Mingenew farmer lifts research team’s bid to beef up production

Mingenew farmer Fiona Dempster has been appointed to a new research and development team investigating how to make WA’s beef production systems more profitable and sustainable.

The team, comprised of scholars from the University of Western Australia’s Centre for Agricultural Economics and Development, will research new ways to increase the adoption of on-farm innovations in livestock management through its Producer Insights For Adoption Outcomes Across WA project.

The project is part of BeefLinks, a four-year collaborative research and development program involving Meat and Livestock Australia, MLA Donor Company and the UWA Institute of Agriculture.

BeefLinks has been tasked with delivering an integrated and complementary research and development program for WA’s northern and southern production systems that achieves profitable, consistent and sustainable beef yields matched to consumer expectations.

As well as Dr Dempster, the UWA team includes Associate Professor Fay Rola-Rubzen, Assoc. Prof. Marit Kragt, Dr Amin Mugera and Dr Abbie Rogers.

Dr Dempster said each researcher specialised in behavioural economics, transdisciplinary research, agri-business and rural practice change and adoption.

“This project applies behavioural economics across a set of work packages to obtain valuable insights from industry experts, partners and researchers that will help to improve current adoption rates and BeefLinks activities going forward,” she said.

The team will spend 18 months conducting interviews, focus group discussions and surveys with beef cattle producers and stakeholders.

They hope to gain a better understanding of the complex issues associated with decision-making, drivers impacting adoption rates and practice change, and factors affecting producers’ choice of markets.

“We welcome beef producers and supply chain actors in WA to contact us about getting involved and participating in the research,” Dr Dempster said.

Information gathered would be used to develop products for industry and project partners aimed at improving decision-making and raising awareness of the profitability of different risk management strategies.

The project would also evaluate current extension activities and the project management structure across BeefLinks.

“The project outputs will offer recommendations for improvements and contribute to the development of the broader, additional co-funded activities across the program to ensure a clear adoption strategy is developed and implemented on and off-farm for this value chain,” a UWA spokesperson said.

Dr Dempster helps run a broadacre family farm in the northern Wheatbelt and works remotely for UWA.

She described herself as “keenly interested in understanding farmer decision making under uncertainty, valuing agricultural extension and understanding the adoption drivers for agricultural technologies”.

She has previously held post-doctoral positions in the Bushfire and Natural Hazard Cooperative Research Centre; the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment’s National Environmental Science Program; and the Australian Research Council’s Centre of Excellence for Environmental Decisions.

Dr Dempster has also served on the Grains Research and Development Corporation’s Western Panel, as president and councillor of the Australiasian Agriculture and Resource Economics Society’s WA Branch, and as a Mingenew Midwest Expo board member.

BeefLinks coordinator UWA Professor Philip Vercoe said the project was a timely and valuable addition to the program.

“By investing in a project like this, we are working towards improving program effectiveness and supporting practice change and impact, including producers’ knowledge, skills and confidence,” he said.