Tag / Agriculture

by brandsa2018

Yorke Peninsula’s Fat Farmers tackle big issues

It is Friday morning and parked in the main street of Maitland, Yorke Peninsula, outside of what was once the local footy club, are half a dozen farm utes.

Stepping out of one is farmer Ben Wundersitz, but this morning he has swapped his dusty work boots for sneakers and gym clothes – not his normal get up.

Ben, along with a growing number of other South Australian farmers, is on a mission to look after his number one farm business asset – himself and his family.

He is a founding member of the Fat Farmers initiative, aimed at promoting physical and mental health in rural communities.

Fat Farmers founding member and Maitland farmer Ben Wundersitz running on his Yorke Peninsula property.

What started in 2012 as a network of just three local farmers has grown to include about 190 males and females across many parts of regional SA.

“Fat Farmers, it’s probably not the most politically correct name but at the time we thought that’s what we were,” Ben says.

Often working alone for long hours, farming is a tough gig, and Ben says taking on the family farm business often coincides with looking after a young, busy family, and also ‘retiring’ from team sports such as footy – which can mean a loss of a social connection.

“Blokes often start to wear the brunt of the family farming business in their 30s-40s,” he says. “What exercise does for the body alone, that’s well-documented, but just to get out and have a chat to mates about the weather, what’s happening with the kids or whatever is just so beneficial.

“You can go to the gym feeling crap and two hours later you just come away feeling like a different person. It’s not just about farmers, Fat Farmers is for everyone – male and female – it’s really about rural communities.”

Fat Farmers brings rural communities together to help promote a healthy lifestyle.

These days, Ben’s local Fat Farmer’s group in Maitland meets twice week, in addition to a local personal training session once a week. The local gym is in the old footy clubhouse, where most of these farmers were once meeting for a beer on a Saturday night.

“Thankfully for us, our town had a gym, and we’ve helped make it socially acceptable for blokes to go to the gym because that’s not always the way in a small town,” Ben says.

“Ironically, the gym is across the road from the local pub too, so slowly but surely we’ve changed sides and it’s become quite the norm going to the gym. We’ll now do a gym session and then be leaning on the bar of what was the old footy club, having a coffee and a chat afterwards.”

Fat Famers groups gather regularly in communities across the state, not just for gym sessions, but also cycling, walking, swimming, and running, often with families joining in.

Fat Farmers CEO Sally Fischer says the group is also involved in fun runs across the state.

The next generation – Edwina and Harriet Marshman from the Lower North Fat Farmers team at the City to Bay in Adelaide.

The group is now also involved in the Healthy Workers Across Industry Incentive – in collaboration with Grain Producers SA – showing the direct correlation between exercise, productivity and injury prevention.

For Ben, Fat Farmers has had a lasting impact.

“I’ve lost about 8kg or so, I couldn’t run before I started this. Now I’m running 12km in the City to Bay every year and most of us are maintaining a level of fitness year-round,” he says.

“But the social impact is the big thing – anything you can do to improve the health of local communities is a good thing, we’re losing far too many rural men particularly, to depression and suicide.”

Feature image: Some of the Fat Farmers crew Darren Stock, left, Pete Dutschke, Ben Wundersitz, Sam Johns, Bill Moloney and Nick McCauley at the Maitland gym.

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by brandsa2018

Farmer organisation key to sustainable ag in the Mallee

Mallee Sustainable Farming (MSF) is helping farmers in South Australia’s Mallee remain optimistic as they anxiously wait for a break in the drought.

The not-for-profit organisation services an area of more than four million hectares in SA, Victoria and NSW, stretching from Balranald in NSW to Murray Bridge in SA.

Allen Buckley from Waikerie in SA’s Riverland is one of the founders of the MSF, which began nearly 22 years ago.

He was one of the first Mallee grain growers to use no-till techniques, which reduced soil erosion and significantly increased yields of crops such as wheat and barley.

No-till means crops are placed in the ground without turning over the soil and keeping the previous crop stubble standing.

The word spread about Allen’s success and other farmers in the Mallee region in SA, Victoria and NSW were eager to follow suit.

Waikerie farmer Allen Buckley was one of the founders of MSF and one of first grain growers to use no-till techniques.

Farmers in the Mallee realised they needed to be represented by a permanent organisation to help them become more sustainable.

Their determination attracted funding from the Grains Research and Development Corporation and support from the CSIRO to establish MSF in 1997 and it became an incorporated body in 1998. This collaboration is still strong in 2019.

The first core sites to demonstrate no-till farming practices were established on three properties, at Waikerie on Allen’s farm and at Gol Gol and Balranald in NSW.

More than two decades later, the Mallee cropping region once seen as a dust bowl has been transformed into a lucrative grain and legume producing area.

But Allen says one thing MSF can’t control is the weather.

The 67-year-old says last year was the second driest season he knows of around the Waikerie area since the 1982 drought when SA recorded its lowest rainfall on record.

“On our property we received only 88mm of rain in 1982 and in 2018 we received just 94mm,” he says.

MSF program manager and Jabuk farmer Tanja Morgan says the organisation tries to provide Mallee farmers with the resources they need to manage tough times.

MSF program manager Tanja Morgan who has a farm at Jabuk in the southern Mallee in SA says bringing farmers together is the key to helping them through the tough times.

The organisation’s 2019 research updates, which were held at Waikerie in SA and Murrayville and Manangatang in Victoria last month, were well supported by farmers. They also featured a session on handling stress.

“We try and provide them with the resources they need and we also run a lot of field days, where we get farmers together,” Tanja says.

Growing legumes has also become a way of reducing soil erosion and increasing farmers’ viability.

“Between 2012-2016, the prices for lentils and chickpeas were strong, ” Tanja says.

Participants at a MSF Field Day at Lameroo in SA’s Mallee last year learn about spade and sow soil amelioration treatment to improve production in sandy soils.

Fourth-generation grain grower Wade Nickolls from Pinnaroo says his family has been growing legumes such as lentils since the late 1980s.

However, Wade made most of his profit last season from hay, which he exports to Asia and receives about $300 a tonne. He has also been involved in faba bean trials, which performed well despite the drought and frost.

Australia’s faba beans are presently attracting about $800 a tonne, with strong demand from the Middle East due to a global shortage.

Wade, who is 40, says the future of farming in Pinnaroo looks bright and the MSF has contributed to this.

“In Pinnaroo, the average age of farmers would be 35, which is rare, as in most places it would probably be about 60,” he adds.

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by brandsa2018

‘Chook’ Letton an egg-cellent example of community generosity

Riverland poultry farmer, Darren ‘Chook’ Letton’s passion for eggs began at an early age.

“From around the age of one or two, I was carted around in an egg basket and stopped the chooks from walking out of their chook pens,” he says.

Upon reaching school age, his mates started calling him ‘Chook’, and the nickname stuck as he became more active in the poultry farm and the Riverland community.

Darren’s parents, John and Kaylene, started the egg producing business, which is now known as Glenview Poultry Farm at Pike River, south east of Renmark, 53 years ago.

Darren became the farm’s manager in 2007 and decided to market their eggs under their own brand, Glenview Poultry Farm, and focus mainly on servicing the Riverland.

Darren ‘Chook’ Letton on the farm at Pike River. Photo by Grant Schwartzkopff.

They now have 28,000 laying hens, 16,000 of them are caged and 12,000 are free range. Each day the hens lay about 2000 dozen eggs, which are distributed to the Riverland and Mallee and over the Victorian border into the Sunraysia region.

The eggs are especially popular among caterers in Sunraysia and more than half of the Letton’s eggs are sent there and served in cafés and restaurants.

It is not unusual to see the Glenview Poultry Farm van in Mildura, where many treat Riverlanders as local. Supermarkets in the Riverland, Mallee and Sunraysia also sell the eggs, which are usually on the shelves just one to three days after being laid.

Eggs sourced from wholesalers in Mildura can also be found in Broken Hill and Balranald in NSW and the Wimmera in Victoria.

Darren Letton has been involved in the poultry industry all his life. Photo by Grant Schwartzkopff.

The Letton’s egg cartons over the years have featured River Murray and gum tree scenes with photos of Darren’s children taking part in activities such as umpiring football or playing sport.

“My two youngest kids became my main marketing tools, when it first began Gemma was six and Cody was about two, ” Darren says. “Now he is 13 and she is 17.”

The egg producer donates about 15,000 eggs a year to community organisations for fundraisers such as supporting children with cancer, and sporting clubs.

“If they ask me for money, most of the times I will donate eggs,” he says. “I’m still paying off debt, but I can always donate eggs.”

The donated freshly laid eggs are also a tradition of Australia Day and Easter breakfasts in Berri, Loxton and Renmark.

Glenview Poultry Farm since 2003, has also participated in the Renmark Christmas Pageant and is well known for its Humpty Dumpty float. Its floats have also featured in the Barmera Christmas pageant and the Loxton Mardi Gras.

Glenview Poultry Farm regularly participates in local Christmas pageants.

The egg farms’ 15 employees and their family including children often take part in these events.

Over the years, Darren who is also fondly known as ‘the egg man’, has had regular commercial radio spots. This included ‘The Crack Up’, a joke competition on Magic 93.1FM and an egg recipe competition on Radio 5RM resulting in a recipe book titled, Chook’s Book.

Deregulation of SA’s egg industry in 1992 has caused some headaches for the Lettons. It has meant interstate eggs sometimes flood the market and supermarkets at times also increase the price of farmers’ brands without passing it on to them and then sell generic eggs at a cheaper price.

“If I wasn’t who I was, I think I would struggle,” Chook says. “I think all the hard work I have done over the last ten years has kept us going.”

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by brandsa2018

Nominations now open for Ag Town of the Year Award

Think your town is an example of an outstanding agricultural community? Nominations for the inaugural South Australian Agricultural Town of the Year Award have now opened.

The new award will form a part of Brand South Australia’s 2019 Regional Showcase program and aims to highlight the vital role agriculture and other primary industries play in regional communities.

Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development Tim Whetstone is encouraging regional communities to get behind the award and nominate their town.

“The South Australian Agricultural Town of the Year Award is all about recognising and celebrating the role agriculture and other primary industries such as forestry and fisheries play in the economic and social fabric of our regional communities, and the innovation and diversity that come from these towns,” he says.

Town nominations close on February 15, 2019. An independent panel will assess the nominations before selecting the top five towns to be profiled here on Brand SA News.

The five stories will be published from April through to August and will also be shared across social media networks.

“We want to uncover and share stories of excellence in activities that have the underpinning goal of growing and promoting primary industries and driving regional development,” Mr Whetstone says.

Every year Brand SA News brings you a collection of Regional Showcase stories that share the tales of success of regional businesses, individuals and community groups going above and beyond in their region. With the separate Ag Town of the Year stories, we’ll be shining the spotlight on entire towns that are excelling in agricultural practices.

Brand South Australia CEO Karen Raffen welcomes the new addition to the Regional Showcase program.

“The Regional Showcase shares stories of regional success across our channels to demonstrate to the world how fantastic regional SA is and the Agricultural Town of the Year Award adds a new element to this,” she says.

“We’ll be delving deeper into the stories of entire towns that are excelling in their primary industries practices, and the impact this has on their communities and around the state.”

To access the award guidelines or to nominate, click here.

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by brandsa2018

New state award to recognise top agricultural towns

A new South Australian award announced today will help showcase regional towns that are supporting and promoting the agricultural industry.

The SA Ag Town of the Year Award was announced on National Ag Day (November 21) by Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development Tim Whetstone during a visit to the Mid North.

The award will form a part of Brand South Australia’s 2019 Regional Showcase Program, which tells stories of success here on Brand SA News, highlighting the achievements of regional businesses, groups and individuals.

Local towns flying the flag for primary industries will be eligible for the new award, which highlights the vital role agriculture plays in regional communities. Guidelines for the SA Ag Town of the Year Award will be released in the near future.

Minister Whetstone says the new award is a unique way to acknowledge farming communities for diversity and innovation and to celebrate agriculture as a part of their social fabric.

“We want to acknowledge the positive impact agriculture has on regional towns and the flow on effect this has on a township, on community members and on the state as a whole,” he says.

“The Ag Town of the Year Award will also highlight how our communities can learn from each other and will enable them to grow.”

Minister Whetstone says primary industries generated $22.5 billion in the agriculture, food, wine and forestry sectors in 2016/17.

In addition to National Ag Day, today is also World Fisheries Day, highlighting the critical importance of global fisheries and ensuring sustainable stocks and healthy ocean ecosystems.

Join in and Thank A Farmer by using the hashtags #ThankafarmerSA, #ThanksafisherSA, #AgDayAU, #ichoosesa and #EatLocalSA on social media.

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by brandsa2018

Eat more pork and help save our bacon

‘Get some pork on your fork’ is the famous line second-generation pig farmer Andrew Johnson needs South Aussie shoppers to hear now more than ever.

The owner of Mt Boothby Pastoral Company is standing in the middle of the stall-free, straw-based growing shelter, his livelihood snuffling at his boots.

At the centre of his 18,000-acre mixed farm enterprise in the small Murray Mallee service town of Tintinara, 40km from Keith, is a 1000 sow, farrow to finish operation, one of the state’s larger piggeries.

Andrew has spent most of his working life in Tintinara, his father establishing the piggery in the late 1970s as a way to diversify farm operations.

“I always knew I was going to be a farmer and pigs have always been a key part of what I love doing,” says Andrew, Brand South Australia’s latest I Choose SA ambassador.

“They’re very intelligent animals and they’re very efficient, I have a lot of curiosity for them.”

Intelligent, yes. But SA pork quite literally brings home the bacon.

The state’s pork industry contributes $385 million to the SA economy, supporting almost 2500 full time local jobs and providing $188 million in household incomes for local families.

This is according to figures released earlier this year by Australian Pork Limited which also acknowledges that the pig production sector is more important in SA than in any other state.

Tintinara pig farmer and I Choose SA ambassador Andrew Johnson. Photo by James Knowler/JKTP.

Despite its prevalence to the local economy, the pork industry is currently stuck in a glut due to a downturn in prices, an oversupply of meat and increased feed grain prices.

Andrew believes the oversupply issues have been brought about by the industry becoming a victim of its own success, as pig producers nationwide undertook significant farm investments and some expansions, shooting up productivity.

“The pricing is depressed at the moment and it has been because of some oversupply issues,” Andrew says.

“Prior to now, we were in pretty good times and through these better times producers were investing in their infrastructure, making improvements and are now achieving better productivity out of their piggeries.”

To counteract the industry-wide struggles, the pork industry is committed to backing its own, with a number of initiatives rolling out to secure the wellbeing of farmers and their families.

Pork SA chair Mark McLean explained at a recent Brand South Australia agribusiness event how charity campaigns, farm support services, and choose local pushes were among efforts to help the industry bounce back.

“We are experiencing a downturn at the moment, there is no doubt about that. But the opportunity is what do you do, how do you respond?” he says.

“The first priority we identified was to support our people, to support our farmers, to help producers make decisions as early as possible by funding well-being counsellors and providing pork industry specialist support to rural financial counsellors.”

In addition, Pork SA’s charity campaign involves donations of pork products to Catherine House in Adelaide, Foodbank and The Hutt Street Centre. The initiative not only helps those less fortunate but further spreads the important message about the need for households to consume more locally grown pork.

South Aussie shoppers will also play a part in giving the industry a leg-up, as households are urged to not only choose Australian pork, but eat more of it.

Andrew Johnson’s sons Will, 10, and Eddie, 11, on the farm at Tintinara. Photo by James Knowler/JKTP.

Consumers should look for the bright pink Australian Pork logo on packaging to ensure the product is grown by Aussie pig farmers.

Mark encourages shoppers to also keep an eye out for country of origin labelling and only purchase pork products made from 90% or more Australian ingredients.

“If it doesn’t have more than 90% on that barcode, it’s probably not Australian, it’s probably the saline, the water, it might even be the packaging.”

Back on the farm at Tintinara, Andrew Johnson echoes the same sentiments.

Consumers backing Aussie pork means that not only will his two young sons have a solid chance at taking over the family farm in coming decades, but it also means something for the 15 full time team members currently employed by the business.

“Our business is very important locally, it’s one of the major employers along with Thomas Foods International feedlot up the road,” Andrew says.

“The economic impact per sow is about $3000 back into the community, so that gives you an idea about what impact it has. The pig industry is incredibly important in our regions.”

But like all Aussie farmers, pork producers are resilient and Andrew is quick to point out the many strengths of the industry.

“The pig industry has always been very forward and I’m very proud of it. About eight years ago we decided voluntarily as an industry to phase out the use of sow stalls and that was a first in the world,” he says.

“Over 90% of our industry is quality assured to ensure food safety, welfare and environmental regulations are adhered to.”

Andrew also speaks highly of the industry’s forward-thinking approaches to genetic improvements and bio energy production.

In 2004 he took research into his own hands when he won a Nuffield Scholarship to study sow welfare, disease management, electronic identification and sow housing. He subsequently became chairman of Nuffield Australia and a director of Nuffield International, having completed both roles recently.

Tintinara pig farmer Andrew Johnson urges shoppers to choose Australian grown pork products. Photo by James Knowler/JKTP.

Other strengths of the state’s pork industry includes our processing facilities. Every week about 22,000 ‘baconer’ pigs are sent to either JBS at Port Wakefield or Big River Pork at Murray Bridge, two of the nation’s largest pork abattoirs. The majority of Australian pork is sold to the domestic market, with some entering Singapore and New Zealand.

Despite the challenges, Andrew is confident about the future of SA’s pig industry and the state’s agriculture sector as a whole.

He says employment opportunities are in abundance in most regional towns, but admits the next challenge is encouraging more people to choose to live and work in country areas.

As a keen supporter of the rural town’s sporting clubs, he says Tintinara and its humble population of 527 will always be home.

“I love livestock and animals, country areas and the people in them, I love my community,” Andrew says.

“I couldn’t see myself anywhere else, it’s a great place to be.”

Industry in focus: Agribusiness

Throughout the month of October, the state’s agribusiness industry will be under the magnifying glass as part of I Choose SA.

South Australian farmers, producers, agricultural researchers and biosecurity workers are the lifeblood of our country communities and are big players in the state’s overall economic welfare. Read more stories here.

Visit I Choose SA to meet the people building business and industry in SA, and to find out how your choices make a difference to our state.

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Like this story? Nominate a story from your region.
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by brandsa2018

UK exchange employee to learn from South Australian agriculture

One of South Australia’s leading regional grain marketers and agribusiness consultancies is helping local farmers to better manage seasonal challenges by introducing an international insight into the business.

Rural Directions based in Clare in the state’s Mid North has begun an international exchange program, welcoming 26-year-old consultant George Lane all the way from Leicestershire, England.

George, who works for the UK-based Brown & Co, has arrived in SA for four weeks to work with Rural Directions across the state’s prime cropping and grazing regions.

Rural Directions has been around since 1997 in aim of helping local farmers adapt to technology, implement advanced management systems, and give advice and analysis on particular situations or opportunities.

Their work includes liaising with farm businesses to increase income and reduce costs, save time, make sound investment decisions, give independent agronomic advice, and to help advance industry development.

Brown & Co UK employee George Lane, left, with Rural Directions managing director David Heinjus.

Rural Directions operations manager Brenton Greenslade says the employee exchange, a first between the Clare business and Brown & Co, will be reciprocated in 2019 when a Rural Directions employee travels to the UK.

“It’s an opportunity for our employees to gain an outside view on how things are done and then be able to bring it back and apply it for the benefit of our clients here in Australia,” he says.

Delivering a different perspective and learning how local farmers are dealing with current drought conditions are just a couple of outcomes expected by George.

“I’m really hoping to see another perspective to how people approach and deal with agricultural businesses, along with how they deal with the challenges which they face such as drought,” he says.

“I have experience in a lot of similar areas that Rural Directions specialises in, hopefully I can bring something new to the table or even spark new thoughts and ideas.”

Rural Directions employees Carlyn Sherrif and Natasha Searle.

Rural Directions also has offices in Freeling in the Lower Light, Loxton in the Riverland and Naracoorte in the South East, as well as an office in Dubbo, New South Wales.

Agribusiness consultant Patrick Redden says Rural Directions delivers advice for about 10% of the state’s crop.

“Rural Directions exists to add value to our clients, who are individual family farming businesses, those within the corporate ag sector, and industry groups like Grains Research and Development Corporation, Meat and Livestock Australia, Australian Wool Innovation and Dairy Australia,” he says.

“It’s about helping families to grow and develop their business to increase profitability and sustainability, while identifying opportunities for the future.”

Much of Rural Directions’ current work involves helping growers through current climate challenges, such as drought and frosts.

Rural Directions’ Simon Voigt. The business also consults with livestock farmers as well as crop and pastoral farmers.

Some parts of Australia are in the grip of a drought or are affected by it, creating less than average production and bringing drought-related stress to farmers and their families.

Patrick says Rural Directions helps keep mindsets positive and helps clients to focus on factors within their control.

“We can be a sounding board with independent views on these stressful decisions such as do they leave a crop for grain or cut it for hay?

“When we work with a business and support the client, we are helping to remove the emotion from it and having a clear-headed approach.”

With 23 employees based across Rural Directions’ five offices, Patrick says there is potential for further growth in the business, with two new graduate employees starting soon.

Header photo features Rural Directions employees Brendan Wallis, Brenton Greenslade and Tony Craddock.

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Industry in focus: Agribusiness

Throughout the month of October, the state’s agribusiness industry will be under the magnifying glass as part of I Choose SA.

South Australian farmers, producers, agricultural researchers and biosecurity workers are the lifeblood of our country communities and are big players in the state’s overall economic welfare. Read more stories here.

Visit I Choose SA to meet the people building business and industry in SA, and to find out how your choices make a difference to our state.

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by brandsa2018

Young, driven and ready for a career in agribusiness

At 22 years of age, Elizabeth Ward spends most of her working week among grape vines and under almond trees in one of South Australia’s picturesque food and wine regions, McLaren Vale.

Brand South Australia’s latest I Choose SA ambassador is in her final year of an agricultural science degree at the University of Adelaide and has scored an internship with independent agricultural consultancy DJ’s Growers, where she is learning about the world of agronomy.

Elizabeth has few doubts about her future and securing full-time work in SA’s agribusiness industry, with her university course’s webpage stating “there are five jobs for every one graduate”.

“One of the key selling points for students looking at studying ag science is the opportunity for graduates,” she says.

“I think people are pretty confident that there are jobs out there, and I’ve found from speaking to people in the industry that there are jobs to be filled.

“So I think SA is really cool in that there are many jobs in agriculture.”

Working for three days a week for DJ’s Growers in vineyards across McLaren Vale, the soon-to-be university graduate has already got her foot in the door of the state’s agribusiness sector.

I Choose SA for Agribusiness ambassador Elizabeth Ward is undertaking a paid internship at local agronomy consultancy DJ’s Growers. Photo by James Knowler/JKTP.

The business’s consultants and agronomists are in charge of regularly monitoring vines and crops, providing technical advice to producers of winegrapes, orchard fruits, potatoes, horticulture crops, pasture and broad-acre crops.

Agronomists help detect pests and diseases before suggesting and monitoring appropriate controls to help reduce economic damage to crops. They also monitor soil quality and salinity, and give advice on the right tools to improve produce quality.

Elizabeth is one of three internship participants currently monitoring vine health in large-scale and boutique vineyards prior to the harvest season in early 2019.

“We use an app called Agworld Scout to record and monitor the growth stage of the vines, then we report back to our agronomist, who reports back to the grower, who can then decide on the management of their crop,” she says.

“It’s wonderful working outside, I love it. McLaren Vale a great spot to work and I really enjoy working with such beautiful crops as well.

“The growth of them is so quick. In the past six weeks we’ve seen them go from being pretty much bare to really gorgeous canopies.”

DJ’s Growers intern and I Choose SA ambassador Elizabeth Ward monitors vine and crop health in preparation for harvest. Photo by James Knowler/JKTP.

Elizabeth’s curiosity about the world of food production and a passion for the state’s abundance of high-quality produce was all it took to spark a desire to pursue a career in agribusiness.

Studying for three years between the University of Adelaide’s North Terrace, Waite and Roseworthy campuses, she says her studies have exposed her to crop, livestock and soil sciences, biology, biochemistry, genetics, and soil and animal health.

Students also access the latest research and technology and build practical skills through a number of work experience opportunities, with 91% of the university’s ag science graduates finding full-time employment within months of finishing their degree.

Elizabeth also spent a semester on an agricultural science exchange at the University of Guelph in Canada.

Viticultural agronomist Joe Siebert completed the agronomist internship in 2016 before transitioning into a full-time role at DJ’s Growers.

Servicing soil moisture monitoring equipment installed in 200 vineyards across Langhorne Creek, McLaren Vale, Adelaide Hills, and Barossa Valley, he also provides technical support and knowledge for winegrape growers.

Joe’s work involves regular monitoring of vineyards for pests and diseases, assessing the quality of the vine and crop, and advising on the appropriate use of fungicides, insecticides and herbicides when needed.

Photo: PIRSA.

DJ’s Growers takes pride in its Integrated Pest Management (IPM) approach, which involves more environmentally sensitive methods for controlling pests, rather than the use of chemicals and insecticides.

An example of IPM is the use and fostering of ‘beneficial insects’ released into strawberry crops or hot-house environments to control unwanted insects.

Joe also provides services on mapping, canopy measurements, soil and plant nutrition, irrigation water quality and irrigation advice.

He says DJ’s Growers is an independent and unbiased agronomy business that places paramount importance on the needs of local growers and their crops.

“Our primary focus is to provide good technical advice that improves crops and returns to the grower. We try and look at it from the perspective of ‘how can we make sure they are still doing business in 10 years’ time?’

“We are very much tailored to every grower’s needs.”

DJ’s Growers is currently supporting more than 100 producers growing a number of crops including winegrapes, potatoes, strawberries, cherries, almonds, olives, onions, garlic, broad-acre crops and salad greens, just to name a few.

DJ’s also stocks its own line of organic and conventional fertilisers designed for local conditions to combat problems such as low yields and build ups of high soil salinity.

Industry in focus: Agribusiness

Throughout the month of October, the state’s agribusiness industry will be under the magnifying glass as part of I Choose SA.

South Australian farmers, producers, agricultural researchers and biosecurity workers are the lifeblood of our country communities and are big players in the state’s overall economic welfare. Read more stories here.

Visit I Choose SA to meet the people building business and industry in SA, and to find out how your choices make a difference to our state.

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by brandsa2018

Farmers’ unique investment grows SA grain industry

Grain farmers are growing increasingly resilient in South Australia as they continue to plough their own funds into cutting edge research, says industry chief Caroline Rhodes.

Caroline, who took over the reins at Grain Producers SA earlier this year as the organisation’s first female CEO, says local farmers have led the way nationally in investing in their own futures.

Each grain farmer voluntarily pays 30 cents for every tonne of grain sold into the SA Grain Industry Trust (SAGIT) and, as they face a challenging season, the 25 years of corresponding research is paying dividends.

“Grain producers see research as being critical to increasing productivity, reducing risk and unlocking investment in agriculture, and, through SAGIT, they are prioritising their own research needs,” says Caroline, who previously was a trustee of the fund.

“No other state has a research fund supported by growers for state-based, grains industry research. SA is the envy of other states.”

In the past year, $1.8 million in trust funding has supported 25 different grains industry research projects to benefit SA farmers.

Caroline says this work has triggered vast improvements in farming techniques and was now helping farmers better manage seasonal rainfall conditions.

Photo: PIRSA.

“It’s a combination of plant breeding targeting varieties that have a higher drought tolerance, but the biggest change and help by far has been the widespread adoption of no-till farming,” she says.

No-till farming sees producers aim to create little disturbance to soil in growing or harvesting crops, with stubble from previous years creating valuable organic matter to enrich soil and improve moisture conservation.

There are currently about 4,500 grain farms in SA with Primary Industries and Regions SA statistics showing they contribute about $5.3 billion to gross food revenue in the state. Their average grain harvest is about seven million tonnes annually.

Despite this year’s lower rainfall seeing lower tonnage forecasts, Caroline believes farmers are increasingly better equipped to manage drought years through sustainable farming practices.

“While this season may be challenging, there still remains an underlying optimism about the future of the industry and its growth potential,” she says.

“If you look at the longer term, we have seen record shipments from SA as yields continued to improve. While there may be disruption to exports this year, our farmers are resilient.

“SA grain has a fantastic reputation for quality and it means our product is in high demand offshore to feed a growing world population.”

Photo: PIRSA.

About 85% of wheat, barley, canola, oats, lentils, peas, beans, lupins and chickpeas grown over about four million hectares, is exported.

Since taking over the role at Grain Producers SA, Caroline has overseen the organisation moving its headquarters from Mt Barker in the Adelaide Hills to Flinders Street in the city.

There also has been a rebrand to “better reflect a new direction for GPSA as being a modern, progressive and professional representation body”.

Caroline has overseen the creation of a five-point working plan to steer the industry organisation’s future as the voice of SA growers.

This focuses on improving infrastructure, trade and market access, research and development, creating a stronger workforce and balancing agriculture with competing land use needs.

Caroline believes her appointment as CEO, along with the organisation having two other high profile women on its board, was about “leading by example and reflecting how many women are working in the industry”.

Grain Producers SA CEO Caroline Rhodes joins PIRSA CEO Scott Ashby, left, Pork SA chairman Mark McLean, Primary Industries and Regional Development Minister Tim Whetstone, and Primary Producers SA executive chairman Rob Kerin at Brand South Australia’s recent agribusiness industry briefing.

Independent board director Professor Wendy Umberger is the University of Adelaide’s Professor of Agricultural Economics and Food Policy and executive director of its Centre for Global Food and Resources, focusing on economic issues affecting global food and agricultural value chains.

While more a recently appointed board member – grain, hay and sheep farmer Tanja Morgan – also works as a project manager for Mallee Sustainable Farming.

Caroline says the industry is well backed by global leaders in grains research at the Waite Institute and the new $3.7 million Clare Research Centre with its focus on legume crops.

It also offers enormous economic and work opportunities.

“The grains industry is an engine room for the local economy. At harvest time, the storage and handling workforce alone sees more than 1500 casual jobs being created statewide,” Caroline says.

“We have a broad range of jobs on offer and it’s a matter of encouraging people to consider agriculture as a career option because it’s a growth industry in SA.”

Header image: Grain Producers SA.

Industry in focus: Agribusiness

Throughout the month of October, the state’s agribusiness industry will be under the magnifying glass as part of I Choose SA.

South Australian farmers, producers, agricultural researchers and biosecurity workers are the lifeblood of our country communities and are big players in the state’s overall economic welfare. Read more stories here.

Visit I Choose SA to meet the people building business and industry in SA, and to find out how your choices make a difference to our state.

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by brandsa2018

Rural women at the forefront of resilient and sustainable farming

Veterinarian and third generation beef pastoralist Ellen Litchfield is heading to desert country in Africa to research leading ways to farm cattle with little rainfall.

She’s also traveling to South America and the United States to explore the ways the world’s leading red meat producers tackle climate change as South Australia faces further climate challenges in coming decades.

“Our farming is completely reliant on rain, it really dictates our production values,” Dr Litchfield, who lives on Wilpoorinna Station south of Marree, says.

“I’m 100% sure climate change is happening but drought has always been one of the biggest problems facing our state, we need to be leaders in adapting, using new technologies and techniques.”

Dr Litchfield is among a growing number of SA women undergoing world-leading research in the agriculture industry to ensure local farmers are at the forefront in sustainably feeding the world.

Dr Ellen Litchfield and her father, Gordon Litchfield.

Others include Dr Penny Roberts, site leader at the new $3.7 million Clare Research Centre with its focus on growing the best legume crops including lentils, chickpeas, faba beans and field peas.

And then there’s the women leading research at industry organisations, like Susie Green at the Apple and Pear Growers Association of SA and Caroline Rhodes at Grain Producers SA.

Dr Litchfield recently won a 2019 Nuffield scholarship supported by Westpac to research how red meat producers in arid and semi-arid regions around the world can better farm with less water and feed.

She is already well versed in farming in desert country, having grown up on Wilpoorina Station – returning 18 months ago after studying in Adelaide then Wagga Wagga to gain her veterinarian qualification.

She then travelled and worked around Australia and the world.

Dr Litchfield is now home with her fiancée Blake Ward to help her parents Gordon and Lyn Litchfield run the station.

It is part of the vast, family owned and run Litchfield Pastoral Company that takes in three stations with a combined 600,000ha.

Dr Ellen Litchfield runs Wilpoorina Station with her family south of Marree.

“I just love the lifestyle working here, I like the feeling you are working toward something bigger, we are trying to maintain this natural ecosystem as well as to be able to feed people well into the future,” Dr Litchfield says.

“Food security is a big issue facing our society.”

Her uncle Peter and aunt Janine Litchfield are at Mundowndna and Ellen’s brother Adam and his wife Kate Litchfield are at Mt Lyndhurst.

There can be up to 5000 cattle and 10,000 Dorper sheep organically farmed across the properties, but Dr Litchfield says this fluctuates dramatically depending on rainfall.

“We had high rainfall in 2010 with about 400mm, a few years after that numbers of stock will be up but then when it gets drier numbers fall,” she says.

At the moment, the stations are holding up under the nation’s drought conditions but “we’ve had about 36mm this year, most of the rain we had last year in January” with Dr Litchfield keen to pursue best practice.

There’s still some dry feed but stock is being sold and “if there’s no rain before summer it will be a bit tough”. It helps that the family has chosen resilient stock.

Dorper sheep originated in South Africa and were bred for heat tolerance and, while cattle are mainly Angus, there are also dark, red Senepols “that have slick hair with good heat tolerance”.

“They are using them more in the Caribbean with dairy dropping off because of rising temperatures, crossing Freesians with Senepols,” Dr Litchfield says.

Dr Penny Roberts from the Clare Research Centre. Photo by Gabrielle Hall.

At Clare Research Centre, site leader Dr Penny Roberts who has a PhD in pasture cropping, says analysis is underway on different legume varieties along with trial growing sites around the state.

“We’re looking at what legume crops to grow where, and also how best to grow them, from pre-sowing and all the way through to harvest,” she says, adding that research was supported by Grains Research and Development Corporation funding.

The PIRSA centre also studies best species and varieties for pulse farmers to grow in specific regions with Dr Roberts saying there’s been a quantum change in the way these crops are grown in SA.

SA farmers traditionally planted pulses in rotations to provide nutrients and weed breaks for the cereal phase, with wheat and barley being the dominant crops.

“Now in some areas pulses are becoming the largest proportion of the cropping system,” Dr Roberts, who recently returned from a 13-day research tour in Canada, says.

“The aim of our research is to improve the production and profitability.”

Industry in focus: Agribusiness

Throughout the month of October, the state’s agribusiness industry will be under the magnifying glass as part of I Choose SA.

South Australian farmers, producers, agricultural researchers and biosecurity workers are the lifeblood of our country communities and are big players in the state’s overall economic welfare. Read more stories here.

Visit I Choose SA to meet the people building business and industry in SA, and to find out how your choices make a difference to our state.

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