Home-grown ag talent recruited to support Northern and Yorke producers
Two emerging agricultural leaders who grew up on farms in the Mid and Upper North have joined the Northern and Yorke Landscape Board to help local producers increase their land and business resilience.
Molly O’Dea from Yongala near Peterborough and Elly Pratt from Blyth are teaming up to work with the community, farming systems groups and farmers.
Molly started as the Board’s Sustainable Agriculture Facilitator at the start of 2024 and has a focus on connecting producers with the latest agricultural opportunities, such as grants, events and research findings. She works directly with the region’s farming systems groups across all agricultural industries in the region, including viticulture, cropping, livestock, horticulture and fisheries.
Elly began her role as Climate Adaptation Facilitator in August and is helping land managers get up to speed on carbon and nature markets and increase on-farm biodiversity for productivity and environmental benefits.
The roles will see Molly and Elly working collaboratively, but it’s not the first time they’ve crossed professional paths. They first met in Queensland, where Elly, who was producing an ecosystem health report card for Reef Catchments teamed up with Molly at Sugar Research Australia.
“We realised that we grew up in the same region and had connections through family and friends,” said Elly. “When I heard that Molly was back in South Australia I reached out to her, but before we could catch up in person I ended up getting this job and now we see each other every day.”
Prior to joining the Board, Elly worked for the Landcare Association of South Australia for nearly 3 years, based in Kadina. She has a Bachelor of Marine Biology and completed her Honours and PhD at Flinders University studying bottlenose dolphin genetics. She researched how dolphins have adapted to different climate scenarios, which triggered an interest in climate science.
Her role with the Board involves helping farmers make informed decisions about carbon farming and emissions management. She will also work with farmers to increase native vegetation on their land, an initiative that improves livestock outcomes and pollination services for crops.
“I’m excited about the opportunity to get out and chat with farmers, where I can tap into my knowledge about biodiversity and environmental science and combine it with my love of farming,” she said.
Molly is also passionate about farming, combined with a life-long interest in biology and knowing how things grow. Her spare time is largely divided between preserving foods from her vegetable garden or working on the family’s Yongala farm, where this year she has installed 1 kilometre of exclusion fencing to create a goat trap, a project that is paying dividends for the business during a tough season.
Molly has earned a Bachelor of Agricultural Science, a Master of Teaching and is close to completing a PhD in Agricultural Education. Her position at the Board is a dream job for Molly.
“I love this job,” she said. “I’ve been waiting for it to come up for five years, ever since I heard it existed.
“A big part of my role is communicating and engaging with farmers and agricultural stakeholders, and making sure they have the best information at their fingertips to help their decision-making.”
Molly has developed a dedicated Sustainable Ag Update page on the Northern and Yorke Landscape Board website, where producers can access the most up-to-date information about grants, events, webinars, scholarships and research opportunities. To receive notifications about the latest update, email Molly at molly.odea@sa.gov.au.
