The Nuffield Spring Tour and Scholar Presentations was held in Hobart, Tasmania from the 7th-12th October 2008. Between 100 and 160 people participated in various segments of the program during this time. The week commenced with the debriefing and briefing for new and returning scholars on the Tuesday afternoon.

ABARE – Wednesday 8 October

For the first time the Tour was held in conjunction with the ABARE Regional Outlook Conference. This provided an excellent opportunity for new and old scholars and their partners to attend the event and hear about the latest developments in climate change and preparing for carbon trading along with an update on Australian agriculture and farm performance.

Presentations from the three ABARE conributors can be downloaded here:

Mel Ford (1.5 MB PDF)
Peter Berry (500 K PDF)
Phillip Glyde (1.4 MB PDF)

Tour day 1 – Thursday 9 October

On the Thursday morning the delegates all boarded buses to head to the Northern Midlands, via Poatina to hear about the latest plans to build a pipeline to deliver stock and domestic, along with irrigation water to the drought affected midlands farming region. It is expected that the pipeline will deliver 55,000 megalitres of water per year. The tour then continued travelling north to Rob and Kathy Henry’s Property, “Woodrising Farming” near Cressy.

Rob and Kathy Henry operate a diverse farming operation which has developed from a grazing operation based on a relatively small soldier settlement block. Land in the district was subdivided into blocks for soldiers returning from World War 2. Woodrising was then settled by Rob’s father in 1947. With the Macquarie River on the property’s eastern boundary they have been able to source water for irrigation, thus allowing them to grow a range of crops including poppies, peas, onions, cereals, essential oil crops and various seed crops. The majority of their crops are grown under contract with locally based companies. They expect to arrange between $800-$1,200/ha gross margin for the majority of their cropping enterprise, with some crops returning in excess of this. Recently they have diversified their farming enterprise with the development of an on farm biodiesel plant. This plant utilises not only canola oil but also the waste product from a nearby poppy processing company. Although the plant is not totally completed it is expected to be in full operation in the coming month.

Over lunch (sponsored by the Department of Primary Industries Tasmania) Peter Hayes, a World Champion Fly Fisherman, spoke about how he turned his passion into a very successful business in Central Tasmania.

Following lunch we inspected a lamb feed lot operated by Aurora Meats. They produce grain-only fed lamb, which we all agreed after eating it for lunch it was exceptionally tender and full of taste. This feedlot was the idea of Michael Doherty, who has had many years experience in the restaurant trade. The lambs spend approximately 45 days in the feedlot during which they gain 20 kg. The meat is more expensive than conventionally fed lamb but a premium price is obtained as the meat is directly marketed to restaurants across the country. The lambs are very humanly treated with the RSPCA having an open invitation to inspect the facility at any time. Aurora Meats provided an excellent example of success in agricultural production by firstly understanding opportunities which exist in the market place and then aiming to produce a product to match that market requirement.

The final stop for the day was at Oatlands to visit Clare McShane, the Managing Director of Casaveen Australia. Casaveen began in 1989 as an initiative of Clare and Allan McShane and as an expansion of their 2,500 ha fine wool growing property at Lemont near Oatlands. They export their quality garments to a range of countries.

Innovative Farming Australia Conference – Friday 10 October

On Friday we all gathered at the Henry Jones Hotel Conference Room to hear the presentations from the returning scholars.

Ben Ranford, supported by Australian Wool Innovation was the first scholar presentation. Ben spoke about the need for suppliers to have the product which the market requires and the ability to supply the required demand. He spoke about the importance of developing a relationship with the customer and the importance of involvement in the full supply chain. Download presentation (500 k PDF).

Ben Forsyth supported by the Sidney Myer Fund spoke about Ecosystem Management He detailed ecosystem practices from across the world, including those that have been successful and those that have failed due to lack of design and planning. He also detailed how what he observed may be implemented on his own property. Download presentation (500 k PDF).

Robert Kestel, support by Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation conducted a swot analysis of intensive meat chicken farming, incorporating ways to lessen the industries environmental footprint during his Nuffield Scholarship. He spoke about a range of issues, including government regulation, animal welfare, biosecurity, business expansion and the pubic perception of the chicken meat industry. The closing message from Rob was that there are no hormones in Australian grown chicken! Download presentation (2.8 MB PDF).

Following lunch (sponsored by GlaxoSmithKline) we heard from Matt Stott, who was supported by the GRDC and studied sub surface drip irrigation. Matt investigated sub surface drip irrigation on heavy soils and investigated a range of low and high pressure systems and management practices. He is now in the process of trialling a low pressure sub surface drip irrigation system on his family farm at Darlington Point. Download presentation (3.6 MB PDF).

Murray Scholz then followed with his presentation on integrated weed management and the implications of herbicide resistant crops. Murray was supported by the Grain Growers Association and spoke about weed control and GMO crops, the implications of the proposed changes to the pesticide laws in Europe and organic weed control options. He finished his presentation by emphasising the need for Australian farmers to rotate both their crops and herbicide groups. Download presentation (4.8 MB PDF).

The final scholar presentation for the day was from Sam Archer, who was supported by Meat and Livestock Australia. His study was focused on market based ecosystem services, and paying farmers the true price for ecological goods and services. He summed up by stating that resilient ecosystems equal sustainable agriculture, and that markets need to pay the true price for produce. Download presentation (500 k PDF).

In conjunction with the scholar presentations, leadership addresses were presented by representatives from the state farmer organisations chaired by Phil O’Callaghan. These highlighted the need for future leaders in agriculture to step up to the challenge in difficult times and be passionate about Australian agriculture and look to the future to ensure survival and success.

Awards Dinner – Friday evening at Wrest Point Casino

Friday evening saw over 160 people attended the Scholarship Awards Dinner at Wrest Point Casino. The highlight of the evening was the presentation of scholarships to the 2009 Nuffield Scholars. They were:

James Hassall, from Gilgandra, NSW, received the 2009 Nuffield Scholarship supported by the GRDC for growers in the northern grains region.
Stuart Barden from Gilgandra, NSW, received the 2009 Nuffield Scholarship, supported by the GRDC for growers in the southern grains region.
Leon Ryan from York, Western Australia, received the 2009 Nuffield Scholarship supported by the GRDC for growers in the western grain region.
Adam Butterworth from Port Lincoln, South Australia, received the 2009 scholarship sponsored by the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation.
Julie Brien from Greenethorpe, NSW, received the 2009 Nuffield Scholarship supported by MLA.
David Cussons from Kojonup, Western Australia, received the 2009 scholarship supported by AWI.
Robert Bradley from Longford, Tasmania, received the 2009 scholarship sponsored by Rabobank.
Cameron Tubby from Morawa, Western Australia, received the 2009 Nuffield Scholarship supported by Landmark.
Evan Ryan from Yarrawonga, Victoria, received the 2009 Nuffield Scholarship supported by the Grain Growers Association.
Brendon Tierney from Walebing, Western Australia, received the 2009 Nuffield Scholarship supported by the Kondinin Group.
Bruce Watson from Parkes, NSW, received the 2009 Nuffield Scholarship supported by Macquarie Agricultural Services.
Jennifer Hawkins from Finley, NSW, received the 2009 Nuffield Scholarship supported by the Sidney Myer Fund.
Paul Mumford from Won Wron, Victoria, received the 2009 Nuffield Scholarship supported by the Geoffrey Gardiner Dairy Foundation.
David Drage from Warracknabeal, Victoria, received the 2009 Nuffield Scholarship supported by the Estates of the late RC & EC Cappur Webb.
Benjamin Morris from Toongabbie, Victoria, receivd the 2009 Nuffield Scholarship supported by the Rural Finance Corporation.
Thomas Frankcomb from Ranelagh, Tasmania, received the 2009 scholarship supported by Impact Fertiliser.

Saturday 11 October

Saturday morning the buses once again departed Hobart, this time heading in the direction of the Derwent Valley for lunch at the Salmon Ponds. This was followed by a visit to Phil and Liz Beattie’s property. Phil and Liz and their family moved to Tasmania in 2004 from England to establish a dairy farming business. They had been successful in purchasing a property in the Derwent Valley that was within 1 hour of Hobart and ample irrigation water. The property was not previously a dairy farm and was also based in a non traditional dairy region. Since 2004 they have built a 50 stand rotary dairy with automatic cup removers. The interesting feature of the dairy was the fact that a centre pivot capable of irrigating 210 ha and applying between 5-6 ML/ha per year was based over the top of the dairy shed. Having purchased complete dairy herds from Northern Victoria and South Australia they have successfully established a dairy farming business with cows producing on average 9,000 litres.

Sunday 12 October

Sunday, the final day of the spring Tour saw the group visit Houston’s farm near Richmond. Anthony Houston met with us on farm and spoke about his farming business. This was yet another example of innovation in Australian farming, with Anthony detailing how the business first began, and then how they began producing prewashed lettuce on farm for a local Hobart restaurant. Today they supply approximately 20% of the fresh cut produce for Australian supermarkets. Anthony’s story was of interest to all as he explained not only how the business commenced but then also detailed how the business expanded by attracting outside investment, and their decision to move into supplying mainland markets.

The Nuffield Spring Tour in Tasmania was very appropriately titled “Innovative Farming Australia”. Returning Nuffield Scholars highlighted opportunities that exist for their business and industry groups. In addition tour delegates were able to inspect and hear inspirational stories from each farm business visited during the tour. Many opportunities exist for Australian agriculture, these opportunities will continue to be grasped by the future leaders and innovators in Australian agriculture.