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GRDC is one of the world’s leading grains research organisations responsible for planning, investing in and overseeing research, development and extension to deliver improvements in production, sustainability and profitability across the Australian grains industry.
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Claire Catford
2025 Nuffield Scholar
Thriving farmers and vibrant communities key to industry success
Claire Catford and her family are celebrating 100 years of farming in Hoyleton, South Australia, and key to this longevity is supporting the people who are the core of their business.
Claire has been awarded a Nuffield Scholarship, supported by Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC), to study thriving farmers and vibrant communities, which she describes as “a dynamic duo empowering agriculture”.
The business manager of Catford Farming explains Australian farmers and their communities are undergoing significant change due to increased scale, technological adaptation, heightened social responsibility and compliance.
“Rising demands and declining communities pose challenges to the wellbeing of farmers, while also threatening access to vital labour and services,” Claire says.
She hopes to investigate the impacts of these changes on farmers and the social structure of rural communities. Importantly, her study will explore strategies that bolster the physical and mental wellbeing of farmers and strengthen rural community.
“Opportunities include ways to foster connection in communities, awareness and access to resources and how successful programs can be adapted to the rural population,” she said.
Claire wants to equip farmers with the tools and knowledge necessary to navigate the complexities of modern agriculture while simultaneously enhancing the vibrancy and sustainability of rural communities.
Many organisations, including GRDC and National Farmers' Federation, have recognised the need to address this topic, and have embedded it within their strategic plans.
Claire plans to travel to New Zealand, Scandinavia, the United Kingdom and Canada, to explore the topic and identify learnings for Australia.
Claire has been involved in agriculture for her whole life and holds a bachelor of agricultural science.
She now works alongside her husband Dillon, his father Grant and partner Annette, along with two employees.
Together they run the continuous cropping operation in the Mid-North of South Australia, producing wheat, barley and lentils. They focus on sustainability utilising no till, soil improvement techniques including delving and prescription ameliorants and have a focus on stubble retention.
Her daily work in the family business, interactions with other farmers, experience with the Rabobank Client Council and more recently becoming local chapter coordinator of farmer health initiative ‘Fat Farmers’ ignited her interest in this topic.
Ph: 0408 859 451