Biniguy grain grower Chris Clyne has been selected to take part in GrainGrowers' flagship leadership program, the 2020 Australian Grain Leaders Program (AGLP).
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Mr Clyne is one of only ten participants selected nationally as part of this prestigious program, which provides the opportunity for grain farmers and industry professionals to come together from across Australia and help identify and further enhance their leadership style.
The program also assists in developing and further refining management skills that can be applied daily on-farm or in other positions across the grains sector.
Mr Clyne, who has returned to his family farm in Biniguy after working overseas as an investment banker, was encouraged to apply for the AGLP by fellow Moree farmer Oscar Pearse, who graduated from the program in 2017.
"I'm very excited to have been selected," he said.
"It's run by a well-established organisation and the course is tailored to grain growers so it's very relevant for me."
A key component of the program is undertaking a project to explore how the industry can address current industry or farm business challenges.
For his AGLP project, Mr Clyne is interested in Australia's weather forecasting framework and the opportunities and challenges it presents for growers.
"It's an issue that every grain grower thinks about," he said.
"Weather is our biggest profit-driver but Australia has a notoriously volatile weather pattern.
"I want to look at what products are available, who provides them and what their incentives are. There are a range of climate indicators used for seasonal forecasting but my sense is that confidence in longer term forecasts amongst Australian grain growers is quite low."
The idea is something Mr Clyne had already been working on, but he said the AGLP provides him the opportunity to take it further.
"It's been on my mind for a while; arguably the most important decisions we make each year are on crop rotation, fertilising rates and planting rates and whether you get it right or not is largely contingent on how much rain you get," he said.
"In dryland cropping, the biggest unknown is that rainfall.
"We should have more confidence in weather forecasts. The more people I talk to, the more I realise there's not as high a confidence in weather forecasters as there should be. People don't rely on forecasts anymore. It's often a paint-by-numbers approach; not many farmers vary their rotations based on forecasts because they lack confidence in them."
In addition to undertaking a project, the AGLP will involve three face-to-face meetings with the other participants, as well as over-the-phone conferences.
Mr Clyne said he's particularly looking forward to the opportunity to meet and gain insight from the other growers.
"I'm looking forward to having the chance to step back from the farm and look at things from a different perspective," he said.
"It'll be good to trade ideas and learn a bit more about different leadership styles."
The program will run throughout next year.