MacLean well qualified for GRDC panel role

You? I'm Bronwyn Maclean. I'm the Executive Manager of Research programs. I'm based in GRDC's head office, but I manage a team that's based in rural and regional Australia and we cover investments that range from farming systems, agronomy, soils, pests, diseases, capacity building, just to name a few. So we have a large portfolio that's absolutely focused on delivering benefits to growers. I have a background in rural industries. I grew up on a Dorset horned sheepstud in Western Victoria, and although it wasn't arable land when I first started At GRDC some 17 years ago, I've now become absolutely passionate about the grains industry. I think agriculture in Australia has a very bright and exciting future and in particular the Australian grains industry. I think I bring to the Northern Panel a great deal of experience about how the organisation itself works in terms of the corporate head office. I have worked in a range of roles across the organisation, so I think that's useful experience to bring to the Northern Panel. I think that in terms of developing strategy for the Northern Panel and making sure that that meshes in with a wider GRDC strategy and how we can together deliver for growers is important. A particular skill I think I bring is absolute drive and determination to deliver impact for growers. It's no point us investing a single dollar unless it has an impact on a grower's business. So for me, that's always front of my mind. The. So what, what will this mean for a grower? And. And the other thing, the other actual issue I think I bring to the Northern Panel is just that teamwork, ability to build teams, because ultimately that's what we are, we're a team addressing growers issues. Production issues for growers in the Northern region are immense. And I'll just focus on a couple. I think water use efficiency, I think increasing herbicide resistance is actually a real challenge. What I'd like to just talk about is some opportunities in terms of where I think we haven't invested and where we could absolutely exploit these technologies, and that's in agricultural engineering, automation, robotics and really exploiting the ict, what's coming out of big data analytics, stats and what that means for a grower. So whilst I absolutely agree we've got all these range of other issues that growers need to address, if we've got decreasing ability to get labour on land, can we use these new technologies, drones, robotics, autonomous systems, can we look at what the rest of the world's bringing in terms of technologies and what they've got perhaps sitting on their shelf. Can we bring it to Australia to ensure that Australian growers can continue to be more profitable and more effective and efficient on their farm business. The whole reason GRDC exists is to ensure that grain growers remain profitable and sustainable and effective in an ever increasing global marketplace. That's changing. To do that you must invest in RD and E. We know that research, development and extension is a driver of growers total factor productivity. It's essential. We're a small player on the global scale. We are only 2% of the research and development investment that takes place in the world. So it's absolutely essential that we do it. We use growers money well and that we leverage off international investment and international collaboration where we can. I think the northern growers, in terms of having a national focus, will be able to leverage off work that's undertaken elsewhere. So what you need to do is go where the very best people do the research and it might be that what they're doing in another part of Australia or indeed another part of the world. It's our job to ensure, as GRDC management, to ensure that we know what's going on and where we can leverage off that and deliver to address northern issues. Now, oftentimes the research will need to be taken, will need to take place regionally and in someone's backyard and locally to address those issues. But the research behind all that can be taken place somewhere else. So again, it's important that we don't duplicate work that's ongoing, that we invest wisely and that we don't fragment the industry. And I really absolutely believe that the strength of the GRDC and what makes it unique on a global scale is that it has this national focus but does deliver regionally and locally. It.