Ag Excellence News and Updates

Are you passionate about growing your career in grains research and extension?

Applications are now open for the 2026 Eyre Peninsula Internship in Applied Grains Research — an opportunity for students or recent graduates in agriculture, environmental science, or agribusiness to take the next step in shaping the future of dryland farmi

CSIRO scientist Dr Rick Llewellyn has received the 2026 Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) Seed of Light – South award for his contribution to the grains industry.

Livestock producers, agribusiness professionals and industry supporters from the Barossa and surrounding regions are invited to connect, learn and be inspired at the BIGG Annual Conference, to be held on Thursday 19 February 2026 at Lambert Estate, Angaston.

Mallee Sustainable Farming (MSF) has announced a leadership transition following the development of its new 2025–2035 strategy and refreshed organisational branding.

The South Australian Drought Resilience Adoption and Innovation Hub (SA Drought Hub) is proud to release its Year 4 Achievements Summary (1 July 2024 – 30 June 2025), alongside the 2024/25 SA Drought Hub Annual Report.

Ag Excellence Alliance hosts South Australia’s centralised events calendar dedicated to primary production industries, providing a single, reliable location to discover what’s happening across the state.

Across South Australia, grower groups are central to helping farmers navigate seasonal variability, adopt new practices, and stay connected with the latest research. Behind many of these groups is an Executive Officer (EO), managing the governance, coordination, communication, research, and extension. When these EOs are well supported, the impact ripples far beyond the organisation and directly to farmers and their communities.

The Ag Ex EO Network recently hosted a Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) session with Denise Bewsell of Scarlatti and Enablers of Change. It focused on how groups can collect meaningful data without creating unnecessary work, and how M&E can improve program design and decision-making. Below are the key takeaways I found most useful, that I think will resonate with grower groups.

As the Ag Ex and SA Drought Hub MEL Officer, most of my work centres around gathering data and stories from Hub partners across the state, so we can better understand practice change, adoption, and what projects are making a real difference.