Ian Donges, chairman of Grain & Graze - a groundbreaking rural research and extension program involving thousands of farmers across Australia - praised the efforts of regional management committees at the program’s final forum held in Canberra from Monday 23 June to Wednesday 25 June.

The forum brought together some of Australia’s leading researchers, its most innovative mixed farmers, representatives from research and development corporations, and industry and government agencies, from nine mixed-farming regions across Southern Australia.

‘Grain & Graze has become the largest research and extension program ever undertaken across Australia,’ said Ian. ‘It’s the only program that has tackled improving mixed farming’s profitability and natural resource management outcomes using a whole-farm approach.

‘The fact that four research corporations came together was unique in itself. The program has demonstrated achievements that can be made by engaging the farming communities through the regional approach and capacity building. The catchment management organisations have played a vital role in the success of Grain & Graze.’

The five-year program involved more than 65 organisations and agencies, and actively engaged more than 4000 farmers. Participating producers increased their profits by between three and 19 per cent depending on rainfall and farm practices, with an average increase of nine per cent.

Grain & Graze launched three products at the forum: the major report Managing Complex Systems - Preliminary findings from Grain & Graze; and farmers telling their stories from the Biodiversity in Grain & Graze (BiGG) project in a booklet Thinking BiGG and an audio CD Talking BiGG.

Ian said that some of the key findings of the program related to finding the most profitable and sustainable balance between livestock and cropping.

‘One of the great outcomes for farmers has been discovering how to graze winter cereals to improve the output for livestock without affecting grain yield,’ said Ian. ‘That has worked even during drought times and offers farmers an opportunity to lift their profitability.

‘The research into biodiversity in mixed farming enterprises has demonstrated how protecting ecosystems can improve farm productivity and profitability. Strategies such as “integrated pest management” (IPM) are now widely used to reduce the impact and control costs of pests in both pasture and grain crop production.

After five years of operation, the program is finalised in its current form. However, Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA) and the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) are scoping the opportunities for a next phase of Grain & Graze, building on the lessons learnt over the past five years. A new program will focus on improving profitability and sustainability in mixed farming systems, value adding from the new knowledge of Grain & Graze.