Scaling Quality Agronomy Advice: Insights from the Innovation Forum

At the Innovation Forum, we convened a panel to tackle a question that matters to everyone working in agricultural supply chains: how do we scale up quality, professional and independent agronomy advice across international contexts, and keep that quality high as we grow?

The conversation centred on how each panel member has addressed this challenge in their own supply chains and operations. Here are the key insights we took away.

Good advice is critical, but hard to find

Agronomy advice is how farmers maintain and build their understanding of crop production. That matters more than ever as farmers face new challenges, from a changing climate to corporate commitments on regenerative agriculture and other sustainability goals.

Yet in Peterson’s experience, and in the experience of our panel members, the availability of quality advice is highly variable. It differs between countries and crops, and often even within the same country.

Look at the whole farm, not just one crop

A recurring theme was the need to place agronomic advice in the context of the entire farm operation. Panel members agreed that advice on a single crop is useful. It becomes much more valuable when it considers the full rotation and the other parts of the farm business.

The panel saw a systems approach as essential. That means understanding the wider context the farmer operates in, both geophysical and sociopolitical, rather than treating each crop in isolation.

Knowing what to do is not enough

Good advice only creates value when it is put into practice. The panel discussed the support farmers need to implement changes, both at a practical level and when it comes to investment capital.

Three areas of support were considered critical:

• Defining success: helping farmers set the KPIs that show whether a change is working.
• Accessing capital: helping farmers identify and access the capital they need to invest.
• Monitoring and reporting: providing the expertise to track progress and report results.

The takeaway

Scaling quality agronomy advice is about more than reaching more farmers. It means advising on the whole farm system, in its full local context, and then supporting farmers through implementation: setting clear KPIs, accessing investment capital and measuring results. We thank our panel members for sharing their experience and look forward to continuing the conversation.