Dr Terry McCosker OAM

Dr Terry McCosker OAM is one of the great innovators of Australian agriculture who has had an inordinate impact on agricultural practises over many years. On this basis the Central Queensland University conferred on Terry, the degree of Honorary Doctor of Agribusiness, in March 2015 and he was awarded an OAM in the 2021 Queens Birthday honours list for his contribution to agriculture.

Terry is a Churchill Fellow, a Fellow of the Tropical Grasslands Society, has chaired the Australian Beef Expo, and sat on numerous advisory committees.

One of his greatest lifetime achievements has been to effectively bridge the gap between the contesting paradigms of traditional agriculture and regenerative agriculture, helping to ensure the long-term survival of Australian agriculture and its farming families.

Terry is an internationally acclaimed teacher and has worked in research, extension and property management in both government and private sectors for 50 years. In his research era, Terry published over 40 papers and made several world-first discoveries in the 1980’s.

Terry co-founded RCS in 1985 which has set the benchmark for capacity building in rural and regional Australia and has been independently rated by a Commonwealth Govt survey as the most trusted source of farming knowledge in Australia.

Terry is also a pioneer in the field of soil carbon and carbon farming. Having been committed to research and commercial activity in this area, he founded CarbonLink in 2007 which was recognised as the most innovative business in the region in 2016.

Terry’s been described as “taking farming out of a war with nature to an association with it. He introduced Australian farmers to the concept of ecosystem health and developed methods of measuring it alongside financial health. Critically he introduced the concept of farm family well-being and welcomed female partners, siblings and parents into courses about decision making.”

Terry’s specialties include: