The Cicerone Project Inc. has now wound up (in April 2009). If you have any enquiries please phone Jim Scott on (02) 6773 2436 or email Jim.Scott@une.edu.au. or write to the former Chairman of Cicerone, Mr. Terry Coventry at "Bailey Park" Armidale 2350.
Board Members
Past Board Members
Staff
Terry Coventry - Producer Chairman
For forty years Terry Coventry has been a wool producer east of Armidale at several addresses. Wool has always been his prime source of income, but he has been involved in large-scale prime lamb production, beef breeding, local trade steer fattening, winter cereals for grain and feed production, and summer tableland production of feed and grain crops. His interest lies in sustainable pasture production delivering evenly grown, high quality 18 micron wool in quantities suitable for mill lots. He is also interested in following this wool through the pipeline to its consumable stage and ensuring latest technology is used in this process. By his involvement in Cicerone, where he can assess some of the production methods, Terry hopes to have some bearing on increasing this efficiency.
Phillip Dutton - Producer Member
Phillip Dutton is a producer member with over 30 years in agriculture. He runs superfine sheep with emphasis on elite wool production, including a stud. Also they run a cattle growing and fattening enterprise.
Phillip is a member of Harnham Landcare, the Challenge Wool Committee and was a member of Armidale Show involved with the fleece and junior fleece judging competitions.
Winner of The Land Farm Inventor of the Year in 1993 with the Dutlevel, Phillip also invented and developed the DUTJET jetting wand. He is married to Pam with 4 children.
Brian Gream - Producer Member
Brian joined CSIRO in 1952 as a laboratory assistant at Chiswick and worked in the Parasitology section for eight years before transferring to Arding Field Station where his responsibilities were property management and collecting data on the various sheep breeding trials being run there. In 1965 CSIRO acquired Longford to expand their sheep breeding research. About 1985 Brian became Properties Manager and Coordinator of the three Armidale properties run by CSIRO. He retired in 1991 to take up full time management of the family farm that had been acquired in 1975. His special interests are the production of superfine wool and sheep meat. He attempts to produce animal products in an efficient and sustainable way where the bottom line is paramount. His interests in the objectives of the Cicerone Project are very much related to his own situation. Comparing grazing systems, stocking rates, pasture types and fertiliser inputs are problems and decisions Brian grapples with continually. He hopes that his involvement with Cicerone will assist him in making better informed decisions for his particular enterprise.
Mark Waters - Producer Member
Mark was born, raised and educated in Armidale and then attended Orange Agriculture College where he completed his Associate Diploma in Farm Management.. His family operates a farm business east of Armidale over four properties concentrating on Merino sheep for fine wool production. They also run beef cattle targeting steers for the feedlot trade. He has done the Grazing for Profit and Prograze Courses and has been a member of Cosney Creek Landcare group since 1994. Mark is Head Steward of the Wool Section of Armidale Show. His interests are in livestock production and breeding as well as providing enough pasture for these animals. Mark is married to Lesleann and they have three children.
Betty Hall - Agribusiness Representative
Betty Hall is a veterinary consultant specialising in internal parasite control in sheep and cattle and supplementary feeding at pasture. She is particularly interested in the non- chemical control of parasites. Her role in Elders was to educate staff so that they give the best possible, independent advice to clients.
Next to sheep [and those aggravating worms] her passions are her sons, her garden, theatre and the performing arts which keep her sane! Betty says that farmer led projects such as Cicerone are critical if relevant research is to be conducted responding to the actual needs of grazing enterprises. Cicerone allows for sound interaction between researchers, advisors and producers.
Bob Marchant - NSW Agriculture Representative
Bob Marchant left Sydney at 16 to become a jackaroo on The New Zealand and Australian Land Company's Quabothoo Stn at Coonamble. He says "My first day I was introduced to dagging shears for treating blowflies in unmulesed merino weaners. With the wool industry's intransigent problems, little has changed in 40 years". Bob later went to Wagga Agricultural College and joined NSW Agriculture in 1968. While stationed at Hawkesbury Ag college from 1970-72 Bob played Rugby at Eastwood club from social Sixths to Reserves In 1973 while stationed at Temora Agricultural Research Stn he did collaborative work on mulesing and blowfly control with Jim Watts. One highlight of Bob's career was while in the Sheep fertility Service in Dubbo in 1975 when the lambmarking percentage was improved on Goodooga property from 82 to 117% by use of electric fencing to exclude feral pigs from a lambing paddock. In the mid 1980's, now District sheep and wool officer at Goulburn, he developed the concept of Lambing Paddock Engineering now available through NSW Agric on video. Another more recent highlight was the development of pasture assessment groups the precursor to the highly successful Prograze program, which has gone Australia wide.
Bob worked on wholefarm economics concentrating on key drivers and their basic components. He has developed a workshop series called 80-20 to provide a framework to address these issues. Bob retired from the DPI in 2005.
David Paull - CSIRO Representative
David Paull has been a Cicerone board member representing CSIRO Livestock Industries. He has over 20 years experience working at Chiswick in both research projects and as a liaison officer for part of that period of employment. The variety of research projects that David has been involved include: Trace element supplementation of livestock, Fecundinâ and Vaxstrateâ vaccine development, the impact of chronic stress on prime lamb production, topical vaccination of livestock and more recently experiments studying the impact of stress in cattle on immune function.
Jim Scott - UNE Representative
Jim Scott has a great interest in the measurement of long-term pasture sustainability. He is involved in teaching pasture adaptation and management at UNE especially for the 'high' rainfall zone of temperate Australia. This lately includes using decision support systems of grazing systems in teaching. His research includes quantifying 'sustainability'; management needed to ensure persistence of pastures through drought and grazing stress; and the long-term economics of pasture fertiliser decisions under constraints of family expenditure. He was involved in constructing a national relational database of experiments on soil, water and pasture sustainability within MLA's Sustainable Grazing Systems Key Program. Jim also has an interest in interactions between grazed pastures and agroforestry in sustainable systems thus preventing land degradation and diversifying income. Since the creation of the Cicerone Project, he has been actively involved in trying to enhance the adoption of more profitable and sustainable grazing enterprises through his participation on the Board of Cicerone.
Pauline Smith - TAFE Representative
Pauline Smith grew up on a property near Inverell and completed her B.Rur.Sc at UNE in 1978 and a Master of Rural Science at UNE in 1984 focusing on Blowfly strike of sheep while working as an Associate lecturer at UNE. In 1987 she started work with TAFE in Tenterfield and returned to Armidale in 1988 to lecture in Sheep Wool and Alpaca production. Her main areas of teaching are wool classing and sheep production. In 1988 she returned to commercial wool and livestock production on a 3000 ha property at Inverell, currently running 5000 superfine sheep and 300 cattle.
Hugh Sutherland - Inaugural Producer Chairman
Hugh Sutherland studied Agricultural Economics at UNE and also spent a lot of time on the rugby field! He then moved to Sydney as a Stockbroker where he continued to play rugby! He became an Agribusiness consultant with Hassall and Associates before returning home to run the family property, Deeargee Uralla, in 1989. He is a past NSW Farmers Wool Committee and Wool Council of Australia representative for 3 years and completed the Australian Rural Leadership Program Course in 1997. Hugh was also involved for 3 years with the Woolmark Company as the High Rainfall Zone Representative (Research and Development priorities). Hugh was the Chairman of the Cicerone Board from our beginnings until 2003. He is married to Cathie and they have four children.
Caroline Gaden - Executive Officer
Caroline Gaden, who ran the Cicerone office from 1998 untill 2005, is from the area well known in Yorkshire as 'Heartbeat' country. The family farm ran sheep, cattle and the inevitable horses. Travelling across the country to university at Aberystwyth in Wales, she studied a combination of rural and science subjects then went north to Bangor for further study in parasitology before travelling across the world to the University of Queensland. The study and travel plans were disrupted when she met future husband Bob and Goulburn became home for many years. She has taught high school science and horse courses at TAFE, helped run their farm, trained young horses and competed in horse trials, studied family history and managed to find time to bring up their three sons. In 1990 the family moved to Armidale. Caroline enjoyed being involved with The Cicerone Project as the work combines many of her rural interests.
Justin Hoad - Cicerone Farm Manager
Justin Hoad, who looks after our farm, is Walcha born and bred, coming from the Hoad family property "Edina" where they breed elite wool merinos and Shorthorn cattle. A graduate of TAFE, Justin has completed the Diploma in Agribusiness receiving the State Medal for the highest pass and a bursary to study in England. Keen to keep learning, he has completed a number of Short Courses and he attends as many field days as possible. Justin has been involved with the Cicerone trials since July 2000. In 2006 Justin took over the running of the Cicerone office in addition to running the farmlets. Justin is excited to be involved with the Cicerone Project which gives him the opportunity to work with leading producers and industry advisors in producer led research.