Dr Stan Cox

Senior Scientist, The Land Institute

Dr. Stan Cox, a senior scientist at The Land Institute in Kansas, is a highly engaging speaker with challenging ideas for modern agriculture.   He is a plant breeder and agroecosystem researcher with a focus on developing perennial crops.  He has a BS in agronomy from the University of Georgia and an MS and PhD in plant breeding from Iowa State University. He worked in the Agricultural Research Service of the USDA as a wheat geneticist for 12 years before later joining the Land Institute with the long-term aim of developing an agricultural system with the ecological stability of natural systems and a grain yield comparable to that from annual crops.

Mr Mick Faulkner

Principal Consultant, Agrilink Agricultural Consultants

Mick Faulkner is the Principal Consultant for Agrilink Agricultural Consultants, based at Penwortham in South Australia. The company works with farming businesses in the northern Yorke Peninsula, Mid North and Murray Mallee to produce profitable, resilient and adaptable farm outcomes. Agrilink Agricultural Consultants also conducts research, most notably in the areas of water use efficiency, understanding canopy management and plant growth, grazing and grain recovery in cereal crops, nitrogen use and efficiency, wheat yield components, integrating cropping and livestock systems, amelioration of sandy soils and cereal hay production. Specifically, Mick has conducted research for the export hay industry since 1989 and has developed the protocols for conducting research in this industry. The research has been collaborative with growers, state and federal agencies and suppliers of processed hay to the Asian markets. Agrilink Agricultural Consultants manages the Mid North High Rainfall Zone Trial Site, a showcase of innovation and natural resource management in the higher rainfall areas of South Australia. Mick is also a part owner of vineyards in the Clare Valley where premium grape production is the ultimate outcome.

Dr Huang Gaobao

Professor, Ph.D. supervisor, Vice president of Gansu Agricultural University
Director of China Farming System Research Association
Vice Director of Multiple Cropping of China Agronomy Association

Dr. Huang Gaobao obtained bachelor and master degree in 1985 and 1988, respectively, from Gansu Agricultural University, awarded Ph. D in China Agricultural University in 1996.
Professor Huang Gaobao’s major interests have been in Conservation tillage research in the rainfed areas on the Loess Plateau and oasis areas, water saving agriculture in inland irrigation areas, and multiple cropping.
On Conservation tillage research, he started in early 1990’s, and later cooperated with Australian experts funded by ACIAR, undertaken the project titled as “Improving the productivity and sustainability of rainfed farming systems for the western Loess Plateau of Gausu province” from 2001. On multiple cropping, he developed intercropping skills in the areas with altitude higher than 1500 meters. At the same time, water saving agriculture research in inland irrigation areas started.
For his outstanding research work and achievments, he had been invited as project experts by Asia Development Bank(ADB), United Nations Development Program (UNDP),ACIAR etc.

Dr Mark Howden

Theme Leader - Australian Agriculture Transformed,  CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems

Dr Mark Howden is a climate change and adaptation specialist. He is a member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC); the 2007 recipient of Nobel Peace prize.  His recent work has included research into the impacts of climate variability and change on agricultural systems, the development of the national and international greenhouse gas inventories for Australia's agricultural sector, assessment of sustainable methods of reducing greenhouse emissions from agriculture, and working with industry and community groups to assess practical adaptation options for managing climate change impacts.
Dr Howden began his research career in 1981 in the New South Wales Soil Conservation Service before joining the Queensland Department of Primary Industries as a pasture agronomist in 1987. In 1990 he joined the Bureau of Resource Sciences to lead their Land and Water Section. Dr Howden joined CSIRO in 2000 and is now leader of the Australian Agriculture Transformed theme.

Dr Brian Keating

Chief, CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems.

With a disciplinary background in crop physiology, agronomy and plant nutrition, Dr. Brian Keating is an expert in farming systems science with broad experience researching sustainable land management. His work has included farming systems design and management, bioenergy in agriculture, soil and water management, and climate risk management. He is now responsible for strategic science development and planning across CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystem’s research programs, and also leads CSIRO's cross-divisional Agricultural Sustainability Initiative.

Mr Mick Keogh

Executive Director, Australian Farm Institute

Mick Keogh grew up on a farm in southern New South Wales. After obtaining a Bachelors degree in Wool and Pastoral Science at the University of New South Wales in 1980, he managed a beef cattle research station on the New South Wales north coast for several years. He was subsequently employed as a researcher at the University of New South Wales, where he completed his Masters degree in 1984.
Over the next eight years he was employed as an agribusiness consultant, participating in a wide range of industry- and government-funded consultancy projects, often as the lead researcher.

In 1992 he joined the New South Wales Farmers’ Association and was subsequently appointed General Manager, Policy. In that position, he was closely involved in a wide range of issues impacting on the farm sector at both state and national levels. He also authored a wide variety of publications on farm-sector issues.
In late 2003 he was appointed Executive Director of the Australian Farm Institute, a newly-established, independent policy research institute which researches strategic policy issues of importance to Australian farmers.

Dr Ross Kingwell

Principal Economist, Marketing Economics and Rural Adjustment

Ross is  principal economist in the Department of Agriculture & Food WA & senior lecturer in the School of Agricultural & Resource Economics, University of Western Australia.
Dr Ross Kingwell is an agricultural economist with over 25 years experience in research and provision of policy advice.   He has over 55 published book chapters and articles in peer reviewed journals.  His chief research interests involve farming systems research, risk management and farm-level analysis.  

Dr Peter Langridge

CEO, Australian Centre for Plant Functional Genomics and The University of Adelaide,

Peter Langridge is professor of plant science at the University of Adelaide and chief executive officer of the Australian Centre for Plant Functional Genomics (ACPFG). His research has focused on development and application of molecular biology to crop improvement.

Dr Rod Lefroy

Regional Research Leader for Asia
Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT)
(International Center for Tropical Agriculture)

From the Asia regional office of CIAT, based in Vientiane, Lao PDR, Rod coordinates CIAT research for development activities in East and Southeast Asia, and maintains links to CIAT headquarters in Colombia. CIAT activities in Asia focus on reducing hunger and poverty through market-oriented and sustainable agricultural production systems for smallholders, primarily but not exclusively linked to cassava-based farming systems and smallholder livestock production systems.

After a graduating from the University of Western Australia and the University of York, UK, Rod started his international agriculture career in the early eighties as an agronomist in the highlands of Papua New Guinea. Subsequently, from the University of New England, he ran research projects linked to SE Asian and Australian farming systems for more than a decade. In the mid-90s he moved to the acid soils network of the International Board for Soils Research and Management (IBSRAM), based in Thailand, and then to CIAT in 2002. His major interests have been in cropping systems and soil nutrient dynamics, with necessary slippage into livestock systems, extension processes, and marketing.

Dr Alan McKay

Principal scientist, Molecular Diagnostics Group, SARDI Plant and Soil Health.

Alan is leader of the molecular diagnostics group which has specialised in development and delivery of DNA assays to quantify soilborne organisms. The initial focus of the group was assays for the major soilborne pathogens of cereals. This has now broadened to include assays for soilborne pathogens of potatoes and pasture legumes, beneficial organisms and indicators of environmental impact in marine sediments. Recently assays have been developed for a range of plants to use as research tool to study root architecture.

Barry Mudge

Barry Mudge is a fourth generation farmer from Port Germein, on the lower rainfall edge of the northern South Australian wheat belt. He manages a cropping/livestock family farming business which still includes the original land taken up by his great grandfather under closer settlement in 1878.

Barry has an Agricultural Economics tertiary background and worked as a Rural Officer in the Commonwealth Development Bank for several years. Since returning to the property in 1990, he has focussed on developing innovative methods to manage climate risk in a highly variable environment. He believes that climate variability provides an opportunity rather than a threat, and sees an improved approach to managing climate risk as a vital part of developing a more robust business capable of withstanding the financial pressures of modern day farming.

Barry recently commenced a part time role with Rural Solutions SA which involves development and delivery of risk management systems to other farmers.

Professor Philip Pardey

Director, International Science and Technology Practice and Policy (InSTePP) Center, University of Minnesota; Principal Investigator HarvestChoice (Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation).

Philip Pardey, an Australian native, is professor of science and technology policy in the Department of Applied Economics at the University of Minnesota and director of the International Science and Technology Practice and Policy (InSTePP) center. He is also one of two  Principal Investigators with HarvestChoice, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.  Previously he was a senior research fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington D.C. where he led the institute's Science and Technology Policy Program, and prior to 1994 at the International Service for National Agricultural Research in The Hague, Netherlands. He is a graduate of the University of Adelaide, Australia, and obtained a doctoral degree in agricultural and applied economics from the University of Minnesota. His research deals with the conduct of R&D globally, methods for assessing the economic impacts of research, and the economic and policy (especially intellectual property) aspects of genetic resources and the biosciences. He has (co-)authored more than 215 books, articles, and papers, most recently, Agricultural R&D in the Developing World: Too Little, Too Late? Washington D.C.: International Food Policy Research Institute. 2006.  Philip's achievements go well beyond his scholarly contributions. He has been an important institution builder in his roles as program leader. One example is work on the economics of conserving and characterizing crop germplasm. This research provided the empirical and conceptual foundations for the development of the Global Crop Diversity Trust-an endowment fund design to support the maintenance of globally important crop collections in perpetuity.

Andrew Polkinghorne

Andrew Polkinghorne is a second generation farmer from Lock on Central Eyre Peninsula, South Australia.   He manages a cropping and livestock farming business which has been developed from mallee scrub since the late 1960’s and now covers an area of 3,600 hectares.

Andrew has a Bachelor of Business and a Diploma in Farm Management (Hons).  While managing the farm business, Andrew has worked as a Rural Financial Counsellor, a Farm Consultant and was General Manager Farm Services at Roseworthy Campus University of Adelaide for three years.
He has focussed on innovative farming methods to optimise production and manage climate risk in a variable environment. These innovations have included no-till, the integration of cropping and livestock and farm business management. He believes that climate variability provides challenges that need to be clearly understood, so profitable and viable farming systems can be developed to sustain farming business into the future.

Professor Stan Wood

Stanley Wood is a Senior Research Fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) in Washington, DC. He joined IFPRI in 1995 and until 1997 was outposted to the Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT) in Cali, Colombia working on impact assessment studies for regional agricultural research. Since then he has been based at IFPRI headquarters, where he led IFPRI's research on spatial analysis in a policy context. Since 2006, he co-leads IFPRI's new Strategy Theme 1 on the "Global Food Situation and Scenarios of Policy Risks and Opportunities." Before joining IFPRI, Wood served as an independent consultant to multilateral and bilateral development organizations on natural resource, land use and agricultural systems modeling, based in Libya, Italy and Indonesia. A British citizen, Wood earned his MSc in water resources development from the University of Birmingham, and his MSc in agricultural development from the University of London. In early 2007, Wood successfully defended his PhD thesis in Agricultural Economics, also with the University of London.

Professor Beth Woods, OAM

Executive Director, Research and Development Strategy
Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries

Prof. Beth Woods worked in North Queensland before completing her D Phil in Agricultural Economics as a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University. She then worked with DPI as an agricultural extension officer in southeastern Queensland and North Queensland in the dairy, broad acre cropping and potato industries, as Manager Farming Systems, and as Acting General Manager Horticulture. She was the inaugural director of the Rural Extension Centre (UQ) and became the Suncorp Metway Professor of Agribusiness at the University of Queensland Gatton Campus in late 1997. 

Beth Woods academic interests include the concept of supply chain management as a tool to improve innovation and competitiveness of agribusiness, and the rapid change occurring in supply chains of developing countries with which Australia has major trade interests. In 2004 she took up the position of Executive Director R&D Strategy in the Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries.  She has served on committees of Grains R&D Corporation, the Policy Advisory Council of the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research, the CSIRO Board, the Gatton College Council, the Rural Adjustment Scheme Advisory Council and the Queensland Planning Group for FarmBis. She was Chair of the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation, and the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research and the Drought Review Panel.  She was recently appointed chair of the Board of the International Rice Research Institute.

Dr Pamela Zwer

Principal Plant Breeder, SARDI Field Crop Breeding.

Dr. Pamela Zwer has a B. Sc. (Hons) and M. Sc. from Michigan State University and a PhD in Genetics from the University of California, Davis.  She is oat Breeder and co-ordinator of breeding programs in SARDI responsible for research priorities in the oat breeding program and facilitating co-operative research programs with oat quality, doubled haploids and molecular markers.  With consultant agronomist Mick Faulkner she produced the highly successful agronomy guide to Producing Quality Oaten Hay.