Part 3: ‘Day in the life’ of our farm extension advisor

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How does a farm extension advisor pass their time with the SQNNSW Innovation Hub?

This is part 3 of ‘a day in a life of’.

I’m Gavin Tinning and I’m based at Southern Cross University and work across the north coast region of NSW. I work with farmers, researchers from SCU and partners like Landcare and local councils, to support the farmers managing our diverse soils and landscapes. This is some of what I got up to in the past few months…have a look at Farming Together for project updates.

Rain, rain, and more rain

This should be my new profile pic for 2025 as it just hasn’t dried out much at all. Cleaning muddy boots is nothing though, compared to the impacts of the ongoing wet conditions, and flooding further south on the mid north coast on farmers, from market gardeners to dairy farmers and graziers.

April 2025

Rehydrating the landscape

My colleague Janelle has been working on a project high up in the Terania Creek catchment. The Mulloon Institute collaborated with Janelle to present a landscape rehydration workshop to local landholders. All three presenters are graduates of the Regenerative Agriculture degree at Southern Cross University. This would be a great story, but unfortunately SCU has removed Regenerative Agriculture as a speciality within the Science degree going forward. I do feel like this is a missed opportunity for SCU and for students.

Small catchment wetland to capture high flow runoff high up in the Tuntable Creek catchment.

May 2025

Understanding soils

Fortunately, SCU students still have access to fantastic opportunities to get onto different farms and better understand the importance of soils to production and landscape resilience.

Soil pit with SCU lecturer Dr John Grant and Regenerative Agriculture students at Croppa Creek cropping paddock.

Pigs rotating through paddocks on a diverse Northern Rivers farm.

Dryland rice trials

SCU rice breeder Dr Szabolcs Lehoczki-Krsjak is managing a complex trial selecting dryland black rice varieties for drought, cold and Blast disease tolerance. A grower field day provided local croppers with an opportunity to hear firsthand about progress developing rice varieties. At present the planting window for rice is narrow and many croppers missed out on the opportunity to plant rice this season due (ironically) to waterlogged conditions prior to Christmas that impeded preparation for planting.

Dozens of dryland rice varieties with potential to provide improved yields and resilience to drought conditions in early Spring plantings.

June 2025

Low-cost solutions

Finally able to scope sites out for a range of landscape regeneration work like improving the wetland function of farm dams, leaky weir crossings that help slow flow and trap sediment after large rainfall events and wetland plantings. We are specifically looking for low-cost approaches that where possible use local materials and allow plants to establish and perform their natural function in the landscape.

Opportunities abound to reinstate functioning wetlands into our landscape.

July 2025

Cover crops

Finally planted out a cover crop trial (also with Szab), part of a larger rice cropping project being run by SCU.

New dung beetle video

This video on our new dung beetle page introduces a really interesting PhD project being developed by entomologist Ed White.

Which species of dung beetle is this one, Ed?

August 2025

Multi species pastures

Nambucca Valley Landcare are one of the more active networks working in the agricultural landscape. Despite the challenges of saturated conditions and a serious flood in May, Ainslie and the producers involved have been able to plant demonstration paddocks of diverse pastures on three properties, presenting different challenges of landscape and soils.

The new guide to multi species pastures on the north coast can be found here.

Despite the late planting, different species are kicking on.

Pasture dieback

Despite a mild pasture dieback season research and demonstration work continued over the winter.

Legume and tropical pasture reestablishment in the Tweed Valley.

Study on soils and water

As part of a DCCEW-funded study, Dr Abe Gibson is monitoring the impact of various landscape rehydration structures on soil water holding capacity and fertility. Across the three farms sampled to date, the results indicates that Northern Rivers soils are prone to generating runoff in short, intense rainfall events. This is evidenced by the accelerated rate of erosion observed during the four years of above average rainfall and regular (and unseasonal) intense rainfall events.

Measuring the water holding capacity of north coast soils.

September 2025

Remediating riparian zones

Across the north coast major flood events in March and May have impacted riparian zones in many catchments. Part of my role is to advise farmers about options for remediating sites.

Navigating a complex permit system for any work in Order 3 or higher streams means farmers have limited options. Our work supporting a Rous-managed Watershed Initiative is focussing on watercourses higher in the landscape where work is easier and more cost-effective to complete. We do have some more complex and challenging projects underway which I’ll share next time.

New erosion sites are apparent after every major rainfall event.

In the Richmond catchment there has been a lot of focus on a large CSIRO study modelling options to reduce the impacts of flooding across the catchment. None of the options presented incorporate any idea of nature-based solutions. Given how the catchment once functioned and the critical role that wetlands played in moderating the flow of water, sediment and nutrients, this seems short sighted. Reinstating wetland function from high up in the landscape down to the floodplain brings with it added water quality and biodiversity benefits, and if a functioning nature repair market eventuates, an opportunity for an additional income stream for farmers.