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Department of Agriculture and Food Systems Melbourne School of Land and Environment The University of Melbourne

2008-2010

Rural Innovation Research Group (RIRG) Progress Report

August 2008 - May 2010 Anne Crawford and Ruth Nettle

The Rural Innovation Research Group Progress Report – May 2010

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Table of Contents

Introduction 3

About RIRG now 5

RIRG staff, PhD students and consultant researchers 8

Progress towards objectives – 18 months in review 9

RIRG Research Objectives 9

RIRG Industry Development (Engagement) Objectives 13

RIRG Capacity Building Objectives (Post-graduate supervision, teaching) 22

New developments and future plans

Key performance indicators – evaluation of progress to date

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Current and recently completed projects - summaries 28

Completed PhD’s 2008-2010 36

PhD student status 36

Publications 2008-2010 37


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Introducing the Rural Innovation Research Group Progress report

The Rural Innovation Research Group’s portfolio of research and development projects and activities address different issues and challenges in rural innovation and are generally conducted within a particular rural industry program area. We recognise that some of our work in one area may be of interest or relevance to the challenges or issues people are seeking to address in other areas.

This report aims to provide a snapshot of research and development projects and activities of RIRG in the last 18 months and how these are contributing to RIRG objectives. The report also highlights some of the ways our clients are benefiting from our work.

We recognise that keeping up to date with how research is progressing or how different projects are contributing to your area of interest is always a difficult task. We also know how difficult it often is to keep across a range of work or explore its potential relevance for your interests. We hope that this report helps address some of these issues as it applies to thinking about enhancing rural innovation! We also encourage you to sign-up to our e-newsletter and attend our Annual Symposium.

The history of RIRG

Formerly known as the Innovation and Change Management group, a social research and development capacity for the challenges of rural innovation and change has been operating since January 2000 at the University of Melbourne. The group began with the appointment of Dr Mark Paine as Principal Research Fellow in what was then the Institute of Land and Food Resources. A combination of research contracts, primarily from Dairy Australia (formerly the Dairy Research and Development Corporation), and an extensive post graduate programme resulted in the growth of the group to six researchers in 2008.

The investment by the dairy industry in this research capacity aimed to:

• Better understand and develop the people involved in farm businesses and the service industries (advisory, extension and project managers);

• Move toward a learner centred, demand driven service sector;

• Engage a greater proportion of the industry in effective learning activities;

• Investigate ways to be more creative, innovative and effective in the way learning opportunities are created and delivered; and

• Support the professionals who provide services and conduct learning activities to enable them to do their jobs better.

It was recognised that the group’s focus on practice (i.e. what professionals do in the innovation system), the group’s theories and methodologies, and the group’s practical agenda represented a unique type of research for rural industries and also for the academy – requiring investment in advancing the discipline (i.e. rural action-science), building capacity (e.g. post-graduate training) and growing a strong practice-based research agenda.


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Building on this foundation, in August 2008 I stepped into the leadership of the group, launching a refined vision and a new name (Rural Innovation Research Group, or RIRG) to represent our task of providing research services to enhance rural innovation. This report to RIRG stakeholders (our clients, funders, project teams, rural professionals and potential clients) aims to outline our current work, the progress we are making towards RIRG objectives, and a snapshot of the value our clients have seen in our involvement and work in rural innovation.

As always, we value your continued engagement with RIRG in advancing rural innovation, and your feedback is welcome.

Ruth Nettle

Leader, Rural Innovation Research Group


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About RIRG now

The Rural Innovation Research Group (RIRG) is focused on developing new knowledge of innovation processes to achieve profound improvement in the productivity and sustainability of rural landscapes.

Based at the Melbourne School of Land and Environment, the Rural Innovation Research Group helps project teams, researchers and advisers achieve high performance innovation by providing research and development services focused on the human and social dimensions of change. The approach is twofold:

• We help project managers design and deliver better project outcomes,

• We advance the discipline of rural action-science by contributing new methodologies and theoretical perspectives to the international research community.

Our strength is in our multi-disciplined, talented team of researchers who have a passion for understanding rural innovation, and the practice-based research and development approaches that we use.

Our strategic areas of work and interest include:

• Improving transitions in farming systems: farm decision making, workforce development (entry, exit and retention), business management and risk

• Improving knowledge utilisation and practice: Knowledge and learning systems, social implications of technological developments, communities of practice, collaboration and collective action, multidisciplinary approaches

• Improving extension and change management: Advisory capacity and public-private sector roles, extension design and delivery, capacity building, sustainable change

• Improving processes in resource management: Resilience, adaptation, community development

RIRG Goal

Our goal is to create and contribute to more effective change that creates resilience and growth in rural industries.

RIRG Objectives

To achieve our goal, our objectives are to:

• Generate knowledge about learning and change in rural industries and landscapes in order to enhance innovation from RD&E projects

• Advance the discipline of rural action science

• Develop new robust methodologies to support rural innovation


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• Improve systematic learning in rural RD&E project teams

• Benefit RD&E project leadership and management (from RIRG involvement)

• Foster innovation strategies of rural industries that better account for people and learning systems

• Increase the impact of Rural professionals (from use of RIRG research)

• Be nationally and internationally recognised for our work, and

• Increase co-investment in our research (e.g. by government and rural industry and community groups)

How is the research of RIRG decided?

The University of Melbourne and Dairy Australia currently co-invest in RIRG leadership and management capacity to develop new research areas, oversee research provision, contribute to dairy industry development and grow research capacity through postgraduate research supervision and teaching. RIRG therefore partly represents a strategic investment by Dairy Australia to continue to understand and improve industry innovation processes. RIRG uses this involvement to develop better theories to support improved innovation through time. Research priorities are determined by industry needs with research questions most often co-developed through partnerships with industry program teams. Specific research projects are developed and resourced separately, with investors including Dairy Australia, the Gardiner Foundation and the Department of Primary Industries (Victoria). The broader RIRG team consists of researchers and post-graduate students involved in specific projects. An advisory group offers input and advice on the direction of the overall research plan. In addition, RIRG seeks research partnerships with other groups and organisations seeking to develop knowledge and address particular issues of rural innovation.

Overall the mix of RIRG activity in terms of staff time allocation and total investment is approximately divided across: Research provision (70%), industry development and support (20%) and building research capacity and teaching (10%). This mix of activity is highlighted by the impressions of our current clients who were asked to reflect on what they thought RIRG did and why (Figure 1), in a client survey undertaken in December 2009 (refer to page 24 for full results).


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Figure 1: Respondents’ opinion of RIRG and what RIRG does.

(Q. 4: Reflecting on what you know about RIRG - if someone asked you 'who are RIRG and what do they do?' what would you say? Please tick the boxes that best reflect your opinion of RIRG and what RIRG does.) (Source: RIRG Client Feedback Satisfaction Survey, 2009)

0 20 40 60 80

Academic social research, teaching and PhD students

Helping dairy project managers design and delivertheir projects

How to include a people/social dimension in farmsystems approaches and rural innov systems (i.e.RD&E)

Developing new ways of thinking and working tosupport rural innovation

Providing advice to investors, govt, service providersand regional groups about rural innov

A resource to rural industry issues – whether that beresearch, development, or advice

Relies on University and rural industry R&D funding tooperate

This is what I would say This is partly what I would say

This is not what I would say Don’t know


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RIRG staff, PhD students and consultant researchers (May 2010)


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Progress towards objectives – 18 months in review

The profile of RIRG activities and progress over the past 18 months is presented against RIRG objectives in the domains of Research Projects, Industry Development (Engagement) and Capacity Building (Research supervision and teaching). Specific details of each research project are provided in the Current Projects section on page 28.

RIRG Research Objectives:

• Generate knowledge of learning and change that significantly informs rural RD&E projects

• Develop new methodologies to support rural innovation

• Advance the discipline of rural action science through an international reputable social research database and publication profile.

Outcomes envisaged in the pursuit of these objectives:

• Higher Impact industry change projects and programs

• Higher quality, internationally recognised research

Table 1: An overview of Current Research Projects (details on page 28)

Title Principal Researchers

Brief description and contribution to RIRG objectives

Enhancing the Resilience of Dairy Farm Businesses

Sonya Love

This research provides new knowledge about resilience thinking for dairy industry program design.

Adaptive management of farm technologies (Social research in Project 30-30)

Social Network Analysis for the identification of knowledge

Dr Michael O’Kane

Barbara King

This research is near completion and has developed insights for industry in the management of innovations particularly:

• the establishment of target audiences for research;

• the role of commercial farms in research; • social network analysis as a tool for

program teams; • understanding and working with farmer

risk perceptions of new technologies.

Pastures from Space™ - Pilot Programme

Dr Callum Eastwood In conjunction with CSIRO, this research aims to understand the potential value of satellite derived estimates of pasture biomass and growth rates for commercial dairy farm systems.

People Capability Workforce Planning and Action for the

Dr Ruth Nettle

In Conjunction with The People in Dairy, this project focuses on developing a process for regional groups/ manufacturing to better understand the


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Australian dairy industry

• Farm • Manufacturing

people in their region/ sector so that they are better able to influence and improve workforce planning.

The People in Dairy Dr Ruth Nettle

Anne Crawford

The People in Dairy is a dairy industry capacity building programme, addressing people ‘issues’. RIRG’s involvement includes undertaking complementary research, and leading the programme’s evaluation.

The Client Stocktake: a client-focused approach to improve servicing in rural industries

Dr Ruth Nettle

Warwick Waters

Don Thompson

This project seeks to help understand and work more effectively with the diversity of Australian dairy farmers. It involved the selection of a method that identified manageable segments of the farming population to better target technology development, extension and communication.

Farms, Rivers and Markets: farm and catchment networks and innovation research

Dr Margaret Ayre

Dr Ruth Nettle

Sonya Love

The ‘Farms, Rivers and Markets’ project is a large interdisciplinary research project that aims to create opportunities to ‘do more with less water’. RIRG’s involvement includes the development and delivery of a community engagement strategy that assists integrating knowledge from diverse disciplines and communities.

Changing Rooms: From crisis to resilience (DPIV)

Sonya Love

Warwick Waters

Sean Kenny

Building from research in the Client Stocktake and Resilience projects, this involves a development process to develop a framework for regional groups to work collectively to build resilience and respond to crises in the dairy industry.

Research Highlights

• Barbara King’s PhD research in Dairy Australia’s feedbase project (Project 3030) applies Social Network Analysis (SNA) to provide a visual representation of the relationships that exist in groups and communities (i.e. specifically the links between researchers, extension and farmers in the project). SNA provides a basis for describing and explaining social ties and structures in which network members can use to reflect and plan ways to strengthen ties and address gaps that effect project goals. The SNA method has a distinctive ability to visually represent the strengths and weaknesses in social structures. While many communities already have some intuitive understanding of this, working with the social network maps makes this understanding explicit and is a starting point for planning how to maintain and enhance social connectivity and resilience. Barbara is combining SNA with interviews and observations of the project 3030 as questions posed to communities concerning change, adaptation and resilience have qualitative values unique to each community. Barbara has also worked with other project teams to understand the influence of social networks on project reach in different contexts (e.g. Landcare, DairyNZ).


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• Ruth Nettle has worked with The People in Dairy program to research improved workforce planning and development at a farm and manufacturing scale. Better workforce planning and action at an industry scale improves the effectiveness of workforce projects (projects are better prioritised), assists engagement with workforce partners like government or employment services (the dairy industry is better at articulating its demand for staff and skills to others) and supports the attraction and retention of suitable people into dairying. This work builds out of the research and development project jointly funded by Dairy Australia and the Gardiner Foundation: ‘People capability – workforce planning and action for the Australian dairy industry’. This work developed a process to assist dairy regions (farm) understand their workforce needs, identify and work with stakeholders to address them and develop and implement an action plan. The initial work in this process has been completed within Baw Baw Shire, Gippsland.

Adapting this work to meet current regional workforce needs in the farm sector and to develop a process that would be relevant for manufacturing, Ruth Nettle has worked alongside initiatives in Western Victoria (Dairy entry-level employment project), Murray Dairy (Skills retention), GippsDairy (Workforce planning leadership) and Manufacturing (a process to identify workforce needs and gaps for collective action). The expected outcome from this work is greater regional and industry capacity to meet the workforce needs of the farm and manufacturing sectors in real-time. [Nettle and Oliver (2009) Workforce planning and action for the Australian dairy industry. Final report]

• As part of Dairy Australia’s Confidence to Grow Program, The Client Stocktake Project involved research to help understand and work more effectively with the diversity of Australian dairy farmers. It involved the selection of a method that identified manageable segments of the farming population to better target technology development, extension and communication. The method (Derived Attitudinal Farmer Segments – or DAFS) was then trialled and assessed through a national study, involving follow-up interviews and focus groups with a range of farmers. The DAFS method was chosen over other methods because of its particular strengths in accounting for both individual and situational characteristics of farms and farmers as well as the derived rather than imposed approach to identifying segments through statistical analysis. The work was undertaken by Warwick Waters and Don Thomson, in association with Ruth Nettle.

The main attitudinal characteristics that were important in differentiating segments included: the importance of providing for the next generation, the relative emphasis on self-reliance and personal knowledge, aversion to risk, and perceived financial pressure. The segments alone were not great predictors of actual practice change, but when combined with a region and enterprise scale, significant relationship were found with the number and type of changes implemented. Segmentation is possible without imposing pre-conceived types, but the challenge remains to describe segments in a way that acknowledges difference without implying ‘good’ or ‘bad’ management.


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Recent Research Publications

Publishing research outcomes and discussion papers ensures that there is a contribution by RIRG to theory development. Further, publications provide an opportunity for RIRG researchers to gain feedback in the form of peer review, think about new approaches and ideas and also provides a legacy from our work. Whilst journal papers are the priority, the contribution to conferences has also been significant in the past 18 months. Ten journal papers were published, whilst one is in press.

Drysdale, G., Markham, N., Paine, M., Michael, A. and Crawford, A. (2010). Using a ‘levels of decision making’ framework in extension. Extension Farming Systems Journal, 6(1): 155-122.

Eastwood, C. and Kenny, S. (2009). Art or science? Heuristic versus data driven grazing management on dairy farms. Extension Farming Systems Journal , 5(1): 95-102.

Love, S., Sharma, M., Boxelaar, L. and Paine, M., (submitted). Layers of Resilience: A dairy community dealing with drought and climate change. Local Environment.

Nettle, R., Oliver, D., Brightling, P., Williamson, J. and Buchanan, J. (2008). From ‘Workforce Planning’ to ‘Collective Action’: Developments in the Australian dairy farm sector. Employment Relations Record, 8(1): 17-34.

Nettle, R. and Paine, M. (2009). Water Security and Farming Systems: Implications for Advisory Practice and Policy-Making. Journal of Agricultural Education and Extension, 15(2): 147-160.

Nettle, R. and Lamb, G. (2010). Water security: how can extension work with farming worldviews? Extension Farming Systems Journal, 6(1): 11-22.

Nettle, R., McKenzie, J., Coutts, J., Boehm, R., Saunders, D., Wythes, C., Fisher, J., O’Sullivan, J., and Kelly, S. (2010). Making capacity building theory practical: The On the Fast Track project. Extension Farming Systems Journal, 6 (1): 73-82.

O’Kane, M.P, Paine, M.S, and King, B.J. (2008). ‘Context, Participation and Discourse: The Role of the Communities of Practice Concept in Understanding Farmer Decision-Making’, Journal of Agricultural Education and Extension, 14 (3): 187-201

O’Kane, M. and Nettle, R. (2009). Partner Farms in multidisciplinary research: The continuing evolution of a research and development methodology. Extension Farming Systems Journal, 5(2): 19-27.

O’Kane, M., King, B. and O’Brien, G. (2009). Farmer risk perceptions and practice: Utilising notions of risk for extension in Project 3030. Extension Farming Systems Journal, 5(2): 59-69.

Waters, W., Thomson, D. and Nettle, R. (2009). Derived attitudinal farmer segments: A method for understanding and working with the diversity of Australian dairy farmers. Extension Farming Systems Journal, 5(2): 47-57.

Twelve conference papers were submitted, with group representation at the following conferences:

• Dairy Research Foundation, University of Sydney, Camden, November 2008


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• Symposium on Innovation adoption in primary industries, University of New England, November 2008

• The Australian Sociological Association, Melbourne, December 2008

• Asia-Pacific Science, Technology and Society Network Workshop, December 2008, Wellington, New Zealand

• Victorian Dairy Conference, Warrnambool, February 2009

• Joint International Agriculture Conference, Wageningen, The Netherlands, July 2009

• European Rural Sociology Conference, Vassa, Finland, 17-21 August 2009

• The Association of Social Anthropologists, Auckland, December 2008 and Sydney, December 2009

RIRG Industry Development (Engagement) objectives

• Improve systematic learning in rural RD&E project teams

• Benefit RD&E project leadership and management (from RIRG involvement)

• Foster innovation strategies of rural industries that better account for people and learning systems

• Increase the impact of Rural professionals (from use of RIRG research)


• Better evaluation of rural industry projects and programs

• Continuous improvement of industry projects and programs

• Increased project/program manager capacity

• Increased advisory capacity

• Improved innovation strategy of rural industry

Quality evaluation of research and extension projects continues to be an ongoing need for the rural sector. RIRG has provided evaluation services to a diversity of projects in the dairy industry over the past 18 months to support project design/logics, understand how activities are working to support farm and advisers and representing the changes emerging from industry involvement.

An overview of industry development and engagement activities are provided in Table 2.


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Table 2: Industry development /engagement activities 2008-2010.

Activity Description/ contribution Principal RIRG researcher involved

Attended 10 Project 3030 partner farm meetings, 5 Project 3030 Project Management Meetings, 2 Project 3030 Field Days (DemoDairy)

Participant observation (social research) Barbara King

Contribution to Project 3030 steering group meetings (4)

Increase knowledge and understanding of the role of RIRG research and its application in Project 3030

Ruth Nettle

Contribution to The People in Dairy Core group meetings

Enhance TPiD strategy, delivery and evaluation

Anne Crawford and Ruth Nettle

Lead and complete the DairyLive evaluation

Assess acceptance of new information technologies and impact of global milk-price decline

Anne Crawford, Ruth Nettle, Callum Eastwood

Lead and complete the Dealing with Today Planning for tomorrow (2) evaluation and report to DAFF.

Better understanding of the on-farm and advisory implications of dealing with long-running drought conditions in the Lower-Murray Darling basin

Ruth Nettle, Anne Crawford, Barbara King with Laurie Philips.

Contribute to research questions in the new Dairy Futures CRC

CRC accounts for the change management challenge of new genetics

RIRG

Project development: Networks and Innovation research in the Farms, Rivers and markets project.

Ensure a co-development perspective on water policy implications of research into doing more with less water.

Sonya Love, Brent Collett, Callum Eastwood, Ruth Nettle

Provide supervision support to PhD students

Develop future capacity for rural innovation research.

Ruth Nettle

Provided oversight to Dairy Australia’s ‘Client Stocktake’ project

Increased insight into the farmer base for Dairy Australia.

Ruth Nettle

Convene inaugural ‘The People in Dairy’ Adviser Forum

Strengthen adviser networks for The People in Dairy, enhance their capacity and evaluate adviser activity in the regions.

Anne Crawford with The People in Dairy

Attend and contribute to Dairy Australia’s farm productivity and delivery (FPD) portfolio team meetings, submit board reports about RIRG progress.

Contribute development lessons to FPD strategy.


Project development: understanding demand for farm decision-support regarding climate change and social and institutional dimensions of climate change.

Planning and submission of applications to DAFF climate change adaptation research round.

Katrina Sinclair (NSW DPI), Sonya Love, Ruth Nettle

Contribution to NCDEA ‘Knowledge management project’ workshop.

Input into the focus of the NCDEA project.

Ruth Nettle

Project support: Contribution to meeting about a proposal to DAFF

Input on practice change implications of GHG emissions research findings.

Ruth Nettle at Dairy Australia


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climate change adaptation research round on dairy GHG emissions research (TIAR).

Lessons from the National Dairy Farm Systems project (2002-2007) for the new Feedbase Integration strategy.

Development of feedbase principles. Anne Crawford with Dairy Australia

Presentation to students of the Diploma of Business (Human Resources) on learning styles and their application in work teams.

Students introduced to learning theory as a solid foundation for understanding change and working in teams.

Ruth Nettle with The People in Dairy

Stakeholder workshop for Workforce planning and Action project.

In principle support for workforce planning and action position paper achieved.


Attend and contribute to a Dairy Manufacturing people capability workshop.

Increased awareness of the farm workforce planning and action approach as relevant to manufacturing.

Ruth Nettle

Presentation to Central Goulburn Water Service Committee, Tatura.

Invitation by committee to present paper from 2008 Irrigation Australia conference on the strategic significance of irrigation customer committees.

Brent Collett

Attended Vice Chancellor ceremony to receive the University Knowledge Transfer ‘Highly Commended’ award.

Acknowledgement of RIRG work with CountDown DownUnder.

Ruth Nettle

Delivered ‘Working with Community Groups’ subject at Dookie.

Develop future capacity for young rural professionals.

Anne Crawford, Ruth Nettle, Barbara King, Michael O’Kane

Attend and present at the UNE Innovation adoption conference (2008) on accelerating innovation in the dairy industry.

Hear about national developments in innovation adoption research.

Ruth Nettle

Project development: Work with The People in Dairy in developing ADEEP: an entry level employment pathway in industry.

Industry development activity. Ruth Nettle with The People in Dairy

Presentation to dairy manufacturing group on use of the farm workforce planning and action process for manufacturing.

Stimulated interest in applying the approach to dairy manufacturing.

Ruth Nettle


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MSLE Postgrad Conference, Dookie (2008 & 2009)

• Social network research in Project 3030

• The social impacts of Total Channel Control Technology for irrigation farmers.

Barbara King

Brent Collett

MSLE Postgrad students and staff

Presented at Dairy Research Foundation Symposium, Camden (2008).

Presented PhD research in the young scientist’s section.

Callum Eastwood

Meet with Ruth Fincher (MSSI - Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute) regarding RIRG research role in the University and in industry.

Exploring opportunities for larger research program.


Present to the Dairy Australia board on progress in The People in Dairy program.

Represent the research and development strategy in the people area.

Ruth Nettle on behalf of The People in Dairy

Attend and present to the WestVic dairy careers planning group on farm workforce planning and action research.

Industry development activity.


Write and submit an application for Dairy Australia to be part of the national ‘Employer Broker Panel’.

Inform the national response. Ruth Nettle with The People in Dairy

Attended 2 meetings to plan the Project 3030 Technical Coordinating Committee (TCC), and 3 TCC meetings.

Support for extension, participant observation (social research).

Barbara King

TASA (The Australian Sociological Association).

Presented conference paper on Project 3030 social networks.

Barbara King

Develop people questions for the National Situation. and Outlook survey of Australian dairy farmers.

Improve data availability on people issues.

Ruth Nettle

Facilitate a Project 3030 workshop on project outcomes, extension strategy and evaluation plan.

Enhance Project 3030 use of RIRG research

Ruth Nettle and Barbara King


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Attended the Asia Pacific Science, Technology, Society Networking workshop, Wellington, New Zealand.

Presented PhD research findings at the APSTSN workshop on farmer adaptation to new technology (Total Channel Control) in irrigation systems.

Brent Collett

Attended the Asia Pacific Science, Technology, Society Networking workshop, Wellington, New Zealand.

Presented PhD research findings at the APSTSN workshop on farmer adaptation to new technology (Total Channel Control) in irrigation systems.

Brent Collett

Co-development meeting with Dairy NZ

Identification of issues of joint interest across respective people and business development themes.

Anne Crawford – with Pauline Brightling, Chris Murphy (Dairy Australia), Mark Paine & Geoff Taylor (Dairy NZ)

Presentation of social research outcomes to Dairy Australia.

Attended by Steve Coates and Dave Henry

Barbara King, Ruth Nettle, Michael O’Kane

Present to Cotton RDC on dairy people strategy and role of RIRG in Canberra.

Enhance cross-rural RDC learning and increase the profile of the RIRG-Dairy Australia partnership.

Ruth Nettle

Attend the Dairy Innovators Forum (2009) (Creswick).

Update on current dairy farmer issues. Barbara King and Ruth Nettle

Visit to NZ at the request of DairyNZ to participate in the Dairy NZ Adoption Strategy Workshop 2009.

Presented concepts of social network analysis and supported Ian Tarbotton to set up social network project for Dairy NZ.

Barbara King – met with Mark Paine, David McCall, Tim Mackle, Ian Tarbotton and Dairy NZ staff.

Attend the Victorian Dairy Conference, Warrnambool

Update on current dairy farmer issues Anne Crawford

Valuing People Productivity – Planning Workshop, Wellington NZ

Scoping of research needs and initial development plans.

Ruth Nettle, Anne Crawford, with Pauline Brightling, Chris Hibburt, Geoff Taylor & NZ consultants.

RIRG advisory group meeting. Advice on strategic direction for RIRG. Ruth Nettle with Steve Coats, Frank Dunshea and John Buchanan (Workplace Research Centre, University of Sydney)

Facilitated a session at the Dairy Extension Farmer Conference in Warrnambool on young people’s motivations for dairying.

Improved understanding of attraction issues into dairy.

Ruth Nettle

Participated in inaugural GCALL (Graduate Certificate in advanced Learning and Leadership)

Attended by 22 PhD graduates and students to develop leadership and project management skills

Barbara King

Project evaluation support: facilitation of a workshop with the Tasmanian

An improved evaluation plan for the Tasmanian project.

Ruth Nettle


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dairy-team for Dairy Smart.

Evaluation project for Dairying for Today, Planning for Tomorrow (2)

Undertook qualitative social research to evaluate the impact of TSTA 2009 in the Murray-Darling Basin.

Barbara King, Ruth Nettle, Anne Crawford

Contribution to University of Melbourne Social Research Methods course.

Increase capacity of students and professional staff in assessing social research quality.

Ruth Nettle and Michael O’Kane

Supported three University of Melbourne students in dairy industry projects.

Students’ research contributes to industry needs in: farmer perceptions of gene markers; farmers attitudes toward sexed-semen in breeding practices; understanding reasons for participation in NRM projects.

Ruth Nettle

Hosted a group from Dairy New Zealand interested in RIRG research.

Future research partnerships

Ruth Nettle and Anne Crawford

Social Network pilot project with DSE and Landcare

Undertook social network analysis with DSE and University of Melbourne research team to evaluate the impact of SNA as an approach for understanding connectivity in Landcare groups

Barbara King, Ruth Beilin, Nicole Riechelt, Stephanie Cam, Alison Long

Presented to the dairy regional development programs on the results of the workforce planning and action research.

Potential research partnership with regions.

Ruth Nettle

Visit to NZ at the request of DairyNZ. Meeting with DairyNZ staff around the area of dairy automation technologies.

Presented PhD research to the annual meeting of a dairy technology company. Aided DairyNZ staff with the formulation of their research programme in the dairy automation area.

Callum Eastwood – met with Jenny Jago, Brian De la Rue, Mark Paine, Dave Clarke.

Attended inaugural Community of Practice for Environmental Water Managers workshop, Melbourne. Event organised by Australian Water Association and National Water Commission.

Establishment of the Community of Practice was to ‘Improve the profession and practice of environmental water managers to achieve better environmental outcomes.’

Brent Collett

RIRG Annual Symposium (2008 and 2009)

Presentation of most recent research findings to industry.

Ruth Nettle, Anne Crawford, Michael O’Kane, Barbara King, Callum Eastwood, Brent Collett

Presentation to industry and MSLE staff/students - ‘innovative dairy systems’

Attended by 20 Dairy Australia representatives, dairy technology company representatives, and MSLE staff/ students

Callum Eastwood


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Highlights

• Ruth Nettle was asked to review projects of the Cotton Catchment Community CRC program and offer advice for project improvement.

• RIRG has worked with The People in Dairy to develop and implement the evaluation strategy. Evaluation extends across the capacity development of advisors through the Diploma in Human Resources, short courses for farmers and industry and the use of online resources. Understanding how individuals interact with The People in Dairy website through the use of website analytical statistics (www.thepeopleindairy.org.au) provides an insight in the design and use of online industry resources. This has been complemented by several farmer focus groups in the initial launch phase.

• RIRG led the evaluation of the significant dairy industry initiative, DairyLive. Findings showed that the use of video and internet-based technology to simultaneously link people across the supply chain nationally and connect them live to international experts was received very positively by participants with 92% indicating that they would participate in future events and 94% reporting DairyLive was a more powerful way of presenting information. Further, there was strong support expressed for future similar events. The high level of (and relatively unexpected) demand for participating in DairyLive through the internet option demonstrated the level of interest in time-efficient delivery methods for those unable to attend the event away from their work-place. Although the internet option had technical limitations on the day, the underlying demand for this medium from both farming and manufacturing/supply chain sectors provides confidence for industry in developing this medium as a way of directly involving those less willing or able to attend events in person.

Recommendations were also made to ensure that the lessons from the DairyLive development and delivery experience were captured. Feedback from respondents suggests that the large-scale, regionally connected and international perspective provided by DairyLive should be strategically used again when industry circumstances necessitate decisive action.

• Dealing with Today Planning for Tomorrow (Stage 2) aimed to a) Support dairy farmers in irrigated regions in the Murray Darling Basin to confidently manage the current season and enhance their capacity to confront the challenges the future provides and b) Enhance the resilience of farm businesses through better understanding of options, risks and support opportunities likely to impact on the business in the foreseeable future. RIRG undertook the evaluation for this significant dairy industry initiative, working across extensive activity and to short timeframes.

The evaluation used a modified Bennett’s hierarchy approach, in which data was collected from participants on the quality of the activity and the impact and changes made as a result of participation. This data was analysed based on the extent to which the majority of participants reported actions and progress that aligned with the stated objectives and desired outcomes of DTPT 2. Recommendations were made in order to guide future investment in this area.

• Working within Project 3030 Program Management Group, and in collaboration with former Principle Extension Officer Greg O’Brien, Dr Michael O’Kane and Barbara King developed the

http://www.thepeopleindairy.org.au/�


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Technical Co-ordinating Committee (TCC) to identify and format the forage management principles produced by the research. The TCC involves key representatives from each of the main disciplines and groups engaged in the project and works to produce whole-of-project endorsed messages that are accessible to farmers, rural service providers and researchers alike. Importantly, the TCC structure is designed to be applicable to all multi-disciplinary research projects and will be followed closely over the next 18 months in order to develop it for Dairy Australia’s national feed-base integration strategy.

• The ‘Enhancing the Resilience of Dairy Farm Businesses’ project linked with existing dairy industry programmes (Managing Your Own Business Continuity – DairyTas; Farmer Targets for Change – DPI NSW; drought response activities in the Goulburn Valley). RIRG involvement contributed to reflection within these projects on their contribution to farm and industry resilience. Further involvement is foreseen with the dairy industry response to the Inquiry in the Northern Irrigation region.

o Sonya Love supported the Dealing with Today Planning for Tomorrow (1) project team to pilot the Diagnostic Framework for incorporating resilience thinking in program design

• A suite of delivery tools for Project 3030 forage management principles and practices were developed by Dr Michael O’Kane and Barbara King. These tools consist of (a) methods for assessing and addressing farmer risk perception concerning new technologies, (b) suggested group structures and strategies for the creation of better learning opportunities through supported decision-making and (c) the use of social networks to transfer knowledge through an understanding of different forms of social capital. They have been designed within the context of Project 3030 but are applicable to feed-base extension in general. They are currently being developed into a short-course format for the benefit of dairy extension.

• Research examining the way in which herd genetic improvement decisions are made in practice on Australian farms was completed. The report addresses this knowledge gap, providing guidelines for the development of a national herd improvement extension strategy. [Penry & Paine (2009) Farmer decision making for the selection of genetics in Australian dairy herds – integrating farm and advisory perspectives. Final Report]

• A collaborative effort between RIRG and the Countdown Downunder project team had the primary objective of identifying necessary design elements of a service offered through the private sector (veterinarians) to enable existing resources (Countdown industry information and resources) to be incorporated into routine risk management of farms. This new service, known as Countdown MAX, enables dairy farmers to focus on key decisions at a time and in a way that is appropriate to events occurring on the farm. Major outputs of this research were:

o confirmation of the potential of Countdown MAX-type services to improve herd performance;

o better alignment of services of participating veterinary businesses with Countdown messages;

o better understanding of what is stopping vet practices offering MAX on a larger scale;


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o re-design of the Countdown Mastitis Focus for the wider industry good.

RIRG researchers provide leadership into innovation strategy.

• The RIRG Annual Symposium was held in early August 2009, attracting some 60 participants, including 9 from interstate/ New Zealand, and 10 from rural Victoria. The symposium is a key opportunity to share research and development findings from RIRG with a wider audience working in rural innovation. John Buchanan, Director of the Workplace Research Centre at the University of Sydney (and member of the RIRG advisory group) provided the keynote address on the search for sustainable business models in Australian society post the global financial crisis. The audience included dairy industry investors, DPI and extension staff from across Australia, DairyNZ research managers from universities and different rural industries.

In feedback sheets the majority of participants rated the event as 6/7 (on a scale of 1-7) with respect to value from attending the day. Most reported that the symposium had triggered a lot of new ideas for applying to their work. The main benefits reported were that the day provided an opportunity to meet and network with people about issues of common concern (such as collaboration or evaluating change) and an opportunity to reflect on current approaches and ideas for doing things differently.

• Leadership in design of the Technical group 3030 - The Technical Co-ordinating Committee -was developed after a need for greater communication and collaboration was identified by the RIRG-Project 3030 social research team in 2006-2007. A formative structure for a group resting between the different disciplines represented within the project was then developed and honed in collaboration with the former Principle Extension Officer Greg O’Brien before being presented to the Program Management Group. This structure now links provides a conduit through which the different disciplinary perspectives held within the project now contribute to the creation of truly multi-disciplinary research output for the dairy industry.

• The RIRG group provided leadership in the design and implementation of the pilot program for Pastures from Space. We based the design on a co-development model to ensure dairy farmers, as eventual end users of the technology, were able to provide input and influence in the ongoing development of Pastures from Space. The on-farm pilot involved one-on-one interviews with farmers, informal discussions, and a workshop where the farmers were able to interact directly with a CSIRO representative.

• RIRG has provided leadership in the design of the community engagement strategy for the Farms, Rivers and Markets project, as part of the development phase. The ‘Farms, Rivers and Markets’ project is an interdisciplinary research project that aims to create opportunities to ‘do more with less water’, aiming to generate new water management options that will expand the system design possibilities for farmers and water managers.


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RIRG Capacity Building Objectives (Post-graduate supervision, teaching)

• Advance the discipline of rural action science

• Increase the impact of Rural professionals


• National and International recognition

• Long-term capacity to enhance innovation

As an active group within the University of Melbourne, RIRG has welcomed and valued the opportunity to contribute to the teaching of undergraduate and postgraduate students. Combining a social research perspective with innovation studies and farming systems knowledge allows RIRG to make a unique contribution to the Melbourne School of Land and Environment, and also contributes to growing the next generation of researchers and advisers.

• RIRG have made a significant contribution to the teaching outcomes of Melbourne School of Land and Environment. During the 18 months from Aug 2008 – May 2010, the subject Working with Community Groups (207-328) was delivered twice to a total of 81 third year students. Presented in an intensive one-week block mode, RIRG seeks to engage students with the theory and practice of community engagement for practice change, with a focus on the rural industries.

• RIRG group members have also contributed to the course delivery of Social Research Methods and Agricultural Systems Analysis.

• As well as the current PhD students (refer to pages 8 & 36), Dr Ruth Nettle has been involved in the supervision of three final year student projects.

New developments and future plans

Targeting resilience building activities and crisis response when there is an increasingly diverse population of farmers and farm management practices and a changing service sector presents challenges. Following on from ‘Enhancing the Resilience of Dairy Farm Businesses’ and ‘Client Segmentation’, a project is currently underway in conjunction with the Dairy Extension Centre (Vic Dept of Primary Industries) to integrate these approaches in a development process. The key objectives of ‘Changing Rooms in the dairy industry – leaving a legacy from crises’ are to:

1. Develop a framework (or logic) for regional groups working collectively to build resilience and respond to crisis in the dairy industry;

2. Identify and test a range of indicators that can inform the design of investment in resilience building and crisis response activities;

3. Identify ways that resilience building and crisis response activities can be more effectively targeted to different farmers.


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A second area of development is to improve the understanding of the value proposition for ‘getting people right’ as part of The People in Dairy. Effective working relations on-farm underpin profitability through improved farm systems and deployment of resources, as well as greater retention of employees. The difference that improving people management can make to a business is rarely quantified and therefore often challenged (improvements are seen as a result of peculiarities to a farm/farmer); traded-off (e.g. “yes I work them hard and long – but I pay them well – so what’s the issue?”), or trivialised (e.g. “the industry just has to realise it has to pay more”). There is limited sophisticated discussion in industry about the way farm systems, farm operations and culture and leadership influence farm performance and how change can be supported. Demonstrating these links in terms of an economic value is difficult, yet an important component for increased engagement. Research in ‘Valuing People Productivity’ will focus on understanding the people-management factors most strongly associated with farm business profit, and how these drivers may be quantified meaningfully (i.e. the reliability of indicators).

Complementing this work will be research providing insights into change on farm as a result of engagement in The People in Dairy program. This works seeks understand the change on-farm and the benefit on-farm of implementing a people approach post farmer short course/HR diploma, as well as tracking the use of resources and advisers in the change process. It will help identify barriers to change, and strengths of the process.

The ‘Farms, Rivers and Markets’ project is a large interdisciplinary research project that aims to create opportunities to ‘do more with less water’. The project uses the Broken River and its catchment as a case study to develop new water management options. RIRG is involved in delivering the Farm and Catchment Networks Innovation Research within this project. This research module includes development and delivery of a community engagement strategy that assists in integrating knowledge from diverse research disciplines, diverse communities of practice and diverse communities of interest to ensure that feasible, practical and acceptable water management options are developed by the project. The research explores how diverse groups co-develop knowledge for catchment management.

New research is also being scoped in the area of Precision Technology on Farm, with a preliminary focus on the use of Automatic Milking Systems, in conjunction with Dairy Australia and the Department of Primary Industries (VIC).

New opportunities for the application of Social Network Analysis to understand the knowledge development and transfer will also be identified.


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Key performance indicators – evaluation of progress to date

In order to gauge our progress and the impact of our research team, and identify opportunities for improvement in 2010, we undertook a Client Survey in December 2009. An online survey was developed and the link emailed to a representative cohort of people that we had worked with over the previous 18 months. Respondents had the opportunity to participate in the survey anonymously.

Forty-seven participants were selected, and 32 responded (one survey incomplete), providing a response rate of 66%. Of those that responded, approximately two-thirds provided their name, and one third did so anonymously. The roles of respondents ranged across industry; nine program/project managers, five investors, seven extension/advisors, seven researchers, three social researchers and one service provider.

The involvement that respondents had had with the RIRG group was predominantly to jointly develop or implement projects/ research (66%), and read or use RIRG research outputs/ outcomes (also 66%), with 47% seeking advice or input from RIRG, and 19% contracting RIRG to complete research or development work. Other mentions were made of rural R&D collaboration; work on ongoing projects, working together on designing and facilitating key national workshops, or attending RIRG instigated meetings.

Respondents were asked to reflect on the impacts and use of RIRG research and outputs (reports, presentations, publications) over the past 18 months, and respond to a selection of statements in regard to these. The results are shown in Figure 2. No one disagreed or strongly disagreed with the statements.

Comments regarding the impact and use of RIRG research and outputs included:

In the past RIRG input has been especially valuable in helping create conceptual frameworks that become fundamental to the project design - eg action research wheel of MAX; identifying the value proposition for any project.

Findings from RIRG inform the way I think in regards to program development. So I can’t provide specific direct examples, but my involvement with RIRG has certainly been influential. From own perspective I gain more from personnel and direct interactions with individual team members rather than via published papers. I have always found RIRG staff to be very accessible, highly professional and eager to assist in any way possible.

As a literature source and shaping ideas about my own research projects.

I love the literature reviews and reports that trawl through papers to provide rigorous recommendations. These help equip me to speak knowledgably to potential collaborators about project design (eg science for why not to do project). Qualitative evaluation is one tool that RIRG use that builds on a Roberts-Coutts two day training session I went to ages ago.


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RIRG have been involved, from the start, in the design of evaluation of all programs I have managed or been involved with either indirectly, providing advice and guidance or directly in evaluation of the programs.

Used learnings from 3030 as part of consultancy advice.

The adoption strategy for DairyNZ has drawn on the findings of several RIRG projects and the rural mentoring project is using results from both the Capacity Building Cooperative Venture contracted work, and the evaluation of the coaching work in Tassie. We are looking to combine our approaches in the valuing people area.

Figure 2: Respondents opinion of the impact and use of RIRG research and outputs. (Q6. When you reflect on the IMPACTS AND USE of RIRG research and outputs (reports, presentations, publications) over the past 18 months, what comes to mind? Please tick the box that reflects your opinion for the following statements) (Source: RIRG Client Feedback Satisfaction Survey, 2009)

Respondents were asked to reflect on the quality of RIRG research and outputs (reports, presentations, publications) over the past 18 months, and respond to a selection of statements in regard to these. The results are shown in Figure 3. Just one respondent disagreed with the statements that ‘RIRG Research is completed on time’ and ‘RIRG milestones are met’.

0% 50% 100%

RIRG research increased my knowledge aboutchange processes

RIRG research changed my thinking (e.g.attitudes, beliefs) about change processes

RIRG research developed my skills in designingand delivering projects/programs

My program/projects is better able to handlethe next complexity challenge because of…

I use RIRG findings, methods or tools in myproject/program

I would recommend the involvement of RIRGresearchers to others

6.5

35.5

40

29

38.7

6.5

67.7

48.4

30

51.6

38.7

51.6

16.1

9.7

13.3

6.5

16.1

41.9

Disagree Strongly disagree

Not applicable to me Neutral

Agree Strongly agree


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Figure 3: Respondents’ reflections of the quality of RIRG research and outputs over the past 18 months. (Q8. When you reflect on the QUALITY of RIRG research and outputs over the past 18 months, what comes to mind? Please tick the box that reflects your opinion for the following statements) (Source: RIRG Client Feedback Satisfaction Survey, 2009)

Additional comments on the involvement and input of RIRG in industry projects and development included:

The papers submitted for publishing are of a very high and professional standard. Likewise, presentations to key stakeholder and investors are of a similar standard. However, a different format may be need to be considered when dealing with extension practitioners to assist with direct application to given work areas. I can only speak for myself but I prefer to access RIRG staff directly to discuss work related issues because staff are generally able to tailor/apply RIRG outcomes directly to my particular needs...in a way that the published research and presentations don’t. Maybe a more practical based approach which lends to a more simplified means of application is required.

It has driven projects (Workforce planning) without which would not have happened. It has also participated in talks about other projects that are already funded and planned - those talks have been about accessing extra information if needed throughout project...

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

RIRG milestones are met

RIRG Research is completed on time

RIRG research is completed within budget

RIRG research project reports are of a highstandard

RIRG research reports and presentations areeasy to understand

RIRG research publications are authoritativeand leading edge in their field

9.7

12.9

22.6

6.5

26.7

22.6

41.9

41.9

19.4

61.3

56.7

58.1

12.9

6.5

19.4

19.4

6.7

9.7

Disagree Strongly disagree

Not applicable to me Neutral

Agree Strongly agree


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Many respondents had suggestions for how RIRG could improve into the future. These included suggestions around who we partner with, and our commercial approach:

RIRG would benefit from being ‘championed’ by UDV and/or ADF as distinct from relying on DA support. Farmer organisations need to be publicly endorsing the value and merits of RIRG.

I think there is a need to... define: What RIRG is passionate about? What you can be world leaders in and what drives your economic engine?... this will define the exciting future for RIRG!!!

Within your team I think there is a gap in capability in relation to being ‘commercial’ and giving practical recommendations to some clients.

There are some potential key partnerships with other entities that could be developed.

The role of RIRG in other projects:

The challenge for RIRG is to gain early entry into projects. Often project leaders are willing to use RIRG but not sure how to involvement them. It therefore relies on RIRG workers to take the initiative to engage with projects. There is a need to listen carefully to project requirements and introduce concepts and methods recognising the context of the overall project (i.e., industry expectations, limited knowledge of the field, requirements of other partners etc.) Most organisations appreciate that people issues are paramount AND that they are not handling these as best they could. The challenge for RIRG is to translate this awareness into opportunities for organisation(s), project and RIRG.

Better promotion of the role that RIRG plays in the likes of 3030.

Hard to suggest improvements as we only worked in one project with RIRG. Level of interaction, communication and collaboration has been great.

RIRG has been fantastic providing some of the key reflections and insights in the projects we do.

Time management and capacity:

Good researchers need thinking space as part of their work. Maybe you need another two or three "Ruths" to share the load and have a critical mass. Senior enough to attract and worry about their own funding...

Like all of us, I think, the key is getting time management and priorities balanced. The group achieves a great deal given the wide involvement in projects etc. It is very hard to do in an environment of complex funding issues.

The Client Survey provided a good opportunity to gauge our progress and impact to date, and identify opportunities for improvement. 94% of respondents would recommend the involvement of RIRG to others, with 68% believing that RIRG publications are authoritative and leading in their field. 84% believe that RIRG has increased their knowledge about change processes. The key areas highlighted for development and improvement were time management, prioritisation and selection of the opportunities to engage, and growing the group to provide a broader capacity to respond to industry needs.


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Current and recently completed projects - summaries

30:30 Project – Social Research

Project Overview

• Determine the adoption challenges to farm businesses that use new forage production technologies in 3030 under dryland conditions.

• Identify effective strategies that partner farmers in 3030 use to capture opportunities and manage risks that arise from using new technologies.

• Describe and understand advisory support network around 3030 forage management principles.

• Develop effective 3030 extension tools and strategies.

Industry Outcomes:

1. Supporting effective extension – ensuring fit-to-farm 2. Explaining how partner farms contribute to project outcomes 3. Explanations for how a large project and its processes work to increase relevance, speed and

reach of project developments.

Principal Investigators: Dr Michael O’Kane, Ms Barbara King

Funding: Gardiner Foundation, Dairy Australia

Timeframe: December 2006 – June 2010

Pastures from Space – Pilot Programme

Project Overview

1. To evaluate the ‘usability’ of the Pastures from Space technology as a data delivery mechanism in the first instance (answer the ‘does it work?’ question)

2. To provide insight as to the implications of bounding the technological package as one of a-c below (to be used in developing the business case for further development).

a. As a data delivery mechanism only, combining auto data collection (satellite) and feed allocation (eg: FeedSmart) tools.

b. As a data delivery mechanism plus tailored grazing management skill development which enables its effective use.

c. As a ‘plug in’ to more holistic approaches that already exist within the industry (eg.


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FPFP).

3. To validate algorithms for the Ellinbank footprint (checking off the accuracy of the technology)

The Pastures from Space® (PfS) concept was developed by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) as a means of estimating pasture biomass and growth rates in both extensive livestock farming systems using satellite imagery. In a Dairy Australia funded initiative, PfS technology has been adapted to intensive Australian dairy systems with calibration for ryegrass based pastures. In this project an on-farm trial was conducted to further refine the technology. The research problem addressed by this research concerned the potential value of the Pastures from Space for commercial dairy farm systems.

Key Findings

This project was designed in response to Dairy Australia’s investment into development of the Pastures from Space® (PfS) concept for Australian dairy farm systems. The 2008 on-farm Pilot provided a good opportunity to test the satellite-based pasture measurement concept in a pseudo-commercial setting. The Pilot was successful in the goal of validating the model to predict paddock-average pasture biomass; post-Pilot model accuracies were higher than in the previous phase, with the additional benefits of repeatable methods, labour savings, and mapping spatial variability of pastures. The Pilot highlighted major challenges and opportunities for the future development and commercial use of satellite-based pasture estimates, the primary challenge being the timely delivery of data. However, even if the hurdle of cloud cover is overcome there still exist other aspects which need to be addressed including value to farmers, associated decision-support structures, and potential market share issues.

Principal Investigators: Dr Callum Eastwood, in conjunction with Gonzalo Mata and Dr Rebecca Handcock, CSIRO Livestock Industries.

Funding: Dairy Australia

Timeframe: March 2008 – September 2009

Contact: Dr Callum Eastwood T: 03 83448352 E: [email protected]

Workforce Planning and Action for the Australian Dairy Industry

Project Overview

This project aimed to develop a process for regional groups to better understand the current system of people development in their region so they are better able to influence and improve workforce planning. A case study ‘sub-region’ (Baw Baw shire in West Gippsland) was chosen so that the process developed would be grounded in an understanding of an actual system of workforce planning


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and people development.

The action wheel developed from the project as a workforce planning and action process is to be trialled in more regions. The process is suggested as a way in which workforce planning and action can become routine in regions and integrate workforce development activities.

Industry Outcomes

The outcome desired is to have a workforce planning process that allows industry and the community it is within to understand and articulate career paths, enable action on gaps in capability, prioritise efforts and track results. It is suggested that this will flow to Increased return on investment from people capability due to efficiency gains and better targeted action of industry.

Principal Investigator: Dr Ruth Nettle, in conjunction with Damian Oliver, The Workplace Research Centre, University of Sydney

Funding: The Geoffrey Gardiner Foundation and Dairy Australia

Timeframe: November 2007 – March 2009

Contact: Dr Ruth Nettle T: 03 8344 4581 E: [email protected]

The People in Dairy

Project Overview

Enhancing ‘people management’ on dairy farms is now a critical challenge for the industry and a key to continued growth. This Dairy Australia program is designed to assist farmers as they improve how they attract, deploy, retain and develop the people they need to achieve the strategic visions of their businesses.

RIRG’s involvement is at several levels; undertaking research for improved understanding of ‘people’ issues in the dairy industry, leading the development and implementation of the programme’s evaluation strategy, and identifying future research and development directions.

Industry Outcomes:

1. Robust indications for evaluating people-orientated programme on farm 2. A more detailed analysis of ‘People’ in the Australian dairy industry

Principle Investigators: Dr Ruth Nettle and Anne Crawford


Timeframe: July 2007 – June 2010

Contact: Dr Ruth Nettle T: 03 8344 4581 E: [email protected]

Anne Crawford T: 03 8344 8356 E: [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]�

mailto:[email protected]�


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Enhancing the Resilience of Dairy Farm Businesses

Project Overview

The project aims to work with extension practitioners and service providers to develop and implement strategies that will enhance the resilience of dairy farms, and to set the agenda for capacity building for resilience in the dairy industry.

The resilience project is able to contribute to the industry’s responses by:

• building knowledge about resilience as a first step towards the development of an industry strategy for resilience;

• exploring the people issues that give rise to the resilience of dairy farm businesses (i.e. their ability to negotiate the thresholds within which they can sustainably operate);

• contributing to the elaboration of extension strategies that contribute to resilience.

The project aims to progress towards development of a diagnostic framework that will assist current and future project teams to think about the social factors that may be contributing to resilience, vulnerability and/ or adaptive capacity of dairy farm businesses and dairy communities, and apply this understanding to the development and implementation of extension programs.

Industry Outcomes

• Improved understanding of farm business trajectories in the face of resilience challenges, and understanding of how extension projects provide support for enhancing farm resilience;

• Development of a Diagnostic Framework to help extension project teams to develop intervention strategies that support resilience.

Principle Investigator: Sonya Love


Timeframe: July 2005 – September 2008 (follow-up work foreseen for Jan – June 2010)

Contact: Sonya Love T: 03 8344 4213 E: [email protected]

Farms, Rivers and Markets – Farm and Catchment Networks Innovation Research

Project Overview

The ‘Farms, Rivers and Markets’ project is a large interdisciplinary research project that aims to create opportunities to ‘do more with less water’. The project uses the Broken River and its catchment as a case study to develop new water management options.

RIRG is involved in delivering the Farm and Catchment Networks Innovation Research within this project. This research module includes development and delivery of a community engagement strategy that assists in integrating knowledge from diverse research disciplines, diverse communities


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of practice and diverse communities of interest to ensure that feasible, practical and acceptable water management options are developed by the project. The research explores how diverse groups co-develop knowledge for catchment management.

Industry Outcomes

• A design framework for community engagement in interdisciplinary catchment management research projects;

• An understanding of the benefits of different types of community engagement and how they can be combined;

• Development of a capacity building agenda in water management.

Principle Investigator: Dr Ruth Nettle, Margaret Ayre

Funding: National Water Commission, Victorian Water Trust, The Tallis Trust and the University of Melbourne

Timeframe: January 2009 – June 2012

Contact: Margaret Ayre T: 03 8344 4213 E: [email protected]

Changing rooms in the dairy industry: Leaving a legacy from crises

In dealing with crises, there is an ongoing tension between the need to protect and develop the current industry configuration (recognising existing investment and opportunities for wealth generation) and the need for transformation and change in a changing environment. The challenges for dairy communities and the dairy industry are to:

Systematically consider and build the resilience of the industry in the long term;

Recognise the resilience implications of current industry trajectories and retain (or develop) the capacity to reorganise when necessary; and to

Respond to crises in a way that is consistent with long-term resilience.

Targeting resilience building activities and crisis response when there is an increasingly diverse population of farmers and farm management practices and a changing service sector presents challenges.

Previous work (Waters et al. 2009) has: a) critically reviewed methods and uses of ‘market segmentation’; b) developed and applied a leading farmer segmentation method for the dairy industry, c) ground-truthed the approach and findings with users and investors and d) applied the segmentation results to the delivery issues of three industry programs.

For this work to be useful to regions in targeting activities in the context of resilience assessment and


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crisis response, a development process is required to:

• Engage industry groups in thinking about, applying and evaluating the use of segmentation knowledge in the context of resilience assessment and crisis response,

• assess the strengths and weaknesses of this knowledge to improve targeting of services and responses

• gather more data if required

• develop activities that are suited to the different segments

• assess the activities in their contribution to improved responsiveness and resilience

Objectives

The key objectives of this project are to:

• Develop a framework (or logic) for regional groups working collectively to build resilience and respond to crisis in the dairy industry;

• Identify and test a range of indicators that can inform the design of investment in resilience building and crisis response activities;

• Identify ways that resilience building and crisis response activities can be more effectively targeted to different farmers.

Principle Investigator: Sonya Love, Warwick waters and Dr Ruth Nettle,

Funding: Department of Primary Industry

Timeframe: January 2010 – June 2010

Contact: Sonya Love T: 03 8344 4213 E: [email protected]

Local food production: the producers’ perspective

Project Overview

Food production-consumption is a nexus for large issues: environmental, economic, and social. As such they invite us to think big. Our focus often rests on the processes of agri-food globalisation and neoliberal governance, the adoption of [technological] innovations, food chain analyses, or the ‘previously neglected’ realm of consumption. This is particularly evident in current research on local food production, described generally as alternative networks which aim to address issues of concern such as sustainability, food sovereignty, food miles, resilience, and quality, to name a few. This research is interested in re-thinking these concerns beyond their current means-to-an-end, strategic and teleological focus. To do this it explores the changing interrelationship of production-consumption from the perspective of the producer. It asks: how do ‘entrepreneurial’ producers experience and give meaning to the phenomena of local food and the processes, places and products that relationally and materially constitute this phenomenon. The outcomes of the research are that producers who actively engage in these complex interrelationships open up new possibilities for


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change and innovation. Entrepreneurship is therefore understood to not only infer individual opportunity-taking or effective network facilitation, but as a collective and creative practice that actively generates ‘the alternatives themselves’. By shifting the focus away from goal-oriented strategies and detached, rational assessment towards those encounters and embodied engagements that often result in spontaneous coping producers begin to actively integrate past practices worth recovering , transform and create knowledge [innovate] in the present and think about possibilities not yet realised or imagined.

Progress/Highlights

New ideas of entrepreneurship, strategy and practice-change that move beyond a focus on the individual-opportunity nexus and rational assessment towards new forms of connectivity and creativity based in the practical activity of everyday life.

To move beyond the assumption that strategic actions are directly attributable to individual a priori held values and beliefs, but are instead embodied practices that make possible our identities.

Principle Investigators: Ms Susan Cleary

Funding: Dairy Australia, University of Melbourne, Dept of Primary Industries Victoria

Timeframe: March 2005 – Dec 2010

Contact: Susan Cleary E: [email protected]

Changing rural water management: the social dimensions of regional and farm level irrigation technologies

Project Overview

This research explores the processes involved in the implementation of Total Channel Control technology in the Goulburn and Macalister regions of Victoria and is aimed at explaining how the social dimensions of such technologies play their part in innovation for improved water resource management.

• What major factors are responsible for the evolution of Total Channel Control technology?

• What are the responses and intentions of different communities of interest to Total Channel Control?

• How can intervention be appropriately conceived to accompany TCC to improve water resource management?

Industry Outcomes

Will add to the body of knowledge around studies of technology and society. More specifically, will provide an argument for greater investment in people in water savings projects.

Principle Investigators: Mr Brent Collett

Funding: The Victorian Government Department of Sustainability and Environment White Paper on


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Water scholarship

Timeframe: February 2006 – February 2010

Contact: Brent Collett E: [email protected]


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Completed PhD’s 2008-2010

Callum Eastwood

An exploratory qualitative study was conducted, based around six case study farms, to investigate learning, on-farm adaptation, and innovation in Australian precision dairy systems. A need to view farmers as co-developers of precision systems was identified. Innovation within these systems relies on the community of practice within which farmers are situated. Strengthening the linkages between community members, and facilitating knowledge transfer around the community is the key to innovation in precision dairy systems.

PhD student status

Student Topic Supervision Funding

Sonya Love

Catchment management and science organisations

Mark Paine

Cameron Gourley

Alice Melland

Dairy Australia/ Vic Dept Primary Industries

Barbara King

Social networks and R&D projects Mark Paine

Ruth Beilin

Ruth Nettle

Gardiner Foundation/ Dairy Australia

Brent Collett

Social dimensions of regional level irrigation technologies

Ruth Nettle

Mark Paine

Don Garden

Vic Dept Sustainability & Environment

Susan Cleary

Food-farms and consumers Mark Paine

Kath Williams

Dairy Australia

Carolyn Dunn

The use of social research in forestry

Kath Williams

Ruth Nettle

Forestry CRC

Anna Witasari Community based management of forests in Indonesia

Ruth Beilin

Ruth Nettle

Simon Batterbury

AusAid


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Publications 2008-2010

Journal articles

Drysdale, G., Markham, N., Paine, M., Michael, A. and Crawford, A. (2010). Using a ‘levels of decision making’ framework in extension. Extension Farming Systems Journal, 6(1): 155-122.

Eastwood, C. and Kenny, S. (2009). Art or science? Heuristic versus data driven grazing management on dairy farms. Extension Farming Systems Journal, 5(1): 95-102.

Love, S., Sharma, M., Boxelaar, L. and Paine, M., (submitted). Layers of Resilience: A dairy community dealing with drought and climate change. Local Environment.

Nettle, R., Oliver, D., Brightling, P., Williamson, J. and Buchanan, J. (2008). From ‘Workforce Planning’ to ‘Collective Action’: Developments in the Australian dairy farm sector. Employment Relations Record, 8(1): 17-34.

Nettle, R. and Paine, M. (2009). Water Security and Farming Systems: Implications for Advisory Practice and Policy-Making. Journal of Agricultural Education and Extension, 15(2): 147-160.

Nettle, R. and Lamb, G. (2010). Water security: how can extension work with farming worldviews? Extension Farming Systems Journal, 6(1): 11-22.

Nettle, R., McKenzie, J., Coutts, J., Boehm, R., Saunders, D., Wythes, C., Fisher, J., O’Sullivan, J., and Kelly, S. (2010). Making capacity building theory practical: The On the Fast Track project. Extension Farming Systems Journal, 6 (1): 73-82.

O’Kane, M.P, Paine, M.S, and King, B.J, (2008). ‘Context, Participation and Discourse: The Role of the Communities of Practice Concept in Understanding Farmer Decision-Making’, Journal of Agricultural Education and Extension, 14 (3): 187-201

O’Kane, M. and Nettle, R. (2009). Partner Farms in multidisciplinary research: The continuing evolution of a research and development methodology. Extension Farming Systems Journal, 5(2): 19-27.

O’Kane, M., King, B. and O’Brien, G. (2009). Farmer risk perceptions and practice: Utilising notions of risk for extension in Project 3030. Extension Farming Systems Journal, 5(2): 59-69.

O’Kane, MP 2010. ‘Anthropology and multi-disciplinary agricultural research’. World Anthropology Network e-Journal.

Waters, W., Thomson, D. and Nettle, R. (2009). Derived attitudinal farmer segments: A method for understanding and working with the diversity of Australian dairy farmers. Extension Farming Systems Journal, 5(2): 47-57.


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Conference papers and posters1

Collett, B.P., Nettle, R.A. and Paine, M.S. (2008). The strategic significance of Irrigation Customer Service Committees in policy implementation. Proceedings of the 2008 Irrigation Australia Conference. May 20-22, 2008. Irrigation Australia. Melbourne, Victoria.

Eastwood, C., Chapman, D. and Paine, M. (2009). Farmers as co-developers of innovative precision farming systems, in: Precision Livestock Farming. Proceedings of the Joint International Agriculture Conference, The Netherlands, 6-8 July 2009.

Eastwood, C., Chapman, D. and Paine, M. (2008). The importance of learning networks in precision dairy farming, in: Current Topics in Dairy Production Vol. 13, Dairy Research Foundation, University of Sydney, Camden, November 2008.

Eastwood, C., Mata, G., Handcock, R.N. and Kenny, S. (2009).Evaluating satellite-based pasture measurement for Australian dairy farmers, in: Precision Livestock Farming. Proceedings of the Joint International Agriculture Conference, The Netherlands, 6-8 July 2009.

Love, S., Sharma, M., Paine, M. and Boxelaar, L. (2008). Enhancing the Resilience of Dairy Farm Businesses. Resilience 2008: Resilience, Adaptation and Transformation in Turbulent Times. Stockholm, Sweden.

Other publications

Love, S., Sharma, M., Boxelaar, L. and Paine, M. (2008). Enhancing the Resilience of Dairy Farm Businesses. Final Report. Melbourne, University of Melbourne. pp. 76.

Nettle, R and Oliver, D. (2009). The People in Dairy: People Capability for the farm sector. (Stage 1, Modules 1 to 3) Workforce planning and action for the Australian dairy industry. Final Report – Geoffrey Gardiner Foundation project. January 2009 . The Rural Innovation Research Group, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia. ISBN 9780734040725

Penry, J., Paine, M. and Brightling, P. (2009). Achieving sustainable improvement. Enhancing services to dairy farmers through effective partnerships between public and private sectors. Final Report. pp. 24.

Penry, J. and Paine, M. (2009). Farmer decision making for the selection of genetics in Australian dairy herds – integrating farm and advisory perspectives. Final Report. pp. 39.

Reports

Crawford, A., Samson, A., Coutts, J. and Nettle, R. (2009). DairyLive Participant Evaluation Report.

Eastwood, C., Mata, G., and Handcock, R. (2008). Pastures from Space Pilot Programme UM12970. Progress report.

Eastwood, C. (2009). Pastures from Space® Pilot Programme. Technical Report A – On farm evaluation. Final Report.

11 Papers presented at the APEN conference (2009) have been published in the Extension Farming Systems Journal.


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Eastwood, C., Crawford, A. and Nettle, R. (2010). DairyLive – Evaluation of follow-up activities.

Love, S. and Paine, M. (2008). Milestone 1, Victorian Climate Change Adaptation Program, Practice Research module. Discussion Paper: Resilience theory and regional adaptation to climate change. Melbourne, University of Melbourne.

Love, S. and Paine, M. (2008). Milestone 2. Interim report, Victorian Climate Change Adaptation Program Practice Research Module. Melbourne, University of Melbourne.

Love, S. and Paine, M. (2008). Milestone 3. Working together for Adaptation to Climate Change in South-West Victoria: Case report of the Practice Research Module, Victorian Climate Change Adaptation Program. Melbourne, University of Melbourne.

Nettle, R., King, B. and Crawford, A. (2009). Dealing with Today, Planning for Tomorrow – Stage 2. Evaluation – Final Report. Rural Innovation Research Group. Melbourne School of Land and Environment. The University of Melbourne.

O’Kane, M.P. and Paine, M.S. (2008). ‘3030 Project Module 8 Literature Review (Milestone Report)’, The University of Melbourne.

O’Kane, M.P. and King, B.J. (2009). Project 3030 Module 8 Stage Two Completion Report – Strategic implications of network analysis for farming systems projects and extension services (Milestone 5), The University of Melbourne.

O’Kane, M.P. and King, B.J. (2010). Project 3030 Module 8: Report on completed professional development package for advisors - Project 3030 Advisory Tools Package; Using social network analysis to understand the impact of network changes for projects: A progress report on lessons to date. (Milestone 6), The University of Melbourne.

Penry, J., Paine, M. and Brightling, P. (2009). Achieving sustainable improvement. Enhancing services to dairy farmers through effective partnerships between public and private sectors.

Waters, W., Thomson, D. and Nettle, R. (2009). Client Stocktake. Final Report, submitted to Dairy Australia.

Thesis

Eastwood, C.R. (2008). Innovative precision dairy systems: A case study of farmer learning and technology co-development. PhD thesis, The University of Melbourne.

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