Sustainable Agriculture

Rural Solutions SA has a team skilled in sustainable production of broad-acre crops and pastures grown in the Mediterranean climate of southern Australia and similar climatic zones worldwide. We have expertise in cereal crops (wheat, barley, oats, triticale, cereal rye), pulses (peas, beans, lentils, chickpeas, vetches), oilseeds (canola), cereal and pasture hay, perennial and annual pastures. Our expertise covers all aspects of crop and pasture production on farm, farming systems and post farm gate storage, handling and value chain processing, offered as a package totally independent of any commercial interests.Men looking at soil

Our team will help you establish a group of producers with common goals and social compatibility. We work with your group to establish best practice for your local situation and give technical guidance to address barriers to production or achieving the broader strategic goals and vision, including:
  • Strategic planning to promote sustainability in production practices in farming systems; evaluate post farm-gate business opportunities, drawing attention to longer-term implications of current and proposed practices.
  • Establishing and managing demonstrations of best practice and also demonstrating consequences of less desirable practices for local communities.
  • Synthesising technical data from a wide variety of sources and providing interpretation and adaptation advice to localised groups and individuals.
Co-ordinating and managing local and statewide conferences, field days, seminars, and workshops to address relevant needs including planning, design, implementation, facilitation and evaluation.

Current services provided

The Rural Solutions SA team currently provides a range of projects for the Commonwealth Government, South Australian Government, industry bodies, agribusiness and farmers through a statewide network of locations. Some of these services are discussed below:

Consultancy Services

Tailored services are provided for companies, other business, groups or individuals. These normally include a needs assessment and some scoping as part of the contract.

Holistic services for broad-acre crops and pastures include advice on varieties, rotations, nutrition, weed control, disease control, pest control, monitoring, irrigation and production for specialist markets (including value chain integration). Other aspects of crop and business management are included where relevant.

Challenge 2020

Commonwealth, South Australian government, industry bodies, and farmers fund this structured education and training programme. It develops the crop and business management skills of producers in a range of production, financial, risk management and people management topics eg crop development, crop nutrition, disease and pest control, soil management, business benchmarking, human resource management and climate risk management.

Programs can be tailored to meet the specific needs of your group. Sequences of workshops can be linked together to generate a staged learning programme for groups of producers. This could include growing a special crop eg lentils, malting barley or canola, dealing with a problem over a time period (eg weed management pre-seeding, post-seeding, spring control, summer planning), developing a risk management strategy for the business and benchmarking business performance, identifying required adjustments.

ProGraze and Pasture Productivity Programme (PPP)

This is a structured learning programme for producer groups aiming to tailor pasture production to meet optimum livestock requirements. PPP is a structured learning programme to give producers an insight into different management regimes in a local environment.

South Australian Soil and Plant Analysis Service (SASPAS)

SASPAS is a nutrient analysis service for soil and plant samples and provides interpretation of the results to assist with farmer’s fertiliser decisions. It integrates with supporting Rural Solutions SA independent consultancy services and products like FertiPlan™.

Working with community groups

We have a statewide service with consultants based in most districts who are able to assist community groups in achieving their goals through farming systems projects (Mallee, Eyre Peninsula and Upper North) and specialist technical programs (eg Your Soils Potential).

Product Development

Our expert consultants develop innovative products that assist primary producers to better understand the complexities of their farming system, simplifying complex decisions (eg FertiPlan™ fertiliser decision support software, Ute Guides, Crop Harvest Report, Gross Margin Guide, Spray Charts and Plant Protection guides).
 
Contact: Jay Cummins