Queensland cropping and horticulture agronomists delivering for their clients

Pressure on agronomists has never been greater, as they try to bring the commercial and research sides of the industry together to get a profitable and sustainable farming system.

Queensland Country Life's Ben Harden spoke to the next crop of young agronomists, under 35, who are leading the way.

Helping growers achieve their potential yields has always been at the forefront for St George's Tessa Dimond.

Originally from the Goondiwindi region, Ms Dimond has worked in St George for 12 years.

Completing all of her university externally while employed as an ops manager at Jones Air, she became a trainee agronomist for Meremley Agricultural Services.

In 2017, she competed her graduate certificate in Agricultural Science from University of Queensland and in 2019 graduated with a Masters Degree of Science in Agriculture from University of New England.

Now employed as a broadacre and irrigation agronomist for AGnVET Rural, Ms Dimond says each day is different, which she loves about the role.

"I am driven by growers achieving their results, and also passionate about continually building trust between the agricultural industry and our city consumers," she said.

Her approach to improving the efficiency of her client's operations have helped growers spread financial risks.

"Recommending summer cropping options (mungbeans and grain sorghum) in a winter cereal dominant rotation to spread financial risk and alternating weed strategies to control hard to kill weeds such as Feathertop Rhodes grass," she said.

Ms Dimond was awarded the St George Cotton Growers Association's 2020 Young Achiever of the Year and the 2023 Nuffield Farming Scholarship.

"I am currently undertaking research as part of my Nuffield Scholarship to build awareness of how agronomist recommendations and growers application of pesticides impact commodity pricing, access to international markets," she said.

As part of her scholarship, she will be traveling overseas to study international Maximum Residue Limits (MRLs) requirements.

Having started in the North Queensland sugarcane industry, Tegan Brownie completed trial work in investigating appropriate crop rotations and new opportunity cropping for the FNQ area.

"These trials focused on soil health, sustainability, profitability and also ease of management," Ms Brownie said.

The trials were pivotal in providing data that helped growers to broaden their knowledge about alternative cropping options as well as improving their fallow health.

"By extending typically short fallows within the cane system growers were able to plant more legume crops for nitrogen reduction such as soybeans, improve soil compaction issues using targeted tillage and deep rooted crops and improve overall profitability."

Tegan grew up on the southern Atherton Tablelands and graduated from UNE in 2018 with a Bachelor of Agriculture, studying interstate as no university in NQ offered a degree in agriculture.

Passionate about broadening her agronomy horizons, Ms Brownie moved to central Queensland, where she's now employed as an agronomist for Nutrien Ag Solutions in Emerald.

"Each day, I see a range of crops and spend time with growers working out how to optimise profits in a sustainable way by minimising inputs and maximising yields," she said.

"CQ has a very unique climate and really allows us to push the limits of cropping opportunities which is exciting as an agronomist."

Ms Brownie said maintaining a social licence to farm remains an increasing challenge.

"Education is essential if the general public are to understand where their food and fibre originates," she said.

"Agriculture also needs to attract people who don't have a farming background.

"This means promoting agriculture as a career path to school kids in the city as well as regional towns."

Nicholas McBride's passion for agriculture began on his family's cattle grazing properties near Rockhampton.

After graduating with a Bachelor of Agriculture with a focus on Cropping and Livestock production at CQUniversity in 2018, he started his career as an agronomist on the Darling Downs.

Now self-employed at McBride Agronomy, he started his own business full-time in January 2022.

Mr McBride prides himself on maximising his client's yields, while ensuring profitability, sustainability and efficiency of their operations.

"Day-to-day, I provide advice on management decisions to my broadacre and irrigated farming clients on the Darling Downs," he said.

"The crops I mainly work with are cotton, sorghum and mungbeans in summer, and wheat, barley, and chickpeas in winter, but I also provide advice on pasture-based systems throughout the year.

"I like the variety of work that comes with managing different crops throughout the year as there are always new challenge to problem solve and overcome."

Mr McBride admits there are highly concerning challenges that face his industry in the future, including the huge industry-wide dependence on chemical herbicides, fungicides and insecticides; degrading soil health; and land availability for future production.

"I am ensuring proactivity on growing pest resistance challenges by developing and implementing integrated pest and weed management plans," he said.

"I found the best way to be proactive in soil health and nutrition is by developing integrated nutrition programs that use different sources nutrients and ameliorants."

Mr McBride also conducts his own on-farm trials, researching different crop varieties, planting times, weed management techniques and nutrition timing.

Millie Bach traded in her life as a jillaroo in northern Australia to a advise broadacre crop farmers on the Darling Downs.

Ms Bach grew up on her family's grain property at Jandowae and worked for three years as a jillaroo in WA and the NT, before heading to Armidale (UNE) to study a Bachelor of Business and Agriculture.

Having graduated in 2015, she's now employed as an agronomist for Elders in Dalby, which sees her doing fallow checks, crop scouting, soil testing, budgeting, and chemical recommendations.

"I love the growers I get to work with and the fact I get to see so many different ways of doing things on farm," Ms Bach said.

"A big one for me at the moment is trying to get as much information as possible to growers on the benefits of using residual herbicides.

"Although, an expensive upfront cost, it can help to save on sprays over summer and reduce the weed seed bank."

Ms Bach said there were many lessons to be learnt in her industry.

"I get to bare witness to unintended trials all the time. I always call mistakes in the field a trial," she said.

"If things are missed or doubled up like seeding rates or fertiliser it gives you a look at what effect lots of different variables can have."

Ms Bach agrees labor shortage would be at the top of the list impacting the industry into the future.

"I do little bits with the state high school ag class and always try and use my contacts as much as I can to help get young people a start," she said.

Jamie Pollen has always had a strong will and passion for agriculture science.

Born and raised in on the Atherton Tablelands, Ms Pollen completed a degree of Sustainable Agricultural Science, Majoring in Agronomy at the University of Queensland, graduating in 2021.

Working full time while completing her degree in agronomy externally, she was able to receive hands-on experience in a working role in the blueberry industry at Berry North.

"I was lucky enough to have a wide variety of roles presented to me after graduation," Ms Pollen said.

"I received many job offers upon graduating, but I decided to continue in the Berry Industry and accepted the role of Agronomist at Queensland Berries in 2022.

"I have now expanded to be engaged with five of their sites across the Southern Queensland Region that grow extensive strawberry, blackberry, and raspberry crops totaling at 115 ha."

Ms Pollen's experience in the field has fast-tracked her to the position of production manager at Qld Berries.

"I currently manage the continued growth and profitability of the business through insuring forward planning and liaising with Driscoll's to ensure timely delivery and application of planting and manipulations, alongside forecasting," she said.

"I also supervise all agronomy aspect as improving overall crop health and yields, communicating better growing techniques, and adapting new techniques to improve the efficiency of maintenance and harvest tasks."

Over the past year, Ms Pollen was able to implement site-mapping and production planning for the next five years across each their sites.

"Additionally, preparing and presenting a yield forecasting document per crop type, variety and site, that enables that site mangers to see the predicted labour allocation for the coming season," she said.

"This document enables the in-house registered labour hire team to then arrange the workforce in advance."

Ms Pollen also conducted a trial with her employer which saw a Blackberry crop undergo various pruning trials, with the results concluded that timing and method of the prune increased tons/ha drastically.

Sally Poole grew up on the northern beaches of Sydney, but it was her time on her aunty and uncle's properties where her passion for agriculture began.

She is now an agronomist and digital ag consultant for DATA Ag based in Goondiwindi, working across the southern Darling Downs and Border Rivers region.

As part of her consultancy work, she has helped farmers develop improved management strategies across their cropping operations farms by better understanding their soils and the drivers of yield with in them.

"A specific example of this, I was working with a consulting client who was convinced they had a soil acidity problem then was affecting their production," Ms Poole said.

"After spatially mapping an analysing their soil, we were able to show them it was in fact the soils ability to hold water, areas of sodality and how this was amplified by topography were the main drivers of production.

"The management strategy from there was gypsum application to the sodic areas and retain stubble to help reduce soil crusting and then manage the crops to match the production potential of the season and soil in a more site specific way."

Her approach to helping growers maximise their production and minimise their environmental impact has seen her excel in her role as an agronomist.

Graduating from Charles Sturt University with a Bachelor of Agricultural Science in 2016, she is currently doing a research masters through the University of Sydney, where her research is looking at the link between soil water, sub soil constraints and yield.

Currently she is trialing and implementing some of the newest techniques in mapping soils and understand variability across fields.

"During the drought, we played with irrigated bed set up and irrigation timing with very limited water that resulted in 6t/ha wheat crops very a very tough season," she said.

"Also implementing different methods for tracking soil water through the season in dryland crops to better understand the risks and production potential.

"This helped the grower with managing the crop later in the season and manage the marketing of the grain in advance.

Ms Poole was awarded the Macintyre Valleys Cotton Young Achiever of the Year in 2022.

Dalby's Angus Dalgliesh believes the potential to reduce inputs through the use of real-time information is a huge opportunity currently before broadacre farmers.

Growing up on his family farm near Brigalow, Angus is proud to be a part of the fourth generation family farm.

Mr Dalgliesh's study journey began in 2012 when he attended Emerald Agricultural College, graduating in 2013 with a Diploma in Agribusiness management.

In 2016, he graduated with a bachelor of Sustainable agriculture, majoirng in agronomy, at UQ Gatton in 2018.

Now employed as an agronomist for Nutrien Ag Solutions in Dalby, his average day is spent among sorghum, soybeans, mungbeans, cotton, and corn.

"I love the involvement we have with farmers and their businesses, and it is sometimes decisions you make that can determine the profitability of the business making you feel like an integral part of their operation," Mr Dalgliesh said.

Angus believes one of many challenges going forward is growing more from less.

"Farmers need to feed a growing population with less water, less fertiliser, less staff, increasing input costs thus less profit and an unpredictable mother nature," he said.

"To help manage this issue, we can set a realistic yield potential and break down the crop requirement to make sure growers aren't overspending on inputs and get the most return per millimetre of moisture available to them for that season."

Mr Dalgliesh said he enjoys undertaking nutrition trials, as the soils in his region generally lack nutrients.

"By working to correct them, we can begin to reduce yield gaps and improve overall farm yield.

"In our minimum till environment, we don't get as much nutrient cycling as we would in a full till system leading to nutrient stratification and nutrient deficiencies in crop.

"This year we have seen some yield response to zinc seed treatments in the winter cereals."

Angus was a finalist in the Chris Lehmann Trust Young cotton achiever of the year in 2021.

Working with progressive and innovative farmers to find a more sustainable way of farming is the best aspect of Claudia Benn's job as an agronomist at FARM Agronomy.

Claudia grew up on her parent's organic cattle property in Arcadia Valley, where they still run a cattle breeding and fattening operation.

She graduated from a Bachelor of Sustainable Agriculture in 2019, majoring in livestock production at the University of Queensland in Gatton.

Now employed for Ian Moss at FARM Agronomy and Resource Management based at Southbrook, Ms Benn services graziers and and broadacre cropping farmers across the Darling Downs, Western Downs and into Northern NSW.

"It's a privilege to work with progressive and innovative farmers who encourage us to push boundaries and think outside the box to find a better, more sustainable way of farming for our landscape, our wallets and future generations," she said.

Ms Benn says rising input costs, climate variability, and declining soil health are contributing to increased production costs and a narrowing profit margin.

"The good thing is that these challenges are driving us to find new ways of thinking and farming," she said.

Last winter, Ms Benn and her team placed a particular focus on in-crop foliar sprays as a way of applying nitrogen, broad-spectrum nutrition and biological stimulants through the plant leaf.

"Depending on conditions, ground applied urea can be an inefficient way of supplying nitrogen in terms of what gets into the current crop, and it can negatively impact soil carbon and biological activity," she said.

"By dissolving lower quantities of urea and applying it through well timed foliar sprays (with added nutrition and buffering products), we were able to improve the fertiliser use efficiency and get a bigger 'bang for your buck' from the inputs we did use."

Ms Benn has also been recommending alternatives to soluble phosphorus starter fertilisers, such as poultry manure or soft rock-based pellets with added trace elements, to improve nutrient uptake.

"A few leaf and grain tests from the winter season have so far shown good nutrient uptake including phosphorus and zinc, despite not using a soluble starter," she said.

Facing skyrocketing fertiliser prices, the Reddacliff sisters are using precision agriculture to help growers improve productivity and profitability of the northern sugar cane industry.

By using a variable rate nitrogen application on sugarcane this season, they were able to save on average $25/ha on the paddocks.

Raised on a third generation beetroot farm in Forrest Hill, Lockyer Valley, Katelin Reddacliff, 25, and her younger sister Ashlee, 23, work as an agronomist and graduate extension agronomist respectively, at Farmacist in the Mackay/Burdekin region.

Their great-grandfather being pioneer of beetroot industry in Australia, being the first beetroot grower to provide for Golden Circle, with the farm remaining one of their largest suppliers (approx 15pc of Australia's beetroot).

After selling the family farm in 2011, the sisters and their family moved to Toowoomba, where their passion for plant science only grew

"Funny enough, my passion for agriculture only grew after leaving the farm," Ashlee said.

After school, Katelin received an integrated diploma in agricultural technologies from UQ and a bachelor of agriculture, majoring in plant production, externally through UNE.

She moved to Mackay, where she started working as a trainee agronomist for Farmacist.

Following in her sisters footsteps, Ashlee graduated with a bachelor of Agribusiness from UQ Gatton in 2020, before moving to Mackay to work as a graduate extension agronomist at Farmacist.

Both sisters agree, helping growers reduce their ecological footprint and input costs remain an ongoing issue for farms in North Queensland.

"Farmacist has been involved in multiple projects which has led to more understanding and acceptance around the new regulations as well as improved production, profitability and reef water quality," Ashlee said.

"Bringing the cane industry into the future with precision agriculture is only one view on a solution for it, however, is holds so many other benefits like reducing rates and input costs."

"With fertiliser prices sky rocketing, we've been working with a grower through variable rate nitrogen application on sugarcane this season to save on areas that don't require as much nitrogen," Katelin said.

"Through this, we were able to save on average $25/ha on the paddocks under variable rate."

Both Reddacliff sisters are heavily involved research projects with Farmacist, which aim to help growers with reef regulation compliance, nutrient and chemical management.

Will Lange's agronomic advice was pivotal to reintroducing cotton in the Lockyer Valley.

He was involved in the early trials in the Valley three years ago, starting with a couple of growers in the first season, to this season where there is now around 600 ha being grown.

Mr Lange grew up on a mixed grazing and cropping farm north of Dalby on the Darling Downs.

Graduating from UQ Gatton with a bachelor of applied science, majoring in agronomy, Mr Lange now works for CGS in Dalby as branch manager and agronomist.

His average day is now spent checking cotton, sorghum, corn, and mungbeans, while organising the daily activities of his team, securing and managing product supply for the branch.

"At the end of the day, everything we do is for the clients we work for and being part of a successful season is a very rewarding feeling," Mr Lange said.

Will was involved in cotton trials in the Lockyer Valley and reintroducing the crop to the Valley.

"Over the last three seasons, cotton has returned to the Lockyer Valley starting with a couple of growers in the first season and expanding every year to this season where there is around 600 ha being grown and hopefully further expansion next year.

Mr Lange and his team are being proactive in addressing challenges facing the industry including; cost of inputs and profitability, and risk of agronomists losing their social license.

"Utilising the latest in technology and techniques makes it possible to be on the front foot," he said.

"Our ability to continue to use products such as Nitrogen based fertiliser and to grow the most suitable crops for situations are at risk of being taken away.

"The best way to keep access to all products is through always striving to conduct procedures and practices in the most ethical fashion possible. Along with this, it is also important to have open discussions about what you do and why it's important."