I’ve been fairly quiet over the past little while.
It was largely by accident. And by that I mean a real accident involving a vehicle much bigger than my motorbike.
But now I’m back. And I’ve spent a lot of time thinking, and working out where I can make the biggest contribution to Australian agriculture.
I’ve spent decades having conversations with family farms, agronomy businesses, tech companies, and supply chains.
One thing keeps coming up for me, and it’s that we’re dragging our heels on solutions that are sitting right in front of us.
So I rebooted Lightwood Consultancy around 18 months ago.
My goal is to help farming businesses and the people who support them make practical changes that improve profitability and resilience – and it’s mostly by looking at the way information flows through agriculture.
The lever we need to shift
If there was one lever I’d pull across Australian agriculture tomorrow, it’d be this: we need to transition businesses to good digital records.
We’re dealing with tighter margins, growing compliance requirements, market access requirements. They’re all asking for the same thing: reliable information.
You can’t provide reliable information if your records are scattered across multiple apps, devices, spreadsheets, filing cabinets and people’s memories.
This is the starting point.
Technology isn’t the hard part
People often assume a lack of good records is a technology problem. I don’t think it is. It’s a people, process and technology problem.
Technology is only one part of the equation. Yes, it needs to be fit for purpose. But the people using it need confidence. And the business needs processes that actually fit the way farming works. Lastly, those processes have to be linked to the seasons.
You definitely won’t get good digital record keeping just by buying another software license. You get it by getting all three of those things working together.
Businesses are adopting digital tools, but they’re not becoming digital businesses. That’s the gap I want to help close.
Over the past two decades I’ve helped grow Back Paddock into one of Australia’s leading digital agronomy businesses, established the Australian commercial operations for Loam Bio, and worked alongside farmers, agronomists and supply chains as they adopted new technologies and changed the way they work.
Why I’m starting with independent agronomists
My initial focus through this next phase of Lightwood is to help independent agronomy businesses transition to digital service delivery.
For decades, independent agronomy has largely operated on a fee-for-service model. Revenue has been built around paddock inspections, time on farm, seasonal recommendations and advice.
That model hasn’t fundamentally changed for 50 or 60 years, but the expectations placed on agronomists have.
Today they’re expected to interpret satellite imagery, weather data, soil moisture probes, yield maps and farm management software. They’re asked to explain sustainability requirements, support traceability, assist with reporting, help clients navigate assurance programs and increasingly become the translator between farmers and digital systems.
They’re doing more work than they were a decade ago. In many cases, they’re just not being paid for it.
The opportunity
I don’t think paddock agronomy is going anywhere, nor should it. Good agronomy will always be premised on relationships, observation and practical judgement.
But I do think we’re entering a new phase.
Better digital systems mean:
- less administration
- fewer emails and phone calls chasing information
- clearer visibility across the farming business
- earlier identification of issues
- better-timed interventions
- more consistent communication with clients
- stronger year-on-year records
- reduced reporting friction
- lower audit stress
- and ultimately better protection of market access.
Farmers participate with less friction. Agronomists are properly rewarded for their expertise. Supply chains gain access to more consistent and credible information.
That’s a model where everyone wins.
Plus, if you change the agronomy business model, you change outcomes for thousands of farming businesses.
The bigger picture
Looking ahead to 2030, requirements are only becoming stronger.
The tolerance for “estimated from spreadsheets” or stacks of paper is shrinking. And why would you still want to be spending time collating that manually anyway?
We should be working together now to define a minimum evidence framework for Ag, then build practical digital systems that capture that information as part of normal farming operations.
What’s next
I’ve now got a handful of clients who are committed to solving these problems.
They’re asking bigger questions about profitability, compliance, resilience and how their businesses evolve over the next decade – and it’s exciting to be a part of.
I’ve also got a few bigger ideas simmering away.
Over the coming weeks I’ll be sharing more, keep an eye out for my emails – you can sign up below, if you’re not already on my list.
I think Australian agriculture has a huge opportunity in front of it.
We just need to stop walking past the solutions that are already within reach.
