Agronomist, Esperance, Western Australia
GROWTH AWARDS 2015 WINNER: PRODUCTIVITY
After more than 20 years working with farmers in Western Australia, Quenten still has plenty of passion for agronomy. He is driven by achieving sustainability and productivity success of his clients.
Quenten’s strong focus on precision agriculture helps support growers to increase productivity from precious land resources. The industry is constantly evolving and Quenten is helping producers to ‘grow smarter’, using the latest knowledge and technology.
Based in Esperance, Quenten believes more than ever, data collection and solutions from data and science are playing a vital role in profitable cropping.
Integral to his approach are technology, solid planning and timely execution.
For Quenten, soil health is a major driver in growers’ productivity. A focus on measuring soil nutrition, compaction and water use efficiency has also contributed to Quenten’s ability to drive the productivity of his clients’ businesses.
But increasing productivity and quality does not need to be at the expense of profitability. Quenten utilises a number of measurement and assessment techniques to counsel his clients. The techniques include soil mapping using geophysics, nutrient testing, soil moisture probes and yield forecasting models such as Yield Prophet.
Quenten highlights that the nutrient testing he does is as much about managing the nutritional value of the crop output itself, as it is about boosting yield.
The ongoing goal for Quenten is to understand the soil. By understanding the soil, he says, he can help his clients make more informed decisions on inputs and get a better understanding of potential yield to maximise return on investment.