Information for finding pathways from vocational to tertiary education via TAFE, as well as recognised prior learning to cut down time spent attaining a degree.

Features information about pathways to careers in food and fibre and educational resources.

National Association of Agricultural Educators

ACS Distance Education ACS Distance Education is a leading Australian Distance Education provider that offers a number of agricultural courses.

The Careers Guide Offering agricultural courses that cater for hobby interests through to formal training in industry.

Farmsafe Farmsafe provides information and promotes improved health and safety awareness and practices in Australian agriculture, including child safety on farms.

Sustainable Food and Agriculture This initiative from the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations provides farmers with frameworks and approaches to sustainable farming as well as numerous resources.

Australian Universities This page lists where you can study agriculture courses in Australia.

Universities Admissions Centre Information about tertiary education options for high school students planning to go to university. Search for undergraduate courses, apply for an Educational Access Scheme or explore Equity Scholarship options. Features a links page that includes

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RURAL HEALTH

Overview:

Case study: Case study: Related Links

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Martin Laverty tells us how the RFDS tackles the tyranny of distance Telehealth has rural Australians talking Connecting the dots for rural resilience

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rural health

Image: Royal Flying Doctor Service

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RURAL HEALTH

Remote, but not apart Australians love their sunburnt country, few more so than those who live outside of cities in country Australia.

WRITTEN BY MARTIN LAVERTY CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, ROYAL FLYING DOCTOR SERVICE OF AUSTRALIA

Droughts, floods and vast distances to travel don’t deter remote and rural Australians from living where they do. Thousands of farming families live and work in rural Australia and many revel in the challenges inherent to rural life.

They sacrifice and miss out on comforts people in the city take for granted. They also accept at times, that because they live great distances from city centres, they also miss out on some services.

But there are a few services that country residents can’t do without. Access to schooling is one. Access to health care is another.

Research findings released in 2015 show remote and rural death and illness rates make living in the city a healthier choice than living in the bush. The report of the Centre for International Economics shows death rates in very remote areas are on average 35 per cent higher than they are in cities.

The independent report, commissioned by the Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia, finds those living in the country see doctors only half as often as city residents, and that country residents die on average two years earlier than their city counterparts.

Other findings of the report are just as confronting. Remote residents see medical specialists at about one third the rate of city residents. Mental health services are accessed by people living in very remote areas at only one fifth of the rate of those who live in the city.

An RFDS research paper released in 2015 looked closely into dental health in rural and remote Australia. It found cavities were 50 per cent more likely in children living in remote areas than children in major cities, and the number of filled teeth can be more than double. A quarter of adults in major cities have untreated tooth decay, but this rises to more than one-third of remote area residents. Six in ten major city adults visited a dentist in a year, compared to little more than four in ten visiting a dentist in remote areas. One in three remote area residents had a tooth extraction in a year compared to little more than one in ten people from major cities.

These statistics are confronting. They are evidence of a persistent and long-standing problem.

They are the type of findings about which parliaments set up inquiries or establish action plans.

Perhaps both of these options are needed.

The cause of these differences in quality of life and life expectancy between the city and the bush are well known.

Social factors, health literacy, inadequate diet and physical activity combine to trigger high but avoidable rates of chronic illness in country Australia. Access to affordable fresh fruit and vegetables in remote areas is unquestionably a further barrier to good health.

An incomplete system of health service access, and lower than needed primary care services in particular, also contribute to this city-country divide.

It’s been long accepted country areas will never have the full range of community health, medical or hospital services available to them that are available to those who live in cities. Nobody argues for brick and mortar doctor surgeries to be put in every country location.

Yet as a nation we aspire to provide universal access to health care.

It is reasonable to question if that aspiration is in practice being achieved, given evidence of people in country areas seeing doctors at half the rate of people in city areas; 5.4 annual visits in the country compared to 9.7 visits in remote areas, to be exact.

Recent history shows when effort is applied, primary care services in country areas can be expanded. Medical and nursing training places have been expanded in the last two decades to train more staff willing to work in rural health. Incentives have been offered to attract health professionals to the bush.

Many Australians know the Flying Doctor conducts medical evacuations when emergencies arise

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in remote areas. This same Flying Doctor aeromedical infrastructure is also used to deliver doctor, nurse, dental and mental healthcare clinics in areas that would otherwise miss out on universal access to health care.

The challenge for the Flying Doctor, and for other primary care services in remote and rural Australia, is keeping up with increasing demand. Despite early primary care helping avoid subsequent hospital admission, primary care service resources in country Australia are not on par with city standards.

As I move about the country and talk to people in both cities and the bush about the work of the Flying Doctor, I’ve come to realise there is a fair bit about the Flying Doctor that some don’t know.

The basic facts are such: the Flying Doctor is an 89-year-old charity – ranked as Australia’s most reputable – that delivers aeromedical and primary health care services across all states and territories, with exception of the Australian Capital Territory.

A fleet of 66 operational aircraft are spread nationally across 23 airport bases. A staff of 1200 including doctors, pilots, nurses, engineers, allied health professionals, fundraisers, psychologists, administrators, dentists, researchers, educators and others help run the service.

Importantly, generous donors, volunteers, corporate supporters and governments contribute resources to keep the service operating. As a charity, we watch dollars closely, and by necessity need to run our services efficiently while maintaining the highest clinical and aviation safety standards.

We have seen 290,000 patients in the past year. In recent years, roughly half of the patients the Flying Doctor cares for are Aboriginal Australians. That half of all patients are Aboriginal is no surprise, given our remote Australia service footprint.

Aeromedical retrievals and hospital transfers by air is perhaps the most well-known part of the service. About 65,000 people annually are retrieved or transferred by air between health care facilities in urgent or emergency circumstances. Thousands more were transferred by road in our growing fleet of non-emergency ground transport vehicles.

Less well known, at least in cities, are regular fly-in, fly-out GP and nurse clinics that annually see 134,000 patients. The GP clinics operate in areas where there are no other doctors, making the Flying Doctor the GP practice to large parts of country Australia.

An additional 92,000 patients are treated each year over the phone. Just as the Flying Doctor invented and wrote the first clinical standards for aeromedical care, so too did the Flying Doctor invent telehealth.

Whereas city telehealth services often exist to write a script or send someone to hospital, Flying Doctor telehealth deals with a much heavier case load.

Mental health teams operate from several of our locations. Healthy living education programs oper-

ate in Central Australia and Cape York. In the Mallee region of Victoria, a video health link is successfully connecting country residents to diabetes specialists in Melbourne. And in 2015, the Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia provided dental treatment to 7,000 patients. We distribute pharmaceuticals from 1,800 locations, and have just established a new research and policy capability in Canberra.

Not much of our work or capability is known by those who’ve not before required or used the service, but for those who depend on it daily, it is a vital necessity.

To expand primary care in remote and rural areas to better deliver real universal access, it is not ideas or solutions that are missing. Rather, it’s a sense of urgency for governments to bolster existing health care infrastructure that flies in, drives in, phones in or ideally lives in country Australia.

Australia’s local economy, resources and productive capacity depend on organisational efficiency, innovation and resilience in a harsh and unforgiving land. The Royal Flying Doctor Service’s mission is to provide those vitally needed medical emergency and primary health care services that enable individuals, families and communities to not just survive in the outback – but to have the same health outcomes as their city counterparts.

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QUICK TIPS Maintaining a healthy mind and body is important for everybody, especially in the bush. Distance and poor internet connectivity don’t need to be detractors to good health!

1. Make a bit of time for yourself each day. Whether it’s five minutes with a cup of tea or trimming your toenails on the backstep, it’s time you can use to check in with yourself. Physically, how are you feeling? Are all systems go? Mentally, is there anything that’s getting you down or making you anxious, fearful or angry?

2. If you answered, “Nah, not great,” to the first, or “yep, there’re a few things,” to the second, that’s okay. It’s important to remember not every day is going to be a good day. Consider making a bit of time to talk to family, friends, your doctor or other health professionals about what’s worrying you.

3. You only have one body. Back or other physical pain doesn’t have to be the norm, and the sooner you get that little niggle sorted out, the sooner you can get back to living life. Ensure your equipment complies with Work Health and Safety guidelines and always take care when working, even on jobs you do regularly.

4. Eating well is key to your health. Plan and make time for fresh, nutritious meals every day.

5. Exercise is an important factor in maintaining good health and while farming can be a physically demanding job, getting in a spot of exercise – half an hour kicking the footy around, a walk or jog up the driveway or television/YouTube pilates or aerobics a few times a week – can reduce the risk of heart disease and obesity and help release energising, feel-good endorphins and build bone density.

6. If you are worried about yourself, a family member or friend, there is an array of services and information out there. Our Useful Links section can help point you in the right direction.

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Telehealth has rural Australians talking Geographic isolation presents a significant hurdle for rural Australians in accessing health services. However, telehealth services are now improving the prognosis for those Australians living outside of larger centres or cities.

COURTESY OF WA COUNTRY HEALTH SERVICE

Australians living in rural and remote communities are often forced to travel immense distances to receive specialist health care. The journey can be arduous for patients requiring ongoing treatment, and of grave consequence in emergency situations. Now, health services are using information and communication technologies to cover the distances between care recipients and healthcare professionals. Video conferencing establishes a live two-way audio and high definition video that effectively places healthcare professionals in the same room as their patients.

In Western Australia, health facilities – hospitals, community health centres and nursing points – across the state make up an extensive network of video conferencing units, which provide a link between specialist or emergency health professionals and regional patients. Specialist or outpatient services available in this way mean less time away from home and work and less financial burden. The Emergency Telehealth Service, which links emergency

medicine specialist doctors in Perth to clinical staff in regional hospitals via a virtual Emergency Department, has already saved countless lives.

Western Australia is something of a trailblazer when it comes to delivery of emergency telehealth services in Australia. Since 2012 when the Emergency Telehealth Service was introduced under the state government’s Royalties for Regions Southern Inland Health Initiative, there have been more than 21,000 virtual clinical emergency consults via telehealth. The service has grown from eight hospital sites in the Wheatbelt in 2012 to 72 regional sites statewide. The Emergency Telehealth Service now averages 750-800 emergency consults per month.

The Statewide Telehealth Service, jointly funded by the WA Country Health Service and the Southern Inland Health Initiative, provides the telehealth infrastructure and support which has proved invaluable in complementing local health services in emergency situations, as well as providing regional people with access to specialist outpatient services via video conference.

TAKE ME TO CUNDERDIN “I don’t remember anything until I woke up feeling electricity running right through my body.”

Former Cunderdin farmer Peter Ralston never thought sheep would get his heart racing. But after working for an hour in 46 degrees of searing West Australian heat, Peter began to feel “an elephant in his chest”. Recognising the symptoms of a heart attack, he drove to the post office where an ambulance was promptly called. While in the back of the ambulance, Peter made a decision to be taken to Cunderdin Hospital, rather than Kellerberrin.

It was a decision that saved his life.

At that time in 2012, Cunderdin Hospital was one of eight hospital sites in Western Australia’s Wheatbelt linked to the Emergency Telehealth Service (there are now more than 70 hospitals across WA with access to the Emergency Telehealth Service).

As a result, Dr Robert Graydon was able to diagnose that Peter was having an acute myocardial infraction from an office in Perth more than 160 kilometres away. The high definition video conferencing equipment, which simultaneously provided coverage

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of Peter and the electrocardiograph monitor, performed flawlessly.

“When we arrived at the hospital there were three nurses, one nurse was putting in the cannula and at the time I thought he was being a bit rough,” Peter says.

“I realise now he was trying to get the cannula in quickly because of what was happening.”

Peter’s condition soon deteriorated, falling into cardiac arrest shortly after arriving at hospital.

Peter’s son was by his side at the time and said that a vacant stare suddenly came across his father’s face, who had up until that point been talking away. The only memory Peter himself has is of awakening with the feeling of electricity coursing through his body.

“You really can feel it going right out to your fingertips and your toes – it’s not a sharp pain like you’d expect, but you definitely feel it,” he says.

As Peter slowly regained consciousness, his vision began to crystallise on the video of Dr Graydon. The Emergency Telehealth Service doctor was congratulating the nursing staff on saving Peter’s life. Dr Graydon had assisted the nursing staff to administer two electric shots that reanimated Peter’s heart.

The nurses had successfully brought Peter back twice – two lots of defibrillator panels twenty minutes apart had started his heart beating. The nurse Peter remembered had urgently inserted the cannula to flood his system with the medication necessary to get him through the cardiac arrest. The nurses were adamant Peter would not have survived without the concise direction from Dr Graydon.

“Apart from the obvious limitation of not being physically present at the hospital, the management of this patient was little different from being there in person,” Dr Graydon says.

The nurses at Cunderdin hospital were astounded at how cool and precise Dr Graydon was over the video linkage equipment, which performed well and without any issues. The nursing staff, connected with Dr Graydon’s precise directions via the telehealth system, are what many involved have credited with saved Peter’s life.

TELEHEALTH MAKING LIFE MORE LEISURELY FOR LES Living with an acquired auto-immune disease has proved burdensome for 74-year-old Les Ayton. The condition affects Les’s eyesight, strength, endurance, balance, dexterity and at its worse, his ability to breathe and swallow. The disease naturally prevents Les from getting behind the wheel of a car, leaving his wife to shoulder the drive to the neurologist every few months. Unfortunately for Les’ wife, her husband is in the care of a neurologist residing at Royal Perth Hospital, which is nothing short of a three-day round trip from their hometown of Albany.

While the physical journey to visit Royal Perth Hospital itself is onerous, the appointment with the

neurologist only takes about half an hour. Les was offered the opportunity to attend Albany Health Campus which has telehealth video conferencing equipment, so now only a 12km drive stands between Les and his specialist consultations. Telehealth video conferencing has not only dispelled the travel costs of attending a consultation in Perth, but has alleviated the personal stress and inconvenience of such an arduous journey.

“I see little difference between a telehealth conference and a face-to-face conference,” Les says.

Just as the nurses at Cunderdin hospital were amazed by the high definition quality of the video conferencing equipment, Les has no hesitance consulting with his specialist through a digital interface.

Telecommunication technologies now enable seamless communication between patients and specialists, relieving any feeling of contesting with a digital barrier.

“Being able to see and talk to the specialist is important to me and her response on the screen is just as good as having her sitting in the same room,” Les says.

The video feed allows Les to accurately demonstrate his movements, despite the physical absence of the specialist and for all intents and purposes, the specialist is in the same room as Les. “We are able to have a two-way conversation and I am able to demonstrate my dexterity issues and muscle weaknesses,” he says. “Telehealth video conferencing as a means of consultation has become very important to us.”

For more information on telehealth in WA, visit the WA Country Health Service website.

The Emergency Telehealth Service is made possible by the West Australian government’s Royalties for Regions Southern Inland Health Initiative, and is delivered by the WA Country Health Service.

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RURAL HEALTH

Connecting the dots for rural resilience WRITTEN BY: ANNIE SCHUBERT

The millennium drought is widely considered to have been the worst drought in Australia since settlement.

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Previously productive areas across Australia suffered such dry conditions that some farmers were unable to plant anything, or keep anything in the paddocks alive. Livestock were dying, crops (where they could be planted) failed and towns were thirsty as water restrictions got tighter and tighter.

The long dry kicked in in 1995 and held on until 2012 in some parts of the country. In between the dry, there were floods that brought no relief – just more heartache. Household bills mounted across Australia. It was grim for many. The government was called upon for assistance, and funding became available to help those with mortgages and other debts survive just one more repayment. For some, that funding was a bandaid for the bullet wound the drought had caused, and some in desperate need weren’t considered eligible.

In 2007, NSW Health rolled out the Drought Mental Health Assistance program. Across the state, Local Health Districts with the Centre for Rural and Remote Mental Health got out to rural towns, addressing the issue of poor mental health in the face of drought and its hardships.

Now, the program is known as the Rural Adversity Mental Health Program (RAMHP) and aims to link rural people with help they need. That can range from financial or personal counselling, social workers, nurses and other allied health professionals and aims to improve the quality of life in the bush.

Dianne Gill has been working as a mental health coordinator for RAMHP since about 2007. With a background in banking and retail, she eventually got into nursing. Working in clinical and aged care settings helped her realise she was good at listening to people talk about their fears, anxieties and other problems.

“I like talking to my patients – and you can’t talk to somebody while they’re under a general anaesthetic,” Di laughs.

“I felt I was better working with people, talking through their mental health issues rather than holding up a patient’s leg while the doctor replaced their hip.”

EDUCATING COMMUNITIES One of 11 coordinators across NSW, Di is based in Canowindra and covers communities in the Western district. The coordinators have a vast range of skills in health promotion, occupational therapy, mental health and social work and work together across the state.

“We communicate a lot,” Di says. “We all talk

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often, asking each other, ‘what do you think about this?’ and that kind of thing.”

She says while a lot of what the team does is about resources, their work is largely about connecting services to individuals, or vice versa.

“RAMHP’s role is more about educating,” Di says.

“Our work is largely preventative – what I do is about connecting dots.”

Connecting those dots can mean helping family and friends recognise early warning signs of depression or anxiety.

“Sometimes, it’s a matter of saying, ‘this is how you start the conversation’,” Di says. “If we can help people pick up signs and have a chat, well we’re doing okay.”

It can also be about creating awareness that services exist, like the Rural Financial Counselling service, which aims to help those on the land manage finances, and deal with the stress of tightening purse strings.

Di also runs courses and has delivered mental health first aid courses as well as talks at postdrought meetings to highlight the need to recognise and identify the gravity of mental health problems.

HELPING REDUCE STIGMA In 2006, Di was a speaker at a joint Rural Assistance Authority and Department of Primary Industries meeting in Condobolin. The drought had all but cleared up in the area and RAA and DPI were offering transport for stock, help with fencing and financial assistance. Di was there to speak about mental health, and recalls the meeting clearly.

“I got up to talk about health – this is what you’re looking for, and this is where the help is – and nobody sitting in that room made eye contact with me; nobody wanted to know,” she says.

“Stigma was quite high then. I finished and started to walk away when a very tall, broad shouldered guy got up – you know, a big six-foot cocky – and he said, ‘listen to what she has say’.

“He said, ‘you all think I’m a big, tough guy, but the truth is, I’m living with depression. A while ago, the phone bill came in and when I opened it and saw it, I sat at the kitchen table and cried my eyes out.

And that’s when I knew I needed some help. It wasn’t that it was a big bill – it was the straw to break the camel’s back. I went to the doctor, who prescribed me some medication, and now I’m living with it’.”

Those kinds of stories are the kind of breakthroughs Di and others in similar positions hope for in their work. These days, thanks to non-government

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initiatives like RUOK? Day and organisations like beyondblue and The Black Dog Institute, mental health awareness is increasing.

Di says the example of high profile AFL player Lance ‘Buddy’ Franklin taking time off the game to get help for mental health issues is spreading a good message.

“We put so much pressure on people to succeed that we don’t let them step back and take the time they need. It’s good if you can learn skills and do well – but it’s more important you’re alive to use those skills!”

From students to mechanics to lawyers to farmers, she says every role in the community is important.

“Nobody’s just a mechanic, or just a farmer,” she says. “Every role is important and requires heaps of skills. One of those skills needs to be knowing when to ask for help.”

Knowing when you’re having a rough trot can be hard, but having that insight can start helpful conversations.

“My advice is to talk to somebody,” Di says. “A partner, a mate or the doctor – they’re who you can ask for help.”

Similarly, if you think somebody you know is having a hard time, just ask.

“Just ask, ‘how are you doing? Things don’t seem quite right. Do you need help?’”

NOT ALWAYS AN EASY QUESTION Sometimes it can be a hard subject to broach.

“You always hold your breath when you ask somebody if they’re thinking about suicide,” Di says.

“You always hope they’ll say no.”

While it’s a hard question for anybody to ask, it’s important – and can save lives.

Having support in the community for those having a rough time is crucial, Di says, as is being open about having a rough time.

“As a mental health nurse, it can be hard when you’re talking to somebody you know needs support from their family, but they refuse to give permission for their family to know.

“Or, on the other hand, when you want the family to give their support, but they won’t.”

Di remembers a shearing contractor who contacted her for help coping with the stresses of work and life.

“He was extremely anxious and depressed,” she

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says. “He was drinking huge amounts of alcohol – monstrous amounts.

“We got to the point where he was contemplating giving up drinking alcohol, which was a great thing.

But then his partner came in and said how dare I get him to give up drinking – she asked me, what were they supposed to do socially?”

Di is quiet for a moment.

“Sadly, neither of them are alive today. They weren’t old, either,” she says.

Unfortunately, that absence of familial support isn’t an isolated case. Di remembers trying to get help for a teenage girl in a remote area who was feeling suicidal. Di secured her a meeting with a mental health nurse about an hour away but the day of the appointment, the girl’s mother phoned to say they wouldn’t make it.

“I said, ‘is it about transport?’ And her mother said, ‘no, I have a hair appointment’. I asked her if her hair was more important than her daughter, and she told me to rack off.”

Withholding health services to a minor is illegal and Di was legally obligated to report the case to Community Services.

KNOWING HOW TO HAVE THE CONVERSATION It can be tricky but it isn’t impossible. A little bit of sensitivity and a little bit of confidentiality go a long way.

“We need to be a little bit careful. Avoid statements like, ‘you need to’, or ‘you have to’,” Di says.

“I’m a big fan of the ‘I’ statements – ‘I am concerned’, ‘I am worried’, ‘I want to help you’.

“It takes the pressure off the person. As well, always be considerate of who’s around, or where you are. Obviously, picking your time is important.”

“If you ask if they’re having a hard time, and they say yes, the worst you can do is say, ‘let’s have a chat’. Or you can say, ‘let’s chat to your GP’, or ‘let’s call Lifeline’, or ‘let’s call the Mental Health Line’.”

Being prepared to hear the answer is just as important.

MENTAL AND PHYSICAL HEALTH ARE CONNECTED Something a lot of people don’t realise, Di says, is how closely linked mental and physical health are.

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“Whatever we put in our bodies, it affects our brain. Whatever we eat, it affects our brain. If we don’t sleep, it affects our brain. Whatever we do for our physical health will help our mental health.”

Things like back pain can be symptomatic of stress or anxiety – signs we wouldn’t necessarily link with one another, she says.

“We might think it’s from sitting in the cab of a header all day, or from lifting things wrong, but not being tuned into that pain, or ignoring it, can mean more trouble down the track.”

Di recalls a patient she saw as part of a program called Pitstop, which was a travelling men’s health check program.

“My co-worker was doing a blood pressure test on one chap and picked up he had an irregular heartbeat. She said to him, ‘a lot of people live with this but I’d really like you to go and get it checked out’.

“I saw him twelve months later at the Australian National Field Days and he came up to me and said, ‘you guys saved my life’.

“It turned out he went to the doctor who said, ‘yep, it’s true – a lot of people live with this, but while you’re here we’ll check everything out’.”

That check revealed an aggressive, asymptomatic prostate cancer that would have killed the man within a year if gone unnoticed.

“The link is – we need to look after our physical health to look after our mental health,” Di says.

HELP IS EVERYWHERE It’s getting easier to find somebody to talk to and Di is positive about the future of mental health across Australia.

“There’s a massive amount of resources and services out there – it’s just a matter of knowing where they are,” she says.

“There’s a time in courses or when you’re talking to somebody, and you see a light go on in their head.

“When you see them realise, ‘that’s why I feel like this’, or ‘that’s what I should have said’ – that’s when you know you’ve connected the dots.”

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RURAL HEALTH

Related Links A collection of links relating to rural health, in Australia and worldwide, that may benefit the farmer.

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Australian Men’s Shed Association

WayAhead

Men’s Shed is an organisation that aims to connect men, often in a shed where participants can do ‘shed stuff’, and is the largest association in Australia focused on male health and wellbeing.

This site contains fact sheets describing the signs and symptoms of many of the major mental disorders as well as outlining treatment options and relevant people to talk to.

The Rural Adversity Mental Health Program

beyondblue

A health co-ordination service in New South Wales that connects people with the help they need from financial or personal counselling to health workshops and forums.

beyondblue hopes to provide everyone, young and old, with information to recognise how depression, anxiety and suicide can affect people, and simple strategies to understand what to do if it happens to them, or someone close to them.

Western Australia Telehealth Information about the service as well as links to other government health programs including Patient Assisted Travel Scheme, Aboriginal and men’s health as well as maternal and child health.

Links to regions in WA include general regional overviews, local health directories and information about visiting specialists.

The Royal Flying Doctor’s Mental Health Service An all-encompassing, nationwide service. Emergency health services as well as health checks and workshops.

The Society for Mental Health Research

Black Dog Institute Information and resources for mental illnesses and wellbeing including online self-testing and current treatments.

The mental health of people on Australian farms An Australian government initiative reporting on the various mental health issues affecting farmers and farming families in Australia.

Rural and Remote Mental Health

As the peak body for psychiatric and mental health research in Australia and New Zealand, the SMHR publishes reports and research information into mental health.

Rural and Remote Mental Health is a not-for-profit company that has been delivering mental health programs and services, like the Rural Minds program, to people living and working in rural and remote Australia for over ten years.

The National Centre for Farmer Health

National Rural Health Alliance

A Victorian-based service that looks at physical and mental health as well as environmental health and safety for farm and ag workers.

Provides factual information on alcohol, tobacco and other drug issues and outlines the issues facing communities in rural and remote areas.

Batyr

Healthmap

Batyr is a social enterprise with a focus on preventative education for young people and their mental health. It runs programs in universities and schools, encouraging engagement, empowerment and education of issues surrounding mental health.

A resource providing access to health services and data gathered throughout Australia, including rural and remote areas and for Indigenous communities.

Personal Training programs

The Rural Financial Counsellor Service - 1800 686 175 Mensline - 1300 78 99 78 Parentline - 1300 30 1300 Kids Helpline - 1800 55 1800 Suicide Call Back Service - 1300 659 467

A blog entry by former Gunnedah exercise physiologist Jarrat Wood outlining a few reasons why exercise can be helpful in maintaining not just physical health but mental health as well.

Exercise Right Studies show that regular physical activity is associated with better mental health, emotional well-being and lower rates of mental disorders. The ‘How to train your mental health monsters’ campaign attempts to give intangible mental illnesses some substance and in the process make them appear more beatable as physical entities.

Some organisations you can call are:

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YOUTH AND SUCCESSION PLANNING

Overview:

Case study: Case study: Related Links

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Professor John Hicks discusses the importance of farm succession planning Young ideas and farmers feeding the world Macadamia farmers easing the path to succession

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youth and succession planning

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The importance of farm succession planning In Australia, there are a declining number of farmers with the expertise to maintain farm productivity. This raises the need to transfer farming expertise from one generation to the next. The most likely source of this intergenerational transfer of knowledge is through the continuation of family farming.

WRITTEN BY: PROFESSOR JOHN HICKS SCHOOL OF ACCOUNTING AND FINANCE AND INSTITUTE OF LAND, WATER AND SOCIETY

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Farm amalgamations and the growth of corporate farming are unlikely to give rise to a sufficient number of skilled farming workers. The key to the continuation of family farming is succession planning, but planning for succession in the farm environment of today has become increasingly problematic given the financial pressures arising from the need to compete in global markets, to adopt ‘sustainable’ methods, to work with restricted access to water, to cope with changing climatic conditions and to plan when confronted with unpredictable extremes.

The issue of farm succession planning is not one which has been discussed widely outside of farming circles, yet we are all dependent on the food security that appropriate levels of succession planning will help underpin. Further, family farming is part of our national heritage and therefore of great importance to our national culture. Farming is also a vital economic driver in the communities in which it is practiced – regions which, as it happens, make up the majority of the Australian land mass.

By far, the majority of farms in Australia are family farms that have remained in the same family for several generations. Farming is tied to the land on which it occurs, where the family lives – life and work are inseparable. However, the proportion of farms that are family farms is declining and it is this that, from a national perspective, raises the issue of succession planning.

Succession planning usually begins when the farmer starts making plans for retirement. Typically, a farmer’s entire working life has been spent on the farm deriving a living from it. In retirement, what are their sources of income going to be? Can they continue to expect to earn income from the farm, and will it be sufficient to sustain them? The sooner answers to these questions can be obtained the better, and hence farmers should begin to consider the issue early.

Typically, however, this is not the case. Farmers in their 60s and even well into their 70s have yet to begin to take the initial steps towards developing a retirement plan. For some this is because they do not expect to retire, suggesting that they have not been prepared to face the eventuality of ageing. For others, the expectation is that the money resulting from the farm’s sale will provide for them in their retirement. The earlier farmers can begin to consider their retirement and succession planning, the more successful such plans are likely to be.

Successful succession planning requires information and advice. The evidence suggests that farmers rarely seek out advice about this issue. It appears to be something that they are reluctant to talk about, even with family members.

As a first priority, farmers should talk with the members of their family who will be impacted by the

decisions they make. The younger generation wants this communication. It is, as has often been pointed out, their future that is at stake. Making decisions about succession without engaging the potential successors often results in a breakup of the farm and possibly even a breakup of the family – both being outcomes that everyone wants to avoid.

There is no doubt that decisions regarding succession are complex, as they need to consider issues such as the equity with which children are treated, the maintenance of the farm as an ongoing business and the financial needs of the retiring farmer. Given our country’s cycle of drought, financial considerations can be quite problematic.

Extended periods of drought – as Australia has recently experienced – impact enormously on retirement decisions as low returns act to reduce the value of the farm. The result of this is that the farmer must work to an older age and often saddles the eventual successors with large debts. Adding to this is the tendency by Australian farmers to use any surplus funds for farm maintenance rather than investing the surplus to secure their own financial future.

The complexity of the decisions to be made indicates that farmers must seek advice outside of the family as well as within. In this context, it is important for farmers to settle on a trusted financial advisor very early in the planning process. Such advisors have a range of expertise and are best qualified to help the farmer decide on issues before they become pressing and stressful. For example, usually there can only be one successor.

This successor is often required to ‘buy out’ those who are not going to inherit, which puts both an economic and emotional strain on the successor since

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raising the funds and reaching a fair price with siblings are both often problems of significant magnitude.

The decision that tends to cause most stress is the choice of successor. When asked, the majority of farmers will normally respond that they have not yet settled on a successor. Lack of a succession plan often reflects, amongst other things, the difficulty in actually identifying an appropriate successor.

Alarmingly, one reason for the difficulty in identifying a successor is that either deliberately or inadvertently, the farmer has discouraged children from continuing in farming. This seems to be happening on a large scale, as evidenced by the changing demographics of farming communities where the children leave, often for educational purposes, and don’t return. In the past, farming families tended to encourage children to become educated in areas that would have been of benefit to the running of the farm. Reports are that this has changed dramatically in recent years with the children of

farmers being encouraged to take on studies that would lead them away from farming as a career.

Perhaps not unexpectedly, young women in particular are encouraged to pursue education in a profession outside of farming – often as compensation for the fact that they will not even be considered as potential successors. In the 21st century, this is surely an abysmal waste of potential farm managerial talent.

There appears to be a strong view amongst the farming community that only one successor is possible, and that to try and split the role between a number of potential successors would result in the eventual loss of farming properties that had remained in one family for many generations. While older farmers may be in a position to run the existing property, they may not have the skills to see how their business can expand and grow in a manner that can provide a livelihood for a number of potential successors. Seeking assistance from financial advisors may open up a range of attractive options that

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can result in a number of successors continuing to profitably participate in the family’s farming heritage.

It appears that an important determinant of succession is the value of a farm’s assets. However, it appears that the value of the farm assets is equally related to having identified a successor. Where a successor has been identified, there will be a stronger sense of the continuation of the family business and therefore investment decisions are likely to be more strategic.

The income generated by the farm may also be an important determinant of succession. The evidence suggests that an increasing proportion of farms rely on off-farm income. This represents both a problem and an opportunity; if the farmer has needed to source off-farm income then it is unlikely that the farm will support the successor. On the other hand, the opportunity for famers to acquire skills and to work partially off-farm may increase the viability of more than one successor, as none of them need to

be dependent entirely on farm income for a living.

Having identified a successor, the transfer of control itself is often difficult. The successor needs to be skilled in farming. In the case of small operations, this may often require the potential successor to work on other properties rather than the one being inherited. When the farmer and their potential successor do work together, problems around decision making often arise.

The farmer expects that their future income (in retirement) will be derived from the property and therefore they will tend to be reluctant in handing over the reins. This can give rise to stresses in the relationship, especially in situations where the potential successor is keen to take the business in a new direction while the farmer insists that the traditional approach be maintained. Again, professional advice in managing the business aspects of the property may be of value in helping both the farmer and the prospective successor sort out their roles in the transition process.

Certainly the successor needs to be ready to take over, but equally, transfer of control should not be delayed until beyond the point at which the farmer has lost the ability to successfully and productively manage the property. Third party advice and consultation can often clarify important issues in this regard. Such advisors would have exposure to a wide range of circumstances, positioning them to provide appropriate advice in a range of different circumstances.

The slow decline in family farming in Australia is a trend that needs to be reversed. The intergenerational transfer of properties needs to be encouraged and supported. This can only be done by finding solutions to the problems farmers face when they are considering the issue of succession.

There is no question that succession planning in the farming community is underdeveloped. Farmers need to be encouraged to undertake succession planning at a much earlier stage, to talk openly with potential successors and to seek the help of professional advisors to help them work through the issues they confront. The Australian farming community as a whole can only benefit from increased attention being given to the issue of farm succession planning and the assisting of farmers in making very difficult end-of-career decisions.

Based on the piece “Succession Planning in Australian Farming”, written by John Hicks, R. Sappey, J. Basu and R. Gupta and published in a 2012 edition of the Australian Accounting, Business and Finance Journal.

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YOUTH AND SUCCESSION PLANNING

WRITTEN BY: ANNIE SCHUBERT

Young ideas and farmers feeding the world As far as careers go, farming isn’t at the top of the list of glamorous, lucrative or exciting jobs. However, those who are passionate about it are some of the industry’s best advocates. Across the world, young farming groups and other youth organisations are paving the way for the next generation and making sure their voices are heard.

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New generations are coming to the table with new ideas and the energy to make the future brighter and better for people around the world. Feeding the estimated nine billion mouths meant to make up the global population in the next 35 years may be one of the greatest challenges of our time because, as that number grows, land upon which to grow food and fibre is set to dwindle.

The passion driving young people in agriculture has given rise to events like the Global Youth Ag-Summit, which is coordinated in Australia by Future Farmers Network (FFN). Since its launch by Bayer in Canada in 2013, the Youth Ag-Summit has been dedicated to creating a platform for discussing the challenges and opportunities in feeding a growing global population. The opportunities for networking, advocacy and education created by the event align closely with the larger aims of FFN. Held in Canberra in August 2015, the Global Youth Ag-Summit attracted 100 delegates from 33 countries including Kenya, Argentina, the Philippines, India, Turkey and France. The theme of the year was ‘feeding a hungry planet’, with the goal of getting young people engaged in finding sustainable agricultural solutions. FFN co-hosted the event along with Bayer CropScience, helping select the 100 attendees out of nearly 2,000 entries submitted from 87 countries.

According to FFN Chair Rebecca Gowen, the turnout was awe-inspiring. “If you ever want to feel inadequate, spend a couple of days with these kids,” she says.

“You just think, wow. Each of them has gone home with three things they’re going to do – tasks or targets they individually want to achieve.”

The event’s major outcomes were the hashtag ‘#threelittlethings’ and a declaration that two delegates took to the UN Conference on Food Security.

According to Rebecca, having delegates go to the UN was “pretty incredible”. She says another great outcome was the participation of young people working outside agriculture – including the lawyers, IT professionals and food scientists in attendance – who wanted to play a part in feeding the world.

Hamish Clarke was one of the New Zealand delegates at the event. About to finish a Master’s degree in Agricultural Science at Lincoln University, he’s looking at doing more with less through robotic milking systems. Growing up on a family farm enterprise that spans dairy, velvet, venison and beef, Hamish has spent long summers waking up at 5am to go milking and hopes his work will help change

the face of dairy farming for the better.

“I’m looking at the triple bottom line business sustainability theory – people, profit, planet,” Hamish says. “I was sceptical at first, I didn’t believe robotic milking systems would stack up financially compared to traditional milking systems.”

After getting involved with Lincoln University’s Young Farmers group, the opportunity to cross the ditch for the Ag-Summit arose and Hamish grabbed it with both hands.

“It was a special event; I felt very privileged to be a part of that. I went into it wondering if I could make a difference,” he says. “Turned out I was really wrong – yes, I don’t know what it’s like to struggle in poverty, but I do know how robotic milking farm systems work, how a stable government operates – and these are things others dream of.”

BUILDING A PLATFORM AND SHARING A VOICE Groups like FFN and events like the Ag-Summit are great ways for tomorrow’s leaders to meet, and are also excellent breeding grounds for new ideas and innovation. Rebecca says that’s kind of the point of FFN – they can help members get in touch with MPs and other politicians on important matters, award bursaries for education and put on excellent events, but they can’t think for everybody.

“We’ve said to people, ‘don’t wait for us to tell you what to do’,” Rebecca says. “Go and do it, and if you want help or support, we’re here for that. We’re not here to tell you how to advocate or what to do, but we’ll support you where we can.”

One of the biggest hurdles young people in agriculture face is finance. As an agricultural economist

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as well as a beef producer, it made sense for Rebecca to get involved with FFN – and she reckons that financial literacy, though fundamental, isn’t something a lot of young people understand.

“That means access to finance and alternative means of accessing finance,” Rebecca says. “So not just through banks, and not just loans.”

Helping young people get a grip on financial literacy is one of the key issues FFN is working on.

“We’ve included it as a topic at a couple of events, looking at what’s important to understand,” Rebecca says.

In November 2015, FFN hosted the Young Beef Producers Forum in Roma, Queensland. The theme was ‘Beef in the Box Seat’, with the focus of being an “educational, capacity-building and networking event” focused on financial goal setting and, importantly, how to achieve goals while also looking at market conditions and policy issues. Rebecca compiled feedback about the event and says the FFN board was blown away by the responses.

“Some of the comments included stuff like, ‘all in all, pretty good show #educationbargain, thank you’, and to get that kind of feedback from young people, we were stoked,” she says.

One session about the beef market, hosted by a representative of a pretty well-known meat and livestock organisation, was particularly well attended, demonstrating the commitment of the conference’s young attendees to knowing as much as they can about the industry, the market and how to understand it. “[The presenter] knows his stuff, and he was good – everybody was engaged and interested to hear about market conditions and where it’s all going,” Rebecca says.

And beyond those events, FFN is working with education providers to repackage that kind of information so it’s more accessible, not just to members but to the whole student population. In encouraging members to become more financially literate, FFN offers bursaries for workshops, courses and other educational opportunities.

“Members can apply for a $500 bursary to attend any kind of training or workshop,” Rebecca says.

“We’re also looking at getting a few larger scholarships aimed toward TAFE or tertiary courses with a slightly more rigorous process.”

FFN boasts pretty big bikkies, too – and they’re very into sharing. In 2014-15, FFN raised about $43,000 for other industry youth groups and awarded twenty go-getters with $500 bursaries. Not only that, but board members – spread across the

country as they are – go to events to fly the FFN flag, lend support and help get people involved.

THE FUTURE’S BRIGHT, BUT ONLY IF WE ALL LIGHT IT UP Despite networking opportunities and the support offered at events and through organisations like FFN and other young farming groups, things can get pretty competitive. Combined with relatively little experience in organisational business and behaviour, that competitive spirit can mean not everybody sees eye to eye.

Hamish reckons tall poppy syndrome is alive and well, and while there’s a lot of talk about innovation and doing better, it can be hard to get ahead without support and encouragement.

“Tall poppy syndrome within these organisations

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does exist,” he says. “I’ve seen within youth organisations that a real issue is that youth aren’t great at establishing business and organisational behaviour.

“To me, we’re all highly motivated people so we can also be very competitive, which can get in the way of getting things done.

“Good governance is putting yourself in the shoes of the business. A lot of people represent what they think people should want, and when you challenge those views people take it personally.”

He reckons young people in positions of leadership and representation need mentors and people whose experience they can draw on, because despite being innovative and having more opportunities to be creative, interpersonal skills and business know-how are best learned through experience, shared or lived.

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“Mentoring is important – one thing I wish happened more was people of my parents’ generation coming back to give us advice,” he says. “Everybody has their own Everest – sometimes we just need a bit of help getting up there.”

FOCUSED ON THE FUTURE The motivation young aggies have will be key in skilling up a new generation – not just farmers, but also the food and ag scientists, lawmakers and teachers to name just a few will all play a part in feeding our hungry planet in the next couple of decades.

A diversity of opinions and experiences, and the opportunity to bring them together, will be key to supporting the global population – not just for the future, but for today as well.

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Macadamia farmers easing the path to succession Kurt Henke is one of Australia’s youngest macadamia growers. The 26-year-old from Bundaberg, Queensland is warming up the harvester on his grandad Des’ 24-hectare macadamia orchard to complete what will be his third harvest season.

WRITTEN BY: NYREE EPLETT AUSTRALIAN MACADAMIA SOCIETY

Strong prices and good yields certainly make the burgeoning Australian macadamia industry an exciting and profitable prospect right now – both for existing and potential growers alike. But it was an innovative share farm initiative developed by the Australian Macadamia Society (AMS) that made Kurt dip his toes into the industry in 2013.

Kurt says he had to learn quickly, and that the willingness of industry members to openly share information, ideas and knowledge with him was crucial.

Now that his yields are starting to increase he has big plans to expand his operations in the very near future, already having converted a chunk of his fath-

er’s local cane farm to macadamias.

“Last year we planted 5,000 macadamia trees and we’ve got another 5,000 ordered for this year to go in,” he says.

Kurt leased his grandad’s macadamia orchard when Des decided to hang up his farming boots three years ago. Des and his wife still live on the farm and though they lend a hand, Kurt is in charge.

He says he “couldn’t have asked for a better start in farming.”

Kurt is one of a new breed of macadamia growers trying their hand in the industry, care of flexible-lease farming arrangements designed to help both parties benefit from farming’s cyclical highs

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and more easily weather its inevitable lows. Such leases also serve to facilitate succession planning, as they can help some growers like Des retire (or enter semi-retirement) and still live on their farm.

The formal macadamia lease agreement was developed by the AMS and incorporates a payment structure similar to a share farming agreement, with the option of a sliding scale split of income based on production per hectare of saleable kernel.

The industry’s productivity development manager Robbie Commens says the sliding scale helps to reduce the risk involved in share farming agreements while also increasing the likelihood of growers’ interest in pursuing such a venture – not to mention that it helps both parties remain focused on increasing productivity.

“When production is poor the manager’s share increases,” explains Robbie, “enabling them to recover some of the input costs and continue to invest in the orchard the following year. And for the owner, income will reduce but it will not be the loss they would have potentially suffered if they were running the farm themselves.

“And vice versa: in high producing years, the manager has the potential to increase the split to the owner (for example, moving from 90/10 split to 70/30 split). Both parties have benefited in the good years (income has increased for both) and both parties have helped absorb the losses in the bad years.”

Robbie helped drive the lease/share farm initiative from the outset, working with the sugar cane industry and Regional Development Australia on a series of information workshops across the state.

“We developed this because industry feedback stated that many current owners wanted to live on the property, but did not necessarily want to run the orchard any longer. This meant that there was industry infrastructure (trees) not being utilised to its full potential. It also meant that there was industry talent and assets not being utilised.

“After identifying these key challenges we started work on developing a macadamia-specific lease agreement; it had the potential to be a major opportunity to help both parties. Kurt and Des are an excellent example of the scenarios found commonly in the macadamia industry.

“It has worked really well all across our industry (there are now more than 500 hectares of orchards being leased – a five-fold increase in three years) because we developed an industry-specific lease agreement and we met with people individually to run the numbers and facilitate partnerships. I have sent the information out to over 75 different growers and counting!”

A key point of difference that has worked in the favour of the macadamia industry is that the peak industry body, the AMS, made a substantial upfront

investment in developing the formal agreement, which they then made freely available to members and growers.

“The AMS invested its own funds into developing a formal macadamia-specific lease agreement. We made that investment to save our growers money, and we now provide that agreement to our members at no cost to them, saving thousands and thousands in legal fees. It also took away one more major hurdle of not knowing where to start. The agreement that we developed, with extensive industry input, helps growers start at step three or four rather than step zero.”

Des kick-started the process of handing the reins over to his grandson after hearing about the lease farming initiative while attending an AMS ‘MacGroup’ grower workshop. Kurt says he wouldn’t have done it any differently.

“It’s worked out perfectly for me, and ideally I’d like to keep leasing the orchard,” says Kurt.

The AMS hopes that the initiative will continue to gain momentum and encourage more young growers like Kurt to ‘cut their teeth’ in the macadamia industry.

“It has proven to be mutually beneficial for existing growers and those wanting to enter into or expand within our industry. There are a lot of people interested in that right now, and this initiative offers a way to do that while taking away the financial pressure that comes with purchasing a farm outright.

“It has also proved to be a stepping stone for existing growers looking to exit our industry,” says Robbie. “It really has been a win-win, which is what we worked so hard for.”

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YOUTH AND SUCCESSION PLANNING

Related Links A collection of links relating to youth and succession planning, in Australia and worldwide, that may benefit the farmer.

the australian farmer “How do I write a succession plan?”

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A government-provided primer on developing a plan for succession; includes a template and lists supporting documentation that will help make for a complete and smooth transition.

future influencers working within the agriculture sector. They promote positive images and perceptions of farming and engage in activities and innovative programs under the Art4Agriculture banner.

Business Victoria’s succession guide

RAS Youth Group

Strategies to selling or passing on a business, and a guide for increasing the business’ value before succession. Also features a checklist for things to do before selling a business.

The Royal Agricultural Society Youth Group coordinates programs and events aimed at young people.

Future Farmers Network scholarships & grants

AgConnectWA’s mission is to connect, represent and provide support to young people throughout the agricultural industry in order to address the challenges that face them and to harness the opportunities available to them.

If you’ve got a young farmer in your life who’s looking for some extra educational opportunities, the FFN offers bursaries and study grants as well as opportunities for work experience and tertiary scholarship. Their Young Carbon Farmers initiative stresses the importance of learning soil sustainability and management early on and offers online webinars and presentations.

Youth Ag-Summit/Ag-Network Get more information about joining an upcoming summit or add your voice to those of other young farmers discussing how to keep the planet fed.

Youth Food Movement An organisation geared towards increasing youth awareness of what we eat and where it comes from, YFM offers projects, blogs and volunteer opportunities all working to expand what they call ‘food literacy’.

AgConnectWA

Rural Youth Rural Youth is a group of people aged between 15 and 30 years coming together to make friends, learn skills and work towards growing rural Tasmania.

Young Farmer’s Finance The Young Farmer’s finance scheme was established by Rural Finance in association with the Victorian Young Farmers’ Finance Council and the Victorian government for young people who want to advance in farming.

Victorian Young Farmers This organisation aims to contribute to thriving rural communities through the development of young people.

Research findings and educational opportunities via the Crawford Fund

Backtrack

The Crawford Fund has an array of educational materials available online (conference proceedings, research and videos) and offers international master classes, training programs in every Australian state and territory and a fellowship for young ag scientists working in southeast Asia.

Based in Armidale, Backtrack offers young people who have lost their way an opportunity to reconnect with their education and training, to become work ready, find jobs and participate fully in the community. The program AgLads was developed to address the region’s growing trade and agricultural skills shortages.

Aggregated news on youth in agriculture from The Farm Table

Youth and Agriculture

In addition to inspirational videos of passionate young farmers and a wealth of career development and job search tools, The Farm Table keeps this great list of news items about young Aussie farmers.

Art4Agriculture Art4Agriculture is a network of young people who share a passion to tell others about the pivotal role Australian farmers play in feeding the world.

Young Farming Champions The Young Farming Champions are youth ambassadors and

A report by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, ‘Youth and Agriculture’ focuses on the challenge of engaging youth in agriculture and provides examples and concrete solutions.

Young Women in Agriculture In this ABC News article, four young women share their opinions about their place in Australia’s agricultural future.

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NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT AND COPING WITH DISASTERS

Overview:

Case study: Case study: Related Links

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Dr Richard Thornton on the land of the Rainbow Gold – and its payback Community strength in the face of disaster Managed by us mob

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natural resource management and coping with disasters Photo courtesy of CFA Communities and Communication

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NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT AND COPING WITH DISASTERS

Land of the Rainbow Gold – and its payback WRITTEN BY: DR RICHARD THORNTON CEO OF THE BUSHFIRE AND NATURAL HAZARDS COOPERATIVE RESEARCH CENTRE

Australia is a land of extremes, from our deserts to our snow-capped alpine peaks, our sparkling beaches to our sun drenched paddocks. And these extremes extend to our weather. Take 2009, 2010 and 2011 for example; in a 24 month period we saw the worst bushfires on record in Victoria, followed by some of the worst floods seen in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria. All of this following a decade or more of drought conditions.

To quote Dorothea Mackellar in My Country: “Core of my heart, my country!

Land of the Rainbow Gold, For flood and fire and famine, She pays us back threefold…”

Australia has had natural disasters ever since we have been placing the things we value on Australian soil. The hazards have always existed, and they always will; whether they are floods, bushfire, cyclones, earthquakes, tsunamis, storm surge, plagues or droughts, they are a natural and essential part of living in the Australian environment.

Cattle retreat to a safer area of a paddock during the 2015 Sampson Flat bushfire in South Australia. Photo courtesy of Ashley Hosking, CFS Promotions Unit

The hazards we fear today have always existed, with the first explorers of our vast continent reporting seeing fires in the Australian landscape. River systems have always flooded and cyclones have battered our northern shores.

The disasters we face today, although natural at the core, are really man-made, and reflect the culmination of our decisions of where and how we live.

We can try to tame the worst of some of the hazards. We have built huge dams to limit the flooding of major rivers, such as the Wivenhoe Dam on the Brisbane River following the flooding of Brisbane in 1893 and 1974. However, even these cannot stop the damage completely, as we saw with Brisbane’s most recent floods in 2011. We cannot tame these hazards. What we need to do is change the ways in which we live with the hazards of the Australian continent.

Flooding in recent years across central Queensland and New South Wales saw major, and at times repeated, damage to infrastructure, particularly roads, houses and crops over extended periods. The flooding seen in these regions is part of the natural ecosystems and required for good river health. However the massive impact of such disasters has seen pushes to change national policy and reinforced the view that is it better to mitigate against such events, rather than spend millions on recovery. This push is coming from the realisation that such events are inevitable, and unstoppable.

In a recent study by Suncorp, Urbis, The Green Cross and The Cyclone Testing Station at James Cook University, it was highlighted that cyclones on average will cost the Australian community about $630 million a year. The study noted the need to

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Flooding around Dungog, NSW in April 2015. Photo courtesy of New South Wales Rural Fire Service

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protect Australians from this hazard is not only driven by the fact that the financial and economic cost is high, but also that the social and psychological one is too. There is a body of research highlighting an increase in many social problems following a disaster, including increased alcohol consumption, an increase in domestic violence and a greater incidence of suicide.

In this study it was illustrated about 86 per cent of claims following 2011’s Severe Tropical Cyclone Yasi were for minor damages, which could have been easily and cheaply prevented. It was illustrated that some roof upgrades to older houses could pay for themselves after just one cyclone.

This is why a focus on retrofit options for existing households is such a cost-effective approach to dealing with various hazard types, and why the Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC has a specific set of projects focusing on this area.

Our knowledge of how to build new houses to resist some of the hazards we face has increased dramatically in the past few decades, but much of our housing stock

is still quite old, and has not been built to more recent, modern standards. This will change over a lengthy period of time as we replace our housing stock, but in the short term this will remain a problem. Simple and inexpensive retro-fitting solutions have been shown to have very short payback periods. Research is still needed to explore these possible options as our knowledge of damage causes increases.

The Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC is leading some of this work in relation to wind, flood and earthquake, and our predecessor the Bushfire CRC has provided evidence around bushfire.

The importance of post-disaster evaluation of areas impacted is critical in this as it helps to understand the failure modes and importantly understand how and why people behaved the way they did, and what messages they heard.

Decades of research has been accumulated on the bushfire hazards faced by Australian communities by the Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC, the Bushfire CRC and many other Australian research organisa-

tions. Much research has been conducted on prescribed burning that includes a cost-benefit analysis of the risk, the economics of burning, the environmental impacts across varied types of landscapes and the acceptance of prescribed burning by rural and interface communities.

The complexity of the issue is growing.

The number of people and businesses have grown in and around the previously empty forested regions; the impact of smoke on people is an issue; the management of water catchments is important; there is now more scientific evidence on the benefits and downsides of various fire regimes; and the windows for undertaking prescribed burning have shrunk due to drought and climate change.

Some states now have prescribed burning targets, and it is important that whatever burning targets are in place are based on the best available evidence and scientific research. These targets should be measurable, achievable and articulated in such a way the community can understand their residual risk. And this residual risk

Rural dwellings that escaped the flames during the fire near Yass in New South Wales, January 2013. Photo courtesy of New South Wales Rural Fire Service

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must be accepted by the community and by governments, and it needs to be acknowledged that no hazard reduction target will reduce the risk to zero.

Fuel reduction can decrease fire intensity, flame height and the forward rate of spread. But the effectiveness of this reduction is strongly dependent on the weather conditions that prevail on the day they are impacted by a bushfire. On extreme high-temperature and high-wind days like Black Saturday in 2009, the effectiveness of most prescribed burning on stopping runs of large fires will be minimal because medium and long range spotting will see these areas overrun.

However, fuel levels around properties and communities can make a significant difference to the intensity of the fire as it impacts private and public assets.

As was highlighted by the Productivity Commission in its report into disaster funding arrangements in May 2015, mitigation is always a better option than recovery, and that while building back better is a goal following any event, the reality is we still see very little of this happening. The Productivity Commission found that even though the Commonwealth government had provisions for ‘betterment’, this had barely been used.

The concept of betterment is critical to our ability to respond to the issues relating to climate change, and the consequential increase in the frequency of hazards. Why build back a flood levee at its previous level, when for a small percentage more you could build it higher? Why continue to rebuild the bridge that always gets swept away in the floods in the same way as before, when it could be build back better for a small increment. Short term thinking is rife as the imperative to restore vital links and infrastructure take precedence over longer term planning.

We know preparation can make a big difference to the ultimate outcome; the current mantra in government is focused on the National Strategy for Disaster Resilience – communities need to become more resilient. We hear about the need for shared responsibility. But what does resilience mean in practice and, importantly, what responsibility needs to be shared? Who is sharing this responsibility? Is it the government with its policies, our emergency services or community members at the coalface? Or is it all three of these levels, to varying degrees, in varying situations?

The Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC is looking at some of the core aspects of these questions.

What is the role of school education, and the power of a child to change the behaviours of their parents?

What communication and warnings are needed in order for a community to effectively respond to an

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It is important that prescribed burning target are based on the best available evidence and scientific research, with targets that are measureable, achievable and understood by the local community. Photo courtesy of Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC

impending natural hazard? What should people do with their pets, livestock or horses? Indeed, what does a resilient community even look like?

While the answers to these important and critical questions are not yet fully known, we do have some insight on some of them. Many communities do want to be more involved in their preparation, response and recovery for natural disasters, and emergency service agencies would like them to be involved too. The policy ramifications will be worked through, but there is not a one size fits all approach.

In reducing the risk of disasters globally, children hold the key. They are our future, and better education on risk reduction now will likely hold us in good stead in the future – our research is exploring what education programs work, and developing ways to have successful education initiatives scaled up to reach as many children as possible.

We also know that many people who live in bushfire-prone areas underestimate their level of risk, and therefore do not plan and prepare for a bushfire as best they should. Our research has shown, despite the tragic events of Black Saturday on 7 February 2009, there is not yet evidence of a dramatic improvement in overall levels of bushfire safety planning and preparation. There is no silver bullet for bushfire safety, or indeed for most natural hazards, and increasing the safety of those in the country and on the fringes of our towns and cities is everyone’s responsibility.

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Community strength in the face of disaster The ‘Black Saturday’ bushfires of February 2009 – Australia’s worst ever bushfires – cut a swathe through rural Victorian communities and resulted in the deaths of 173 people. But in the wake of such devastation, some of the areas affected have only become stronger thanks to the efforts of their communities.

WRITTEN BY: KEIRON COSTELLO

The Beechworth-Mudgegonga fire complex burnt 33,577 hectares of land in north east Victoria, threatening the rural communities of Beechworth, Mudgegonga, Barwidgee Creek, Bruarong, Dederang, Gundowring, Kancoona, Murmungee, Rosewhite and Stanley. You can see the extent of the damage in ‘43 degrees at midnight’, a short film which was part of ABC Open’s ‘Now and Then’ project. The communities’ response to the disaster led to the formation of the Into Our Hands Community Foundation.

Loretta Carroll, Chair of Into Our Hands and a Mudgegonga farmer producing beef and sheep, recalls the impact of the bushfires clearly.

“The fires really struck us all, because they ripped through the whole area and a large number of people were affected just in our small community,” says Loretta. “People were coming in with all sorts of problems, and because they were shocked they

didn’t really have the ability to fix things – they were often easy problems to fix, but people were in a disaster situation and they weren’t able to help themselves, you could see it in their eyes.”

Paula Pipan, Director and Secretary of Into Our Hands, owns a small vineyard not too far from Loretta’s property in Mudgegonga. She says her family was lucky to escape the blaze.

“It went right through our property, so my husband and I saved the house, we got the kids out and we were just extremely lucky,” says Paula. “When the fireball hit the vineyard, the wind changed. We only lost about a hundred plants out of several thousand.”

Despite her own luck, Paula saw first-hand the devastation the fires caused and is full of praise for the efforts of people like Loretta.

“I think everybody was pretty shaken and shocked, but it was just tremendous how people got together – they just rallied, checked in on each other and figured out who needed what,” says Paula.

“Loretta is a force of nature, every community needs a Loretta. She ended up with the hay depot at her place, so she organised the distribution of hay because most people lost all of their feed, a lot of people also lost animals.”

FROM DEVASTATION TO RECOVERY As a result of the generosity of Australian and international donors – more than $315 million was raised by the Australian Red Cross Bushfire Appeal – recovery efforts began across Victoria as soon as the fires were extinguished. The Australian Red Cross established the Victorian Bushfire Appeal Fund (VBAF) as an independent charity to distribute these funds.

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And while this money helped in the short term, the communities of north east Victoria were in need of solutions that tackled medium and long term issues. By 2011, the VBAF had accrued $16 million in interest from the initial donations, and decided to distribute it to the affected communities in the form of funding for medium and long term recovery needs.

“VBAF went to the communities and said, ‘well, we’re going to distribute this money, what would you like?’ and we said ‘there’s a couple of things we can think of to spend the money on immediately, but it would be really great to have that money available for medium-long term stuff as well’,” says Paula. “And that’s where the idea of a foundation was born.”

A community advisory committee was set up (with Loretta as the northeast’s representative) and after extensive community consultation, it became apparent that what the people of these fire-affected communities wanted in the long term was simple.

They wanted their properties and local areas to be more resilient to bushfires, and they wanted a stronger community, not just in the immediate future, but for generations to come.

“It allowed people to think big picture and to start looking at master plans like ‘what would we like our community to look like in twenty years? What would we like to leave our kids?’” says Paula.

“So we put in a submission to VBAF, and put in a couple of projects we wanted upfront, and also a foundation where every year there would be a round of funding made available and people could apply for funding for their various community projects, and that way the money could be used for long-term resilience projects.”

The Into Our Hands Foundation was launched in 2013, with a focus on community involvement rather than government oversight. According to both Loretta and Paula, this was a result of a drive to keep decisions in the hands of the people, rather than have them lost in the morass of bureaucracy.

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“Along the way you tend to get advice from government bodies telling you what you shouldn’t be doing, but I tend to think communities know,” says Loretta. “You get a group of people together in a community and you listen to them, you can get good ideas out of it, take it all on board – they’re on the ground, they’re farmers, they know what’s happening; and this is where the foundation can play an important role in driving strong collaboration and trust between government bodies and communities.”

“I guess what it presented was an opportunity for the community to direct how they wanted money spent, what projects they have identified as being really important to them – so the agenda is transferred to the community, out of the political arena,” says Paula.

“This was money people had donated to help people who had suffered in the fires. Into Our Hands kept in the spirit of the people who had donated the money, and it allowed the community to make decisions about where the money goes themselves.”

REBUILDING THE COMMUNITY Outside of the priority of setting up a community foundation, the consultative process also identified four key projects that were funded by VBAF and managed by local community groups. These projects were: a system of community water hubs for use in emergency; a community landscape project which included the development of a master plan to link the natural environment, practical farming practices and community gathering spaces to foster social connection and creativity; community strengthening through improvement and rebuilding of communal facilities; and a memorial quilt project to strengthen friendship and communication between towns in the area.

And while all four of these projects are about strengthening community ties, one eye is being kept on the future for bushfire

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resilience. The system of community water hubs – based in local halls in each town – are an obvious example to be used as an emergency supply for firefighting.

“In times of trouble it’s the local hall where everybody meets – that’s where things are coordinated from, that’s where the CFA shed is,” says Paula. “So each of the halls and CFA sheds now has large concrete tanks and a bore they can pump out of. And that water is for the whole community.”

Less obvious is the link between the community landscape project and bushfire resilience. While the main aims of this project are to restore the fire-ravaged land, address environmental issues and leave a legacy of heritage trees, thought has been given to the function these trees can provide.

Avenues of fire-resistant trees have been planted inside properties that border roads, not only to be aesthetically pleasing but also to provide shelter for livestock and protect houses during fires by absorbing embers. The connection and creativity aspect of the project included a series of art workshops that brought community members together to encourage them to explore their creativity. After much research and consultation, a book named ‘A Farming Journey’ was also published as a historical account of the development of the farming districts in the local area.

The rebuilding of community facilities and shared spaces was also done with the threat of future bushfires in mind, as community halls function as shelters and communication points in times of disaster.

“A few of the halls have had major overhauls, upgrading of facilities so they can be community safe houses, upgrading the kitchen facilities so

they are of a standard where you can feed the multitudes,” says Paula.

Both Loretta and Paula are particularly proud of the community landscape project, and cite the example of the community of Rosewhite as why.

Thinking about the legacy they would like to leave for future generations, the people of Rosewhite decided they wanted to build an arboretum, or tree garden, to function as a meeting area for the community.

“The Rosewhite tree garden has really brought them together, with community working bees that usually include a social barbecue or picnic,” says Loretta.

The memorial quilt project is being run by the Kancoona Quilters (as featured in a short film on ABC Open). Working with school children and adults alike, quilts have been made as both a reminder of the disaster and a historical artwork for future generations to enjoy.

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PREPARING FOR THE FUTURE Into Our Hands has provided not only a foundation to distribute funds from the Bushfire Appeal, but it has provided ways to strengthen fire damaged communities and built real links between people in the area.

“I think the foundation has made people more organised and more in touch with other groups,” says Paula. “I’ve met a lot more people – not just from Mudgegonga but from all around the region – and that’s great. It’s allowed networks to happen, and when you’ve got these little groups networking, they become a much more formidable group.”

There’s certainly strength in numbers, and greater ties between neighbours and communities has the added advantage of creating a ready-made support network in times of duress.

“It’s certainly brought us together, there’s no doubt about that,” says Loretta. “During the fires it was very difficult to find out what was happening be-

cause the phones were down, and you felt very much alone. We just didn’t have a clue what was happening out there, and even the next day we were putting out fires on our own property, and someone else not far away was getting burnt out and we weren’t aware of it. So we have solved that problem by establishing a local UHF community radio network.”

In keeping an eye on the future, the long-term planning by Into Our Hands has also ensured that this north-eastern corner of Victoria will be far more prepared next time the bushfires strike.

“Rather than lurching from mini-crisis to minicrisis, it’s allowing people the opportunity to step back and be more prepared,” says Paula.

“The next step for us is to maintain a foundation in perpetuity that won’t necessarily be just for disasters but for communities in general. There’s a movement toward more autonomy within communities to decide how they want their community to grow and what they want to happen there.”

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Managed by us mob Deep in Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory, perched on a small hill above the banks of the often-flooded Roper River, lies the community of Ngukurr. When the rains come each wet season, the community is cut off from roads and the crossing over the mighty river becomes impassable.

WRITTEN BY: NATHAN MADDOCK COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER, BUSHFIRE AND NATURAL HAZARDS CRC

Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC researchers from Charles Darwin University and the University of New England visited the Ngukurr community in June 2015 for a workshop with local representatives, camping beside the lily-covered Yarriowarda (‘Yellow Water’) billabong.

“Yarriowarda is the place of kangaroo dreaming,” says Cherry Daniels, a senior elder of Ngukurr. “The white gums resemble the kangaroos. It is a special place.”

Four CRC projects were represented at the workshop, which was joined by local community members and researchers from the Aboriginal Research Practitioners’ Network (ARPNet) who are conducting the research on the ground. ARPNet is a network of Indigenous research practitioners in northern Australia trained in participatory and other research and evaluation tools, primarily in the field of natural resource management and livelihoods. Community-based Aboriginal researchers make it possible for research to be conducted in the first language of the participants using locally adapted participatory

tools with due attention given to local cultural sensitivities.

ARPNet Director for Research and Training Doctor Bevlyne Sithole says this is not the only advantage. “(Local community members) do not feel like they are being researched. It feels like they are having a conversation with somebody they trust.”

Sitting beside the billabong, hot clear days and cool nights under a full moon were spent delving into what works and what does not in remote community disaster management. Gorgeous lotus flowers and flourishing birdlife provided the entertainment, as did the approach of a king brown snake toward the workshop’s small marquee. Local knowledge kicked in and a small burn in the long grass drove the snake away.

Along with Ngukurr, research has also been undertaken on the ground in Gunbalanya, another Arnhem Land community. Further north and closer to the coast, Gunbalanya is also situated along a river basin and is regularly affected by cyclones and flooding.

The CRC research will benefit communities living in the challenging environment along the coast of northern Australia, Dr Sithole says.

“These remote Indigenous communities face many natural hazards on a regular basis. They feel like they are often unprotected and unprepared for these disasters because of their socioeconomic situation. They worry a lot about their survival and their well-being,” says Dr Sithole.

“It is really crucial we engage with communities and talk to them about what is happening on country so we can find out how to bring the resilience back to the communities, understand what needs strengthening and what we should prioritise.

“At the moment, communities feel very vulnerable. There is a worry that the young people are not fully aware of the risks from natural hazards.

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“In the old days, the old people in the community knew how to react to natural hazards, they knew which places to go to and ways to read the weather and nature. They could tell way before something happened that it was going to occur, and there were some people who knew how to control weather or natural events,” says Dr Sithole.

This awareness and knowledge is now much reduced; in some places it is still being lost as time goes on.

LAND TO RECOVER, MOUTHS TO FEED Before the workshop, 22 ARPNet researchers spent several weeks in both Gunbalanya and Ngukurr talking with community members and completing 188 interviews. The benefits of the researchers from the Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC attending the Ngukurr workshop are crucial, says Dr Sithole.

“The best thing about meeting on country is it is easier to relate to the information when you can see where it is coming from, when you can really see the landscape and the challenges faced. You can hear firsthand the community researcher’s feedback and analysis of the situation,” she says.

“These communities can be isolated for four or five months a year during the wet season. Being on country, we can go and see the high-water mark. It makes it more real. It is clear what is affected and the range of challenges presented.”

It is not just these immediate environmental barriers that come into focus quickly. Feeding the family is also a challenge that arises with the occurrence of natural disasters: from the rising cost of food, to reduced opportunity for hunting and col-

lecting and in some instances the increased burden of feeding multiple families.

“We can go to the local shop and see the prices.

Then we hear from the community these already high costs go up substantially when there is a natural disaster.”

WHAT HAS BEEN DISCOVERED? The disaster preparedness of the Ngukurr and Gunbalanya communities is often linked with the seasons. Water levels in the rivers and billabongs fluctuate greatly between the wet and the dry. During the dry, fire brings lots of smoke to both communities. Their locations relative to hills and rock outcrops can be both an advantage and a disadvantage.

Stories about vulnerability and safety are connected to people’s views about housing quality and infrastructure. Most of all, stories about vulnerability were related to an absence of people on country, and a weak connection to culture, traditional ceremonies and their traditional structures. A strong advocacy was expressed for bringing old ways back and putting people back on country to strengthen coping capabilities within families and a general connection to the country.

Traditional ceremonies are a large part of how Aboriginal communities cope with and manage natural hazards, and in today’s world these ceremonies do not occur as frequently as they used to.

Ceremonies require the commitment of many people – demands at the modern jobs held by most often mean the required senior people are just not available to stage a ceremony. Ceremonies take

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time not covered by leave from work. Ceremonies need to be recognised formally as a crucial part of managing country.

“We found that the communities are already weakened by other factors [than emergencies]. Natural disasters just make this weakness worse,” says Dr Sithole.

“When we interviewed the local communities, we were talking about big disasters and we found it became irrelevant – the size [of the disaster] did not matter. Any disaster leaves an impact on anyone who is already vulnerable. Any small bushfire, any small flood – that really affects a community in a fundamental way. It becomes seriously exacerbated in a big disaster,” Dr Sithole notes.

Connectedness to country is fundamental in remote communities. Their way of life depends on this relationship and as communities become increasingly connected to the outside world, this vital bond has been weakened.

HARNESSING A HARSH CLIMATE “People feel safe to a certain extent in remote areas because it is their landscape,” explains Dr Sithole.

“But that is not to say they are not aware of the harshness of their environment. It is accepted that the landscape is harsh and that there will be some challenges. At the moment they feel that there is not enough information available to them, from either their traditional ways or the modern ways, to allow them to be better prepared.

“Often I will hear comments like, ‘We heard that the climate is changing. Maybe for us Aboriginal people it is changing too fast. Maybe it will be very hard for us to change so quickly’,” Dr Sithole says.

The notion of a safe place here understandably differs from that held by modern or urban society.

During a cyclone, a safe place in these remote communities does not always refer to a cyclone shelter as not all communities have such an amenity. It can refer to a brick house belonging to a relative.

Improved housing remains a key issue in Ngukurr and Gunbalanya, especially the provision of cyclone-coded housing and shelters. A key point Dr Sithole notes is that the design of shelters must recognise cultural norms and practices that might affect how these facilities are used.

Sheltering from a natural hazard in an Aboriginal

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disaster is a key factor too, with many within communities possessing skills that can be called on in an emergency situation but are not used.

“Jobs like operating machinery and chainsawing are required in the clean up, but local people can feel excluded from the response and are not employed to undertake these tasks. People from Darwin often come in and are given these responsibilities, while locals are given menial tasks.

“The Ngukurr and Gunbalanya communities are recommending a skills register of local people so the government is aware of the local response capability. These people can be called on within their community, or another community nearby, to assist in emergency response. They also want government to consider identifying individuals in the community as part of a disaster response team whose skills are developed over time and can operate in communities to help in times of disasters.”

community is not as simple as having one shelter everybody can access. As part of their culture, some family members are required to avoid others in their family because of avoidance relationships.

“People need to meet their cultural obligations, but be safe too,” Dr Sithole says.

EVERYBODY NEEDS AN EMERGENCY PLAN Community-wide emergency plans are another issue for remote communities. Less than a third of the surveyed population in Gunbalanya and just over a half in Ngukurr knew there was an emergency plan. Many of these people had not seen the plan, which is held at the local police station.

Dr Sithole notes that to understand this issue, one must appreciate the extent of Aboriginal incarceration in the Territory and the relationships that communities have with the police.

“There is a reluctance among most people to visit the police station and openly ask questions about emergency management,” she says.

The research has found that all facets of emergency management can be improved, not just preparation and response. Recovery after a natural

PEOPLE ARE AT THE HEART OF PLANNING At the end of the day, emergency preparedness, response and recovery in remote communities across northern Australia is not much different from that in other locations across the country. It is about people, and Dr Sithole says this people-focused message comes through loud and clear in the research findings.

“For any planning or talking about emergencies, Aboriginal people should be central. They want to be part of it and know what is going on. From just knowing what resources are available, who is doing what, to knowing what houses are coded to different cyclone categories, to being involved and doing their part,” says Dr Sithole.

ARPNet co-Chair and Team Leader for Gunbalanya, Dean Yibarbuk, agrees people are paramount.

“Government needs to see us as capable people who can be involved in planning and responding to disasters,” he said.

“The big message from this project for us mob is to find a way to get government to recognise ceremony is important and it is a big part of how we as a people understand and manage disasters.”

To find out more about this research, visit www. bnhcrc.com.au. This piece first appeared in the spring 2015 issue of Fire Australia.

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Related Links A collection of links relating to natural resource management and coping with disasters, in Australia and worldwide, that may benefit the farmer.

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Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC

Geoscience Australia

Thorough explorations into the impact on communities of natural hazards and provisions for rural resilience and appropriate policy agendas.

Information from Geoscience Australia about various natural hazards, such as bushfires, cyclones, floods and severe weather.

Into Our Hands Community Foundation

A feature article from the Australian Bureau of Statistics and Geoscience Australia on the impacts of natural hazards on Australia.

Grants, workshops and programs geared towards strengthening the Alpine, Wangaratta and Indigo Shires in Victoria. Includes annual reports and strategic plans that will inspire those looking to enrich their rural or regional community.

Foundation for Rural and Regional Renewal FRRR offers grants and support for community foundations and activities that fall under rural and regional renewal, development and regeneration.

The ARPNet Dillybag in Ngukurr (Video)

Understanding Natural Hazard Impacts on Australia

Mind Health Connect Information about resilience in the face of a natural disaster, including building coping mechanisms, seeking support and help.

Took Kit: Lifeline This Lifeline Tool kit offers advice about coping with loss and change in a community after a natural disaster.

An exploration of the work of the Aboriginal Research Practitioners’ Network (ARPNet) that includes a practical guide full of research tools for Aboriginal Research Practitioners working around Australia. A PDF version of the field guide can be downloaded here.

Floodsafe

‘43 degrees at midnight’ (Video)

Disaster Health Care Assistance Scheme

A short video made as part of the ABC’s ‘Now and Then’ project showing community resilience in the face of the Black Sunday bushfires.

This scheme provides assistance with health costs for eligible Australian residents and others who have been affected by natural disasters.

How important is community following a crisis or disaster?

Hazards after cyclones, floods and other disasters

An article examining how rural resilience across communities emerges after a crisis or disaster, by the University of Queensland.

‘Fostering resilience: Empowering rural communities in the face of hardship’ A 2010 article on ways to strengthen and empower rural and regional communities in the face of climatic and economic hardship.

Australian Resilience Centre Workshops, trainings, reports and projects to guide NRM planning and implementation.

Floodsafe is a comprehensive website from NSW State Emergency Services with information about floodwater dangers, how to make an emergency plan and access to local flood information and events.

Information from the Western Australia Department of Health on the potential hazards that can arise in the period directly after a natural disaster.

Department of Fire and Emergency Services This website from the Western Australian government provides information on how to prepare, act and survive in the event of a bushfire.

Drought and Rural Assistance Links from the Department of Agriculture and Water Resources website for drought affected farmers and families, including assistance measures.

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WATER AND IRRIGATION

Overview:

Case study: Case study:

Related Links

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Steve Whan talks about how Australian farmers are doing more with less Rural importance of rainwater harvesting Israeli company helps Aussie farmers grow more with less

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Irrigating Australia’s farmland is not without its challenges We spend a lot of time talking about water in Australia, and every Australian knows how important it is. Even more so if you are an irrigator.

WRITTEN BY: STEVE WHAN CEO, NATIONAL IRRIGATOR’S COUNCIL

Many Australian consumers don’t realise just how important irrigated agriculture is to putting fresh food on their tables, cotton on their backs or how much of their standard of living is the result of the efforts of irrigators.

An Australian walking out of their local market with a box of fresh picked vegetables, eating a locally grown orange or popping fresh milk or yoghurt on their cereal is doing so because of irrigation.

As they tuck into some Australian-grown rice, they benefit from the work the industry has done to develop lower water varieties and increase productivity, which in turn allows the industry to keep the consumer price down.

So when we see debates over water use and the environment, it is very important to keep in mind just how important irrigated agriculture is to us all.

Food and agribusiness has been consistently touted by the government as one of the key super growth areas for Australia’s future – reflected by the fact that it is one of the few industries to have its own Industry Growth Centre program. This is not simply about growing food and fibre, the industry (particularly the irrigated industry) is also about manufacturing, with the strong potential to be a growth driver for manufacturing jobs.

As Australia’s population continues to grow, demand for Australian irrigated agricultural products will also continue to grow.

ABS statistics indicate that irrigated agriculture is already worth $15 billion to the Australian economy.

The 2012 Australia in the Asian Century white paper noted that between 2007 and 2035, the real value of global food demand is expected to rise by around 35 per cent, with most of the demand coming from Asia – China and India alone could account for almost 60 per cent of the global increase.

Among the key potential areas for growth are exports of fruit, vegetables and dairy – all irrigated products. In short, that means that if Australia wants to be the ‘food bowl’ for Asia, we must have a healthy, growing and sustainable irrigated agricultural sector.

Naturally, there is a balance in achieving that. Irrigators and their peak body the National Irrigators’ Council recognise that healthy rivers and a healthy environment are critical. Over the last couple of decades, Australia has seen major changes to water allocation, as well as pricing and management. These changes have driven efficiency, produced significant environmental gains but also presented significant

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challenges for irrigation communities.

Contrary to the impression some might seek to present, this not an industry that is resistant to change or attempting to protect environmentally damaging practices. On the contrary, it is a sector that has itself driven productivity improvement, efficiency in water use and lower environmental impact.

In some senses that’s just good business – a producer wants to deliver a product for the lowest possible price and they want to be able to do it over and over again, constantly looking for ways to lower cost per tonne while maintaining healthy soil and healthy rivers.

There are many components that go into productivity and efficiency. Australia’s current and future efficiency as an irrigated food and fibre producer is built (among other things) on crop research, land and soil management, on-farm and system-wide irrigation infrastructure, energy efficiency and energy costs, along with many other supply chain components.

Varieties of rice, for example, that are more productive in Australian conditions and require far less water have been developed with industry funding and in partnership with government researchers.

Landowners have consistently invested in making their own practices more efficient with laser levelled fields and best practice soil and land management. Water delivery management that ensures precisely the right amount of water is applied (to reduce waste and run off) also significantly reduces the salinity issues we were hearing so much about a few decades ago.

We have also seen public and private investment in river and irrigation infrastructure management that has produced major water savings.

Before we think about challenges to come, it is important to note that there has been a huge amount of change in the industry already. There have been long-term positive results on efficiency and for the environment, but there also have been significant negative socioeconomic impacts and impacts on production.

The National Water Initiative (NWI) made one of the most fundamental changes, creating a separate property right for water and establishing a market for trading entitlement and allocations. It would be hard to overstate how important this has been. Creating a market to set the price of water makes every drop not just valuable but often expensive, driving an economic imperative not only to use water efficiently, but to make decisions about the highest value use.

The NWI also put in place pricing principles based on cost recovery, meaning that – theoretically – state-owned bulk water operators are charging users the full cost of the system. It has also resulted in significant price increases. Irrigators remain concerned that the pricing decisions – often made by pricing authorities – do not adequately or transparently account for the ‘public good’ aspect of the use of the infrastructure. In other words, the pricing decisions leave irrigators paying the cost of things that should be borne by the wider community.

The NWI saw governments and communities dealing with over-allocation and introducing water

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resource planning, along with a range of other principles.

It’s probably not surprising that the Murray-Darling Basin and its plan get a lot of public attention.

The Basin is home to some of Australia’s biggest (and most iconic) irrigation schemes and is our biggest river system with many valuable wetlands. It has been the focus of debate and argument between Australian governments for more than a century.

Many challenges remain in the implementation of the Plan, but it is important to firmly reject those who suggest that the plan has been stripped back or is not delivering outcomes for the environment.

Those who argue the plan has achieved little often go on to suggest that more productive water needs to be taken from producers.

Irrigators and Basin communities have already made a significant contribution to achieving the goals of the Basin Plan. Estimated contracted water recovery in the Murray-Darling Basin, as at 31 December 2016, is 2,038.5 gigalitres (GL), or a very significant 74.1 per cent towards meeting the 2,750GL surface water recovery target outlined in the Basin Plan.

To date, various programs (including those associated with the Basin Plan, the Living Murray and Water for Rivers) have seen water returned to the environment through a combination of efficiency works and water purchases. That includes 2,400GL currently held by the Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder (CEWH) and 212GL returned to the Snowy River.

No one is suggesting turning the clock back on those environmental water purchases, but it does need to be recognised that the portion acquired through ‘buy back’ comes at significant social and economic cost to basin communities. The Murray-Darling Basin Authority’s own socio-economic impact work, showed that recovering 278GL in the Northern Basin cost 450 people their jobs. In the smaller Northern Basin towns, significant impact was seen on the livelihoods of families and on opportunities for young people. That impact can be multiplied many times over in the Southern Basin.

Irrigators want to see the Basin Plan produce positive environmental outcomes. The NIC are concerned about targets only being expressed in numbers of GL. A healthy environment in and around our river systems certainly needs water, but it also needs a range of complementary measures.

Native fish, for example, won’t breed in water that is too cold. Unfortunately, many of our dam’s

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release water from their cold lower sections and that means an ‘environmental’ release could end up temporarily sterilising that portion of river for native fish – while perversely providing ideal breeding conditions for carp. Irrigators would contend that scarce government funds would be best spent fixing that ‘cold water pollution’ rather than just buying more water from irrigators.

Cold water pollution is just one of the complementary measures that could improve the health of the river system and its environment, without damaging the economy of our country towns. Others include fish ways, habitat restoration and feral pest control around rivers along with carp control.

Implementation of the Basin Plan is entering an-

other critical phase – ministers will be soon making decisions about Sustainable Diversion Limit ‘offset’ measures, which could see up to 650GL of the Basin Plan’s 2,750GL target met through a range of environmentally beneficial projects which do not require more buybacks. This 650GL is called ‘down water’ (in the language of the Plan) and achieving the full 650GL is key to minimising further negative impact on producers and communities.

The other part of the plan challenging irrigators and governments is the 450GL of so-called ‘up water’ to bring the target up from 2,750GL to 3,200GL. When it was announced by then Prime Minister Gillard and then Environment Minister Burke, it was to be provided through efficiency measures and only if there was ‘no social and economic downside for communities’.

Since then, the 450GL has become an almost iconic number. Irrigators’ feel we need to focus on outcomes rather than just the number.

Recovery of 450GL of ‘up water’, from the productive pool of available water, will push more Basin communities over a tipping point. Some independent studies suggest that some irrigated cropping and dairying throughout the Basin will not survive in the face of the prices that will be demanded in allocation water markets in anything other than high rainfall years.

Finally, on the challenges facing irrigated agriculture, there is one issue that isn’t about water – the price of electricity. Paradoxically, as producers and irrigation companies moved to become more water efficient, their use of electricity has increased. More efficient systems often use more power, and power prices have skyrocketed – often to the point where savings from lower water use have been overwhelmed (and then some) by the electricity bill.

Irrigators need reliable, affordable energy and, in a country with plentiful sources of renewable and non-renewable energy, that should not be so hard!

There are many challenges for irrigated agriculture, as well as many opportunities. In a land where climate change will make our already variable climate even more unreliable, capturing and storing water must become even more important.

Critical to Australia’s ability to supply the fresh healthy food we love, to grow the agricultural export markets and to produce future Australian jobs, will be our ability to efficiently and sustainably produce competitively priced food and fibre.

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Rural importance of rainwater harvesting Rainwater harvesting is the lifeblood of rural Australian homes and most rural people have no choice but to use rainwater or other independent water sources. It is the third largest source of water in Australia, after surface water (dams) and groundwater. The ABS estimates 63 per cent of residential water outside urban areas comes from rainwater harvesting, supplying 109 billion litres of water in our dry country.

COURTESY OF RAINWATER HARVESTING ASSOCIATION OF AUSTRALIA, WITH THE GENEROUS SUPPORT OF PROFESSOR PJ COOMBES

Rainwater harvesting is the first and most efficient element of water supply management for rural and regional Australia. Because rainwater falls on roofs of houses, sheds and other farm buildings, it is collected and stored where it is needed. Rainwater is usually higher quality than most other sources of water such as dams, bores and local waterways. As a result, rainwater can meet significant local water demand for domestic use and a range of other applications including stock, spraying and fire water storage.

In rural areas water security is important and the area of roof catchment available, along with adequate tank storage (often using multiple large tanks), can ensure there is water available when

needed. According to rural tank suppliers, some customers with large machinery sheds use multiple tanks with 260,000 or even as high as 300,000 litres of rain water storage.

HOW DOES RAINWATER HARVESTING WORK? Farmers have used rainwater harvesting for many generations and understand it well. It is cost effective, as large storage systems cost well under 10 cents a litre, and 260,000 litres of storage can be installed for less than $20,000. The harvesting system includes the interacting elements of rain, roof and collection, tank, pump and rainwater uses, and has some interesting features: • Rainheads or leaf diverters have proven to be

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highly effective at maintaining water quality throughout the system, reducing organic material in charged pipes, reducing sludge and assisting pumps to operate correctly.

Using efficient water use appliances (such as front loading clothes washers, low flow showers and low flush toilets) within the house will reduce the capital and operating costs of the system.

Correctly installed rainwater harvesting systems develop a natural treatment train that addresses many of the potential contamination issues that may be associated with a roof catchment. As such, the risk of becoming ill from rainwater harvested water is low. Two million Australians rely entirely on rainwater and there is no evidence of widespread negative health impacts.

In very dry conditions a normal soil catchment will soak up water rather than allow it to runoff.

In contrast, a roof is an impervious surface and will generate runoff from even small rain events in a drought, right when you most need it.

HOW DO FARMERS USE WATER? The Independent Water Council has been consulting Australians about how they use independent water.

Independent water is water provided to households that are independent of government and utility services. This includes rainwater tanks, recycled water, water from waterways, bottled water and bore water for homes in both urban and rural areas.

The interesting thing about farmers is that, for many of them, rainwater is just one element of a broader approach to water management. As an example, Sandy Stump of Burren Junction uses bore water, rainwater and creek water as water supplies for different uses. His house uses a combination of bore water and rainwater, his cattle drink bore water, the garden is supplied from a dam storage off the creek and Sandy uses rainwater for chemical spraying and domestic top ups. Sandy uses more than 4 million litres of water annually and has 700,000 litres of rainwater tank storages.

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WHAT IS THE FUTURE OF RAINWATER HARVESTING? Consultation by the Independent Water Council with rainwater harvesting suppliers is reporting considerable growth in the urban fringe. This semi-rural development is generally within half an hour’s drive of towns in regional areas in Australia. Generally, this is because housing approved without mains water supply will be required by the local council to have rainwater harvesting along with septic tanks or water treatment systems for water supply and waste water management. This is more cost effective than trying to provide mains water and sewerage services in semi-rural areas.

Some research shows that this approach is so much more cost effective that it should be investigated to reduce the demand for water in urban areas as well. The system-wide savings from a rainwater harvesting system on every house would save South East Queensland 160 billion litres of mains water by 2050. This is an important argument for rural areas as some urban areas are seeking to buy rural river water to meet future demand. There is no doubt rainwater harvesting will be a major water policy issue in Australia in the 21st century.

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Israeli company helps Aussie farmers grow more with less Netafim produces a range of irrigation technologies that are giving Australian farmers an advantage when it comes to productivity, profitability and sustainability. Celebrating its 25-year anniversary in Australia, Netafim makes everything from small garden sprinklers for the average person to major irrigation systems for horticulturalists and broadacre farmers.

Link to the Website

Email the Company

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The company started on a kibbutz (communal farm) in Israel in 1965, producing the world’s first commercial dripper device for irrigators and playing a pioneering role in making Israel bloom. Since then, Netafim’s operations have expanded to 110 countries. The company landed on Australian shores through distributors in 1982, before establishing Netafim Australia in 1992 and opening a production facility in Laverton, Victoria.

After 25 years in this country, Netafim has become a market leader renowned for its innovation and commitment to using the latest technology to deliver improvements to its farming customers. It is able to do this not only by heavily investing in R&D, but by

staying up to date with the latest trends in agricultural technology.

A FOCUS ON RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT For example, Netafim is currently investing heavily in crop management technology to provide farmers with usable information on the best way to manage their water and chemical inputs. In a hectare of irrigated broadacre land, there can be up to 15,000 drippers and numerous sensors recording various data.

Without a hi-tech management system, this is simply information overload for the farmer and so much valuable data is lost. “We are developing a system that will incorporate

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all the various sensors and applications and provide guidance on when and where water is needed,” says Levy Schneider, Managing Director of Netafim Australia. “We are building an open-ended platform that will enable growers to use any app they want with our hardware and software for what we call ‘nutrigation’ – applying water and nutrition at the same time.”

While the management technology is an interesting and undoubtedly essential peek into the future of irrigation, Netafim’s expertise has long been in products that control the flow of water through an irrigation system. This focus on low-flow irrigation allows farmers to not only save on costs in installation and water use, but also deliver an efficient water supply to crops or plants that are most in need.

“Low flow irrigation is extremely useful because it allows farmers to have an economical irrigation system with great agronomical advantages, providing plants and crops with ideal growing conditions,” says Levy.

Netafim’s most impressive piece of technology in this regard is also one of its smallest. The UniRam XR is a world-first dripper that provides chemical-free resistance to root intrusion, is highly resistant to clogging (regardless of water quality) and delivers precise and equal amounts of water over a broad pressure range. Its diaphragm cover impregnated with copper oxide means it does not decay or deteriorate over time and will work for the lifetime of the dripperline.

REDUCING THE STRAIN ON OUR NATURAL RESOURCES Netafim’s technology not only provides cost savings for farmers through better targeting and management of water inputs, but it also reduces water usage – essential in the harsh and often drought-ravaged Australian climate, especially for young and new farmers.

“Our drip systems and computerised control systems are going a long way to keeping

young farmers on the land,” says Levy. “Drip irrigation enables these farmers to grow more with less, and this technology allows young farmers to meet their commercial goals, conserve the environment and keep a healthy work-life balance.”

On a smaller scale, Netafim produces a vegetable garden drip kit to encourage ‘everyday’ gardeners to grow their own food and be more environmentally responsible, but it is in large-scale drip irrigation systems where the company’s water conservation is more vital.

Compared to flood irrigation, drip irrigation brings environmental benefits in three ways: • It uses less water thanks to a much higher use efficiency compared to flood irrigation • It reduces greenhouse gas emissions by significantly limiting the production of harmful nitrous oxide • It provides cleaner soils by applying only the water that each plant needs, ensuring no residues are left in the soil – therefore avoiding soil pollution and salinity and ensuring that nutrients are not leached or lost to groundwater.

“With our low flow drippers, we don’t go

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below the active aerobic root zone – which is about 600mm from the surface level,” says Levy. “Because we are applying only what the plant needs, no excess water is being leeched to ground water.

“The people that are using our drip irrigation systems are not only saving money by reducing inputs, they are also conserving the three most important agricultural elements – air, water and soil.”

Reducing environmental impact is something Netafim takes very seriously (it is a signatory to the UN’s CEO Water Mandate), and the company ensures that it accounts for ecological concerns when designing and planning irrigation projects. After all, helping farmers to reduce water usage is the name of the game for Netafim – passing these reductions and savings on to customers ensures that the company grows and thrives.

“We believe that our technology is helping growers and farmers here in Australia grow more with less,” says Levy. “This is a big advantage that we have over our competitors – the quality of our products is known by everyone in the irrigation market.”

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Related Links A collection of links relating to water and irrigation, in Australia and worldwide, that may benefit the farmer.

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National Irrigators Council

NSW DPI – Irrigation

The national peak body for irrigated agriculture aims to develop projects and policies to ensure the efficiency, viability and sustainability of Australian irrigated agriculture.

Information about irrigation and drainage plans, costs and systems, as well as irrigation procedures for specific crops.

The Australian Water Association

This ABC News article explores ways in which farmers are using hi-tech procedures and precision agriculture techniques to control irrigation.

The national peak water organisation website, containing information about policy development and access to various publications.

About Irrigation

Drones and Irrigation

WATERpak

Examples of the various methods of irrigation management and further information from Agriculture Victoria.

A publication from the Cotton Research and Development Corporation as a guide for irrigation management in cotton and grain farming systems.

Irrigation in Australia: The Facts and Figures

Irrigation Technology and Farm Management Information

This spreadsheet provides readers with statistics and facts about Australia’s water consumption and Australian irrigated produce.

This Tasmanian government website contains a variety of resources and irrigation fact sheets.

National Water Initiative

Solar Power in Irrigation

The National Water Initiative, agreed in 2004 by the Council of Australian Governments, is the national blueprint for water reform. You can access the document directly here.

A publication from the NSW government and NSW Farmers providing information on harnessing solar power as a source of energy for pumping irrigation on Australian farms.

Sustainable Irrigation Resources

Murray Irrigation

A variety of resources about on-farm irrigation efficiency programs, technical projects and access to videos from Natural Resources SA Murray-Darling Basin.

Murray Irrigation provides irrigation water to over 2,200 farms in southern NSW, and the website contains water resource information such as storage, allocation and availability.

Irrigated Farms in the Murray-Darling Basin

Natural Resources – Irrigation Systems

Providing an industry overview of the irrigated agriculture sector in the Murray-Darling Basin area, as well as information on irrigation technology.

This South Australian government website contains a series of links and information about irrigation systems to help landholders and irrigators.

ATSE – Sustainable Water Management

CSIRO – Irrigation Costs and Benefits

A free-to-download framework for sustainable water management in Australia from the Australian Academy of Technology, Science and Engineering, available as a short guide or the full report.

This report from the CSIRO provides detailed information about water resources for irrigated agriculture, existing infrastructures and opportunities for irrigation.

Water-smart farming This article from The Guardian explores how energy-smart technology, such as hydroponics and drip irrigation, is changing agribusinesses in Australia.

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TRIBUTE TO FARMERS

Essay:

The vision splendid, by Graeme Philipson Photo Essay and Bush Poetry Extract: A passage from Don Watson’s acclaimed book, The

Bush Interview: Pat McEntee, Director of Woolworths Meat Interview: Mark Bernhard, Managing Director of Holden Case Study: Nufarm: Australian-based, global success Related Links

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tribute to farmers

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The Vision Splendid Australia seemed like a paradise to many early settlers, but farming the harsh environment has been a constant struggle.

It takes a special sort of person to be a farmer in Australia.

WRITTEN BY GRAEME PHILIPSON

Farming is central to the Australian ethos.

Though Australia is no longer an agricultural economy, the spirit of the land and of those who work it is ingrained into our image of ourselves.

Australia’s greatest poet, Banjo Patterson, evoked in the great Australian countryside ‘the vision splendid’, comparing it to the ‘foetid air and gritty of the dusty dirty city’. Australia may today be one of the most urbanised countries on Earth, but it is Australia’s farmers, graziers and rural communities that embody the Australian spirit and way of life.

This view is not so far removed from reality. Many of today’s city dwellers do not realise the extent to which the modern country they live in has been shaped by agriculture and those practicing it. The search for farmland drove the early explorers

to cross rugged mountains and endless plains, and the need for a more efficient food chain was the driving force behind many important Australian inventions.

In the 19th century, Australia’s financial and transport systems grew to service the country’s booming agricultural industries.

The Gold Rush helped, but it was agriculture that really opened up the land. Australia grew wealthy from the produce of its farms, from the golden fleece and the bountiful fields of grain.

Also enriched was the Australian character, known the world over as laconic, resilient and resourceful. The Australian farmer is the embodiment of this national persona, of the way the world views Australia and the way Australia sees itself.

When you travel the backroads and byways of rural Australia you see the

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way the land has been shaped, how the countryside – sometimes harsh, sometimes lush, always beautiful – has been adapted to serve man’s needs. Sometimes we went too far and the land took back what was hers, but after hundreds of years we have found equilibrium with nature. Australia’s farmers are custodians of one of Earth’s most ancient landscapes, and have built upon it an agricultural industry of unrivalled efficiency and great variety.

THE GREAT PARADOX The Australian character comes from the soil, but one of the great paradoxes of modern Australian life is that those who work that soil are so misunderstood. Or, more often, that they are entirely unknown. Many Australians have very little appreciation of what it is to be a farmer, or of the lives farmers lead. The

urban dweller at once identifies with, and yet is often alien from, those who live in the vast expanse of rural Australia.

This disconnect is at the heart of modern Australian life. Australia’s great cities are home to many millions of people who have never set foot on a farm and who rarely leave the confines of their urban environment.

Perhaps for this very reason, city dwellers very often have a view of rural life far removed from what it is really like.

The countryside and those who live in it are idealised, but the image is very different from the reality. This means that Australia’s farming community is probably more misunderstood than those in many other countries that do not have such a romanticised image of rural life.

In most nations, city and country are not as far removed from one another as they

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are in Australia. In most of the developing world they are very close – in China, for example, farmers are regarded as the most important of the three classes of civil society (the others being artisans and merchants). It may be the case that farming is idealised in many Western societies – images of the bucolic French countryside or the stolid English yeoman farmer are stereotypes – but it is in Australia that we see the extremes of this dichotomy.

And Australia’s evolution into one of the world’s most multicultural societies has not been reflected in the farming community, which notably still lacks diversity. There are exceptions, such as the strong Italian communities in the Riverina and on Queensland’s Atherton Tablelands and the Chinese market gardeners near Sydney and Melbourne, but farming in Australia is essentially an Anglo-Celtic pursuit.

This has remained the case as agriculture’s share of the economy declines and the farming population falls.

Few newcomers are entering the field, which has also seen the average age of Australian farmers rise. Family farms are still the norm, but it is becoming more and more difficult for farmers to persuade their sons and daughters to follow in their footsteps.

The number of family farms is declining and holdings are being consolidated as agribusiness is taking over.

But it’s a slow process – even the smallest farms are run very professionally, negating economies of scale.

Australian farmers are among the most efficient and resourceful in the world – they need to be, given the vagaries of the climate, the fragility of much of the soil and the lack of government protection that exists as the norm in many other countries. Australian farmers are self-reliant, and they have been from the start.

THE FIRST AUSTRALIAN FARMERS Agriculture has been an integral part of Australian history since European settlement. The first farmers arrived on the First Fleet, along with the nation’s first farm animals and over a thousand mouths to feed. The new colony was expected to become self-sufficient in food as quickly as possible.

When Captain Arthur Phillip sailed into Port Jackson on 26 January 1788, his first and most important job was to find a place to build a settlement. And the key determinant of that location was a steady supply of fresh water. Australian agriculture was born on the same day as modern Australia.

The first settlers built their small town on an inlet Phillip named Sydney Cove, after Lord Sydney, Secretary of State for the Colonies. He chose it because of a small rivulet, the Tank Stream, which flowed into it. The infant colony’s first farm was established on the shores of the next bay, which was named Farm Cove. It is still called that today, and on its shores stand Sydney’s Botanical Gardens.

Three months after the arrival of the First Fleet, a census counted the total numbers of livestock in the colony: seven horses, six cows, 29 sheep, 74 pigs, five rabbits, 18 turkeys, 29 geese, 35 ducks and 209 other fowl. It was not an auspicious start.

Early attempts at agriculture were not successful. The soil on which the young colony was built was sandy, and crops had trouble growing. The first winter was tough, and soon after the colonists looked further afield for good farmland. They found suitable soil near Parramatta, 25 kilometres from Sydney but easily accessible by boat. The land there was rich and fertile. The first farmer of the new lands was a convicted burglar, James Ruse, who prospered as the colony grew. He was successfully growing crops of corn and wheat a year after the colony was founded.

An important figure in the development of Australian agriculture was John Macarthur, an argumentative exsoldier who established Australia’s sheep industry in the early 19th century. Macarthur saw Australia’s great potential, as did the many who followed him.

After a slow start the colony grew quickly, especially after the opening up of the vast interior of the continent.

Sheep and cattle grazing became important industries as ex-convicts and freemen took up new lands in the fertile inland across the rugged coastal mountains. Many of them did not wait to be granted land – they simply ‘squatted’ on it. For many years these farmers were called squatters, a word that survives today.

Others followed. Towns popped up to service the growing agricultural industry. Bullock drays and paddle steamers carried the produce to market until, in the late 19th century, the railways began to follow the spread of farmland. In the Queensland tropics, across the wheat belts of southern Australia, in fertile coastal fields and the dry sheep and cattle country of the inland, modern Australia came into being.

THE LAND AND ITS PEOPLE There was a time in the history of most countries when agriculture employed the majority of the workforce.

Since the Industrial Revolution and the growth of urbanisation that number has fallen, but the importance of agriculture to the economy persisted longer in Australia than in most other places.

As a result, the farm sector has had a disproportionate effect of Australian society. Consider how much the following advances owe their existence to agriculture: Banking and finance: Australia’s first financial institution, the Bank of New South Wales, was formed in Sydney in 1817 as a response to the colony’s first depression and to help finance its growing agricultural industry. For many years Australian agriculture was dependent on foreign (mainly British) investment, a relationship that necessitated the development

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of a sophisticated financial system surrounding the agricultural sector.

Politics: Democracy came early to Australia, with legislative assemblies formed in all colonies well before federation in 1901. Farmers’ interests were wellrepresented in all legislatures, and were institutionalised at the federal level with the formation of the Country Party in 1920.

Now called the National Party, it has been a dominant force in Australian politics for nearly a century, usually in coalition with the centre-right Liberal Party. Today the National Party remains a strong force, and is a vocal representative of the rural sector.

Transportation: Historian Geoffrey Blainey coined the term ‘the tyranny of distance’ to describe not just Australia’s distance from Europe and the rest of the world, but the vast size of the land itself and the difficulty of traversing it.

As agriculture spread across the Australian countryside, so too did transportation. Primitive bullock carts and muddy tracks gave way to roads and railways, which followed stock routes and the paths opened up by early farmers and graziers.

Science and technology: Australians are an inventive bunch. Many of the technical innovations Australia has introduced to the world owe their origins to the necessity of overcoming the harsh and distant environment faced

by Australia’s early farmers.

An early example of such innovation is the stump-jump plough, invented by Richard and Clarence Bowyer Smith as a way of cultivating land that had not been entirely cleared of deep tree stumps. Mechanical refrigeration was pioneered in Australia, by Geelong engineer James Harrison, to enable clipper ships to deliver frozen meat to European markets. The combine harvester, invented in America, was perfected by Hugh McKay in Victoria is the 1880s. Even Qantas, Australia’s national airline and one of the world’s oldest, was born in 1920 to service the rural community of the Queensland outback.

These are just a few of many examples – Australia is perhaps the world’s best example of a nation rising from the soil and built by those who live by it. Australia’s history is largely built on the nation’s relationship with the soil, and its present was forged by it. In the 21st century, as the world changes faster than ever before, Australian farms and Australia’s farmers are entering a new era marked by advanced technology, innovative business practices, new markets and new horizons.

Through it all, it has been Australia’s farmers that have shown the way and shouldered the burden.

Farming is among the most difficult, and the most honest, ways to make a living, and nowhere is this truer than in Australia’s unforgiving environment.

Australia’s farmers, we salute you.

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Here’s to the Aussie farmer Here’s to the Aussie farmers, the men and women of the soil Here’s to their pioneer spirit, and their hard unceasing toil Here’s to their quiet achievement, the way they’ve tamed the land They’ve done more to build this nation than we will ever understand.

Australia is a hard land, from the mountains to the plains The poets they write of struggle, and of droughts and flooding rains But there’s more than that, there’s what you need to tame this distant shore Half a world away from where they came and what they knew before.

When first they broke the soil and when first they tended sheep They were young and the land was old, they woke it from its sleep They crossed the mountains and the rivers, they found the great Outback They found a land and made a stand without ever looking back.

But the soil was thin, the land was dry, the bush was hard to tame They persevered through rough and smooth and learnt how to play the game They worked out how to grow food as good as any you can find It’s grown with care, and sometimes a prayer, it helps feed all of humankind.

The land yields orchards full of fruit, and wheat and wool and wine And sugar cane and bags of rice, and meat of every kind Beef and pork, and lamb and chook, and fish from out the sea All done in a way, it’s hard to say, but so … efficiently.

So here’s to the Aussie farmers, and the way they work the land The way they’ve built a country with the work of their own hands Here’s to the Aussie farmers, there’s none that can compare With what they’ve done, and how they’ve won, a land so hard and bare.

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The Farmer Philip Hodgins He starts each day before it is a day, the little kitchen spreading buttered light across the yard while he stokes up the stove and warms his pot of porridge on the hotplate.

Sustained by this for six or seven hours he sets off down the lane with his two dogs, a silent trio who know their way so well the pre-dawn darkness doesn’t mean a thing, and when they come to where the heavy cows are either sleeping randomly apart or standing crowded up against the gate the dogs run out in wide opposing arcs.

The farmer knows this herd so thoroughly he doesn’t have to keep a record book.

It’s all in his head: the details of each cow, from butterfat to who her mother was, her temperament, what sicknesses she had, the sort of calf she’d been, how well she does on each particular type of feed, etc.

No need to write it down. It’s what he is.

From there the cows move slowly, drugged with milk, while the farmer and his dogs follow behind, and by the time they reach the milking shed it’s light enough to see what’s always there.

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Wheat C.J. Dennis “Sowin’ things an’ growin’ things, an’ watchin’ of ‘em grow; That’s the game,” my father said, an’ father ought to know.

“Settin’ things an’ gettin’ things to grow for folks to eat: That’s the life,” my father said, “that’s very hard to beat.”

For my father was a farmer, as his father was before, Just sowin’ things an’ growin’ things in far-off days of yore, In the far-off land of England, till my father found his feet In the new land, in the true land, where he took to growin’ wheat.

Wheat, Wheat, Wheat! Oh, the sound of it is sweet!

I’ve been praisin’ it an’ raisin’ it in rain an’ wind an’ heat Since the time I learned to toddle, till it’s beatin’ in my noddle, Is the little song I’m singin’ you of Wheat, Wheat, Wheat.

Plantin’ things — an’ grantin’ things is goin’ as they should, An’ the weather altogether is behavin’ pretty good — Is a pleasure in a measure for a man that likes the game, An’ my father he would rather raise a crop than make a name.

For my father was a farmer, an’ “All fame,” he said, “ain’t reel; An’ the same it isn’t fillin’ when you’re wantin’ for a meal.”

So I’m followin’ his footsteps, an’ a-keepin’ of my feet, While I cater for the nation with my Wheat, Wheat, Wheat.

Wheat, Wheat, Wheat! When the poets all are beat By the reason that the season for the verse crop is a cheat, Then I comes up bright an’ grinnin’ with the knowledge that I’m winnin’, With the rhythm of my harvester an’ Wheat, Wheat, Wheat.

When the settin’ sun is gettin’ low above the western hills, When the creepin’ shadows deepen, and a peace the whole land fills, Then I often sort o’ soften with a feelin’ like content, An’ I feel like thankin’ Heaven for a day in labour spent.

For my father was a farmer, an’ he used to sit an’ smile, Realisin’ he was wealthy in what makes a life worthwhile.

Smilin’, he has told me often, “After all the toil an’ heat,

Lad, he’s paid in more than silver who has grown one field of wheat.”

Wheat, Wheat, Wheat! When it comes my turn to meet Death the Reaper, an’ the Keeper of the Judgment Book I greet, Then I’ll face ‘em sort o’ calmer with the solace of the farmer That he’s fed a million brothers with his Wheat, Wheat, Wheat.

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With the Cattle A.B. ‘Banjo’ Paterson The drought is down on field and flock, the river-bed is dry; And we must shift the starving stock before the cattle die.

We muster up with weary hearts at breaking of the day, And turn our heads to foreign parts, to take the stock away.

And it’s hunt ‘em up and dog ‘em, and it’s get the whip and flog ‘em, For it’s weary work is droving when they’re dying every day; By stock-routes bare and eaten, on dusty roads and beaten, With half a chance to save their lives we take the stock away.

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We cannot use the whip for shame on beasts that crawl along; We have to drop the weak and lame, and try to save the strong; The wrath of God is on the track, the drought fiend holds his sway, With blows and cries and stockwhip crack we take the stock away.

As they fall we leave them lying, with the crows to watch them dying, Grim sextons of the Overland that fasten on their prey; By the fiery dust-storm drifting, and the mocking mirage shifting, In heat and drought and hopeless pain we take the stock away.

As the mountain wind is blowing it starts the cattle lowing, And calling to each other down the dusty long array; And there speaks a grizzled drover: ‘Well, thank God, the worst is over, ‘The creatures smell the mountain grass that’s twenty miles away.’

They press towards the mountain grass, they look with eager eyes Along the rugged stony pass, that slopes towards the skies; Their feet may bleed from rocks and stones, but though the blood-drop starts, They struggle on with stifled groans, for hope is in their hearts.

And the cattle that are leading, though their feet are worn and bleeding, Are breaking to a kind of run — pull up, and let them go!

For the mountain wind is blowing, and the mountain grass is growing, They settle down by running streams ice-cold with melted snow.

And the drovers canter, singing, through the sweet green grasses springing, Towards the far-off mountain-land, to bring the cattle back.

Are these the beasts we brought away that move so lively now?

They scatter off like flying spray across the mountain’s brow; And it’s ‘Steady down the lead there!’ and it’s ‘Let ‘em stop and feed there!’

For they’re wild as mountain eagles and their sides are all afoam; But they’re settling down already, and they’ll travel nice and steady, With cheery call and jest and song we fetch the cattle home.

While the stars shine out above us, like the eyes of those who love us — The eyes of those who watch and wait to greet the cattle home.

The plains are all awave with grass, The skies are deepest blue; And leisurely the cattle pass and feed the long day through; But when we sight the station gate, We make the stockwhips crack, A welcome sound to those who wait to greet the cattle back: And through the twilight falling We hear their voices calling, As the cattle splash across the ford and churn it into foam; And the children run to meet us, and our wives and sweethearts greet us, Their heroes from the Overland who brought the cattle home.

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Farming Paul Hetherington A farm and creek, tussocks, sleety rain that curtains the barn with silver-grey, the smell of seepage in old timber, blackberry spills that scramble across pocked water during squalls, the slow falling of light, and insect shrill.

And then your gestures, gathered during tea on the long verandah, hands that sketch and scrawl air eddying from stone, frame old hills crowding our distance. Your family comes here in looping phrases, benign now, generous in anecdote as they were not in life, their failings sympathetic. Then your laugh startles me from your narrative, we stand on the undulating ground of sentences brisk with ideas, with dig and heft and fall.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Photos on pages 242-243 and 246 courtesy of the collections of the State Library of NSW; photo on page 244-245 (top left) courtesy of Kerry and Nick Watts; photos on page 245 (bottom right) and 248 courtesy of Orange City Library; photo on page 245 (top right) courtesy of Lynne Strong; photo on page 249 (top) courtesy of the University of New England; photo on page 249 (bottom) courtesy of Farrer Memorial Agricultural High School; photo on page 250-251 (top left) courtesy of Woolworths; photo on page 252-253 (bottom right) courtesy of the Future Farmers Network.

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The bush will not lie down WRITTEN BY DON WATSON EXTRACTED WITH PERMISSION FROM THE BUSH

Most Australians live in the cities and cling to the coastal fringe, yet our sense of what an Australian is – or should be – is drawn from the vast and varied inland called the bush.

In 1967 I joined a couple of hundred other rural 18-yearolds at a new university in the northern suburbs of Melbourne. Thousands more streamed into other universities, teachers’ colleges and city jobs. It was the same every year. A large percentage of these people would make the city their permanent home.

Only about 15 per cent of Australians now live outside the cities and the essentially suburban coastal corridor. The country has taken on the character of a gum tree, a critic wrote a few years ago: the heartwood dead and crumbling, all the life in the sapwood of self-obsessing suburbia. And the liveliest of those suburbs are home not to the descendants of drovers and Anzacs, but to ambitious

migrants from Asia and the Middle East, with no taste for rural life, and no appetite for sagas of male bonding in shearing sheds and creek beds under Banjo Paterson’s everlasting stars.

19th-century Europeans brought with them their fashionable Gothic taste, which the bush with its various ‘contrarieties’ did much to satisfy. It was ‘fantastic’, full of ‘monstrosities’, where “alone is to be found the Grotesque, the Weird, the strange scribblings of nature learning how to write”, as Marcus Clarke said. And since him, a host of writers, painters and film-makers have pursued those themes of a harsh, eerie and dangerous perversity in the landscape, and similar qualities in the people.

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Yet it remains a commonplace of the official Australian worldview that all that is distinct and admirable in the national character and belief comes from the bush. It made Australians what they are. More than a century ago, Miles Franklin called herself “a child of the mighty bush”.

“I’m the mother-bush that bore you,” wrote Henry Lawson. In one of his best stories, The Bush Undertaker. The bush gives rise to Australians only: “the grand Australian bush, nurse and tutor of eccentric minds, the home of the weird, and of much that is different from things in other lands.”

And here is a governor of Queensland speaking after the great floods of 2010-11: “So much of what is best, truest and fairest in the Australian character is drawn from our bush traditions, our values forged like gold from the diggings in the challenges – and from the pressures and the opportunities – of life in the bush.”

THE BUSH AND THE NATIONAL CHARACTER Asked the origins of their character,

Americans might give half a dozen or more answers – the Puritan forefathers, the constitution and its enlightened authors, the Civil War, the unrestrained marketplace, immigration, liberty, the absence of an established Church, the frontier. Different parts of the country are likely to give different answers.

But Australians have really only ever had one answer: the bush is where it came from.

British institutions and, recently, the JudeoChristian tradition have been offered, but other people also spring from those places.

The official view remains Lawsonian: the bush is a mirror of our imagined natural and unvarnished selves, an emblem of our natures – our natures being hardy and adaptable like gum trees and mulga, dried out like the sclerophylls, and quite unlike the natures of people from continents that lack this kind of vegetation.

That the great majority of Australians live in cities does not diminish the power of the bush, but on the contrary adds an exotic or romantic dimension to the suburban cliché of our existence. The bush is where the real Australians live, and whatever hurts or threatens them the rest of the country feels.

Our literature, our language, our politics and our prejudices all have deep roots in the countryside, or at least exist in a state of constant interaction with it.

The economic historian John Edwards has plausibly suggested that the pattern of drought, flood and financial disaster which characterised the old pastoral economy continues to infect contemporary economic thinking with Hanrahan-like gloom.

Much in the way of national development – rail and road, dams and irrigation, regional development – has its roots in the land and has shaped our collective identity and ambition. In tethering the world to the mighty bush, as Lawson put it, we tethered ourselves to it.

Banjo Paterson’s indelible love song of the Australian male, Clancy of the Overflow, made the case for life on the sunlit plains.

Chained to a desk in his dingy office, loathing the foetid air and the ‘pallid’, ‘greedy’, ‘weedy’ masses moping in Sydney’s streets, his narrator’s tune dreamed of the world west of the Great Divide, and his mate Clancy out there on the sunlit plains, droving in the breezes.

Although the bush incited more gloom than joy in him, Henry Lawson also found

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his literary inspiration there. For The Bulletin (the so-called Bushman’s Bible) of the 1890s and successive schools of writers and artists, the essential Australia was to be found under a gum tree, on the frontiers, farms and stations, along the droving routes, wherever people were scarce and sheep or cattle plentiful.

Charles Bean reckoned he saw a difference out west in New South Wales before the First World War: the sort who “props up the veranda-posts in country towns” was pretty well the “antithesis of the strong, simple men who live on the stations outside”.

No one has ever put it with quite the airy conviction of Mrs Aeneas Gunn. The bush folk in her classic We of the Never Never have in them all that is good about humankind and much besides. Rough-hewn though they are, they will “risk their lives for a woman... but leave her to pick up her own handkerchief”.

They are democratic by nature because “out-bush rank counts for very little”. They are Christian, if not by observance, then by philosophy and spirit. “Bush-folk... do what they can to help each other”; “have a sixth sense, and know a pal when they see one”; “have long memories and love to rest now and then beside the milestones of the past”.

Mrs Gunn was in no doubt that the day had nearly come in the Northern Territory when “the bush folk will have conquered the Never Never and lain it at the feet of the great cities”.

That is the nub of the contract: bush people are the valiant few who wrest the continent ‘from the very heart of nature’ for the less valiant many. And this is the debt the people of the cities carry in perpetuity: the bush folk tamed the country, made it knowable, extracted not only food and wealth from it, but a national romance, an identity.

The elements might break their hearts but never their wills, to paraphrase the Queensland premier during the 2011 floods. Mrs Gunn might have written the line. It is axiomatic that the bush made Queenslanders what they are, and if their enthusiasm for raising funds to help their bush brethren can be used as a measure, the cities continue to be grateful.

THE MYTH OF THE BUSH For Australians remote from it, the bush holds some of the same Homeric power as

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its near relation, Anzac. Anzac is part fact, part fable: the story’s meaning depends not only on what happened and with what motives and reasons, but on what it has suited Australians to make of it. With Anzac the sacrifice and comradeship of the Australian Imperial Forces have been made over into an ideal Australian.

The bush speaks of similar admirable qualities. Much as Christians do with the resurrection, Australians relive the Anzac story once a year. The bush serves as the Church, keeping it alive in the off-season, while every drought, flood and fire makes a moral drama to renew and authenticate the foundations of faith. The two legends have been intertwined ever since the first reports came in from Gallipoli: indeed, one of the authors of those early reports and of the official history of Australians in the First World War also wrote one of the classic tracts of the bush legend.

Charles Bean’s 1910 On the Wool Track, which he wrote after touring the sheep stations of western New South Wales, is remembered less for its analysis of the wool game than for its characterisation of the people wool threw up. While empireand nation-builders looked with despair at the signs of moral, racial and physical degeneracy they reckoned they saw in the cities, out on the plains way west of the Divide, where squatters – or their managers – had been breeding ever better kinds of sheep, Bean found a man as if bred from a cross between Ivor Novello and a red kangaroo: a “tall, spare man, clean and wiry ... of a certain refined ascetic strength”. A man who took “everything on its merits, and nothing on authority”. The bush had “hammered out” this man with “frankness ... written largely across his face”. He was out there, “over that faint blue line of the dividing range”.

A hundred years later, politicians wishing to identify themselves with the ‘real’ people of the ‘real’ Australia were leaving their city offices and crossing the Divide to be seen with the descendants of this mythical progenitor. The sighting would have been easier to dismiss if Bean had been the only one to see it, but he was far from the first or the last. C.H.S. Matthews, a parson, reckoned such degeneracy as existed in Australia was confined to the mammon-worshipping cities and not to “these dear children of the bush,

so strong, so brave, so humorous and true”.

Having spent five years in Australia in the 1880s, the young English journalist Francis Adams found nothing that was different – or much less than contemptible – among the city middle classes. But beyond the Divide, where “the marine rainfall flags out”, he saw the beginnings of a “new race”, the “noblest, kindliest and best” Australians. The difference between men of the Divide and the men of the interior, he said, was already “absolutely defined” and “complete”. The bushman was the heart of Australia, “the Australian Australia”.

In the same vicinity, Edward S. Sorenson found a man with a “broad hairy chest... huge, muscular arms... matchless physique ... A man of surging robustness, rugged as his native hills [and] one of nature’s gentlemen”.

The bush of Mrs Gunn’s Never Never created her indomitable and adorable bush folk, “turning back the weaklings and worthless to the fleshpots of Egypt, and proving the worth and mettle of the brave-hearted”.

It made practical people: “I’ve learned a deal of things in my time,” her Quiet Stockman chuckled, “but reading never taught me none of them.” And he was pretty much as one with Marcus Clarke’s overlanders who, though gentlemen, “alone with their flocks and herds in the vast wilderness”, threw off their city-born conventionality and “felt the joy of an almost savage independence”. “Traversing the great grey forests, or camped by the edge of some friendly waterhole... [they] felt that wonderful and subtle happiness which is born of solitude and silence”. And all-male company, perhaps.

Clarke shared Walt Whitman’s excitement about these “bearded and embrowned” Godlike new men of the New World. He imagined his ideal man reining in a horse on a mountain spur, seeing beneath him “the wide waste of untrodden bush”, and waking “suddenly to the consciousness that he was lord of that wilderness, that in it he could live unmolested and secure, that he could find there a home and a subsistence, with no aid but that of his own hands and his own brains, then for the first time did he discover to what a heritage of power his birthright as a man entitled him”. That was the thing: what men found when they found themselves in the “phantasmagoria of their wild dreamland called the bush” was “their manliness”. It

agitated the male imagination, satisfied the male ego. It brought forth the “whole man”, E.J. Brady said.

A good part of the heroism of pioneer farmers resided in their willingness to endure drudgery and ignore the interior voice telling them that life should be more than this. They must listen instead to the one telling them that things could be worse. A pioneer should have hope, but not so much as to make a fool of himself with God or the neighbours.

For the male of the pioneer species, even as it grinds him down, the toilsome life builds him up and goes some way to satisfying the chronic demands of manliness. In the absence of such urgent calls on their identity, women were free to lend a hand to the ‘manly’ work while doing the women’s entirely on their own, and giving birth to the children and caring for them.

THE WOMEN OF THE BUSH Forty years ago, in a famous book, Anne Summers wrote that the women of colonial Australia were cast into one of two ancient repressive archetypes – whores or obedient representatives of a feminine ideal. Like the Indigenous people, they came wild or tamed. For the first 50 years, the majority went under ‘whores’.

Thereafter, what Summers called the existential straitjacket was enlarged to include the option of being “dutiful wives and bountiful mothers”. In both cases women were commodities: prostitutes to be bartered among the men who far outnumbered them, or wives to keep the men in line and to breed up a free, white and decent population. The reprobates were there from the start among the convict population; the dutiful were free immigrants recruited to correct the habits of the frontier and create a more respectable society, but one no less dominated by men. Families and Christian observance would be the foundations. In the country of my youth they still were, even as the eternal Jezebels circled.

The bush was an innocent virgin, a fickle temptress, an ‘irrational’ creature beyond the understanding of men. It was the womb and mother and a barren hag. Historians, including Manning Clark, would sometimes say that Europeans had treated the land like a whore, raping and despoiling it in their lust and greed. Miners, we are told, draw a

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distinction between those who prefer ‘virgin’ fields and those who find more reward in reworking places previously explored or mined.

Whichever metaphor we choose, in male hands the women of the bush are left without much to say or do for themselves. They cope, endure, suffer, care for the children, turn bronze and gaunt in the sun; represent something more often than they do something. So that they might move about the bush with ordinary male privilege, in two famous novels, Furphy’s Such is Life and Eve Langley’s The PeaPickers, women go disguised as men.

With so much symbolic baggage, a woman’s experience of the bush had little chance of being the defining kind for the new nation. Rosa Praed, Barbara Baynton and Jessie Couvreur (who wrote as ‘Tasma’), to name just three eminent examples, were effectively elbowed aside by the men who ruled at The Bulletin in the identity-defining I890s.

Anticipating the same fate, Ethel Richardson used Henry as her pen-name.

The Bushman’s Bible described “how half the world lives”, Barbara Jefferis said, and it would seem to follow that it also defined half the identity. The dominant men of the Heidelberg School preferred the bush with bushmen in it: working men, adventurous men, carving a nation out of the trees and the rocks.

When they did appear, women looked hopelessly ill-adapted in crinolines and (in Frederick McCubbin’s works, for example) they did little but add to the weight of sentimentality. Sidney Long got them up and about, but only to romp naked in the scrub and waterholes with native birds and satyrs.

The great painting of bush womanhood bears the same title as Lawson’s short story. Like the bush in which Lawson set his embattled woman, Russell Drysdale’s landscape in The Drovers Wife has been blasted bare by drought, rabbits and dieback. Or it might be Passchendaele after the mud has dried.

But where Lawson’s heroine is gaunt and hugs her child to breasts as ‘worn out’ as the surrounding bush, Drysdale’s is a bosomy, soft-eyed monolith, the race mother personified, out of her element but commanding it nonetheless.

Her husband or mate is a feckless figure watering the wagon’s horses in the background, not away droving but absent nonetheless. In a plain and sensible frock and hat, she could be the last hope for regeneration and common sense. She could even be the continent itself, as it was once. She might be sticking to her mate, enduring the awful folly into which he has dragged her, or waiting for a bus to take her back to the city and away from the fool once and for all.

Henry Lawson had been out west to Bourke in the middle of a drought and came back talking about the

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“horrors of the country”, how “men tramp and beg and live like dogs”. The memories of that experience never left him, and because they informed his greatest and popular work, they also imprinted the nation’s consciousness.

The stories based on those horrors and collected in While the Billy Boils (1896) are founding documents of Australian identity and faith. The character was a sort of homespun ironic humanist philosopher. There was a lot of talk about socialism at the time, a lot of tracts circulating. Lawson’s kept it simple: “Socialism is just being mates,” he said. And a mate, he also said, “can do no wrong”.

“No man likes to lose a good mate, for mateship is more than a mere term in Australia,” wrote Brady, Lawson’s mate. Many others, including modern politicians, have said the same, even though it leaves us wondering if they believe that men in other countries either don’t have mates or don’t mind losing them.

The territory was already well trodden when Bean got to it, but he had a couple of original things to say.

Mates were not just the blokes you sheared sheep with, but blokes you could go into battle with. Bean predicted that should she need to call on Australians in war, England would find them sticking to the empire as they would “to an old mate”. Empire, too, was just being mates.

Who knows how many men joined up because their mates did, died because their mates did. Then again, another interpretation might have it that they would stick to the empire because, for all their wattle and bottle patriotism, they had never come unstuck.

They were British subjects, after all, and the army they joined was an imperial one. Not for nothing was it called the Australian Imperial Force.

In I914 Britain’s hold on Australian minds had never been tighter. It was particularly tight on the large numbers of bushmen who had the bush – that ‘mysterious country’ would be to the Australian imagination what the sea had been to the English.

With their mettle forged in the bush, Bean was sure the bushmen would fight like the “Sea rovers of Queen Elizabeth’s time”. In the rush to enlist at country recruiting stations, and in the deeds of the AIF on the battlefields, he was vindicated.

Extracted with permission from The Bush (Hamish Hamilton, 2014).

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Interview with Pat McEntee, Director of Woolworths Meat Woolworths is one of Australia’s largest retailers and has a history of providing Australians with fresh food and groceries that stretches back nearly 100 years. After a long history of varied roles within the company, Pat McEntee was named as Director of Woolworths Meat Company in early 2016. He spoke to The Australian Farmer about his own career and Woolworths’ intrinsic and longlasting connection with Australia’s farming community.

TAF: We understand you’ve been at Woolworths for most of your adult life. You must have observed some interesting things and serious change during that period, no doubt. What are some of the personal highlights of your multi-decade career at Woolworths?

PM: “I loved my time working in fresh foods – it is the backbone of the company really. Dealing with the complexities of agricultural businesses like horticulture, cattle and sheep farmers in particular – as well as those in food processing and logistics – was a real buzz and tremendous source of energy. This was a pivotal period in my career, as it reinforced to me and the company that being competent at sourcing and selling good food was not enough. We realised we also needed to understand the farmers by getting to know them well.

I learned a great deal about how to achieve this during that period which still serves me today.”

TAF: Our audience would likely be interested in your background. What are your origins?

PM: “I grew up in a tiny town called The Oaks in NSW, which had a population of a few hundred. I left school at 16 and then became a local apprentice butcher.”

TAF: So you’re a top Woolworths executive now with enormous management responsibilities but with fairly humble beginnings and no MBA, and you are still relatively young – this is rather extraordinary. What drove you to reach these heights?

PM: “I took every opportunity that presented itself at Woolworths and always had a mindset of continuous learning. Success is possible no matter the school you attended or the area you grew up in – passion and people skills are the key. I have a genuine interest in people, understanding their journey and knowing their aspirations. People skills and emotional intelligence are needed in all sorts of situations I find myself in, whether it’s listening closely to our farmers’ needs or inducting new lamb suppliers on their farms. My other passion is delivering affordable, good quality food to our custom-

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ers, of course.

“The merging of these two food and people themes is, incidentally, the cornerstone of the Woolworths brand. Food, after all, is ultimately the fabric of our culture, lifestyle and wellbeing. At Woolworths, we believe food brings people together – whether it’s family, special events, business functions or picnics.”

TAF: What advice do you have for young people in rural Australia who might be pondering a career in agriculture?

PM: “My advice for young people interested in agriculture and on the farm is to seriously consider being a part of a farm succession plan. The next 20-plus years will be an important and exciting period for Australian agriculture given its key role in feeding the growing population in our region and also the advent of sophisticated technologies that will effect improvements in profitability and lifestyle.”

TAF: What is your key message to today’s approximate 100,000 Australian farmers?

PM: “Australian farmers have always been and will always be, next to our customers, our number one priority. We have worked hard to build enduring partnerships with farmers – they are not just suppliers of food products.

As the relationship is symbiotic in many ways, we always strive to better understand their business. We rely on an open relationship, and farmers telling us what is important to them – whatever it may be – is fundamental to that relationship. That way we can make better decisions.

“Also, we have the utmost respect for our farmers – who are world renowned for their innovation, product integrity, resilience and durability – and we are honoured to partner with them in feeding much of the Australian population.”

TAF: What are some of the significant milestones in Woolworth’s history that are germane to rural Australia?

PM: “The launch of ‘Woolworths, the fresh food people’ in 1987 was an important milestone in Woolworths’ history. It’s something

that transformed and eventually cemented our brand. The words ‘fresh food’ epitomise health, nutrition and vitality, while ‘people’ very deliberately evokes the principle that people are at the core of our business model and company culture whether it’s our customers, team, suppliers or communities.

“Importantly, we needed to justify the choice of these words ‘fresh food’, which was novel and undoubtedly ambitious at the time, with our actions and performance.

Australia’s farmers must be acknowledged for their vital role in helping us to realise this ongoing achievement over a 30-year period.

“The floating of the company in 1993 was also a significant milestone in the company’s history. It presented an opportunity for all Australians, farmers included, to take a share of Woolworths.

“And last year, we launched a new campaign to communicate our reinvigorated brand centring on our connection with Australian families – the fabric of our society – from all corners of the country. The purpose of the campaign was to revisit the simple ideal that Woolworths is about people, good food and happiness – created by a scene of a family enjoying a Sunday roast. Ultimately, we want Australian families, whether they live in Dunedoo or Dandenong, to think of ‘Woollies’ when they think of good food.”

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TRIBUTE TO FARMERS

Interview with Mark Bernhard, Chairman and Managing Director of GM Holden Holden is one of the most famous and largest automobile companies in Australia, with a history that dates back 150 years. It has a unique and longlasting relationship with both urban and rural Australia, with more than 5,000 employees and 200 dealerships across the country. Mark Bernhard began his career at GM Holden in 1986, and held a range of roles across Europe, Asia and North America before being appointed Chairman and Managing Director in 2015. He spoke to The Australian Farmer about Holden’s relationship with rural Australia, the company’s history and its track record of innovation.

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TAF: What do you think makes Holden unique and special in the eyes of rural communities?

MB: “Holden has grown up with rural communities, and these are the people that in many ways have helped define our brand over the decades. The relationship between Holden and rural communities has a long history dating back to the original coupé utility, which was known colloquially as the ‘ute’ and became ubiquitous in Australian rural areas as the workhorse of choice. We’re proud of that heritage.”

TAF: What is Holden’s key message for farmers? How is Holden helping farmers?

MB: “As we transition away from local manufacturing and become a 100 per cent import business, it’s important for rural communities to understand there is no impact on the quality of Holden’s products and services – if anything, this will improve. We are here for the long term to ensure this important segment of the Australian population continues to enjoy a world class experience.

We are helping farmers by providing them with vehicles and expertise that promotes their quality of life in both work and play – tools that make their unique lifestyle easier and more enjoyable. Also noteworthy is that we have the second-largest dealer network in rural Australia of any automobile brand. Our dedication to cus-

tomer service for farmers is significant.”

TAF: Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has emerged as a core component in most large companies’ business models nowadays. Could you please share with our rural audience some of Holden’s achievements and plans for CSR in rural Australia?

MB: “Holden has committed to helping Australian grassroots sport, especially in rural Australia. To date, we have awarded over $1 million to almost 80 clubs across Australia, with $4 million still available over the next seven years. Holden is also the chief sponsor of the State of Origin and Under 20’s rugby league competitions and a major sponsor of the NRL and AFL. We have a vested interest in the overall health of rugby league and AFL (and other popular sports across rural Australia). We know that it is more than just a game for many folks – indeed rugby league and AFL are rural Australia’s lifeblood in many ways. Rugby League is actually the number one sport for children and young people in rural QLD and NSW and, significantly, countless professional players over the decades originated from the bush. In many ways, the relationship between rugby league and rural communities is symbiotic – they rely on each other for their vitality. I like to think Holden has a similar relationship with the bush.”

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From humble beginnings, Nufarm has grown to be a thriving Australian-based global brand providing crop protection products and services to farmers in over 100 countries. Despite a global market value of over $2 billion and 3,000 staff around the globe, the company retains an extremely close and strong link with the Australian farming community.

Nufarm: Australianbased, global success Nufarm’s Australian operations were founded in Melbourne in the mid-1950s by Max Fremder, chiefly selling herbicides to professional spray applicators in regional Victoria. On the back of a reputation for first-class customer service and quality products, the company expanded quickly and was purchased by the New Zealand-based Fernz Corporation in the early 1980s.

Nufarm continued to grow globally and in 2000 Fernz migrated the incorporation of the company from New Zealand back to Australia. Since then, the business has expanded rapidly through acquisitions and organic growth to become one of the largest crop production companies in the world. And despite significant operations on most continents, Nufarm is still headquartered in Australia with a manufacturing presence that has been the backbone of the company throughout its history.

“Australia is four per cent of the global crop protection market – it is a bit of an afterthought for most companies, whereas for us it’s about 20 per cent of our global business,” says Peter O’Keeffe, Regional General Manager for Australia and New Zealand.

“With that comes a commitment to Australia that our competitors don’t have.

“It’s quite common for a global player to develop a product and see where it fits globally. Yet at Nufarm, while we still want consistency and global products, we also look for innovation that is Australian-specific to maintain our relevance in our home market.”

Nufarm not only wants to be strong and visible in its own backyard, it sees Australia as a barometer for its products. If a product succeeds in Australia’s com-

petitive business market and harsh natural environment, that success is likely to be replicated around the world.

One of the main reasons for this – and for Nufarm’s success – is the company’s relationship with Australian farmers, who play an essential role in the research, testing and development of Nufarm products.

“Australian growers are too shrewd to be taken in by marketing gimmicks, so our success is founded on fair dinkum innovations that help growers,” says Peter. “It’s a fact that Australian farmers are some of the most efficient in the world – they have to endure some pretty tough conditions and succeed despite this.”

By focusing on products that add value to farmers’ businesses, Nufarm has established itself as a brand that carries significant weight around the world. Throughout their years of success, Nufarm has maintained a strong relationship with the Australian farming community and continues to make its own backyard the company’s top priority.

“We’ve been part of the Australian farming landscape for a long time, we’re reliable and have been involved in the game since the early days,” says Peter.

“I reckon there’s a lot of parallels between the Nufarm story and the success of Australian farmers through decades of hard work and innovation.”

The company’s extensive field team works closely with growers and industry stakeholders.

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INTERVIEWS

Interview:

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Peter Moller, General Manager of Irrigation at Rubicon Water Tony May, Managing Director of Monsanto Australia and New Zealand Charlie Perkins, General Manager Fertilisers of CBSP Ltd John Cleland, CEO of Essential Energy Dr Ian Lambert, Principal of The Scots College Terry McCosker, Director of Resource Consulting Services

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interviews with agricultural leaders

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Interview with Peter Moller, General Manager - FarmConnect at Rubicon Water An agronomist and agtech pioneer across two continents, Peter Moller has a long history of innovation in the irrigation industry. After years as an irrigation agronomist he founded Agrilink Water Management and later co-founded AquaSpy Group, and now is responsible for creating Rubicon Water’s on-farm water use efficiency solutions. He spoke with The Australian Farmer about his own history in the industry and the exciting future of agtech.

TAF: How have sensors changed, and how they will continue to change, farming?

CP: “When I began my first irrigation start-up in 1990, Agrilink, I collected data using a portable device that I had to carry around, from field to field and property to property to take the readings. I would manually log the soil moisture readings for each depth and then plot on a graph by hand what was the soil moisture con-

tent for this week against last week. From that, I’d write out a prescription of when to water and how much to apply. I’d put that piece of paper in a little mailbox on the edge of the field and I’d drive off to the next farm, visiting back in a week’s time. So that was the technology I had in the days I started my data service.

“In the early 90s, a company in Adelaide developed soil moisture sensors con-

nected to a cable via a logger called the Enviroscan. With that, I could capture a rich picture of data before, during and after the irrigation event, at multiple depths of the profile, and I could clearly see how the crop responded to the grower’s decision of when to water and how to apply. In mid-1990s, I cofounded – together with a couple of colleagues – a sensor company attaching the C-Probe soil sensor to radios and wirelessly moved the data to the farm shed. But the data was now stuck on the farm computer, so I had to drive out every couple of weeks and visit with the farmer to review the data on their computer.

“By 2000, we launched a cloud-based software that delivered data from anywhere in the world. That was another step change – sensor technology allowed us to became global. Now I was consulting to agribusinesses and working in Florida with citrus, French fry potatoes for McDonald’s in Idaho, apples in Washington State and pistachios, wine grapes and table grapes in Central Valley California, as well as looking at data from South Africa and right across Australia.

“The business model evolves and changes over time – by providing this technology and data in irrigated agriculture, it really gave a point of difference to agron-

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omists and minimised risks to their businesses. I started out with a 100km radius for my business model, and ended up global.”

TAF: With your experience in Silicon Valley, what do you think Aussie farmers can learn from the climate of innovation there?

CP: “There was over $3 billion invested in agtech start-ups in Silicon Valley in 2016, and the effect of that money will soon start trickling down around the world. Particularly for regional areas, I think agtech and start-ups are going to have a big impact by bringing talented people from the city to the regions. It’s going to help regional companies start, and it’s going to help local businesses within a region benefit from the latest technology.

I think a lot of people are coming from outside of agriculture with great ideas, smart apps, sensors and algorithms from other industries. In the past, they were not really connected to where the problem was and what was relevant to the farmer, but that is starting to change as well.”

“On the flipside, Australian farmers operate in international markets, so we’re more susceptible to fluctuations than our American or European

counterparts and aren’t given many government subsidies. Therefore, I think farmers here are a lot more driven about being more efficient and getting everything out of the land and resources given the uncertainty in international commodity prices. I think innovation occurs earlier here in Australia than other places, particularly in irrigated agriculture, and we have demonstrated we are leaders in that.

“Our practices for water application efficiency in crops are so much higher than our competitors.

We’ve achieved tremendous outcomes in terms of increasing our yield per litre of water – here in northern Victoria, I’ve been helping dairy farmers grow twice as much dry matter per litre of water.

That means off the same land, the same seed, the same volume of water, we are growing twice as much dry matter. That has a huge impact on the business and its profitability. I think we’re really leaders in that area, and that’s what a lot of Australian companies can take to the American market.”

TAF: What is the real story on the Internet of Things beyond the hype – what changes is it going

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to cause in agriculture and how far off are these changes?

CP: “Back in 2001, I was asked to give a presentation in California on technology in the wine industry. I recently had a look back at that paper and realised that all the concepts I was using in 2001 have industry names now. I was using a computer to remotely deliver data collected by devices in the field, bringing it to a central location remotely, applying software to process that data, displaying it in a logical format and making it relevant to the farmer, and I charged annually for it. Nowadays these

things have names – cloud computing, big data analytics, data mining, software as a service, agtech and of course the Internet of Things.

“For me it’s been more of a way of doing, and as these emerging technologies come, I watch closely and try to understand if these are going to add value either to the business model, to run it more efficiently, or to create something different in the whole value chain. Will it actually improve and help the farmer or irrigator by adding value to their business? You have to be very careful about

backing a winner or a loser, and in these emerging markets you don’t know who’s really going to come to the top. Farmers are challenged with exactly the same thing when they buy technology for the farm – who is going to be around in five years’ time to support the tech? Are they going to come and go? Which methodology is going to survive and work?

“Right now I think we are seeing the convergence of a whole lot of different pieces of software on the farm. Currently, farmers need for example five different types of software to run their business and perform different functions. I think where we’re moving to is a platform focus, where, for instance, I can use site specific data, like a sensor in the ground, and combine it with spatial data – such as from a satellite – to make the results more meaningful. Using satellite imagery to actually look at the different stages of the crop, you could determine water use for the next seven days using forecasted evaporation rates.

“This platform is going to be able to bring in different data from all different sources, all doing different things but coming together as a combination that is greater than the individual components – that’s what I see as the next outcome. I see a lot of apps and start-ups coming up with a single sensor connected to a radio that only does one thing, but it’s not really addressing the farmers’ needs. Don’t think you’ve got the answer to the farmers’ problems by coming up with just another sensor or another radio or another app.”

TAF: Where do you see the biggest lack of knowledge or understanding by farmers when it comes to agricultural technology?

CP: “I think farmers will need to deal very soon with a big shift in financial models for their inputs and services, such as software and machinery. In the past, farmers have been very comfortable buying capital – paying cash for something they own. They budget for that and implement it on the farm and then depreciate it. But with the proliferation of all these start-ups with software-as-service or solution-as-service models with annual fees,

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the farmer is going to have to rethink how they buy and get data. Instead of buying capital, they perhaps have to budget for an annual recurring fee for a data service.

“The advantage is you don’t need a lot of money to get in the game. You can get into the game for a very low annual price and it takes the risk out of which vendor to go for. If you pay upfront, the technology could be obsolete in three years. If you’re paying an annual fee, it doesn’t matter what technology you use. The capital barrier is broken down and the risk on the technology going obsolete or needing servicing is mitigated because that company needs to stay in business to keep charging their fee and each year they’re made honest about how they’re going. I think that transformation is starting to happen now, but I think it’s going to become very evident soon.”

TAF: What in your opinion are the two or three biggest tech trends that will affect productivity and yields on farms in the next decade or so?

CP: “We need to provide solutions that solve real problems. When I went to the US in the early 2000s, I was talking about irrigation scheduling, saving water and growing a better crop. And these guys would say ‘no, we don’t need to save water, we have as much water as we want’. The compelling need was not to save water, so I had to switch to quality markets. My solution was to solve a quality problem rather than a supply problem – ‘how can I grow larger apples and get more dollars per box?’ or ‘how can I grow higher premium wine to get more dollars per bottle?’.

“Farmers want one easy solution and there are some really big players, such as Monsanto, putting hundreds of millions of dollars to make this a reality. Monsanto acquired Climate Corp for $1 billion – a sign that they want to be the platform, utilising Climate Corp’s more than 500 data scientists.

Whether farmers like it or not, Monsanto would be getting all their farming and transaction data from all their machinery, sensors and computer data. But capturing and storing data from multiple sources is going to be something of a challenge.

“The other trend to watch concerns the supply chain. I reckon there are going to be new ways of doing business that will cause a major disruption for corporations that currently supply farmers with inputs and commodities, such as new ways of buying through e-commerce or even just new ways of communicating with customers.

“There’s one group called Farmers Business Network who have raised $80-90 million and have

been analysing costs of inputs for farmers. They realised the same product from the same store was priced differently depending on where it was sold. So they built a consumer watchdog platform – the farmer subscribe for a few dollars each year, but they’re now getting the hottest price for each farm input. The big players are watching really closely to make sure that this kind of thing doesn’t disrupt their margins and legacy distribution channels.

“A final big trend is building something that has predictive analytics and forecasting – that is, actually determining actual outcomes and telling you what you need to do. You can call it prescription farming or prescription data. For example, with soil moisture data, if we know the stage of crop growth and if we do the satellite imagery for the crop health, then the system itself determines how much water to apply and when, not the agronomist.

“It’s adaptive, and the next step is that the whole system becomes autonomous – the pumps are integrated with the water sensors and the automatic gate, and the soil moisture sensors are predicting when next to water. Surface irrigation, which grows 70 per cent of Australia’s food and fibre, is likely to become an autonomous system.

The method of irrigation today is over 95 per cent manual. Soon you’re going to have a farmer with 1,000ha running their entire irrigation system via their mobile phone. We’re partway there, but it’s going to happen shortly. That was a dream five years ago.”

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Interview with Tony May, Managing Director of Monsanto Australia and New Zealand Monsanto has been operating in Australia in some capacity for nearly 90 years, focusing on agricultural products for at least 60 of those. Monsanto products such as Roundup and Bollgard have become indispensable to farmers in Australia and around the world in controlling weeds and minimising soil erosion. After various roles at the company over 14 years, Tony May was appointed Managing Director of Monsanto Australia and New Zealand in 2016. He speaks to The Australian Farmer about Monsanto’s strong commitment to R&D, the benefits of their successful products and the company’s reputation worldwide.

TAF: According to our research, Monsanto is a fascinating – if sometimes misunderstood – company. Could we hear about your business model?

TM: “We have become a totally farmer-centric company.

More than that, we see ourselves as not trying to simply compete against other products, but rather to analyse problems experienced by farmers, evaluate if we can address them and then figure out a solution. It’s a business model based on identifying problems and being focused on farmers’ needs. We start with the problem, not a product idea.”

TAF: That takes, one would think, a lot of R&D expenditure and experimentation?

TM: “Yes, we are not as large a company as many believe, but the percentage of our turnover that is made up of R&D is very high, around 10 per cent.”

TAF: Can you describe an example of the science pathway through to practical results for farmers?

TM: “Internationally there are many collaborations, evolving all of the time, that tackle problems in different environments. In Australia, one of our landmark projects of long duration has concerned the cotton industry.”

TAF: That industry here was apparently in great difficulty in the early 90s and then revived enormously. What happened?

TM: “The industry’s energies were being drained severely by a pest, Helicoverpa armigera – the cotton bollworm. Farmers were spending enormous amounts of time dealing with them, consuming a lot of labour and money. We realised that Monsanto US science could be allocated and applied in Australia to deal with this problem. Partnerships were formed – notably with CSIRO and eventually a company owned by farmers, Cotton Seed Dis-

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tributors. CSIRO did the plant breeding, Monsanto provided oversight on the technology and regulatory requirements.

“We developed through genetic modification a pest-resistant seed technology which worked well – this involved the manipulation of a single gene. As you might know, pests adapt – eventually they develop an ability to overcome control methods such as chemistry or GM methods. But if a second gene is added, it makes it much more difficult for resistance to evolve. The first product was Ingard, an effective single gene modification released in 1996.

By 2005 we launched a two-gene version, and in 2016 Australia was the first country in the world to launch the third member of this family of insect resistant cotton – Bollgard 3, which has three genes. This makes it much more difficult for insects to develop resistance.”

TAF: We have seen a major resurgence in the cotton industry, largely attributable to this product and the science behind it.

How was the take up of the product among farmers?

TM: “Remarkable. In a single season – 2016 – we went from an initial seven per cent adoption to 92 per cent adoption. But it is important to recall the history – this has been a 20-year saga of experiment, expense, field observation and modelling.”

TAF: Modelling?

TM: “When you are working for the long haul, you need to study multiple factors including things like environmental impact and management factors. You need to study carefully the frequency of observed resistance by pests, which relates back to the continuing need for careful additional genetic modification.”

TAF: So apart from the obvious benefit of nullifying a pest, how do you quantify the benefits to the farmer?

TM: “Good question – it represents the essence of what we are trying to do generally. By saving farmers time in dealing with the pest, they can allocate time more productively elsewhere: grow better crops, look after the soil, work on water use reduction and increase yields.”

TAF: So this can apply to other farming categories, not just the cotton industry?

TM: “Definitely, both here in Australia and worldwide. In Australia, canola is the other big area of concentration through weed control, which leaves the crop entirely unaffected but controls weeds, and – in the same way – frees up time and labour for more fruitful pursuits. We also see benefits in the farming of corn (which is a hugely important crop worldwide), soybeans, alfalfa and others.”

TAF: We understand that a substantial portion of cotton seeds now used in America come from Australia?

TM: “Yes, that’s right. And interestingly, Australian varieties seem to do very well around the world. This might be due to the management quality and applied science here, though I personally suspect as an agronomist it has something to do with the environment here in Australia.”

TAF: What other areas of activity or benefit come from Monsanto’s work? We know that your company has received a large number of awards for ethical behaviour, productivity advancement and so on, but what about on a practical level?

TM: “If you look at what Roundup has done for agriculture, it is clear that we simply would not have the productivity, reliability, ability to preserve soil moisture and protect soil from erosion – meaning guarding and preserving the all-important top soil, which is absolutely critical in Australia, as elsewhere – without glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup. The same goes for the total management program – it’s not just the product, it’s the sustained method and the continuing science. Also, it permits more emphasis on conservation farming, meaning reduced tillage – again a time and effort issue, where such time and effort is best spent elsewhere.”

TAF: What other areas of science are you pursuing?

TM: “Biologicals is a fascinating field full of potential and some clear results to date.

This is the study of how microbes or fungi can positively effect seeds and growth, taste, yield and many other beneficial at-

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tributes of crops. Admittedly there is a lot we don’t yet know, but there is abundant evidence that this area of knowledge is proven in part and holds great potential.

It’s a key area of focus – we need to find exactly the right type of microbes or bacteria which promote the greatest benefit.”

TAF: Our wide reading suggests that in many cases Monsanto has been maligned and overly criticised. We read two explanations by writers who once declared they were scornful of Monsanto, but changed their views. They read the background and each made a salient comment. The first was that perhaps initially in Europe GMO might have been promoted and explained more to the public rather than farmers. The second was that Monsanto was very good at many things but perhaps not so strong on spin. Any comment?

TM: “Yes, first we always respect any variational view to our own as to how agriculture ought to be performed, even though we may not agree with it. Regarding speaking to the consumer and not the farmer, well, our business and culture revolve around farmers – we are not a consumer company. We’ve focused on farmers but we can see that it is important for us to be able to help the agricultural industry explain why these types of technologies benefit society, not just farmers. As for spin abilities, we just work on presenting the truth as we see it. And how we see the world is that population increase demands more food yield, both in quantity and quality. This can be done compatibly in terms of environmental and sustainability goals – that’s not spin.”

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Interview with Charlie Perkins, General Manager Fertilisers at CSBP Limited CSBP Limited is a major manufacturer and supplier of industrial chemicals, fertilisers and services to the mining, industrial and agricultural sectors. Based in Kwinana in Western Australia and employing more than 600 people, CSBP is a part of Wesfarmers Limited’s Industrials division. Charlie Perkins joined CSBP in 2006, and has occupied his current role since 2013, having previously been Commercial Manager and Chief Financial Officer of the company. He speaks to The Australian Farmer about sustainability, innovation and the adoption of technology in the agricultural industry.

TAF: What is your personal motto for the company?

CP: “Our success hinges on the success of our farmers, so we are very focused on building strong relationships with our customers to understand their needs, particularly when it comes to sustainability. We’re also always looking globally to make sure our solutions are world class.”

TAF: It’s obvious from reading the extensive Wesfarmers sustainability report that the company takes sustainability seriously. The level of transparency with data in a number of areas is impressive.

CP: “We take very seriously our involvement with and impact on our staff, customers, the community, suppliers and the environment. We’re also Fertcare accredited, which is an industry program supporting efficient and environmentally responsible use of fertilisers. In other words, we educate farmers on the 4 R’s (right product to use, right placement, right time and right rate) to avoid adverse impact on soil and rivers with nutrient runoff and optimise economic benefits.”

TAF: What is driving this fierce devotion to sustainability?

CP: “It’s simple – competition and the increasingly vocal end consumer. The

industry can’t afford not to focus on sustainability, not just in how it operates but the whole supply chain. It not only makes sense morally, but also effects improvements with efficiency and therefore economically.”

TAF: We understand CSBP was named tenth most innovative company in Australia in 2016 by the Australian Financial Review, congratulations. What does innovation mean to you personally? How do you define it in your day to day role as GM? CP: “Innovation is any change that adds value. To continue to be relevant, we must continue to innovate everywhere whether that’s in product development, processes, technology or services we bring to the industry. For example, we have the biggest soil and plant testing laboratory in the southern hemisphere and a long history of commitment to R&D. Also, we introduced Fertview a few years ago, which was recently awarded the most effective platform at the Information, Technology & Telecommunications Alliance awards.

“Fertview collects and uses different types of data to assist farmers’ decision making – previously they were often relying on intuition, but now they have a range of data at their disposal to inform their

decisions. Ultimately, this helps farmers run their properties and make decisions by managing risk and maximising productivity and profitability.”

TAF: Data driven decisions are fairly ubiquitous across most industries today.

How do you think the agriculture industry ranks with others when it comes to adopting technology to support data driven decisions?

CP: “Agriculture has not adopted this type of technology as quick as other industries. Seasonality and externalities, to a degree, undermine its effectiveness given causation in farming is hard to predict – unlike industries such as health, education, automotive, defence and finance.

Getting repetition on the farm is in some ways not possible. For example, weather, soil and pest conditions are variable. This is particularly true over here in Western Australia, as winters have continued to become drier.

“But things are changing as farmers realise how accessible and valuable data is and as these technologies become more affordable and proven, I have no doubt they will become prevalent across agriculture. While the IT and telco industries have a key role to play, the government must

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increase their commitment to connectivity if this “smart edge” in Australian agriculture is going to be realised.”

TAF: With so many variables creating uncertainty, managing a large agricultural company can be exceedingly complex. How do you deal with the inherent complexity?

CP: “Complexity arises when you’re dealing with different people, products, systems, processes and information around the world, and all of these are interconnected and interdependent – for example, a small issue with a supplier in China or Africa can have a ripple effect with the service we provide to our customers. We try to keep things simple, and do this by instituting programs and systems clearly aligned across the entire company.”

TAF: We understand CSBP has embraced STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) as part of its business model. What’s the aim here?

CP: “STEM is a major part of our sustainability focus, as we recognise it is increasingly important for the competitiveness and future prosperity of

not only our business, but Australia as a whole.

A primary objective is to improve gender balance by promoting STEM education pipelines to girls and women and recognising the importance of women in agriculture. We want the best of the talent pool coming to CSBP.” TAF: What do you think is the biggest lesson learned in Australian agriculture from the last five years?

CP: “In recent years, cloud computing and processing capacity – while still fairly embryonic in Australian agriculture compared with some other industries – has proven itself to be a potential game changer for farmers. Data collection, processing, storage and access can happen anywhere nowadays – previously unheard of. An explosion in the agtech sector and increases in data management affordability will see more and more genuine solutions made available to farmers. Cloud computing will be a cornerstone in the evolution of our whole agricultural capability, especially as younger, tech-savvy farmers age and adopt management roles.”

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Interview with John Cleland, CEO of Essential Energy The Australian Farmer recently spoke with John Cleland, CEO of Essential Energy – a NSW government-owned company responsible for building, operating and maintaining one of Australia’s largest electricity networks – about the company’s relationship with farmers and the challenges of energy provision in regional Australia.

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TAF: We understand your personal origins are in farming and professionally you’ve spent time in agribusiness too. Can you tell us how this background has helped with your current role?

JC: “Yes, that’s correct. I grew up on a pastoral property in remote WA which was off grid, so I learned a lot about the importance and fragility of energy in agriculture. I have since had a long association with the sheep industry and a large part of my career has pertained to regional Australia. These experiences attracted me to Essential Energy and have served me well in the job.”

TAF: What is your key message to the thousands of NSW farmers who are on Essential Energy’s electricity distribution network? And how is Essential Energy helping farmers?

JC: “Firstly, Essential Energy is a key economic enabler for NSW farmers and facilitates significant material change in the energy sector. This requires careful planning, especially given our sector is amid an energy evolution. Secondly, we are currently experiencing a large change in the energy industry’s ‘ecosystem’ as the sector transitions from a reliance on fossil fuels to renewable resources. Importantly, the traditional grid will play an important role as we embrace a distributed generation framework. And finally, the industry’s commitment to digitisation will mean more and higher quality information is available to customers which, in turn, allows for more choice.”

TAF: Tell us about the company’s relationship with NSW farmers.

JC: “Our corporate social responsibility mandate, which centres on the company’s impact on both people and the natural environment, is pivotal to Essential Energy’s culture and fabric. Firstly, safety and benevolence are core company pillars. For example, our ‘Essen-

tial Giving Program’ sees the company match employee pre-tax donations to selected charities that are central to rural causes, thus doubling the benefit. We also have an initiative called the ‘Community Support Program’ which assists community halls in regional NSW by easing the burden of maintenance costs.

“In addition, we are a significant regional and rural employer, offering trade apprenticeships and graduate programs aimed at local communities. And despite Essential Energy being agnostic to the source of energy generation, the environment is centre-stage of our policy and practices. We are an important player in the growth of NSW’s renewable energy capability, including solar and wind power, with 14.5 per cent of the energy we distribute coming from large-scale embedded generation.”

TAF: What is unique about a regional energy company compared with a city energy company?

JC: “Our customer density is low, which means that each unit of energy is inevitably more expensive.

We have all the challenges inherent in a traditional metropolitan electricity provider but we cover a massive 737,000 square kilometres of network. This predictably increases complexity and the economic challenge.”

TAF: Where is the energy sector going in the next five years? How is it going to get there?

JC: “We are moving to a much higher proportion of energy being generated from renewable sources. This will mean a greater range of options for the consumer.

Energy is really the lifeblood of rural communities, so it is crucial for us to find a way to reduce the relative cost of energy in the next five-plus years. We need to develop globally competitive products – Essential Energy has a critical role in this transformation.”

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Interview with Dr Ian Lambert, Principal at The Scots College Located in Sydney’s east, The Scots College is one of Australia’s oldest and most prestigious schools with a history of educating boys that dates back to 1893.

Dr Ian Lambert has been principal of the school for more than ten years and is also a published author with five educational books and a number of journal and magazine articles under his belt. He spoke to The Australian Farmer about his own history in agriculture and the industry’s growing role in education in Australia.

TAF: What made you want to become a school principal and continue in the role for two decades?

IL: “I actually grew up on a family farm and my early schooling was in regional NSW near Ulladulla. I then attended a high school in Brisbane where an inspiring principal’s teachings on thought leadership – central to any good CEO’s toolkit – in education philosophy influenced me profoundly to the point where I fell in love with education. Since then, I have been motivated to provide students a culture of creativity and encourage them to explore the world via experiential learning.

These are the keys to turning today’s students into tomorrow’s leaders.”

TAF: What role does the education sector have to play in Australia’s changing agricultural landscape?

How does agriculture fair in your list of priorities?

IL: “With agriculture fast becoming the nation’s most important industry, it is now not just one of my passions but my professional focus too. Australia has a unique environment and the resources to seize an opportunity to fulfil the rising food demands of much of the region.

We need to be thinking 50 years ahead by setting up this food security infrastructure now, and this includes convincing people to get serious about agriculture. To achieve this, the agricultural industry needs to offer an attractive career path that will require us to entirely rethink schooling for the next generation of farmers and those that support them.”

TAF: Agriculture seems to be making a comeback in the curricula of many Australian high schools. Why do you think this is happening?

IL: “I think students find agriculture exciting and

fun, especially the boys, from my experience. They get to learn where their food and fibre comes from, and agriculture offers a unique hybrid of studying the arts, humanities, environment and the STEM subjects. Perhaps we should adopt the extended acronym ‘STEAM’!

Agriculture gets kids into the outdoors and back to nature while also helping with their social development.

Traditional vocations like law, finance and medicine are fine choices for some, but agriculture needs to also be promoted as an equally noble career option.”

TAF: What’s your key message to the Australian agriculture community?

IL: “Australia owes a lot to its farmers. They are the foundation of the nation’s economy and integral to our social fabric in countless ways. For example, 30 per cent of young Australian men aged 19-28 are currently not engaged in any employment or study. This group is looking for adventure and meaning in their lives but is disconnected. Their mental health is inevitably eroding – reflected by the suicide rates. Many farmer aid and related agricultural trade and labour jobs, however, are going to foreign workers – despite being an ideal solution to this serious problem.

“We need to have a robust conversation about valuable and meaningful work for these young males – agriculture as a valued and rewarding profession should be a cornerstone of this conversation. Reversing the trend of people leaving regional towns for the cities is another important piece of this revolution to make jobs in agriculture appealing. We also need good mentors to effect this change, and educators will have a big role to play.”

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INTERVIEWS

Interview with Dr Terry McCosker, Director of Resource Consulting Services Resource Consulting Services (RCS) has been at the forefront of applying business principles and innovative farm thinking in Australia since 1985.

Once controversial, it has gained a wide acceptance with over 5,500 graduates now active across the country. The Australian Farmer spoke to RCS co-founder and director, Dr Terry McCosker, about the company’s fresh approach to the management and operation of farm businesses.

TAF: Why was the approach of RCS initially doubted by some members of the community?

TM: “We were introducing new paradigms about pasture management, increasing carrying capacity and fire clearing and we challenged the status quo.

Much of the doubt came from state governments at the time, though some people simply thought our systems wouldn’t work or that there was no need for change.

It’s a typical story of introducing innovation – it’s not always easy.”

TAF: What do you see as the major need for change in Australian farming today?

TM: “Attitude and openness to change. An open but challenging attitude is needed to acquire the ability to change key points of thinking, performance and management – this is what we teach. Of course, there is a huge amount of research, technique and specific skills under these headings, but at the moment there is too much focus on production and not enough on quality and profit.”

TAF: What would you say are the major areas of insufficient knowledge among today’s farmers that ought to change?

TM: “There are two broad areas which lead into much more detailed skill sets, and they are people

management and proper management accounting.”

TAF: People management?

TM: “I would say that 60-70 per cent of farmers need some support or guidance in this area. Direction, leadership and communication among staff and workers are subjects we dwell on, because we see the need for them continually. The comments and success of our graduates demonstrate that this is an important topic, the same as in any business.”

TAF: And as to management accounting?

TM: “It is vitally important, but that’s just the beginning. We teach benchmarking, the success of which speaks for itself – it is a holistic way of assessing the farm as a business.”

TAF: What is benchmarking, in your terms?

TM: “Comparing yourself to the top 20 per cent based on profitability, and comparing a number of key performance indicators (KPIs), as many as 20 or 30. This is a way to really break down functions and analyse a farm as a business. It is just as important to compare yourself to yourself over time as it is to compare to others. The comparison with others just tells you where to look for improvement.”

TAF: What are some of the KPIs you use?

TM: “The most important ones include return on

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assets, turnover ratio, overhead ratio, gross margin ratio, expense ratio and cost of production. The purpose is to look at which are the weakest areas in the business and pick one to three things to improve over the next 12 months.”

TAF: Do you think agricultural schools and colleges are teaching enough of this type of hard business analysis?

TM: “Overall, there has been a bit of an uplift, but not nearly enough. Marcus Oldham College has done a very good job of it.”

TAF: Do you see a generational change of thinking coming about naturally?

TM: “Definitely. Whether through more education, pressures of the times, peer to peer exchange or access to more information from the web – whatever the causes, the younger generation is more eager for new knowledge and their attitude is more open. I’d say this has been more evident to me especially in the last five years or so.”

TAF: You started out as specialists specifically in grazing. Have you expanded your offering over the years?

TM: “We have about 70 per cent of our students from the cattle industry, and 30 per cent from other

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areas, primarily broadacre cropping. We also have many professionals doing the seven-day Grazing for Profit School.”

TAF: How does your course methodology work?

TM: “We do a seven-day intensive course on site – full immersion, which is the only way to do this.

About 60 per cent of these graduates come back to us year-on-year for ten-day periods, so there is continuity.”

TAF: Any closing words?

TM: “Most farmers worldwide need more business structure in their thinking – if you look at nonfarm businesses there has been great attention to this. In farming, a comparatively miniscule amount.

Secondly, a focus on knowing what people want, why they do what they do and having clear goals would make a big difference.”

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Leaders Speak In researching and creating The Australian Farmer, we have been privileged to discuss agriculture and rural life in Australia with a huge number of industry leaders and farmers. When we spoke with them, their insightful, passionate and occasionally controversial statements inspired our thoughts and work. These are their words.

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“It is widely understood that advanced technology in agriculture in general – and specifically in irrigation – has the potential to effect major improvements in farm productivity and profitability. Much less appreciated is the fact this technology can reduce actual physical labour for the hardworking farmer, hence improving their quality of life. Increased investment in advanced technology that lightens the workload for the next generation of farmers is key to keeping them on the land and therefore safeguarding the agricultural industry into the future.”

Levy Schneider, Managing Director of Netafim

“Major agricultural shows around the country are important to not only support the Australian economy, but also to enhance our nation’s social fabric. They are a rare and valuable ‘city meets country’ opportunity where the masses from metropolitan and regional centres can learn where their food and fibre comes from, help celebrate this vital part of the Australian identity and have some much-needed cooperative fun. Agricultural shows are the one place where we can all unite as a diverse, single and whole community.”

Brock Gilmour, CEO of the Royal Agriculture Society of NSW

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“For over a century, Australian rugby league has been described as ‘the greatest game of all’.

This greatness can be observed in the skills on show and the entertainment provided at every level, no matter the venue, age or gender. Rising above, however, is the game’s unique and enduring ability to unite the masses and act as a social fabric in both urban centres and country towns. The game is forever in debt to regional Australia, given its prodigious record of producing some of rugby league’s greatest ever players, as well as fans and volunteers alike.”

Todd Greenberg, CEO of the National Rugby League

“With 16 years’ experience as a grazier, I’ve observed significant change in Australia’s agricultural landscape in recent decades. Many jobs simply do not exist anymore given the advent of various advanced farming technologies. We’re also seeing the demise of the family farm as automation is having a significant impact on the employment opportunities open to younger generations. The next big change in the industry must centre on delivering rural communities the modern infrastructure services that farmers need to truly thrive.”

Col Murray, Mayor of Tamworth Regional Council

“Australia’s history and evolution in agriculture has fascinated me personally over the past eight years –the level of sophistication and the interest in technology advances here are world class.

We enjoy meeting the challenges posed by this massive country, with its extreme variations in climate and soil conditions. Indeed, it is a two-way relationship – we learn from each other. Our robust R&D centres around the world have developed a special excitement towards feedback from this great farming nation.”

Bruno Fetiveau, CEO of Kuhn Australia

“My late father often described Australia as a world leader in manufacturing between the two world wars. I myself am an Australian manufacturer of agricultural equipment and proud that my business – thanks to perseverance, a bit of luck and a culture of innovation – has survived for over three decades. However, I believe that Australia’s overall manufacturing capability is now seriously languishing, especially when it comes to basic education and job training. The government must recognise this troubling trend and take action to reinvigorate a vital industry.”

Tom Grigg, Director of Country Wide Engineering

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“I left high school at 14 and never attended university, yet I have always pondered the big challenges facing Australian agriculture while constantly looking for things that simply needed fixing. My list of patents across a number of industries is not short, but there were – and still are – more failures than successes. Passion, determination and always asking questions about the status quo are all traits within everyone’s potential.”

David McGrath – Partner and Director of Advantec and Managing Director of SAM Developments Pty Ltd, winner of The Land newspaper’s Australian Inventor of the Year in 1990

“Opportunities in the agricultural industry have grown substantially in recent years. One of the reasons for this is the influx of foreign capital, though there are pros and cons to this. We ought to realise that our domestic view of capital investment in the agricultural sector has often been short term, and thus limiting. Foreign investors, however, tend to take a medium to long term view. We Australians can learn from this, as the prospects for sustainable growth in the agricultural sector are very promising.”

Robert Hammond, CEO of Clark Equipment

“Whether you call it football or soccer, it’s the largest participation sport in Australia with more than 1.1 million people playing the game. All across this continent, football welcomes people regardless of their age, gender, ability or background. Football plays a particularly important role in Australia’s regional communities, providing a focal point for people to get together. And because it’s the biggest sport on the planet, it connects people in our regions with others all over the world, including kids from the bush who have grown up to perform on the world’s largest sporting stage.”

David Gallop, CEO of Football Federation Australia

“Education on the harmful effects of traditional fertilisers on our soil is urgently needed to prevent a catastrophe for the agriculture sector and the nation at large. Subtle soil degradation, caused by ongoing use of traditional fertilisers, becomes a serious problem when it continues unchecked for five to ten years – and we’re now seeing this. Environmentally friendly alternatives, which promote rather than destabilise the delicate and complex soil system, are now available to slow, stop and even reverse the damage already being done.”

Brenton Byerlee, Managing Director of Soil Management Systems

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“Among the foremost needs in agricultural education is business and management. Technology is also playing a bigger role than ever before, but if you do not have a strong base in business and production, you will not optimise the application of technology. Finally, a good farmer still needs to do practical work functions well. We should envision a triangle; with business, technology and basic functions representing three points of an educational strategy. The combination yields a sustainable and profitable farmer.”

Dr Simon Livingstone, Principal of Marcus Oldham College

“Australia punches way above its weight in agricultural innovation. Many of our farmers use the world’s best technologies – often developed locally. From emerging robotics and autonomous vehicles, to 24/7 connectivity and some of most powerful big data tools available, much of it is already here. These smart technologies will need to become commonplace for our farming future given the food security and resource challenges the world is facing. The government should also be commended for their role in providing domestic industry the incentive to invest and take risk.”

John Chalmers, Managing Director of FarmscanAG Pty Ltd

“Ford has a proud history in Australia that stretches nearly a century, and we are an important part of the nation’s heritage and social landscape. I am especially proud that the modern work vehicles relied upon by our farmers, such as the Ford Ranger, were developed by Australian engineers and designers. These utes and 4WDs – designed with Australian expertise and tested in the unforgiving conditions of the Australian outback – are now heavily exported around the world today.”

Graeme Whickman, CEO Ford Motor Company Australia

“Back in 2002, we recognised the enormous potential and benefits solar energy could provide.

There is no risk of the sun not coming up, the technology is proven and reliable and there is a predictable payoff with typical payback periods of less than four years. It is this type of innovation that will increase productivity while driving down energy costs and lowering our carbon footprint. The real cost is in not keeping up with advances in technology.”

Steve Harding, Managing Director of Solar Pumping Solutions

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“Solar powered pumps have now really arrived after they first appeared on the farming scene 20-odd years ago, with a big jump in technical efficiency over the past few years. Many do not realise that a solar pump can produce up to five times the water flow of a windmill – they do not suffer wind droughts and come without any element of danger or the need for insurance. The cost of a single solar pump is somewhat less than a windmill, so I am not surprised to see a great uptake of this empowering technology on a rapidly growing scale across Australia.”

Kym Kubank, CEO of Solar Pump Sales

“It’s one thing to have a good idea, but there are many years of very hard work to make your idea a commercial reality and success – the innovator needs to realise that mistakes are going to happen along the way. It is very important to recognise that the complete path is not just the idea, but the whole chain of activities from production through to distribution and marketing.

I’d encourage all innovators to just stay with it, if you believe in it.”

Ned Olsson, Managing Director of Clipex

“The education sector has a key role to play in the growth of Australian agriculture. As global demand for food and fibre climbs, it is vital that our education system is able to promote interest in the industry and inspire the next generation of farmers, scientists, engineers and researchers. It is these young people who will be the innovators of tomorrow, ensuring Australia remains a leader in the world agricultural market. Industry partnerships with educational institutions are vital to engage and develop the students who will guide our future.”

Clint Gallagher, Principal of Farrer Memorial Agricultural High School

“The Daimler Trucks company and Australian farmers have a lot in common, especially when it comes to innovation. For example, contrary to popular belief, farmers were some of the earliest adopters of the internet for commercial gains back in the 1990s. And now in 2017, farmers are among the first to employ big data solutions. Likewise, innovation is in Daimler’s DNA – we invented the first truck in 1896, and more recently pioneered the airbag and the disc brake. Currently we are leading the development of autonomous trucks, which we expect to revolutionise agricultural transport in the not too distant future.”

Daniel Whitehead, CEO of Daimler Trucks Australia

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“With population growth on the rise, farmers will continue to face the challenges of labour, regulations and inputs to squeeze every bit of efficiency out of their operations in order to meet the world demand for food. While we don’t protest to have all of the answers, Topcon Agriculture exists to help farmers improve their efficiency while maximising yields and returns from their farming inputs. We do that by developing products, both hardware and software, designed to minimise input costs and maximise productivity through improvements in workflow.”

Albert Zahalka, President of Topcon Precision Agriculture

“At Dookie, we of course teach the science and technology of agriculture and its application to precision agriculture. But what is also crucial today is value chain analysis. I grew up on a farm and after we sold our lambs, that was the end of it. Today, gaining information from the consumer, processors, the supermarket and research organisations is of vital importance. We encourage young agriculturalists to become aware of the full process, and to seek and use data.

This leads to a marketing consciousness – it’s modern thinking.”

Ros Gall, Director of Dookie Agricultural College

“The recent launch of Precision Agronomy courses at Tocal has been one of our contributions to modern agricultural education. This is an exciting growth area – data has been collected by the farming community for years, but now we have a greatly increased capacity to use it effectively. Precision Agronomy encompasses use of maps, data and satellite guidance, and leads to greater economy, higher yields and an improved return on investment. This field of study will grow steadily and become commonplace in the near future.”

Darren Bayley, Principal of Tocal College

“Rural Bank is a part of the Bendigo and Adelaide Bank Group and the only 100 per cent Australian-owned specialist agricultural bank. We have a team of local farm finance specialists who deliver tailored banking solutions and products, along with in-depth agricultural knowledge and expertise. We are committed to the long-term success and vibrancy of the agricultural sector, both now and into the future.”

Will Rayner, CFO of Rural Bank

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PARTNERS

Our Partners Our partners were invited to join The Australian Farmer for their relevance to farmers and because of their creation of proven and quality products and services. We took into account their research and development achievements and special collaborations, their pioneering and unconventional thinking and especially their patient and unstinting dedication to the farming community. You can directly access their stories by clicking on the logos or titles.

Feed quality and safety ensured from farmer to farmer by the nationally-certified SFMCA

Experiential learning gives Scot’s students a taste of modern ag

SMS has changed the Australian approach to soil health

The pioneering and unconventional thinking of RCS has led to a change in agricultural education

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From chemical accident to booming natural fertiliser business

Nudgee’s historical rural links are guiding the next generation of city and country boys

A close relationship with rural communities and customers defines Liberty Oil

The Australian fertiliser company changing the approach to agricultural chemicals

A deep history of agronomy gives Back Paddock software the edge

Farrer taps into the growing appeal of ag careers

SINCE 1831

Orange: The gourmet destination with a reputation for sustainability

A history of education with an eye on the future of food security

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PARTNERS

High quality farm machinery made in Australia for Australian farmers

QATC prepares the ag workers of the future

Titan’s LSW tyre technology to revolutionise Australian agriculture

A livestock agent network built on reputation

Prime’s expertise and dedication helps farmers plan for a successful life after work

Tackling the data drought in rural Australia

CJD Equipment meets the heavy-duty machinery needs of rural Australia

Israeli company helps Aussie farmers grow more with less

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Qantas Freight drives Australia’s food exports

New Colorado showcases Holden’s engineering expertise

Wanneroo: A peri-urban food bowl with sustainable export ambitions

Topcon brings efficiency and productivity to farming operations

Innovation driven by a changing consumer market

Clark’s 60-year history of supporting Australian farmers

Polaris leads the way with safety-first innovation

Lindsay: the one-stop shop for farming needs

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PARTNERS

Rex: the aerial lifeblood of regional Australia

Metalcorp – strengthening rural Australia with the highestquality steel

Focus on innovation drives Nufarm’s success in global ag market

Better farm management in the palm of your hand

Looking after animals improves profitability

KUHN brings cutting-edge creativity and precision in farm machinery to Australia

Innovative solutions for harvesting rainwater

Farmers see the bigger picture with advanced spatial technology

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A BIG opportunity for Australian farmers

Aussie-made oil for Australian farm conditions

Outback Queensland: A rite of passage for Aussie kids

Essential Energy keeps farmers safe around electricity

One Mandate Group CEO Audrey Murugasu Publishing Director Jim Eggleton

Production Assistants Lingzi Lu George Alam Hania Amjad

Managing Editor Keiron Costello

Staff Writer Richard Meredith

Design and Production Craig Burkill

Social Media Coordinators Skye Jamieson Jack Riisfeldt Callum Coleman

Publishing Consultant John Dwyer Poetry Editor and Senior Writer Graeme Philipson

Editorial Coordinator Nabila Chemaissem

Editorial Assistants Grace Entry Annie Schubert Charlie Tetiyevsky

One Mandate Group Pty Ltd (02) 9884 9660 solutions@onemandate.com www.onemandate.com

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The Australian Farmer The Australian Farmer is not just a book – the project includes our website, where you can read the latest agricultural news as well as opinions from farmers and industry leaders. Updated daily the website covers news relating to the agricultural industry across a broad spectrum of subjects including Science, Technology, Soil Health and Machinery. Much like this book, we aim to be informative and help Australia’s farmers stay ahead of the game.

The Australian Farmer is a part of our larger publishing project, Boundless Plains to Share – the broadest contemporary compendium ever published on Australian agriculture and agribusiness. Boundless Plains to Share is a deluxe 360-page printed book on Australian agriculture and agribusiness and its relationship to Asia, with accompanying digital editions in English and Chinese that will be released later this year. To obtain a copy of the printed edition, please contact One Mandate Group on (02) 9884 9660.

Boundless Plains to Share

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www.theaustralianfarmer.com

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Published by One Mandate Group, Sydney, Australia. © One Mandate Group, 2017. All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced or used in any other media without prior written consent of One Mandate Group.