RiskWi$e: National Risk Management Initiative – Action Research Groups Eyre Peninsula

Funding Source
GRDC
Funding Amount
$1,823,000
Start Date
January 2023
Finish Date
December 2027
Project Manager
Naomi Scholz
Sub-Contracts
EPAG Research, SARDI
RiskWi$e: the National Risk Management Initiative (NRMI) is a GRDC initiative extending over five years that aims to understand and improve risk-reward outcomes for Australian grain growers through participatory action research (PAR).
Explicitly the NRMI aims to:
1. Develop an improved understanding of the risk-reward relationships for important on-farm management practices and decisions
2. Inform growers and their advisers of new insights into managing risks and maximising rewards
3. Challenge grower decision-making so future management decisions are thought of in terms of probability of upside returns offset against the associated downside risks.

RiskWi$e seeks to understand and improve the risk-reward outcomes for Australian grain growers by supporting grower on-farm decision-making.

  • 5-year national initiative (2023-28)
  • GRDC investment of $30 million + in-kind contributions of $13 million
  • 26 grower/adviser/extension groups
  • 10 research partners
  • 6 action research group leads
  • National project lead (CSIRO)
  • Principal partner (GRDC)

Focus How do we improve grower decision making – particularly for decisions that have large profit and/or sustainability implication…when the outcome is uncertain!?

Aim 80% of grain growers articulate their production management decisions in terms of probability of upside returns (reward) offset against the associated downside risks to improve the quality of on-farm decision making.

How? Through a structured network with a national footprint that facilitates the coming together of growers, grower groups, consultants, agribusiness, research agencies and scientists, in a process of inclusiveness for all stakeholders that affords equality to all involved.

Participatory action research In PAR, growers and their advisers will quantify the probabilities of uncertainty of outcomes and assess the risk-reward payoffs for given management decisions in the context of their own farming operations. At the conclusion of NRMI, a suite of extension packages and artefacts (decision support tools) will continue to inform and challenge grain growers, their consultants and advisers to consider farm management decisions as informed by probable rewards (profit $/ha) and associated probable risks (loss $/ha).

For more information about the national project, go to the CSIRO hosted project page.

Eyre Peninsula project
Yield Prophet Reports 2026
EP Focus sites 2024
Blog: Risk in Eyre Peninsula Farming System
Podcasts

Building a Decision Matrix with Cam Nicholson

Play Video
Theme working group meeting at Cummins, September 2023
Theme working group meeting at Cummins, September 2023
Lower EP discussion group session, August 2023
Lower EP discussion group session, August 2023
RiskWi$e Core Partner Logo Block A4 Footer

This page was last updated on 25 March 2026.

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