Thoughts on Trial Farm

Kristina Hermanson, Nuveen Natural Capital.

Kristina Hermanson, Nuveen Natural Capital:

“In my career across agriculture I’ve been involved in a lot of trials and I think what Boolah is doing here with the large scale trials is really unique. I love the conversations with everyone here and working out how we can do things more sustainably.”

Ruby Earsman, Terra Firma Fertilisers:

“The Boolah Trial Farm is unlike anything that’s out there, it’s very large scale and the independent testing is unique and very reputable.“

Lee Coleman, FarmSimple:

“Today, I’m really excited to hear about the successes, especially how growers continue to improve and achieve that extra two or three per cent.“

Peter Birch, B&W Rural:

“If we look ahead to the future, we’re all on the same page, trying to figure out the best way forward. The biggest takeaway from today is that there are many different approaches now – the old days of just one method are gone.“

Sam Simons, Poole Ag Consulting (Boolah Agronomist)

“I think it was great to see the amount of industry partners collaborating together, working towards the same goal, investigating how we can do things better and more sustainably into the future.“

Pip Grant, Riverine Plains.

“It’s just so great to see so many commercially-ready products being trialled at scale to give farmers confidence in actually adopting these products and actually seeing some of the newer and emerging technologies that are being pressure tested in a full-freight environment. I think that’s a really important part of how Boolah run their trials. They’re actually giving a commercial perspective – so factoring in and crunching the numbers – not just for year-on-year trials, but at scale in real world conditions.“

Emma Turner, Swanbrook Agriculture, Inverell.

“It’s been fantastic to follow the story of the Tighe family for many years and to see this amazing network they have brought together today. The field day has been great for showing the products that are out there – from a producer side of things, particularly from a grazing enterprise perspective. It’s been good to really understand what inputs are available on the cropping side of things to improve some of the carbon fixing and nutrients.“

Oscar Pearse, farmer, Pallamallawa and director of NSW Farmers Association.

“Boolah is an immaculately run farm and their trials here are a step above anything else you can find around here. Large scale, repeated trials over time – that’s how you prove this kind of stuff works.“

David Engel, regional head of Raw Material Procurement at Asahi Beverages. Melbourne.

“I loved being out here today. Often, I’m sitting in an office in Melbourne and can feel disconnected from what’s actually happening on the ground. What excited me most today was seeing a lot of innovative thinking. While not everything may end up commercially viable, it’s inspiring to witness people approaching things differently and thinking outside the box.“