WMG features in Soil CRC webinar series on research communication

By Simon Kruger, WMG Project Communications Officer

The Soil CRC recently hosted a three-part webinar series exploring how Australian growers, grower groups and researchers share knowledge, report innovation and communicate findings that support on-farm decisions. The series brought together practitioners from across the country and highlighted several projects where grower groups are driving change in how agricultural R&D reaches its end users.

West Midlands Group featured throughout the series, with the third webinar presented by WMG Project Communications Officer, Simon Kruger. His session focused on the Risk/Reward Tool Project, one of the first Soil CRC projects led by a grower group, and a clear example of how grower groups are shaping the future of extension and reporting.

About the webinar series

The webinar series examined three connected themes:

• Webinar 1 explored how farmers share knowledge within peer networks, what motivates adoption, and how informal learning shapes practice change. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8X4bsqXDDkc
• Webinar 2 focused on researcher–farmer relationships, highlighting the role of trust, credibility and local context in effective extension. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgvHe41CqKk
• Webinar 3 drew attention to reporting tools that help translate research findings into the kind of information farmers need for confident decision-making. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xn08mlSjsjo

Collectively, the three webinars reinforced an emerging shift across the sector. Extension is no longer only about transferring results. It now involves helping farmers understand risk, navigate complexity and compare the trade-offs associated with adopting new practices. Grower groups are central in this shift, acting as the next users of research and bridging the gap between technical findings and practical decisions.

Spotlight on Webinar 3

Communicating risks and rewards using a new reporting tool

The final webinar, presented by WMG’s Simon Kruger, focused on the Risk/Reward Tool Project, an initiative developed by WMG in partnership with Corrigin Farm Improvement Group (CFIG), Central West Farming Systems (CWFS) and Charles Sturt University. The project ran from 2022 to 2024 and produced the Risk/Reward Tool Writing Guide, a practical framework for reporting research in a way that aligns with how farmers weigh decisions.

The project grew from a simple but persistent challenge: farmers are making more complex decisions each year, yet much of the information available to them remains fragmented, inconsistent or presented in formats that are difficult to apply on farm. Reports can be long, highly technical or lacking context. Grower groups, who produce a significant proportion of the applied research across regional Australia, often face similar difficulties with reporting consistency and staff turnover.

Webinar 3 traced how the project addressed these challenges through a clear, evidence-based design process that included:

• scoping existing report formats
• a farmer survey with 60 respondents across three grower groups
• a matrix analysis with grower group staff
• prototype development and iterative testing
• refinement based on real feedback from farmers and extension practitioners.

The result is a tiered reporting structure that aligns with three stages of decision-making:

• Infographic – helping farmers quickly assess whether a practice is relevant to them
• Synthesis report – providing enough detail for evaluation and comparison
• Full report – offering the full technical picture for trialling or adoption

Each format presents balanced information across agronomic, economic, environmental and social considerations. The intention is to clearly show both the potential benefits and the practical trade-offs of adopting a new practice.

Why this work matters for the industry

The webinar emphasised that while the tool supports farmers, its primary users are grower groups and extension staff. These organisations play a significant role in shaping how research is interpreted, summarised and communicated. A more consistent, practical reporting approach helps:

• improve the clarity and relevance of extension material
• reduce the time and duplication involved in creating reports
• support new and early-career staff with usable templates and guidance
• increase confidence among farmers that research has been presented transparently and in a locally meaningful way.

CFIG’s experience, shared during the series, reinforced this point. Their team has used the tool across multiple projects, adapting templates for local context and integrating them into staff onboarding and reporting processes. This early adoption demonstrates the potential for broader industry use.

WMG’s contribution to the series

Throughout the webinar series, WMG contributed not only through the Risk/Reward Tool Project but also through broader discussions about what effective extension looks like in practice. The series recognised the growing importance of regionally based grower groups in bridging national R&D with on-ground realities.

WMG’s involvement highlighted:

• the value of collaborative project design across multiple grower groups
• the role of participatory testing and farmer input in credible communication tools
• the importance of investing in extension capability, particularly for early-career staff
• the need for reporting formats that reflect the complexity of real farm decisions while remaining clear and practical.

These themes have been central to WMG’s work across the Soil CRC, including projects in knowledge sharing, communication capability, risk-aware reporting and long-term soil management.

Looking ahead

The strong interest in the webinar series reflects a broader industry appetite for more consistent, decision-focused communication tools. WMG will continue to refine and apply the Risk/Reward Tool across its own projects, including collaborations in soil amelioration, legumes, machinery investment and the Soil CRC Extension Packages initiative.

There is clear potential for further development, including digital versions and expanded use across natural capital, sustainability reporting or enterprise comparison frameworks. Continued feedback from researchers, extension professionals and farmers will guide this work.

For more information about the Risk/Reward Tool or WMG’s involvement in Soil CRC projects, please contact WMG Project Communications Officer Simon Kruger at extension@wmgroup.org.au.