✈️ In a few weeks, i'll be setting off on my next Nuffield Farming Scholarships Trust visit. After visiting 🇳🇱 🇩🇪 🇩🇰 🇳🇴 last summer, this time i'm heading to Australia, a country that leads the world when it comes to farmer-led innovation and soil management. From Queensland to WA, Victoria, and NSW, I’ll be meeting growers, agronomists, and researchers to uncover some of the secret sauce that makes the exchange of ideas so effective down under — and what UK farming can learn from it.
🌏 What’s the Secret?One of the big things I want to dig into is Australia’s massive network of grower groups. Farmer-led, often super well-funded from research partnerships, and focused on solving real-world problems, they have an impact way bigger than similar scale UK groups.
Do you know of particular grower groups I absolutely can't miss? 🚜
Alongside the grower groups, I'm also keen to find out more about:
• 💡 Levy-funded R&D corporations that prioritise practical, on-farm research
• 🧑🌾 The role of agronomists and advisors - are they local independents, big national networks, or something in between?
• 📋 Is government influencing soil management practices - without the subsidy lever that the UK Government is currently using, is regulation a big driver of change in Aus?
• 🏦 Are big corporates in the supply chain bringing farmers together and driving change - just like I saw in Denmark with the work Arla Foods are doing
👋 A bit about me:If you’re seeing this because someone in your network kindly shared it, here’s a quick intro:
💻 I'm Tom, co-founder of Soil Benchmark, a software startup helping farms across England easily create Soil Management Plans. In the 14 months since launching, we’ve signed up farms covering 7% of England’s farmland — but our mission to drive the adoption of good soil management is bigger than just the business.
💡 Through my Nuffield, I’m exploring how other countries drive the take up of good soil management practices at scale. My focus isn’t on uncovering new research but learning HOW good - often quite simple - ideas are best shared and then adopted across different soil types, climates, and farming systems.
When I return, I’ll share my findings to help the entire industry.
🌟 Where i'm going to beIf you’re in Australia, here’s where you can find me:
• AgriFutures evokeAG + QLD (15-21 Feb)
• Grains Research and Development Corporation Perth Update + WA (22 Feb - 4 Mar)
• Travelling in Vic & NSW (5-16 Mar)
💬 Got ideas or want to connect? Comment below or drop me a message. I’d love to grab a 🍺 and chat soil! 🤓 🪱 🙏 Please put me in touchIf you know people in Australia who I should be in touch with, then please share this post!
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