Building a farm for an uncertain future means questioning some of the assumptions that have driven farming for decades.

For Simon Wallwork, a brutally dry season in 2010 was the catalyst for rethinking his farming system. After years of predominantly cropping, he began looking more closely at climate data and using it to inform changes to his agronomic practices and make the jump to bring livestock back into the business.

Since then, Simon's thinking has expanded from adapting to climate change, to actively preparing for what's next. He's been involved in Ag Zero, a farmer-led initiative exploring agriculture's role in the energy transition, while on his own farm he's experimenting with carbon farming, electrification, and on-farm energy hosting.

In this episode, Simon and Sarah explore what happens when farmers start thinking about technology, sustainability, and resilience not as separate issues, but as parts of the same system. For instance, rather than simply replacing a diesel tractor with an electric one, what happens when electrification and autonomy make the constraints of traditional farming systems start to disappear?

They discuss:

• Why diversification can be an important part of building farm resilience
• The shift from thinking about climate adaptation to agriculture's role in mitigation and the energy transition
• How carbon farming can change the economics of marginal land
• How autonomy changes the assumptions around machinery size and speed
• Simon's farm microgrid and the role of solar and batteries
• The potential role of electric tractors, trucks, and drone sprayers
• Whether electrification and autonomy could reduce the pressure for farms to continually scale up
• What energy independence could look like at the farm and regional level and why community ownership is critical
• How sustainability requirements could increasingly influence market access, finance, and insurance

Useful Links:

• Webinar: Nature Friendly Farming - Farmers for Climate Action
• The Business Case for Electrifying Agriculture, with Cherry Grower Mike Casey
• Agricultural autonomy and new ways of working with SwarmFarm Robotics
• Have we hit the tipping point for autonomy in ag? With Shane Thomas and Matthew Pryor
• Comparing science communication theory with participatory practice: case study of the Australian Climate Champion Program
• GRDC
• Corrigin Farm Improvement Group

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