A Preliminary Review of the Grain and Graze Program

Summary

Documentation for the Grain and Graze proposal was substantial. It includes a Final Report (April, 2002) and a combined Implementation Plan and Prospectus. The primary focus of the Grain and Graze proposal was to improve the profitability and sustainability of mixed farming enterprises in the sheep/cereal zone of Australia. In particular it sought to adopt a whole of farm approach to identifying new ways (technology, skills) to better manage water, nutrients, soils and biodiversity in cropping and sheep enterprises. The drivers for this proposal appeared to be:

The successful experience which MLA and LWA had with the recently completed Sustainable Grazing System (SGS) program which operated in the High Rainfall Zone.
The impending completion of the National Dryland Salinity Program (NDSP).
A view that many Australian farmers who pay levies to more than one RDC require those RDCs to work more closely together (a position supported by the Commonwealth Government).
That meat, wool and grains research and delivery tended to operate in silos and therefore important interactions on mixed farms were sometimes overlooked.
That current mixed farming practices' were contributing to undesirable long term environmental impacts (increased salinity, poor utilization of rain, leaching of nutrients, acidification and poor soil structure, and reduction of biodiversity).
While these points may be valid, they alone are insufficient to constitute justification for a significant financial R & D investment. Only clarification and quantification of the benefits to levy payers and Australian tax payers (as contributors to Rural R and D) can do that - either commercial returns or public good outcomes. The documentation also suffered from several deficiencies which resulted in the subsequent lack of support from the RDCs. Some of these deficiencies included:

Confusing wording.
Lack of a clear definition of the problem(s) to be addressed.
No specific outcomes identified which could be quantified so as to enable an assessment of the likely return on investment.
A complex and costly management and administrative process.
An apparent loss of control over investment decisions by each RDC (although it is acknowledged that this is not the view of the Management Committee).
Lack of strong arguments about how the proposed joint investment added value over and above individual or bilateral investments by the RDC's:
No apparent recognition or utilisation of existing farming systems research, structures and farmer groups other than MLA HRZ SGS groups.
Insufficient consideration of how the proposed Grain and Graze may be integrated or added on to existing Programs. This review also identified an apparent breakdown in communication between the Management Committee and the individual RDCs.