Jock Barnett

Diversification and its impact on drought preparedness

Jock Barnett, a farm business owner and manager from Delungra, NSW, receives a Nuffield scholarship to study how expanding and diversifying farming enterprises affects drought preparedness.

He was inspired to study this after his family’s farm business restructured following the 2018–20 drought, transforming from solely farming beef cattle to becoming a mixed farming enterprise.

The Barnetts have around 2400 hectares of land under management, of which around 1600ha is rotationally farmed each year and the remainder is dedicated to their 300 Angus cows.

“The restructuring process required significant capital investment and has resulted in an enterprise that is now more reliant on grain production,” Jock said.

“In mixed farming systems, there can be mutually beneficial outcomes between different enterprises that can mitigate the effect of drought and improve sustainability.

“I would like to study how other farmers have addressed these issues and developed more resilient farming systems.”

Jock, whose scholarship is supported by the Future Drought Fund, hopes to travel Australia, along with North and South America, Europe and Asia.

“As my family and I look toward our own future and decide how to invest further in the business, we are studying the relationship between each enterprise type and how it affects our drought preparedness.

“In a future where increased climate variability is certain, it is increasingly important that Australian farming businesses are resilient to drought.”

Jock said mixed farming enterprises can help create businesses that are carbon neutral, drought resilient, sustainable and profitable.