Southern Cross University is seeking the opinions of farmers for a regenerative cropping survey
Grain farmers’ perceptions of regenerative agriculture and their farming practices and goals is the focus of an online survey being led by Southern Cross University.
The survey is supported by the Grains Research and Development Corporation as part of its recently announced ‘Regenerative Agriculture: Understanding the intent, practices, benefits and disbenefits’ project.
It is seeking 500 crop farmers from around Australia for a short online survey, with 75 farmers to be selected for a broader, three-year farm monitoring project.
“This survey aims to understand farmer goals and their alignment with practices in the regenerative agriculture toolkit,” Southern Cross University researcher and survey lead Hanabeth Luke says.
“We seek to gauge current perceptions of regenerative agriculture amidst diverse farming systems.
“This research will help establish the what, as well as the why or why not, of regenerative agriculture in Australian grain production.”
The initial survey stage will help build an enhanced understanding of grower goals and practices, as well as their perceptions of regenerative agriculture, SCU says.
After that, 75 crop farmers will be recruited for the broader survey which aims to establish effective ways of monitoring the potential benefits or disadvantages of regenerative agriculture in Australian cropping systems across a range of agronomic, soil health, ecological, social, and economic indicators.
“This research will play a key role in providing clarity around the use of environmental, social and agronomic indicators for grain growers wanting to assess and monitor their progress towards the various regenerative goals they may have,” SCU project lead Adam Canning says.
GRDC’s investment in the survey aims to provide clarity on the integration of regenerative agriculture into Australia’s cropping systems.
“Crucially, the success of the project hinges on the active participation of growers in implementing a diverse range of practices,” GRDC’s sustainable cropping systems south manager Giacomo Betti says.
“This will enable the development of a balanced dataset and facilitate the drawing of meaningful conclusions.”
GRDC says the multi-disciplinary team from SCU’s Faculty of Science and Engineering – which includes experts in soil health, agronomy, ecology, rural sociology and natural capital accounting – will ensure impartiality and provide independent scientific rigour throughout the project.
The online survey can be viewed at scuau.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/ SV_3HKnIKYYq3ZhT0i