For Queensland grain grower Lachie Nass, from Pampas on the Darling Downs, the best thing about being a farmer is access to new technologies and crop innovations.

Lachie says when combined with increased connectivity, growers can share information and adapt quickly to new challenges.

At the 2025 Australian Summer Grains conference, Lachie was a finalist in the Ben Coleman Award for Grower of the Year and received the Elders Innovation in Technology Award in the farmer category, while Corteva Agriscience won the industry category.

Lachie and his family crop around 900ha to cotton, sorghum, corn and wheat, and he is responsible for the day-to-day operations and long-term direction of the business, AgVenture Farming.

“To be nominated for the Ben Coleman Grower of the Year award was very humbling,” Lachie says.

“Ben was a young farmer with an entrepreneurial mindset, who was deeply passionate about agriculture and had a drive to innovate and improve the industry,” he says.

“It reinforced we’re on the right track with what we’re doing on the farm. The access to new technologies and crop innovations is incredible now.

“We can make better-informed decisions faster than ever before.

“The biggest thing for us is working with products and partners that help make farming more predictable and sustainable.”

A key partner for Lachie, and one standing next to him on the awards podium, was Corteva Agriscience, whose products are a mainstay of AgVenture Farming’s cropping program.

The number one product on the farm is ClearStart 22KZ, an easy-to-use liquid fertiliser designed to optimise available nutrients for early crop establishment and vigorous root development, even in dry conditions.

It’s a complex mix of phosphorus, potassium, zinc, nitrogen, molybdenum and cobalt in a clear liquid with unlimited shelf life, and the efficiency of the product enables lower application rates, minimising the cost per hectare.

“We use ClearStart every year on 100 per cent of our summer plantings, because it consistently delivers strong early root development which sets the crop up well in variable conditions,” Lachie says.

“We've seen more even emergence and stronger stands from using ClearStart.

“We’ve also used Utrisha N, a biological that is sprayed on the leaves of plants and promotes synthesis and the absorption of nitrogen from the air,” he says.

“We trialled Utrisha N on wheat to supplement nitrogen during the key growth stages and it did show promise and the potential to reduce nitrogen rates.

“Every season throws up new challenges, but having proven tools like ClearStart and promising innovations like Utrisha N in the program means we can respond with confidence.

“For us it’s not about chasing one-off wins, it's about building consistent performance, year after year.”

Cameron Steer, from Corteva plant performance, says the company’s focus on biologicals and plant performance products was about strengthening farming outcomes and delivering growers a return on their investment.

“The Elders Innovation in Technology Award recognised Corteva’s introduction of new technology to help the summer grains industry, like Intrepid Edge, Utrisha N and Bio-Forge, as well as our long-term commitment to extension at Tosari Crop Research Centre here on the Darling Downs,” Cameron says.

“For Utrisha N, the winter crop is obviously a big focus,” he says.

“We have yield and in some cases protein boosts when using Utrisha N.

“There’s been really good results in the last couple of years, especially when there have been issues with waterlogging and not being able to get on the crop with any late nitrogen.

“In cotton and sorghum Bio-Forge is used as a seed treatment to boost early resilience, help manage stress and speed up establishment to get new crops going, and then as a back-up, to help with boll and fruit retention in cotton, and reducing the impact of other stresses on the crop like waterlogging, heat stress and even soil damage.”

What was expected to be an average winter on the Darling Downs has turned out to be above average for Lachie Nass and AgVenture Farming, and with all the fallow country reserved for summer crop and holding a full profile of moisture, it’s now a case of waiting for harvest and an early planting opportunity.

“Being a farmer gives me the freedom and flexibility to do what I love every day. Of course, it comes with its challenges as well. Every season is different – different rain, different heat, variable markets going up and down,” he says.

“Winning the Elders Industry and Innovation Award really reflected the work that we've been putting into driving efficiency, adopting new technology and improving our production systems. You’ve just got to be able to adapt to the times.”

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Tuesday, 2nd March 2027

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