October 12, 2025 • 7 mins
Foundation for Arable Research's new chief executive gives an update on the sector.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Well, Doctor Scott Champion has taken over as CEO of
the Foundation for Arable Research. Far took over from Dame
Allison step Back in July. A former CEO of Beef
and lamb in zed and somebody with plenty of experience
across comparable sectors joined us on the country now, Scott,
how are you?
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Very goods? How are you today?
Speaker 1 (00:22):
Yeah? Great? Thank you know, I'm really interested in this
because we do tend to talk a lot about the
dairy sector, the red meat sector, but the arable sector
and a good announcement last week around the locally growing grains.
So how are things across the board as you see
them and the time that you've had in the role
so far.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
Yeah, Hamish, So I've been in the ralph about three
months now, just a little bit longer, and I've had
exposure to arable over time, but I don't have a
specifically arable background. So as you mentioned, I've worked in
sheep and beef and over the last eight and nine
years have worked across a number of sectors, including arable.
So the first few months for me has really been
(01:06):
sort of getting a sense of the lie of the
land and where things are at and as you say,
you know, arable is not in the same situation in
terms of sort of mood and profitability that the dairy
sector and the sheep and be sector in at the moment.
So it's a bit of a challenging time for growers.
And that's certainly a message that I've been picking up
as I've been getting out and about talking to farmers
(01:28):
over the last couple of months and also talking to
others that are involved in the industry as well.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
So what are some of those challenges and what are
the initial sort of solutions that you might be seeing.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
Yeah, so I guess, you know, the challenges really are
just you know, pressure on profitability on the core cereal
crops and also on some of the other things that
arable farmers grow. And one of the key messages when
you sort of dig into that bit in discussion with growers,
you know, I guess, as everyone's facing at the moment,
(01:59):
rise and costs and input cost pressure is a really
key component of that. So you know, there's everyone would
love to see stronger prices, but managing costs how we
get productivity? You know, the age old question of how
do we extract the maximum that we can from the
inputs that we have is a key question as well,
(02:20):
and I guess in our context as a research, development
and extension organization to the arable sector, you know, we're
trying to apply those lenses to the stuff we do,
and particularly as we just head out into extension season
with a whole bunch of far events on over the
next couple of months.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
And what do those what do those events look like?
Who's involved there?
Speaker 2 (02:44):
Yeah, so we've got a bunch of events on over
the next couple of months which which are in the field,
so they'll be on research sites which could be our
own research sites, or they might be on commercial growth arms,
covering a whole range of issues. So there's sort of
big hits for us at the moment really are around chemicals,
(03:05):
thinking about resistance residues. You know, the regulatory system registration
of new chemicals is a really key issue and really
interesting as to how plugged in to that regulatory issue
who growers us. So all of those issues sort of
get talked about at the events that are in the field.
We're also part of a couple of programs. One is
(03:27):
called a Lighter Touch, which involves a number of partistants
from the horticulture industry looking at sort of alternatives to
chemical use and chemical control, and then you know the
other issues that I'm sure are important to lots of sectors,
environment and compliance and technology and machinery is a key
issue for us as well. So we've got some combined
(03:50):
workshops coming up again through the summer and then starting
to look into twenty twenty six and the program for
twenty twenty six when we're going to be having some
Canadian experts it's coming out talking about setting up sprayers
and spray technology and spray equipment. So yeah, a bunch
of different things coming up this year and into twenty
twenty six as well.
Speaker 1 (04:10):
Fantastic We're talking to doctor Scott Champion, Foundation of Ourrable
Research CEO. Far is there still a handbrake on around
peace and weed control? And we seem to have made
some massive progress from the days of you know, slapping
on the round up forty years ago with those wicks
onto the you know, it still feels like there is
for the arable sector a bit of a handbreak in
(04:32):
that respect.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
Yeah, I've been really impressed actually with how fullful growers
are around chemical issues. And I'll use the word stewardship,
but just just making sure that we use them. Well,
we think about residues and resistance from a human consumption site,
and we've got these chemicals too available to us because
(04:54):
of our good stewardship going into the future. So, I mean,
one of the things that struck me, as I said,
coming into the sector is sort of no two arable
farms are the same. And you know, many of our
farmers are running really you know, complex rotations with many
crops in rotation. They might be integrating when the lamb
finishing or dairy grazing or whatever into the system. And
the way they think about how do I bring all
(05:16):
of those things together to manage resistance to you know,
think about effective use of chemicals to break disease or
pest cycles. You know where chemistry is apart but not
the only part of that has been actually really impressive
from my point of view. So you know, these things
are top of mind and there's a lot of thought
(05:37):
going into how do we use them well, how do
we make sure they can be in the toolbox for
as long as possible.
Speaker 1 (05:43):
One of the things I've always found, and I've been
involved in the potatos different things over the year, Scott
is the is that the my very nature terrible farmers
are quite a laconic, laid back you all, very successful
and very good at what they do. But are they
Are they loud enough? Is the voice strong enough?
Speaker 2 (06:01):
Yeah? It's interesting, isn't it. I? You know, coming in,
I think a lot of people don't really understand many
of the aspects of arable you know, I think it
doesn't have It's obviously a significantly smaller sector than the
sheep and beef in the dairy sector and many parts
of porticulture as well. But you know, I would argue
(06:22):
that its role as sort of an export enabler. You know,
where do the seeds come from that drive the pastures
for dairy and drive the pastes for sheep and beef.
You know, where do many of their vegetable seeds that
we use in domestic consumption or you know, significant specialized
export industries. You know, they come from the arable sector.
(06:43):
But you're right, we're not very noisy, and I don't
think we need to necessarily be noisy for the sake
of it. But I think talking about what it is
that the sector does, how does it play a role
in underpinning those big animal export sectors you know, and
why is it that you know, these mixed farming systems
that we see dotted around the country are really important
(07:05):
contributors to our overall AD sector. I think that message,
you know, does need to get out there, and I'm
certainly having conversations with people in the sector about that
as I sort of check around through these first few months.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
Great stuff, great to hear, and appreciate you taking the
time to join the scott much appreciated
Speaker 2 (07:24):
Cheers, Hamis, Thanks for the time
Well, Doctor Scott Champion has taken over as CEO of
the Foundation for Arable Research. Far took over from Dame
Allison step Back in July. A former CEO of Beef
and lamb in zed and somebody with plenty of experience
across comparable sectors joined us on the country now, Scott,
how are you?
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Very goods? How are you today?
Speaker 1 (00:22):
Yeah? Great? Thank you know, I'm really interested in this
because we do tend to talk a lot about the
dairy sector, the red meat sector, but the arable sector
and a good announcement last week around the locally growing grains.
So how are things across the board as you see
them and the time that you've had in the role
so far.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
Yeah, Hamish, So I've been in the ralph about three
months now, just a little bit longer, and I've had
exposure to arable over time, but I don't have a
specifically arable background. So as you mentioned, I've worked in
sheep and beef and over the last eight and nine
years have worked across a number of sectors, including arable.
So the first few months for me has really been
(01:06):
sort of getting a sense of the lie of the
land and where things are at and as you say,
you know, arable is not in the same situation in
terms of sort of mood and profitability that the dairy
sector and the sheep and be sector in at the moment.
So it's a bit of a challenging time for growers.
And that's certainly a message that I've been picking up
as I've been getting out and about talking to farmers
(01:28):
over the last couple of months and also talking to
others that are involved in the industry as well.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
So what are some of those challenges and what are
the initial sort of solutions that you might be seeing.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
Yeah, so I guess, you know, the challenges really are
just you know, pressure on profitability on the core cereal
crops and also on some of the other things that
arable farmers grow. And one of the key messages when
you sort of dig into that bit in discussion with growers,
you know, I guess, as everyone's facing at the moment,
(01:59):
rise and costs and input cost pressure is a really
key component of that. So you know, there's everyone would
love to see stronger prices, but managing costs how we
get productivity? You know, the age old question of how
do we extract the maximum that we can from the
inputs that we have is a key question as well,
(02:20):
and I guess in our context as a research, development
and extension organization to the arable sector, you know, we're
trying to apply those lenses to the stuff we do,
and particularly as we just head out into extension season
with a whole bunch of far events on over the
next couple of months.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
And what do those what do those events look like?
Who's involved there?
Speaker 2 (02:44):
Yeah, so we've got a bunch of events on over
the next couple of months which which are in the field,
so they'll be on research sites which could be our
own research sites, or they might be on commercial growth arms,
covering a whole range of issues. So there's sort of
big hits for us at the moment really are around chemicals,
(03:05):
thinking about resistance residues. You know, the regulatory system registration
of new chemicals is a really key issue and really
interesting as to how plugged in to that regulatory issue
who growers us. So all of those issues sort of
get talked about at the events that are in the field.
We're also part of a couple of programs. One is
(03:27):
called a Lighter Touch, which involves a number of partistants
from the horticulture industry looking at sort of alternatives to
chemical use and chemical control, and then you know the
other issues that I'm sure are important to lots of sectors,
environment and compliance and technology and machinery is a key
issue for us as well. So we've got some combined
(03:50):
workshops coming up again through the summer and then starting
to look into twenty twenty six and the program for
twenty twenty six when we're going to be having some
Canadian experts it's coming out talking about setting up sprayers
and spray technology and spray equipment. So yeah, a bunch
of different things coming up this year and into twenty
twenty six as well.
Speaker 1 (04:10):
Fantastic We're talking to doctor Scott Champion, Foundation of Ourrable
Research CEO. Far is there still a handbrake on around
peace and weed control? And we seem to have made
some massive progress from the days of you know, slapping
on the round up forty years ago with those wicks
onto the you know, it still feels like there is
for the arable sector a bit of a handbreak in
(04:32):
that respect.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
Yeah, I've been really impressed actually with how fullful growers
are around chemical issues. And I'll use the word stewardship,
but just just making sure that we use them. Well,
we think about residues and resistance from a human consumption site,
and we've got these chemicals too available to us because
(04:54):
of our good stewardship going into the future. So, I mean,
one of the things that struck me, as I said,
coming into the sector is sort of no two arable
farms are the same. And you know, many of our
farmers are running really you know, complex rotations with many
crops in rotation. They might be integrating when the lamb
finishing or dairy grazing or whatever into the system. And
the way they think about how do I bring all
(05:16):
of those things together to manage resistance to you know,
think about effective use of chemicals to break disease or
pest cycles. You know where chemistry is apart but not
the only part of that has been actually really impressive
from my point of view. So you know, these things
are top of mind and there's a lot of thought
(05:37):
going into how do we use them well, how do
we make sure they can be in the toolbox for
as long as possible.
Speaker 1 (05:43):
One of the things I've always found, and I've been
involved in the potatos different things over the year, Scott
is the is that the my very nature terrible farmers
are quite a laconic, laid back you all, very successful
and very good at what they do. But are they
Are they loud enough? Is the voice strong enough?
Speaker 2 (06:01):
Yeah? It's interesting, isn't it. I? You know, coming in,
I think a lot of people don't really understand many
of the aspects of arable you know, I think it
doesn't have It's obviously a significantly smaller sector than the
sheep and beef in the dairy sector and many parts
of porticulture as well. But you know, I would argue
(06:22):
that its role as sort of an export enabler. You know,
where do the seeds come from that drive the pastures
for dairy and drive the pastes for sheep and beef.
You know, where do many of their vegetable seeds that
we use in domestic consumption or you know, significant specialized
export industries. You know, they come from the arable sector.
(06:43):
But you're right, we're not very noisy, and I don't
think we need to necessarily be noisy for the sake
of it. But I think talking about what it is
that the sector does, how does it play a role
in underpinning those big animal export sectors you know, and
why is it that you know, these mixed farming systems
that we see dotted around the country are really important
(07:05):
contributors to our overall AD sector. I think that message,
you know, does need to get out there, and I'm
certainly having conversations with people in the sector about that
as I sort of check around through these first few months.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
Great stuff, great to hear, and appreciate you taking the
time to join the scott much appreciated
Speaker 2 (07:24):
Cheers, Hamis, Thanks for the time
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