Neil Guise - Small Landholder Information Service “An experiential learning journey”

What is a small landholder? Typically……  ha  Strong lifestyle values  Main income derived off-farm  Range of varied agricultural activities  Lack rural understanding and networks

Small Landholders – large numbers large numbers

MAP

Are they a problem? Potentially, yes.  Pests, weeds and diseases  Natural resource management  Agric. production capacity/competition

Are they an asset? Potentially, yes.  Add resilience to rural communities  Offer agricultural and marketing diversity  Possess strong land stewardship values

Small Landholder Information Service Team

Our key principles  Understand the client  Make information appropriate  Tailor learning events  Openly evaluate everything  Use marketing tools  Seek innovations & opportunities  Build partnerships  Department’s conduit

What are they buying?

Buying a headache? Nuisance livestock & ID Fire hazards Neglected orchards Land degradation Land use conflict Biosecurity Contacts for everything? Enterprise options? A decent return???

Current landscape

What do they want?  Access to clear information and ideas from a trusted source  Someone to talk to that doesn’t treat them as an idiot  Local contacts to build networks  Practical field days and demonstrations  Some POSITIVITY !!!

How is the service designed?  Awareness  Knowledge  Skills  Adoption

 Enquiry service  Information products  Small Landholder learning events  Partner networks What we do….

 Every event has a structured evaluation  Comprehensive analysis of feedback  Sample phone survey  Other verification systems used Evaluation

Achievements  Respond to 600 enquiries annually  150 small landholder events held  5,000 participants  Annually 60-80% new participants

Achievements  Noteworthy & Ripe articles monthly  Kondinin Group & Landmark partnerships  Leveraged funding  National network

SLIS Impact  Over 80% behavioural change  Diversity of new land management practices  50% indicate using new networks  SLIS as preferred partner – 3 plus 1  PISC endorsed national network approach

Small Landholder Information Service

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In short, we have……  Identified the need  Tailored effective solutions  Created innovative partnerships  Learnt by our experiences  Made a difference

Key experiential learnings?  Truly understand the client  Adapt and tailor an extension model  Explore innovations & partnerships  Openly evaluate and use it  Back your judgement  …and have a bit of fun!