Dr Jay Cummins1, Ms Tanja Morgan1
1Mallee Sustainable Farming, Mildura, Australia
Biography:
Tanja Morgan brings over 20 years of expertise in agricultural project management and extension services, with a diverse background in both government and private sectors. She has successfully managed numerous government and industry-funded initiatives. Currently, Tanja focuses on extension and communication programs at Mallee Sustainable Farming, where she integrates digital platforms with traditional extension approaches. Tanja believes that collaboration, with farmers at the core, is essential for effective R, D&E. She sees significant potential in low rainfall farming systems and advocates for digital access to accelerate the adoption of innovative technologies and allow farmers to share their success stories.
Abstract:
Grain growers in the South Australian northern Mallee region farm in some of the most marginal cropping environments globally. To illustrate this, the growing season rainfall (GSR) for the April to October period at Waikerie in the northern Mallee is just 163.9 mm.
Despite the on-going impacts of rainfall variability, Mallee farmers have been able to increase crop yields through cropping systems intensification and adoption of new practices. 2024_ASA_Morgan
Leading the charge in driving local agronomic field research and adoption projects across the region is Mallee Sustainable Farming (MSF), together with research partners including GRDC, DAFF, CSIRO, UniSA, the SA Grains Industry Trust Fund and importantly the farmer themselves.
Whilst research outcomes successfully identify new technology opportunities, it is the complexity associated with farmer decision making and the management of on-farm risk that serves as a major constraint to adoption. MSF have developed innovative participatory driven approaches that aim to support farmers in their decision-making processes suited to their individual business contexts.
These approaches will be explored in detail in this paper revealing critical success factors for achieving impact and practice change for those farmers producing grain on the margins of the good earth.