David Eksteen

M.Sc.(Agric)

B.inst.Agrar.(Hons)

 

Background

I have been working in agriculture for more than 25 years. I graduated from the University of Natal (South Africa) in 1985 with a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture and then completed a Masters of Science in Agriculture followed by an Honors degree in Agricultural Extension.

 

I have worked as an agronomist gaining experience in all aspects of broad acre cropping for many years.  My main interest is in the area of soil and plant nutrition. I believe this is the cornerstone for successful agriculture. A well growing plant will compete with the weeds and will resist disease and insect attack.

 

I completed my Bachelor in Science in farm planning, providing me with the knowledge to look at the complete farm and to plan from the soil to the whole farming enterprise. Over the years I have also completed many courses through the Department of Agriculture that have covered many aspects of farming. After nine years in Esperance WA, I moved to NSW to work with the Department of Primary Industries as the District Agronomist for Finley and surrounds.

 

I arrived during the drought years and spent the next three years getting growers to convert from being irrigated growers to dry land growers. For personal reasons I then relocated to Wodonga and was approached by 4FARMERS to support their business in NSW. I thus joined 4FARMERS in 2009 and have been assisting growers with their herbicide programs in the capacity of agronomist for 4FARMERS for the past four years. In this capacity, I have also been running trials to assist with the registration of new chemicals. 

 

While I acknowledge that herbicides are an important component  of good farming practices, they are only a small component of the whole farming operation. To be successful growers need to understand all aspects of production and find and overcome those constraints which may be limiting their production and profitability. I am also interested in understanding variability in production systems and finding ways to manage or overcome variability.

 

Timing of operations is another important aspect that needs attention. Good monitoring to ensure problems are identified at an early stage is important. Integrated pest management and herbicide resistance are two new challenges for growers that I hope to assist growers to manage in the next few years.