What is it all about?

Australian primary producers depend heavily on private agribusinesses for farm inputs and technical advice to meet their production goals. Agribusiness advisors are trusted partners and essential to their clients' operations. Producers also gather information from various sources, including peers, industry bodies, government departments, farming systems groups, and specialist consultants. With their established relationships and deep understanding of each farm's unique challenges and opportunities, agribusiness advisors are ideally positioned to bridge the gap between R&D outcomes and practical on-farm changes.

This project is exploring participatory horticultural extension processes in South Australia, Victoria, and the Riverina region of New South Wales. The pilot project’s overall objectives are to:

• Develop and demonstrate extension approaches in a commercial agribusiness context.
• Use participatory extension to enhance growers' awareness, knowledge, skills, and practices regarding innovations and best management practices.
• Explore pathways to extend R&D outcomes to Elders agronomists and growers, identifying barriers to adoption.
• Establish mechanisms for ongoing innovation and provide feedback to Hort Innovation on unmet industry needs.

A range of activities are being delivered under the project, including on farm trials and demonstrations of agtech solutions and emerging products, grower-engagement activities to highlight best practice techniques and training opportunities for both growers and advisors to lift capability. Insights generated through the project will help shape future extension and innovation delivery models across the sector.