Matthew Simmons

Nuffield Australia 2012 scholarship winner

Matthew Simmons, from Ebenezer in New South Wales, receives the 2012 Nuffield Scholarship sponsored by the Sidney Myer Fund. He hopes to investigate the relationship between pigs and cropping.

Matthew is the owner‐manager of Swallow Rock Organics and Melanda Park Free Range Pork. With his wife Sue, he has been growing certified organic potatoes for 6 years and running 80 free‐range sows for the past 2 years. The property is about 115 acres and turns off around 1000 pigs a year.

Matthew would like to study free‐range pig production with a specific focus on the relationship between the pig phase and cropping phase of a rotation system, and how to best manage nutrient build‐up to avoid an environmental hazard.

He believes nutrient build‐up should actually be viewed as an asset, with real potential existing for outdoor pigs to dramatically increase the fertility of marginal land.

"Cereal crops, hay and vegetable crops can all be grown after the pig phase without the use of any extra chemical fertilisers, and in most cases with better results," he says.

He hopes to visit the UK as well as New Zealand and the USA during his Nuffield travels.

56c Stones Rd,
EBENEZER, NSW 2756
(02) 4579 8185
matthewandsue@bigpond.com