Renewing the Regions

WHEN

9 December, 2020 at 9 – 10.45am (AEDT)

WHERE

https://zoom.us/j/82420917929

CONTACT

With abundant sunshine and wind, regional Australia has the potential to reap enormous rewards from the clean energy transition. Join us on Wednesday, 9 December to hear how farmers here are already benefiting as well as new research out of the United States focussed on growing crops under solar panels.

Hosted by the Renewables in Agriculture Conference and Farmers for Climate Action, this free webinar will showcase a great line-up of speakers, including:

Oregon State University Associate Professor Chad Higgins on growing crops under solar panels
Victorian farmer Paul Squires on growing potatoes under solar panels
South Australian farmer James Stacey on cutting costs with solar irrigation
Meredith Dairy environmental co-ordinator Dom Murphy on using bioenergy

Karin Stark, National Renewables in Agriculture Conference convenor, will facilitate the webinar. ReAqua business development manager (QLD) Glenn Miller and GV Community Energy CEO Geoff Lodge will join the panel for a Q&A from 10.30am.

Don’t miss this important event, brought to you thanks to generous sponsorship from Regen Energy.

Thanks also to the partners of the Renewables in Agriculture Conference:

NSW Farmers, NSW Department of Primary Industries, NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment, National Irrigators’ Council, Clean Energy Council, Queensland Farmers’ Federation, National Farmers’ Federation and ReAqua.

Speakers

Chad Higgins

Chad Higgins is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biological and Ecological Engineering at Oregon State University.

Paul Squires

Paul owns and operates Squires Winery, near Yarrawonga, with his wife Bern. Paul has served as Chair of the Wangaratta Festival of Jazz for 5 years and has been the treasurer of Winemakers of Rutherglen for the past 5 years whilst becoming a Director and Partner at Buller Wines in Rutherglen. Moving their winery and olive grove towards a sustainable model from vineyard to consumer is key for Paul and Bern.

James Stacey

James is an irrigator living an hour from Adelaide in South Australia, grows hay, grain, livestock and was a Nuffield Scholar in 2018. His report named ‘Growing pains: Securing agriculture’s future in peri-urban areas.’ looked at the impact of urban sprawl on agricultural land and productivity.

Dom Murphy

Dom started his working life as a diesel mechanic (trucks and cranes), then became a mechanical engineer and has been working in sustainability, energy, waste and machinery design projects for about 10 years. He grew up near Clunes, on a sheep and cropping property where he is now in a partnership with his dad. He has an interest in the environmental impacts of farming and industry, addressing climate change and biodiversity loss, and has been shifting towards multi-species cropping, biological soil treatments and holistic planned grazing on the family farm.

Geoff Lodge

Geoff has over 20 years experience in the Victorian public service, based in the Shepparton area, managing natural resource management projects on irrigation properties. Geoff owns and manages a 2Ha native seed production area. From 1999-2005, Geoff was the Shepparton Irrigation Region – Community Surface Drainage Program Coordinator, and then accepted a position with the Department of Sustainability and Environment as Goulburn Broken Biodiversity Team Leader for five years. Geoff has been the CEO for GV Community Energy since inception in September 2010.

Karin Stark

Karin Stark’s international and professional history combines 17 years of engagement with communities around contemporary environmental issues. She was a NSW-ACT Agrifuture’s Rural Womens Award Finalist last year for her work convening the National Renewables in Agriculture Conference. She is Director of Farm Renewables Consulting, is also a mum and works part time for ReAqua, with previous roles within the NSW State Government and in Landcare. Karin lives on a cotton farm that installed a 500kW solar diesel hybrid pumping system in 2018, the biggest in the country.