#PeopleOfNRM – Nick Eyres

Home 🞂 Newsroom 🞂 #PeopleOfNRM – Nick Eyres
Local agronomist, Nick Eyres has taken the time to chat about life in the Agricultural industry and an exciting upcoming project with NACC NRM.

Nick grew up in Broome Hill and spent some time in Geraldton throughout his childhood, later returning in 2016 to put down roots.

Growing up on a farm created an attachment to agriculture for Nick and even after moving, he spent many a school holiday visiting the country, keeping his passion for ag alive.

After finishing school in Perth, Nick attended the University of Western Australia, initially studying engineering before changing courses to agriculture.

Nick says he believes the Northern Agricultural Region boasts unique opportunities for farmers and landholders alike.

“The climate is so variable and the summers so long, it makes for some pretty cool things to explore that allow you to leave a positive footprint in the industry,” Nick said.

“In general, farming up here is hard, fast and you have very little time to get things wrong before you have to wait another year to give it another crack, so making an entire production system more robust for the long term when you have to deal with all this, is pretty exciting.”

As an agronomist, Nick spends a fair bit of time out in the field, interacting with local farmers and landholders and says this is where real research into agriculture takes place.

“I think there is a tendency among the general community that the ‘research’ is done by ‘researchers’, but what seems to have been forgotten is that science is a proof of an observation and very rarely does science set out to discover something completely new, without knowing or having seen the application in the real world,” said Nick.

“In the paddock we are the ones making the observations and it is these observations that will direct scientific research and the industry research on a whole, so we need to be making constant and new observations of old and new ideas to give those with the capacity to prove it for or against.”

NACC NRM has recently established a partnership with Elders Rural Services and Yuna Farm Improvement Group (YFIG) in a new Smart Farms project aimed at improving soil health in the Northern Agricultural Region, starting with small trials on two properties in the region.

Nick has been instrumental to the initiation of this project and says he hopes it will lead to further trials in the future and in more parts of the region.

“What we want to get out of this project is to get more people interested in trying new ways of getting legumes into their farming systems and increase the awareness,” Nick said.

“I’ve never been involved in a project like this before but legume projects have been around since day dot. They’ve mainly been focused on grain legumes which makes this particular project a lot more exciting.”

In future years, Nick said he’d like to see more support for inquisitive minds, out there ideas and big picture thinkers.

“We as an industry, a community and a globe, still have so much to learn and learning new things only comes from trying new things, especially more than once.”

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In 2020-21 I talked about ‘raising the bar’. In 2021-22 we worked on setting the bar on fire. Over the last 12 months, the team at NACC NRM has not stopped.

The Sustainable Agriculture team has extended the program’s reach through collaborations with grower groups in the regions. Specifically, the Beyond Reasonable Drought project and Grower Group Alliance – South West WA Drought Innovation Hub – Geraldton Node project. The Beyond Reasonable Drought partnership with grower groups supported farmers across the region to improve the environmental sustainability of their agricultural production and drought resilience. The outcomes of this project have been consolidated through our successful Expression of Interest to the South West WA Drought Innovation Hub, with support from grower groups across the region, to host the Geraldton Node of the Hub. The program continues to focus on working with agricultural networks to share technical expertise and provide opportunities that will improve land management practices in agriculture across the region.

The conservation outcomes of ranger teams have expanded through work on several land tenures. Maintaining Heritage sites such as Willi Gulli, Racecourse Paddock and Buller River has long been a priority. During 2021-22, the teams have increasingly focused on threatened species and ecosystems.

To this end, Western Mulga rangers have improved management across 19,000 ha for the conservation of Malleefowl through firebreak and access management. They completed the maintenance of water holes and supported the monitoring of over 90 Malleefowl mounds.

Similarly, the Kwelena Mambakort Aboriginal Corporate ranger team have contributed positively to Carnaby’s Black Cockatoo populations by installing artificial hollows and habitat restoration.

All ranger teams have collected native seed, propagated native plants for restoration, and planted native vegetation in key locations across the NAR. Seed collection provides valuable industry experience and has facilitated the planting of over 100,000 seedlings during the year.   

In September 2021, the NACC NRM team delivered the WA Threatened Species Forum, held in tandem with the National Malleefowl Forum. Given the impact of COVID and the timing of this event, having more than 100 delegates from all over Australia was a significant achievement. The two Forums brought together 12 events over five days and featured 14 local artists, 25 businesses and 36 youth participants.

Following the successful relaunch of our updated NARvis, NACC NRM was invited to help lead a significant piece of strategic planning work for the region with Mid West Development Commission and the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development. With funding from the Australian Government’s Future Drought Fund, the consortia delivered a Regional Drought Resilience Plan covering the shires of Northampton and Chapman Valley and the City of Greater Geraldton, along with significant technical analysis of drought vulnerability for the South West land division. The development of this plan also included extensive community consultation to ensure that local knowledge and technical advice guided the development of priorities for action.

This planning work links to existing NACC NRM on-ground projects, including Beyond Reasonable Drought and the Chapman Catchment Collaborative regeneration project.

It was a busy year for events with face-to-face events becoming commonplace again. During 2021-22 we hosted events in Gingin, Moora, Dalwallinu, Cervantes, Jurien Bay, Walkaway, Nabawa, Perenjori, Kalannie and Morawa. We supported events in Karakin, Thundellara, Perenjori, Paynes Find, Wubin, Cataby, Warradarge, Northampton, Yuna, Dalwallinu and Dandaragan.

We also supported on-ground works throughout the region, including at the following locations Yuna, Dalwallinu, Dandaragan, Merkanooka, Goodlands, Kalannie, Bunjil, Yardarino, Canna, Kondut, Latham, Kadathinni, Nabawa, Red Gully, Sandy Gully, Waddy Forrest, Devils Creek, Perenjori, Bowgada, Ellendale, Wandana, Namban, Hill River, Warradarge, Gillingarra, Regans Ford and Moonyanooka.

Our region is vast – slightly larger than Tasmania, which for comparison, is serviced by three separate NRM organisations. Covering the NAR region and its many environmental threats is challenging. We continue to focus on partnerships and collaboration to address this challenge. We know that by working with our community through passionate delivery of collaborative on-ground projects and education, the community will value and actively protect our region’s natural capital.

This year we have launched a new Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP). The RAP Working Group consulted widely and developed an Innovate RAP which Reconciliation Australia approved in March 2022. The activities to fulfil these commitments are now in full swing.

Sadly, at the end of 2021, we farewelled former NACC NRM CEO Shelley Spriggs, who lost a long battle with cancer. Shelley was an inaugural inductee to the NRM Leadership Honour Roll. I will always be grateful for her guidance and no-nonsense approach, not to mention her passion for life.

While we have said farewell to some, we have welcomed many new faces across all programs, including our Administration team. We have also hosted a school-based trainee from Nagle Catholic College who has been working towards a Certificate II in Conservation and Ecosystem Management. This trial position has been very successful, and we look forward to making this opportunity available again in 2023.

During 2022 we have taken on new projects that align with our organisational and program objectives, and we have successfully completed some great initiatives that support continued conservation and sustainability outcomes. I want to thank the whole team who continue to go above and beyond for the organisation and each other proving their ongoing commitment to our purpose and our values.