 My name is Alan Farquhar. This is our farm at Belmunda, near Mount Jigs, just outside of Makai. We've owned this property since about 95. I'm the fourth generation grower. It's a good farm down here, nice and flat and plenty of irrigation and close to the sea and not many neighbours which makes it very nice to live down here as well. The project was initially suggested to me by a maps officer. I thought it sounded like a good idea so I made contact with pharmacist and Shade got in touch and it's gone on from there. Alan is a really progressive farmer. They've adopted techniques such as controlled traffic and minimum till and some legume fellow crops for a number of years now. So working with Alan we really had to focus on the things that were going to make the biggest difference for this farm. The first year Shade did a complete analysis of our soil tests over many years and then came back with fertiliser recommendations for each block. The nutrient management plan was helpful because it gave me a different perspective on how I could manage the property, particularly the intricacies of different blends for each paddock. There's been a few different opportunities to join seminars and workshops. There's a soil seminar which was very interesting and gave me a lot of information about the current thinking on soil science and how it relates to cane production and the nutrient uptake of a crop of cane. Going to those soils workshops and having like an expert soil scientist sort of validating what's being said on the ground really helps us in our recommendations and also for the growers to accept what we're sort of recommending and giving them that deeper knowledge of why we're recommending these application rates. There was a Google Earth workshop which showed me a few more tips and tricks when it came to using Google Earth, which was very useful. The Google Earth training was useful as we give each grower a USB and on that's all their farm data. We put yield maps on there, locating of their soil samples, any EC mapping that they've done and also their actual nutrient management plan. So all the details can be saved into Google Earth and then they can add to that program things like hydrant locations. They can plan a site for a new dam. So it's really a useful management tool that they can use in the future. In addition as part of the pharmacist package I got a few more G dots for my irrigation system. So that tells me a lot more about my soil moisture profile. Through the project we offer growers either soil tests or G dots or some EC mapping. Alan he chose the G dots and they can be a really useful soil moisture sensor and telling us when the soil profile is getting dry and giving an indication of when irrigation needs to start. Because Alan's already confident in his nutrient plans and what fertilizer he can apply the G dot was a good option for him to select as it's a practical tool that can be used on farm. Working with pharmacist gives you someone else who hasn't got a vested interest in selling your fertilizer and also is on your side as far as productivity goes. The project gives us confidence that our farm management is the best it can be and that as well as working through the BMP project has given me the confidence that my operation can withstand any scrutiny.