Michael owns and operates an irrigation farm in the Denimein Irrigation District, northwest of Deniliquin, within the area of operation of Murray Irrigation. Michael has a strong focus towards a mixed irrigation system focusing on crops including rice, cereals and pasture. He has an intense interest in constantly improving the efficiency of irrigation farming and has been regularly involved in many R&D projects including variety trials, irrigation trials and agronomic techniques. Michael has strong involvement in irrigation off farm with his present roles being a non-executive directors for Murray Irrigation Ltd, Chairman of the Irrigation Farmers Network and a representative on the newly established Regional Cropping Solutions Committee – Irrigation Zone.

Stuart is an Irrigated Cropping farmer based at Numurkah in northern Victoria. After running a large-scale Dairying operation for 22 years, Stuart and his wife Kate decided to sell the dairy herd and move into Irrigated cropping in early 2008. Stuart believes passionately in the contribution of irrigation to the Australian Agricultural sector. The significant reduction in production risk that Irrigated Cropping offers the Hodge farming operation has led Stuart to combine leading-edge agronomic advice with aggressive grain marketing techniques that he believes is relevant to all Irrigated Cropping enterprises. Stuart joined the committee of the ICC in October 2011.

Ray runs a 240 hectare property located at Yalca in Northern Victoria, with a 100 per cent gravity irrigation system, he grows maize, canola, wheat, barley, faba beans. He has been growing corn for 30 years and has seen average yields increase from 10t/ha to 8t/ha as a result of new varieties and sowing technology. While the Thorntons sow more land to cereals than they do to maize, it is maize that has largely driven Ray’s adoption of new technologies, which includes pioneering strip-tilling in Australia along with innovations in seeding and fertiliser applications. Ray is a founding board member of Irrigation Farmers Network. 

Graeme has been involved with ICC since it first commenced and has a strong interest in irrigation. Farming for well over 40 years, first on his parent’s dairy farm at the age of 15, and then leasing and share farming around Echuca.  Graeme and his wife Michelle bought a farm between Boort and Kerang in 2006 and now grow processing tomatoes and maize on trickle irrigation during the summer months and cereals, canola and some pulses during the winter months utilising border check flood irrigation and still share farms at Echuca with dry land crops. Graeme is a founding board member of Irrigation Farmers Network.

Craig has been an irrigation cropping farmer for 30 years and has grown a wide range of crops including wheat, barley, canola, oats, field peas, faba beans, maize, soybeans and sunflowers. He has a range of experience gained from a combination of working and learning from other farmers and research and development, on-farm trial work and observations. Craig is interested in innovation and striving to advance irrigation management and irrigated cropping. He is currently the Chair of the Shepparton Water Service Committee of Goulburn Murray Water and previous member of the GRDC Irrigation Areas Regional Cropping Solutions Committee.

Evan is co-manager of the family farm business with his parents John and Helene. Their 1000ha property ‘Clontarf’ includes 400ha of flood and sprinkler irrigation. They use no-till production systems, continuously cropping cereals, oilseeds, pasture and fodder. They mostly grow Wheat, Canola, Oat Hay, Lupins, Adzuki Beans, Lucerne Hay and Corn. Evan completed a Nuffield in 2010 investigating trace elements, is a previous chair of Riverine Plains Inc and finalists in the 2020 Zimmatic Sustainable Irrigation awards.

Glenn operates a mixed farming enterprise with wife Hayley. west of Echuca.  Enterprises include sheep and irrigated grain, including specialty seed crops, cereal grains, hay and canola. Glenn has a Bachelor of Applied Science (Agriculture) and a Graduate certificate in Rural Science (Agricultural consulting). Glenn has been involved in the dairy industry helping farmers achieve better productivity and profitability outcomes on farm, for most of his working life. He sees the IFN is an important industry asset to both grain and dairy farmers, generating real solutions to challenges on farm.

Rebecca works for Local Land Services in the agriculture team working out of Deniliquin. She has been with LLS for 2 years with a focus on livestock production, groundcover monitoring projects, Farming Forecaster and assisting with others including soil health, stock containment, sustainability frameworks and more. Rebecca grew up on cattle properties in north-west Queensland before a 9 year stint in Ballarat working in Animal Health with Agriculture Victoria. She now lives on a mixed farming operation outside Deniliquin which produces both summer and winter crops and sheep for wool and meat production.

Scott is based in Echuca and is the National Sales Manager for SLTEC Fertiliser. Scott’s been working with fertilisers for 13 years, with experience in seed and chemicals earlier in his career.

Dale currently works in the climate team of the Agriculture Victoria grains branch and is also the rural recovery coordinator for the Shepparton response division. Now residing in Moama, he has worked in DPI since 1999, was brought up on a farm in Calivil and has a background in irrigated mixed farming. Dale attended Dookie Agricultural college where he learned more about his irrigated farming interest and background. Projects Dale has been involved in include both the double cropping project and the irrigation technology project that had a high utilisation of soil moisture monitoring equipment. Dale is currently working on a project called risk management through soil moisture monitoring, where he coordinates the moisture probe network for Victoria and data display for a greater understanding of the seasonal conditions. Recently Dale has moved into more specialised areas including rural recovery work and is the Ag Vic representative for field assessments with plague locust responses.

Sam was an irrigation researcher with NSW DPI based at Deniliquin from 1989 to 2026. He has a broad background in soil and water resource management and irrigated agricultural RD&E, with expertise in soil science, irrigation engineering and irrigated crop agronomy. This has allowed a broad understanding of the complexities of irrigated farming systems and the need to integrate soil, water and crop systems to produce financially viable irrigated farm businesses.

Sam’s close connection with the industries and farming communities in the central Murray valley has ensured a thorough understanding of the issues besetting irrigated agriculture in the southern Murray-Darling Basin. This understanding has meant his research has been highly relevant to these irrigated farming systems and, as a consequence, has resulted in high adoption rates.

Notable achievements include:

• Development of design recommendations for:
• • centre-pivot and lateral move irrigation systems in southern NSW;
  • basin surface irrigation systems used by rice and cotton industries in southern NSW.
• Development of soil and irrigation management guidelines for groundwater users in the Murray valley.
• Investigation of the salinity tolerance of Australian rice cultivars to inform management guidelines for rice production with groundwater in southern NSW.
• Investigation of the key constraints to irrigated grains production in the southern Murray-Darling Basin and the development of extension materials to address these constraints.