Australian Summer Grains Conference spotlights sustainability in grains

Last week, I had the pleasure of attending the 5th Australian Summer Grains Conference. The conference is a joint venture conference hosted by the organisations representing the 5 crop groups of sorghum, maize, sunflower, soybeans and mungbeans. This was my 3rd time being involved in the conference.

Making sure that growers also have a strong voice in the direction of the conference is critically important to us, so we ensure that we open committee participation to growers and others involved in our industry as well. This round we were fortunate to have National Policy Group representative Stuart McIntyre put his hand up to be involved in the committee.

Sustainability was a strong theme throughout the conference and we honoured to have GrainGrowers CEO Shona Gawel in attendance to present on the Grains Sustainability Framework & how it helps growers as well as on how corporate sustainability & ESG commitments might impact farmers.

Shona explained that the framework is built on three key themes: responsible stewardship, building capacity and well-being, and consumer confidence.

GrainGrowers was well represented throughout the conference program, with Deputy Chair Nigel Corish speaking in the Future of Farming plenary session on Seeding Ideas for Future Farming, covering the work he is doing on farm in the sustainability space along with another National Policy Group representative Ben Taylor in the same plenary on Precision Agriculture Soils Sensing. Stuart McIntyre spoke in one of the sorghum streams on his family’s long-term involvement in sorghum breeding within Australia.

Nigel shared with us his journey through sustainability on farm, from a conventional farmer to adopting a more sustainable farming approach. Farming has a reputation for being conservative, but Nigel believes there is a huge opportunity to create real change in sustainability. The first step, according to Nigel, is education. There are numerous tools and resources available through organizations like GrainGrowers, and on-farm educational opportunities like carbon farming courses.

The second step is to get involved in farming groups, seek out like-minded people, and share and learn from the experience of others. Attending conferences like Summer Grains is also essential. Gaining knowledge and getting involved is crucial, and using this information to make changes - however small - can make production more sustainable.

Ben spoke on how to achieve sustainability in farming, by monitoring and measuring soil health and soil carbon levels. He discussed the benefits of regenerative agriculture practices such as minimum tillage, cover cropping, and incorporating livestock into the farming system.

He also talked about the importance of collaboration and knowledge-sharing in achieving sustainability in the grains industry. He shared examples of successful collaboration between farmers, researchers, and industry bodies, such as the establishment of the More Profit from Nitrogen program and the development of the 4R Nutrient Stewardship program.

The conference also featured a Young Leaders Forum which was completely booked out. This highly engaging session brought together soon-to-be graduates from university ag programs hear from and network with highly respected people from various sections of the industry, giving them great connections for when they graduate. We have seen from previous conferences that many walk away with job offers. The Farm Owners Academy session was also well attended by growers.

A real highlight was “Converge: the future of food”, presented by the dynamic Dr Catherine Ball, a scientific futurist and an all-around amazing woman. Covering a vast array of topics such as novel proteins of the future, food growing under the oceans and 5D science for the future of farming, this plenary really set the scene and turned on the light bulbs in many minds to the potential outcomes from the sessions that we would hear over the next few days. Honestly, Dr Ball’s presentation was outstanding & was one where you needed to strap in & hang on as you go on a huge adventure through what is coming for us in the future.

The conference concluded with a Gala Dinner, celebrating the amazing people involved our industry. Again, GrainGrowers members & supporters featured strongly in the sinner circle with Meandarra farmer Tom Coggan winning the Ben Coleman Memorial Award for Farmers, Millie Bach winning the Zoe McInnes Memorial Award for Agronomy and Alexandra Trinder won the BASF Women in Agriculture award.

I’m really looking forward to the 6th Australian Summer Grains Conference in July 2025. Many thanks to GrainGrowers for allowing me the time to be involved in industry events & committees such as this.