A commitment to Australian agriculture has seen Corteva Agriscience continue their involvement in a range of awards to celebrate individual excellence.
Corteva Agriscience Australia’s marketing lead Dan Dixon said the company was dedicated to helping the industry celebrate people who have excelled.
“We sponsor a wide range of awards throughout Australian agriculture including the recently announced 2022 Rural Consultant of the Year,” he said.
The Rural Consultant of the Year is a category in the 2022 Australian Farmer of the Year awards and was won by Matt Norton of Toowoomba.
Mr Norton is a town planning and environmental compliance consultant involved in intensive livestock activities across Australia, with a focus on the lot feeding, pork, and poultry sectors. He started his agricultural consulting career during 2016, and in a short period of time, has achieved some major outcomes for clients.
This includes achieving development approvals allowing for the growth of the Australian feedlot sector by more than 100,000 head and the pork sector by more than 200,000 pigs. These projects spanned Queensland, New South Wales and South Australia.
Mr Dixon congratulated Mr Norton on the award and said he was a great example of an individual who has excelled in the Australian agricultural industry.
“I was particularly impressed by Matt’s strong relationship with his clients and ‘out-of-the-box’ thinking on technology adoption,” he said.
“Matt’s understanding of the circular economy, particularly in relation to the intensive livestock sector, and how farmers can engage with this growing space, is exemplary.
“It is consultants like Matt who are making a real difference to the way farmers tackle problems on farm and find solutions that can have tangible benefits not only to their bottom line but to their sustainability.”
Mr Dixon also congratulated the other finalists in the 2022 Rural Consultant of the Year Award – John Webb Ware of Victoria and Peter McInerney of New South Wales.
“John Webb Ware is one of Victoria and Australia’s leading farming consultants and has been for more than 30 years. “He is a senior farm consultant with the Mackinnon Project and a senior lecturer at the University of Melbourne Vet School.”
“Peter McInerney has spent the past 40 years helping farmers to become profitable and sustainable. His career started with the NSW Department of Primary Industries and progressed to his own business and collaboration with a wide range of industry organisations.
“Each finalist was particularly worthy and has contributed greatly to Australian agriculture,” Mr Dixon said.
Also at the award ceremony was Jake Ryan who took out the category of Excellence in Diversification. Coincidentally, Mr Ryan was one of ten Global Leaders for the 2021 Corteva Agriscience Climate Positive Leaders Program.
“Jake is a mixed cropping/livestock producer from Manjimup, WA who uses holistic grazing, minimal tillage, cover cropping, and mineral nutrition to produce a wide variety of winter vegetables, cereal and oilseed commodity crops as well as livestock,” Mr Dixon said.
“He has implemented a strip-tilling and cover crop process for his vegetable crops, ensuring there is a living root feeding carbon into the soil and stimulating soil microbes.
“Paddocks are rotated with one year of vegetable production, followed by four years of pasture production for livestock and soil regeneration. Cover crops are planted on the entire operation to improve soil, then are grazed or cut for silage.”
Mr Dixon said Corteva Agriscience was committed on a local and global level to identify and celebrate agriculture.
“Innovation and sustainability are key to the continued success of the agricultural industry and Corteva is keen to be there through our research and development and our role in encouraging and nurturing excellence,” he said.
