June 2026, AU: After 23 years driving improvements for Australian grain growers, Nick Poole leaves a legacy that will resonate across the industry for many years to come.
Cereal Research and Extension Agronomist Nick Poole, a familiar presence at field days and crop research updates for more than 2 decades, is stepping down from his role leading Field Applied Research (FAR) Australia.
Mr Poole has enjoyed a distinguished career, earning high respect from growers, advisers and research peers alike. He began his Australian and New Zealand career in 2003 after moving from England to New Zealand to work with the Foundation for Arable Research (FAR NZ).
His long relationship with Australian growers started when FAR NZ secured a GRDC disease management project, which he led.
In 2005, his findings were published in Cereal growth stages, a GRDC guidebook to assist disease management. His work during this period with grower groups in south-eastern Australia’s high-rainfall zone earned him the 2005 GRDC Seed of Light award.
Mr Poole also co-authored a second GRDC publication, Advancing the management of crop canopies. This work grew out of GRDC projects expanding disease research into new geographical areas, with a focus on new research areas in canopy management and early sowing.
These publications summarise research that continues to hold the foundations for research frontiers being explored today.
In 2012, he left FAR NZ to establish FAR Australia with trusted colleague Tracey Wylie. The business grew to a team of 15, delivering applied research, extension and science innovation programs across 5 states (WA, SA, Victoria, Tasmania and southern NSW) in Australia’s high-rainfall zones.
GRDC Managing Director Nigel Hart says Mr Poole is highly valued for his communication style and ability to turn complex, scientifically rigorous agronomy into decisions that are easy to understand and practical for on-farm application. His contribution to the high-rainfall zone leaves a major and enduring legacy.
It was great to see Nick’s impact recognised through the GRDC Seed of Light award in 2005, among many other industry honours over his career.
Following a project in Tasmania where the term ‘hyper-yielding crops’ was coined to describe pushing yield frontiers, mainland growers expressed interest in seeing its findings validated in their environments. Mr Poole led the 2020 to 2023 GRDC Hyper Yielding Crops (HYC) project, which explored the upper yield limit for wheat across southern Australia. The highest yields achieved were 11.66 t/ha at Wallendbeen, NSW, and 12.5 t/ha at Millicent, SA.
Some of the genetic material explored included Anapurna, RGT Accroc and BigRed. During the study, the team highlighted the importance of photothermal quotient (daily solar radiation divided by average daily temperature) as a key driver of yield potential during the crop’s critical period – particularly in high-rainfall zones, where light rather than water can become the limiting factor.
The HYC project was not necessarily about high fertiliser inputs, but rather the recognition that achieving high yields requires a fertile farming system with a restorative phase, such as pasture legumes. GRDC’s Hyper Profitable Crops project is building on the legacy of HYC in exploring benchmarks for profit frontiers.
Mr Poole says he is proud of establishing FAR Australia as an independent applied research organisation, exploring the upper limit of cereal yields and training the next generation of advisers.
From a one-man band with a laptop in 2003 to a national research, development and extension entity, Mr Poole concedes – with considerable understatement – “it’s been an amazing journey”.
Mr Poole says he has never considered agricultural research a job but rather his life’s work, “and FAR Australia is a fitting legacy of my work”.
In his new part-time role, he will be supporting FAR Australia with keystone projects in the next era of its development.
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