A new tool for assessing the benefits of adopting new farming practices

Farmers are faced with increasingly complex decisions when adopting new practices, often relying on fragmented and inconsistent information. Traditional research reports are typically technical and narrowly focused, making it difficult for farmers to assess practical relevance and real-world risk.

Farming systems groups involved in this project identified the need for a better way to communicate the full range of benefits and trade-offs involved in adopting new technologies or practices. The aim was to create a tool that would present research findings in a clear, consistent format — one that farmers could use to make informed, confident decisions at the paddock level.

Between 2022 and 2024, the project team developed a Risk/Reward Tool to help farming systems groups communicate research outcomes more effectively to farmers. The work was a collaboration between Charles Sturt University and three farming systems groups: West Midlands Group and Corrigin Farm Improvement Group in Western Australia, and Central West Farming Systems in New South Wales.

Farmers and grower group staff were involved in each stage of development, including surveys, workshops, matrix exercises, and repeated rounds of testing and refinement. Farming systems groups trialled the tool on completed projects and gathered feedback from farmers and staff using process diaries and interviews.

The resulting Risk/Reward Tool provides a consistent framework for presenting research in a way that supports on-farm decision-making. View the related resources on this page to learn more.