Doing more with less was the focus for almost 100 Eyre Peninsula farmers who have started planning their 2026 growing season after receiving the latest information from industry experts and fellow growers.
Ag Innovation & Research Eyre Peninsula (AIR EP) hosted its annual Pre-sowing Member Days across the EP at Wangary, Wirrulla and Rudall last month.
These attracted 187 farmers, researchers, advisors and industry representatives, who explored the theme ‘Tight budgets, big yields’.
The events gave farmers the opportunity to share what has worked for them in recent seasons, ask questions about local challenges impacting crop growth and yields and dig deeper into farm management, particularly financial sustainability and efficiency.
AIR EP executive officer Naomi Scholz said the days were an opportunity to reflect on the past season and begin planning for the coming season with the latest information from local research, market trends and on-farm experience.
“The Pre-sowing Member Days are always popular events and our farmers get a lot of value out of meeting with other growers, as well as researchers, agronomists and industry leaders. It’s helpful to dissect the challenges and opportunities from last season and for farmers to share what worked for them and what they might have done differently,” she said.
“It’s encouraging to see the way our growers, researchers and industry experts come together to share their knowledge and experiences, unpack the latest findings from our local research, consider global trends, and work through real, practical solutions and ideas that can be adopted on-farm to improve productivity for the coming season.
“With the rising cost of most farm inputs, our theme this year of ‘Tight budgets, big yields’ was a focus for many of our members, who walked away with some solid short and longer-term strategies to boost farm management and efficiency.”
Sharing the learnings of the 2025 season and what it means for 2026, Andrew Ware of EPAG Research stressed the importance of farmers needing to understand the soil challenges and needs of each paddock.
Knowing why issues like water repellence were happening leads to understanding the types and levels of interventions required.
The season also showed that grain species selection was important – especially when sowing dates were variable.
Sam Trengrove of Trengrove Consulting dug into the nitty gritty of strategic phosphorous (P) application, helping growers better understand the optimum application rate that maximises yields while remaining profitable.
A key consideration for crop planning was understanding where phosphorus levels were at when the season started.
Sean Hickey from Bendigo Bank Agribusiness shared financial insights into land values, key commodity forecasts and agricultural lending forecasts.
His outlook was for greater price uncertainty in coming months due to international influences such as US tariffs, shifting trade patterns, increased risk of conflicts and a rising Australian Dollar.
There is a mixed outlook for cropping commodities, with strong feed demand supporting barley prices, but ample global supplies pressuring the wheat market, and strong demand for canola tempered by renewed competition from Canada.
Farmland value growth was also slowing, he said, with values stabilising in recent years.
Royce Pitchford of Pinion Advisory shared his take on farm business profitability and efficiencies, with a focus on the fixed costs of farming.
He outlined that high performance farms tended to optimise gross margins (with maximum income, and cost effectiveness), a low-cost business model (prioritising efficient use of limited resources), manage labour efficiently, and focus on risk management to manage and mitigate key risks.
The most efficient businesses tended to be single-enterprise, have clear systems in place and be very organised.
A longer-term approach to efficiency also worked, he said, with people often overestimating what they could achieve in one year, but underestimating what could be achieved over 10.
Mudamuckla farmer Peter Kuhlmann shared the secrets of the “one-percenters” – small, impactful improvements farmers could make to enhance their business’s performance and profitability.
This year’s Member Days also featured a lentil panel, with experts and local farmers considering the questions of where they fit and what role they play in Eyre Peninsula farming.
They touched on key issues from deciding what to grow, through to whether to mix lentils and faba beans, the benefits of lentils in longer-term weed control and improving soil conditions, optimal chemicals for weed control, to impacts on market pricing.
