Gillian Stewart

Preferred presentation format: Poster

Affiliation(s): Mallee Sustainable Farming Inc.

Title: Ms Gillian Stewart Position: Extension Leader Organisation: Mallee Sustainable Farming Inc. Contact email: Gill.Stewart@dipnr.nsw.gov.au Contact phone: 03 50 219 411

Keywords: Tri - State extension, communication, organisational culture, team building, communication, learning tools, product development

The Mallee Sustainable Farming Systems project is challenging rural communities and Research, Development and Extension organisations to align people and resources both effectively and efficiently. Stretching across an area of 3 million hectares in SA, Vic and NSW, the project has developed a Tri-State Extension Strategy that links all project research and extension organisations into a focused support network to facilitate communication exchange, information packaging and regional product delivery.

This poster will describe the key components of the Tri-State Extension Strategy, identify the project stakeholders and communication linking pathways. It will highlight the value of this concept in encouraging a participatory team approach that is challenging traditional state borders and boundaries of operational and strategic planning and action to develop mutually beneficial shared products across the region. The information series “Farm Talk - Sharing, Learning, Doing” is a recent output of this process and will be used as the example to reaffirm the ongoing role of this strategy to enhance inter-state product development by redefining the paradigms of what can constitute a healthy functioning R, D&E team.

In summary, this poster will illustrate the Tri-State extension team's commitment to identify and package research outcomes and develop key extension messages for reducing complex systems issues into digestible components for analysis and understanding.

Key learning points:

• Challenging organisational culture can provide opportunities for enhanced product development that is of mutual benefit to all stakeholders
• What constitutes a healthy R,D &E team is open to individual interpretation and needs to be embraced as the potential for serendipitous outcomes can be an added advantage to the overall success of an extension program
• Valuing cross border interaction has created synergy beyond expectation through well facilitated processes and constructive dialogue to determine expectations, needs and priorities of the Tri-State project team

Gillian Stewart(1) Sam Doudle(2) Neil Cordon(2) & Catherine Evans(3)

The Low Rainfall Linking Project - How and Why it will be of value!!

Preferred presentation format: Poster

Affiliation(s): (1) Mallee Sustainable Farming Inc., (2) Eyre Peninsular Farming Systems Project, (3) Central West Farming Systems Project

Title: Ms Gillian Stewart Position: Extension Leader Organisation: Mallee Sustainable Farming Inc. Contact email: Gill.Stewart@dipnr.nsw.gov.au Contact phone: 03 50 219 411

Keywords: Low rainfall linking project, collaboration, communication, learning tools,

Five farming systems groups located in the low rainfall (<450 mm) wheatbelt of SE Australia have obtained funding from GRDC to link the groups and enhance their research and extension capabilities. The groups are - Mallee Sustainable Farming Inc., Eyre Peninsula Farming Systems, Upper North Low Rainfall Farming Systems, Central West Farming Systems and the "Unamed" Group in the southern region of central west NSW.

A meeting in November 2002, between these groups, identified a range of common issues (e.g. distance, climate, sodic soils, paucity of other low rainfall agricultural research, traditional low input farming systems tending towards increasing inputs). There was a general consensus that working together would benefit all groups and growers in these low rainfall regions.

It was mutually aggreed that the best way to collaborate would be to work together in a variety of ways to best suit each group. An annual event would be held, where everyone got together to discuss research, extension and issues and would enable discussion, sharing and would foster involvement between the 5 groups.Strengths and weaknesses of each group were intially identified so future collaboration between the groups will enable all to benefit from the strengths and experiences of others. It is envisaged that extension messages of greater bearing and importance will be given to growers in the low rainfall wheatbelt of SE Australia leading to improved practice and profitable outcomes.

Key learning points:

• This project is in its infancy so learnings have not been fully recognised
• This project will aim to strengthen linkages between groups dealing with similar environmental, climatic and production issues and highlight processes to deal with managing farming systems change
• There is the potential for ideas exchange to challenge project "Group think" and help each group to reflect and explore alternative approaches that link activities and outcomes effectively