National Adoption Program - Development, Pilot and Evaluation

Summary

The purpose of MLA’s Extension and Adoption (E&A) pilot project was to enable an informed and evidenced based redesign of the delivery methodology and platform for MLA’s principal extension and adoption program to achieve MLA’s objectives of skill development, practice change and adoption, and improved business performance.

​MLA’s flagship extension and adoption programs of the past seven years, Making More from Sheep and More Beef from Pastures are scheduled for completion at the end of 2016. Coinciding with this is a desire from MLA to achieve a measureable impact on red meat business profitability via delivery of extension and adoption programs in a landscape of limited public extension provision. MLA’s 2014 situation analyses of the profitability of the northern beef, southern beef and sheep industries identified increased business profitability can be achieved through capability development targeting key profit drivers and financial literacy and management.

Conduct of a 12month pilot program with 10 producer groups demonstrated there is appetite and momentum in the red meat industry for a new, commercial approach to extension and adoption which creates measureable impact on farm business performance and which is highly valued by both participants and deliverers. Feedback throughout the pilot project from producers, service providers and industry stakeholders has been overwhelmingly positive about the approach that MLA is proposing to take in delivering extension and adoption activities in the future. The need to produce real and measurable impact on business performance through extension and adoption, and the potential for a massive step-change for the red meat industry is widely recognised. Previous studies by MLA have indicated that producers are ready for a change in approach to extension and adoption which delivers them real value, and the proposed model focusing on skill development and imbedded practice change is proven.​