Agriculture and horticulture

Agriculture and horticulture

Working with farmers, industries and government to support better decisions from the farm gate to industry level.

We work with agriculture and horticulture businesses and industries to make sound decisions that improve performance, manage risk and support long-term sustainability. For more than 30 years, RMCG has provided trusted advice grounded in real-world agriculture. Our work spans kitchen table discussions with farmers through to industry and national strategy, investment and program delivery. We stay current with emerging trends and practices while remaining focused on what is practical and what works.

Our team brings applied farming experience, strong analytical capability and a deep understanding of how agriculture operates. Because we work directly with farmers in their day-to-day decision-making, we understand the pressures, trade-offs and realities of running a business. This carries through to our work with industry bodies and government, where we provide clear, practical advice across key sectors including horticulture, dairy, cropping and livestock, as well as emerging production systems.

Agriculture and horticulture Services

  • Farm business advice and planning   View 

  • Agritourism   View 

  • Industry development and emerging sectors   View 

  • Sustainability and environmental outcomes   View 

  • On farm production and systems advice   View 

  • Agribusiness investment and due diligence research   View 

  • Benchmarking and performance management   View 

  • Agricultural impact and loss assessment   View 

  • Industry strategy, RD&E and evaluation   View 

  • Extension and capacity building   View 

Agriculture and horticulture Team

Dr Doris Blaesing

Dr Doris Blaesing

Associate

Dipl.Ing.Agr., Dr.rer.hort.

Doris has extensive experience in agricultural business development, resource management and R&D. She has a good understanding of agricultural production systems and supply chains. Her strengths are strategy and concept development, innovative thinking, problem solving, multi-disciplinary project management and communication on all levels with a broad range of people. Doris worked in public and private research, education, export and agribusinesses.

Daryl Poole

Daryl Poole

Principal

B.Ag.Sci. (Hons), CPAg., GAICD

Daryl has over 20 years of experience is in the areas of agribusiness and farm management, particularly the dairy industry.   He has a diploma in Human Resource Management (Dairy) and can assist farming businesses with their employment practices to ensure their workforce is both effective and compliant.  Daryl also has an in depth understanding of water policy and what it means at the farm level which allows him to assist irrigation businesses develop their water risk management strategies.   Daryl has both facilitator and strategic planning experience and can assist farming businesses and organisations to achieve their goals.

Dan Armstrong

Dan Armstrong

Senior Consultant

B.Ag.Sci. (Hons), M.Ag.Sci. (Economics)

Dan has 25 years’ experience working in agricultural industries and previously ran his own consulting business specialising in farm business management for 11 years.  His multi-disciplinary skills, strong advisory experience and broad contacts in the agricultural industries add strengths to RMCG’s work in the agriculture sector.

 

Adrian Kennelly

Adrian Kennelly

Associate

B.Ag.Sci. (Hons), M.Ag.Sci., CPAg.

Adrian has more than 30 years’ experience in agricultural business and natural resource management research, policy, education and extension. He is a specialist farm business management adviser, who consults to medium to large-scale private farmers, agribusiness investors, agricultural industry groups and government agencies.

Adrian has specific skills and experience in strategic planning, business analysis, impact and loss assessment, facilitation, and training and education in rural Australia.  Adrian chairs the advisory boards of a number of family farming operations in south-eastern Australia and has undertaken due diligence exercises for several domestic and international investors.

In addition to this, his most recent industry project work includes the development of an Investment Attraction Program for Rural Councils Victoria, an agricultural impact assessment of the Western Highway bypass of Ararat and the development of a business planning program (Our farm, our plan) for the Australian dairy industry.

Dr Anne-Maree Boland

Dr Anne-Maree Boland

Associate

PhD., B.Ag.Sci.

Anne-Maree has 25 years’ experience in dealing with natural resource and water management in agricultural industries. This has included research and development and consulting in the areas of sustainable management practices, water use efficiency, recycled water and environmental management systems. Anne-Maree has been a Non-Executive Director for GWRDC and IAL, is a Churchill Fellow and recipient of the University of Melbourne Chancellors Prize. She has extensive experience as a knowledge broker and establishing partnerships with diverse stakeholder groups including government, water and agricultural industries.

Charles Thompson

Charles Thompson

Senior Fellow

B.Sci. (Ag.) (Hons), CPAg.

Charles has 20 years consulting experience and over 25 years’ experience in farm business and natural resource management. This includes water quality, salinity, irrigation, drainage, horticulture, community consultation and extension. His special fields of competence technical resource assessment; extension and advisory services to horticulture and agriculture; nutrients and water quality; and benchmarking horticultural enterprise management.

Rob Rendell

Rob Rendell

Senior Fellow

B.Eng. (Ag), CPAg., GAICD

Rob has more than 40 years’ experience in irrigation, groundwater drainage, salinity management, project management, extension, reclaimed water re-use, practical irrigation farming and farm management, agricultural industry benchmarking and sustainability indicators.  Rob’s wide range of experience from the practical to the technical/managerial and also to strategy and policy, gives him ability to contribute at many levels. He is recognised as a leader in the water and irrigated agriculture sector.

Shelley McGuinness

Shelley McGuinness

Associate

B.Ag.Sci. (Hons)

Shelley has strongly developed strategic planning skills and an ability to develop and apply logical methodologies to complex problems resulting in workable, robust strategies and policy solutions. With over 25 years’ experience she has an in-depth understanding of rural communities, industries, environments and natural resources, their inter-relationships and inter-dependencies. Her skills and experience have been applied to rural and regional strategic land use planning, agricultural industry analysis, assessment of land capability and suitability, land use conflict and environmental planning.

Dr Kristen Stirling

Dr Kristen Stirling

Associate

PhD., B.Ag.Sci.

Kristen is an experienced researcher and industry development specialist. She successfully combines project management skills and technical expertise to deliver projects in agriculture and water related industries. She enjoys working with landholders and large organizations to inform and clarify decision-making. Areas of expertise include strategic planning, stakeholder consultation and program evaluation.

Donna Lucas

Donna Lucas

Principal

B.App.Sci. (Hons)

Donna is an agricultural consultant with experience in business management, research and extension. She is adaptable with an ability to contribute to projects at a strategic level.
Donna has specialist knowledge in workforce development and planning, resource recovery, carbon farming, greenhouse gas/carbon accounting and project evaluation. Her strengths include driving execution, building connections and problem solving.

George Warne

George Warne

Associate

B.Building

George is recognised as a leader in the rural water sector. After ten years in the commercial construction industry, George became the inaugural General Manager and CEO at Murray Irrigation from 1992 onwards, leading the reform processes in water management, environmental responsibility, infrastructure management and water service delivery in southern NSW. George has also been responsible for major change management within organisations whilst dealing with severe water shortages caused by droughts-of-record.

Jencie McRobert

Jencie McRobert

Associate

B.Sci., Grad.Dip.Eco., Assoc.App.Sci.

Jencie understands the science and economics of natural resource management and has grounded and practical experience in soils, mixed farming and viticulture. She has highly developed skills in evaluation of agricultural and natural resource management programs, business case writing, greenhouse emissions analysis and sustainable resource use, and catchment management.  Jencie knows and appreciates the issues affecting communities in rural and regional Australia.

Matt Shanahan

Matt Shanahan

Managing Principal

B.Tech. (Env.)

Matt has been working in the water/irrigation industry for the past 15 years, having spent the last 12 years with RMCG consulting to a range of private and government clients.  Matt has worked extensively in the field of recycled water and organics management, having prepared master plans, land capability assessments, irrigation management plans and environmental management plans for a range of clients.  He is also experienced in the development of works approval applications and undertaking technical assessments involving the management of soils, nutrients and salinity/sodicity.

Clinton Muller

Clinton Muller

Senior Consultant

M.Sust.Ag., B.Bus. (Hons), B.A.

Clinton has extensive experience in sustainable agriculture, with a specialist focus on horticulture and intensive production systems. With a strong agricultural industry focus, Clinton has worked across a range of agricultural commodities and natural resource management issues in Australia and internationally.  Clinton’s diverse range of capacities including program design and management, stakeholder engagement, partnership management, monitoring evaluation and reporting, extension, facilitation, action research and science communication.

Jesse Clune

Jesse Clune

Consultant

B.Ag. (Hons)

Jesse is committed to improving the sustainability of the Australian agricultural sector and recognises agriculture can play a vital role in addressing climate change and biodiversity loss, without impacting farm bottom lines. They are passionate about using their knowledge of soils, pest management and data analysis to improve outcomes for farmers and the environment. This is reflected in their research, which has explored novel biofertilisers and sustainable solutions to pest slugs.

Jesse is an early career consultant with technical proficiencies in quantitative data analysis and visualisation, soil sampling and management, pest slug management and report writing. They have been involved in RD&E plan reviews and strategic planning to increase industry engagement.

Carl Larsen

Carl Larsen

Principal

B.Env.Sci., B.Soc.Sci. (Env.), PG.Cert.CCPI.

Carl is a socio-environmental scientist with 15 years’ experience in planning, delivery and evaluation of agriculture and natural resource management programs, integrated water management, climate change and stakeholder engagement. He understands the practical implications of policy and science on communities and agriculture. Carl has worked with a range of government departments, resource management agencies, research and development corporations, private organisations and communities around Australia on catchment management, sustainable water use, resource management in agriculture/horticulture, land use, climate change, strategic planning, industry development, extension and practice change.

Dimi Kyriakou

Dimi Kyriakou

Senior Communications Consultant

B.Comm. (Journalism)

Dimi is a trained journalist and experienced communications professional with expertise in traditional and online content development and editing, strategy development, website and social media curation, videos and podcasts, survey design and analysis, desktop publishing, media relations and crisis communications.

Dimi is passionate about delivering clear communications services to Australia’s agricultural, environmental and regional community sectors. She is skilled in crafting key messages and communicating complex information in a clear and informative way that is easily understood by the target audience.

Ossie Lang

Ossie Lang

Consultant

B.Ag.Sci., Cert IV Project Management

Ossie provides project delivery and technical capability. His key areas of expertise are in farming systems, data management, client and supplier relations, logistics and business support. He is the VegNET Tasmania regional development officer for the vegetable industry, delivering extension and technology transfer to the vegetable industry.

Prudence Rothwell

Prudence Rothwell

Consultant

B.Env.(Env.Sci). MFSG

Prue is driven by working collaboratively to design practical solutions to complex challenges across the intersections of agriculture, environment and community. With experience in project management, action-based research and workshop facilitation, Prue recognises the importance of strong farmer engagement, building trusted relationships and knowledge sharing pathways. Her positionality is influenced by her family dairy farm upbringing in Northern Victoria during the millennium drought, with a desire to see improved resilience and sustainability of both landscapes and farming businesses in the face of a changing climate. Prue is committed to supporting First Nations food sovereignty initiatives and self-determination.

Sasha Brightman

Sasha Brightman

Consultant

BA., MPAGovtMgt., GradCertAgBus (current)

Sasha has a background in protected area governance and management with a focus on planning, leadership and change management, ecosystem conservation and reserve system design. She has supported the delivery of virtual and in-person Healthy Country Planning and Conservation Standards (adaptive management frameworks for natural resource and community led planning) workshops in Australia, Timor Leste and Canada, has experience in project reporting and information analysis, and the creation of strategic, monitoring and operational plans.

Emily Tee

Emily Tee

Senior Consultant

B.Ag.Sci., Grad.Dip.App.Sci. (Hort), Dip.Bus.

Emily is a multi-skilled professional with experience in design, delivery and review of programs and projects in the environmental and agricultural sectors. She combines excellent strategic thinking skills with a proven ability to problem-solve and effectively communicate with colleagues and stakeholders. Emily has particular skills in relationship building and collaboration with individuals, teams and industry groups to lead and implement change and deliver on outcomes.

Morag Anderson

Morag Anderson

Consultant

BSc (Hons), Dip.Proj.Mgmnt

Morag is an experienced project manager, with a great ability to synthesise technical information and communicate it to a wide audience.  She has a great understanding of regulatory processes. She also brings critical thinking and an awareness of individual differences and needs to projects.  She has a science background with a broad understanding of environmental disciplines.

Jake Gaudion

Jake Gaudion

Consultant

B.Sc. (Ag.Sci), M.Ag.Sci. (Food Sustainability)

Jake is a driven Master of Agriculture Science graduate passionate about the interaction between agriculture, the environment and communities across the world. He is eager to utilise his agricultural, scientific, social and natural resource management knowledge to contribute to a more sustainable future.

Jake developed a strong passion for agriculture during his studies, particularly the environmental aspects of food production. He has a comprehensive understanding of the importance of improving efficiency of food production to improve overall sustainability

Natasha Frazer

Natasha Frazer

Consultant

BSc (Chemical Systems)

Natasha has recently joined RMCG and has a degree and experience in Chemical Systems. She has an interest in the agri-food and environmental sectors and has theoretical and practical knowledge in process engineering, sustainability, agriculture and waste management.

Dr Anna Carew

Dr Anna Carew

Senior Consultant

PhD., B.Sci. (Hons)

Anna has worked in senior strategy roles within government, and in the education sector in policy, communications and stakeholder consultation.

She is an experienced analyst, investigator, communicator and project manager across a range of agricultural, technical, educational and theoretical research areas.

Gurtej Sidhu

Gurtej Sidhu

Consultant

B.Ag.Sci., M.Ag.Res.Eco.

Gurtej is a consultant with a background in agronomy, farm operations and farm business management. He has a deep understanding of the complexities of the agriculture industry and the unique challenges that farmers face. He is interested in agribusiness and risk management, cost-benefit analysis and water management.

Tayla Field

Tayla Field

Consultant

B.Ag.Sci. (Hons), Dip.Hort.Bus.

Tayla is an agricultural scientist with over 8 years’ experience across farming, manufacturing and FMCG account management. She has worked within a range of food supply chains in various management positions within the agriculture sector including across dairy, meat, fresh fruit and vegetable produce and had a strong relationship with growers and producers nationally. Through these experiences, she has developed a well rounded view of a range of agricultural industries and supply chains. Tayla is undertaking the VegNET Tasmania regional development officer role, delivering extension and technology transfer to the vegetable industry.

Case Studies

Gardiner Foundation 25 year impact report released

07 MAY 2026

Starting with an initial capital base of $62 million, the Gardiner Foundation occupies a unique space in Australian agriculture. Guided by its constitution and its vision to support “thriving, vibra...

Read More

Berry Good future: Practice Guide for berry growers released

17 MAR 2026

With funding from the Australian and NSW Government's Storm and Flood Industry Recovery Program, the Berry Good Practice Guide was created for Australian berry growers, their advisors, industry bodies...

Read More

Reducing plastics and chemicals in NSW’s cut flower industry

04 JUL 2025

Through targeted education, extension activities and industry collaboration, this project is supporting New South Wales cut flower growers to adopt more sustainable practices and strengthen their resi...

Read More

Opportunities for CALD communities in agriculture

22 MAR 2023

People from CALD backgrounds make up a minimum of 11% of Australia's agricultural workforce. However, an opportunity exists to capture their diverse skills, experience and ideas to fill skills gaps in...

Read More

High-tech horticulture in Australia: What could it look like?

08 FEB 2022

In 2021, RMCG's team of horticulture experts and economists worked with the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) and global urban agriculture consultancy Agritecture to investigate effective urban f...

Read More

Organic waste opportunities in Tasmania

16 DEC 2021

Tasmania is a state of great natural beauty with many unique and protected environmental values as well as productive agricultural lands, vibrant manufacturing industries, and an innovative hospit...

Read More

Coordinating pest and disease R&D for the Australian potato industry

15 NOV 2021

Kristen and Doris coordinated the Australian potato pest and disease R&D program, funded by Hort Innovation, from 2018 to 2021. Key activities to inform industry of pest and disease research outco...

Read More

Developing irrigated agriculture in southern Victoria

03 NOV 2021

A willingness to invest in agriculture is currently strong in Victoria's central Gippsland region, given high demand for quality food supply, low interest rates, good access to markets and the natural...

Read More

A practical guide to effective landholder engagement

07 SEP 2021

When engaging with landholders, we are often asking them to change practices on their property. This is not a straightforward request, and the term 'practice change' is often used without understandin...

Read More

An agricultural workforce plan for Tasmania’s north west

31 MAR 2021

Agriculture is a significant contributor to the Tasmanian economy at $2.4 billion annually. While the sector has undergone a significant technological evolution over the past couple of decades, resul...

Read More

GIS in practice: Using spatial data to add value

29 MAR 2021

Culturally and Linguistically Diverse workforce gaps in agriculture We conducted research for Agriculture Victoria to identify where Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) communities are co-l...

Read More

Roadmap to a resilient Goulburn Murray region

20 AUG 2020

In the coming decades, agriculture and land management within Victoria’s Goulburn Murray region will face many major changes associated with climate change, water recovery for the environment, techn...

Read More

Profitable Integration of Cropping and Livestock

19 FEB 2019

As a national project partner, RMCG was engaged by Rural Directions to collect and analyse benchmarking datasets for mixed farming businesses across Southern and Northern Victoria. Working with 20 pro...

Read More