The TNQ Drought Hub is committed to knowledge sharing and supporting landholders in our region. The hub sponsored a group of producers and staff to be a part of a field trip across the Northern Territory and Western Australia and attend the biennial Australian Rangeland Society Conference held in Broome last month.

The conference showcased cutting-edge research and innovations in rangeland management, and featured presentations and a joint booth with six other Drought Resilience Adoption and Innovation hubs from across Australia.

Over five days, several key members of the TNQ Drought Hub community presented at the conference, including hub Director Dr David Phelps, whose passion for Mitchell Grass was on full display with his poster presentation on ‘Mitchell Grass response to moisture stress and defoliation.’

Dr David Gallacher, Knowledge Broker for the Northern Hub, presented on the ‘Managing Rangelands for Drought Resilience’ project, a collaboration between six drought hubs that showcases technologies and techniques that use mapping to improve rangeland management across the breadth of Australia’s rangeland environments. 

Complimenting this project, TNQ Drought Hub Scholarship recipient Lucy Gardener presented research on the ‘Rapid Assessment of Mitchell Grass on Southern Gulf Rangelands using Drone Imagery and Machine Learning.’ Collaborating with researchers from James Cook University and Southern Gulf NRM, this project is trailing satellite-based technology that can be used to predict rangeland ground cover and inform stocking decisions. For her efforts, Ms Gardener took out the CSIRO Best Early Career Presentation Prize, publishing on behalf of The Rangeland Journal. 

Dimbulah citrus producer Evelyn Srhoj was supported by the hub to attend the conference with her husband Bert and said it offered valuable insight into the evolving agricultural landscape.

“Diversification is very, very important in farming in all descriptions, and it was the chance to see what the rest of Australia was doing,” said Ms Srhoj. 

“I was incredibly impressed with the amount of young women who have come into the industry and also the knowledge they have shown.”

Jennay Delacour from Eveleigh Station, Mount Surprise agreed and said it was a great opportunity to network and share knowledge. 

“Everybody was so happy to say hello and share stories, information, jokes, or a seat next to you,” said Ms Delacour, who also noted the conference encouraged her to ‘think bigger’ about what she could implement on her own property.

“From graziers to cropping people to sheep people to the local people on country, everybody was just so great.”

In the lead up to the conference, Ms Delacour also had the opportunity to embark across the Northern Territory and Western Australia on a field trip with TNQ Drought Hub staff members Dr David Phelps, Dr Rachel Hay and Tony Matchett.

Dr Phelps said the field trip provided the opportunity for landholders to learn from the experiences of the Ord region and better understand the risks and opportunities around cropping. 

“There is an increasing interest in dry and irrigated cropping in the gulf region and these producers have shown interest in integrating cropping into their businesses,” said Dr Phelps. 

“We also know that landholders learn best by ‘experiences’ and actually doing, touching and seeing things.”

Dr Phelps said both the conference and the field trip served as a platform for collaboration, idea exchange and a deeper understanding of the challenges faced within the broader agricultural industry.

“Conferences like this offer participants the opportunity to see first-hand some of the solutions being implemented within the industry. It enables them to think about how such solutions could be applied and adapted to improve operations on their own properties,” said Dr Phelps.

“Attending these conferences can be challenging due to the costs involved and the fact they are often in distant locations, so we were delighted that the Hub could assist in supporting landholders to attend and seize this great opportunity.”