Sally Higgins

Scholar seeks to understand the drivers of and responses to agricultural land-use competition and change

Starting up a cattle and cropping farm with her partner five years ago had been a period of “rapid learning” for scholar Sally Higgins. Through her 2024 Nuffield Scholarship, Sally went on to deepen that learning by focusing her research on the large‑scale land‑use changes emerging in response to climate change and other competing pressures. Her work examined how Australian agriculture and farming communities were being affected by overlapping demands on rural land - including renewable energy development, carbon and biodiversity projects, urban sprawl, and agricultural intensification - and how farmers, regional communities and policy makers could best navigate the conflicts and opportunities created by these shifts.

“For Australian agriculture, climate change and competing land uses are reshaping how land is valued, used and contested,” Sally reflected.

The topic was personal for Sally, with several renewable energy developments progressing and a growing rural lifestyle and urban‑fringe footprint encroaching into her home region of Queensland’s Darling Downs. Throughout her research, she drew on her passion for engaging with farmers and regional community members, ensuring their perspectives were elevated in government policy and program design.

Alongside operating her farm, Sally worked as an agricultural strategy consultant with Nous Group, advising all levels of government on agricultural sustainability, land‑use change and climate resilience. Her ongoing engagement with agricultural stakeholders, regional communities and government decision‑makers gave her a strong grounding in the challenges facing Australia’s agricultural sector.

Through her Nuffield research, Sally expanded this understanding by visiting countries that had adopted a range of approaches to managing land‑use change driven by climate pressures, population growth and shifting environmental expectations. She explored best‑practice models and assessed how different government, industry and community responses could be adapted to the Australian context. A key focus of her work was identifying lessons learned oversea, particularly where multifunctional land use objectives had been achieved, and considering how Australia might adopt similar models.

“There is a clear gap between policy intent and on‑the‑ground implementation in Australia. Current approaches to climate‑related land‑use change have not adequately brought farmers and regional communities into the conversation, nor positioned them to fairly benefit from the new opportunities reshaping rural landscapes,” she concluded.