John Kirkegaard was born and educated on Queensland’s Darling Downs and studied agriculture at Nambour high school and the University of Queensland. His PhD studies on soil compaction caused by heavy machinery on clay soils in Queensland stimulated his interest in conservation agriculture based on reduced tillage, retaining stubble and rotating crops. He joined CSIRO Plant Industry in 1990 as a farming systems agronomist where he and his colleagues have been unravelling the soil and plant processes that underpin high crop productivity under new conservation agriculture systems. His research is conducted almost exclusively on farms, and his willing and effective communication of research to farmers was recognised with the grains industry Seed of Light Award in 2008.
The challenges of global food security and climate change have re-focussed public and political attention on agriculture in Australia. Images of dusty ploughed fields and dying sheep and trees have generated a public perception of an inappropriate ‘European’ agriculture in Australia that belies the innovative, efficient and productive farming systems that have developed during the last 30 years. Underpinned by fundamental and adaptive agricultural research, Australia’s innovative farmers now grow a diversity of crops and pastures without tillage. They retain stubble to protect the soil, and use satellite-guided precision seeding, spraying and harvesting to provide highly efficient production with reduced environmental risk. Innovation is continuing apace, with rapid soil and plant sensing to guide management, better forecasting of weather and crop yields, and novel physiology and genetics to provide better crop varieties to meet the challenges of substantially increasing food production in environmentally benign ways.
Event Manager: Mitchell Piercey
Phone: (02) 6201 9462
John Kirkegaard was born and educated on Queensland’s Darling Downs and studied agriculture at Nambour high school and the University of Queensland. His PhD studies on soil compaction caused by heavy machinery on clay soils in Queensland stimulated his interest in conservation agriculture based on reduced tillage, retaining stubble and rotating crops. He joined CSIRO Plant Industry in 1990 as a farming systems agronomist where he and his colleagues have been unravelling the soil and plant processes that underpin high crop productivity under new conservation agriculture systems. His research is conducted almost exclusively on farms, and his willing and effective communication of research to farmers was recognised with the grains industry Seed of Light Award in 2008.
The challenges of global food security and climate change have re-focussed public and political attention on agriculture in Australia. Images of dusty ploughed fields and dying sheep and trees have generated a public perception of an inappropriate ‘European’ agriculture in Australia that belies the innovative, efficient and productive farming systems that have developed during the last 30 years. Underpinned by fundamental and adaptive agricultural research, Australia’s innovative farmers now grow a diversity of crops and pastures without tillage. They retain stubble to protect the soil, and use satellite-guided precision seeding, spraying and harvesting to provide highly efficient production with reduced environmental risk. Innovation is continuing apace, with rapid soil and plant sensing to guide management, better forecasting of weather and crop yields, and novel physiology and genetics to provide better crop varieties to meet the challenges of substantially increasing food production in environmentally benign ways.
Shine Dome,9 Gordon Street Australian Capital Territory false DD/MM/YYYYEvent Manager: Mitchell Piercey
Phone: (02) 6201 9462
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