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In this issue:
More Keynote Speakers confirmed
Theme 1 Keynote:John KirkegaardJohn Kirkegaard was born and educated on Queensland's Darling Downs and his interest in conservation agriculture was foreshadowed by his PhD studies investigating the impact of soil compaction on the growth of grain legumes on heavy clay soils in that region. He joined CSIRO Plant Industry as a farming systems agronomist in 1990 to develop sustainable farming systems in SE Australia, then based on the “3 Rs” – reduced tillage, retaining stubble and rotating crops. He was quick to confirm farmer experience of yield-limiting factors inherent in these practices in southern Australian, mixed farming systems. 
Theme 3 Keynote:Dennis P GarrityDirector General of the World Agroforestry Centre Dr. Garrity is a systems agronomist and research leader, whose career has been focused on the development of small-scale farming systems in the tropics. He is the CEO of the World Agroforestry Center (ICRAF), the global leader in advancing the science and practice of producing trees on farms. Its vision is to foster a smallholder tree revolution through the increased use of trees in agricultural landscapes to help overcome hunger and poverty and create a sustainable environment. He is involved in a global effort to reconsider the future of agriculture in the 21st Century by examining unconventional ways of creating more productive and environmentally sound farming systems. In this new agriculture, much of the tropical world's annual food crop production would occur under a canopy of trees, using practices that are based on sound science and demonstrated farmer experience. Scientific Program - Highlighted PapersA Spatial Analysis: Creating similarity domains for targeted research sites in ZimbabwePotgieter A1, Davis P2, Dimes J2, Rodriguez D1, Koo J3, Sonders K4 
Food security in the developing world is under threat. Particularly as since the early 1960’s increases in cereal grain yields are failing to compensate reductions in per capita area harvested due to rapid increases in population growth (Funk and Brown 2009). The problem is likely to be further exacerbated as the world’s climate changes (Brown and Funk 2008; IPCC 2007), while political instability and recurrent crises makes poverty and hunger a highly resilient and complex problem. In Zimbabwe the recent downward trend in maize yields (the main staple food) is exacerbating hunger across the country (Funk and Brown, 2009), while the total crop production is plateauing. In this manuscript the authors provide regional level information required to inform policy and drive research development and extension (R,D&E) investment for Zimbabwe. The analysis includes the potential for expansion of agriculture, and the magnitude of existing yield gaps. This study shows the use of regional information on climate and soils properties to create regions that are similar in climate and soils (‘similarity domains’), to identify where targeted R,D&E investments would have maximum impact at reducing food insecurity and mitigating poverty among rural populations. Western Australian Farm Businesses Build ResilienceGray DM1 Continuing climate change challenges farm businesses to adapt in a profitable and sustainable way. Those that adapt well to seasonal climatic variability will most likely be on an optimal path of benign adaptation to climate change. Climatic variability and climatic shifts have both posed important challenges for grain growers and mixed farmers in Western Australia since the 1970’s and even more emphatically, in the last two decades. Rainfall has declined significantly in the agricultural areas since the mid 1970’s at the same time as temperatures have increased, especially in winter and autumn. The frequently disappointing seasons in the last two decades – often featuring late breaks of season and frustrating finishes to the season - constitute emerging evidence of a further step-down in rainfall. The concept of resilience of farmers has been addressed from the perspective of psychology (e.g., Hegney et al 2007 ), of sociology (King et al 2009), but relatively infrequently, of business management. The general business management literature has some contributions (see for example, Margolis and Stoltz, 2010 and Coutu 2002), but less frequently the perspective of farm business management has been taken, although Milestad (2003) and Gray (2010) are exceptions. The field could be said to be open. Many farm businesses in Western Australia are meeting the challenge: they are adapting, trialling and adopting a range of alternative strategies. These include alternative agronomic approaches, fine-tuning management and finding new ways to balance enterprises, whether competing or complementary. These are encouraged and supported in a continuing way by the agencies, funding bodies, farm groups, consultants and advisors contributing to the body of information available to the businesses. In the search for better adaptability and greater resilience to change, the decision-maker’s emphasis upon productivity has to be modified, at the margin, with first, the objective of profitability and second, the need to have the capacity to respond to, or recover from, foreseeable but unpredictable events – resilience – and of course, third, sustainability. This paper reports a series of case studies conducted as part of a national study, through which the author gleaned the strategic approaches to change employed by four farm businesses. Each of the businesses demonstrates the complexity and diversity of legitimate responses to the highly variable and changing business environment. One important dimension of such change concerns climatic variability. Each in their own way could be said to be doing the right things well and in a timely fashion. ToursWe regret that the pre-Congress tour has been cancelled, because bookings were not adequate for viability. The three-day post-Congress tour is still available. Ensure you are part of the program submit a
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Key Dates |
Submission closes: | Notification to authors: |
| Last opportunity for submissions of condensed papers | 15 June 2011 | 8 July 2011 |
| Final revisions of accepted condensed papers for the conference book | 31 July 2011 | - |
Registration
Registrations are still open for the 5th World Congress of Conservation Agriculture incorporating 3rd Farming Systems Design Conference.
Click here to register
Key dates for registrations |
Date |
| Close of Standard Registrations | 20 September 2011 |
Registration Fees (AU$) |
OECD | Non-OECD |
| Standard | 1050 | 750 |
| Day registrations | 400 | 400 |
Full time students (AU$) |
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| Day registrations | 750 | 600 |
Field day - included in your registration
UQ Gatton campus is internationally recognised as Australia's leading education and research provider in the field of Animals, Agriculture, Veterinary Science, Food and the Environment.
The 1068-hectare campus, an hour's drive west of Brisbane, transport provided to and from the conference venue has been arranged. The campus is also the venue for the conference dinner, where delegates will be able to reunite with colleagues and friends and discuss the activities during the day.
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