The Nationals’ Member for Mildura, Jade Benham, recently announced a $2.5 million commitment towards Birchip Cropping Group’s Nexus project, supporting agricultural research and helping improve farming practices and productivity.
BCG Nexus is a purpose built accommodation and conference facility designed to strengthen Birchip’s role as Australia’s leading source of agricultural research and grower-led innovation. The hub will provide accommodation for visiting researchers, students, and industry professionals, allowing them to spend more time in Birchip working directly with farmers to turn research into practical outcomes in the paddock.
Ms Benham said Birchip Cropping Group’s work had an impact well beyond the local community, supporting growers across the Mallee, Wimmera, and North Central regions through independent research, trials, and extension.
“Over the past 30 years, BCG has made an enormous contribution to agriculture, not just through its impact on farming practices locally, but through its influence on agricultural research and the way that research is put into practice across the sector,” Ms Benham said.
“Nexus will help bring researchers and farmers together, making it easier to test ideas, share knowledge and put the latest agricultural research into practice.
With no dedicated accommodation for visiting researchers and students in Birchip, this project will help create more opportunities for people to work alongside local growers and develop solutions to the challenges facing agriculture.
This region sits at the frontline of Australian agriculture, where growers thrive by producing more with less, transforming new technology into dynamic operations, and turning volatile markets into leaner businesses. Global population growth and productive land mean science led farming systems are becoming increasingly valuable.
Realising these gains depends on bringing the right people together, in the right place, for long enough to turn ideas into practice. Regional agricultural innovation cannot be sustained by research investment alone.
“BCG already attracts top researchers. Demand and ambition are not holding the region back; a lack of infrastructure is.” BCG CEO Fiona Best said.
Without BCG Nexus, research risks becoming transactional, visits remain short, and collaboration remains fragmented. “We want to be able to offer appropriate hospitality and accommodation to support visitors who are fascinated by what we do and who become part of this community, whether they stay for a week or a decade.”
BCG Nexus will change that by delivering a permanent place in the region where people stay, forge partnerships, learn, and innovate faster. The people and the capability are already here, and BCG Nexus is the critical infrastructure investment required to unlock that full value.
