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:
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Dennis Donohoe, farm manager with Aminya Pastoral, is a seasoned producer with decades of experience, and his story is a testament to how even minor changes in farming practices can lead to significant improvements in productivity and land health.
Once you have ownership as to why planning is important, the next ingredient is to work out where and how you will do your planning. When you write something down you change your relationship with the content. I cannot emphasise enough the power of getting your thoughts and plans out of your head onto paper or the computer.
The season in SA and Tassie is particularly tight right now with little or no useful rain since early January and a generally failed 2023 spring prior to that. Right now, across southern Australia and much of the eastern NSW, you won’t need to drive far out into the countryside to see cattle and sheep grazing (and lying on) hay and silage trails lined across paddocks.
Martha Lindstad and partner Robert James are farm managers on ‘Karalee’, Enngonia NSW. Both have travelled different paths to being where they are. Martha is originally from Norway, growing up on a three hectare farm before travelling to New Zealand and eventually the Pilbara in Western Australia. It was here that she saw the benefits of sustainable farming for the country and livestock.
The Prince’s RCS mentor, Raymond Stacey, sees a strong future ahead for Simon and Laura. “The Drought Resilient Soils and Landscapes project is about supporting graziers to manage their country and businesses better,” Raymond said. “I see an operation here where they’re working hard on their planning and putting their plans into action to leave their country, business and people in better shape.”
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