LUMEN Spring 2022 - Flipbook - Page 18
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Emma Ayliffe
Photo credit:
Angus Northeast
16
Emma’s family didn’t own a farm.
They managed farms for other people,
something which, alongside a childhood
fascination with plants, sparked her desire
to work in agriculture.
As an agronomist, Emma describes herself
as a ‘crop doctor’, advising clients to
improve their crops and their business.
“I just love growing crops and working
with people to help their businesses get
better and better,” she said.
Thanks to a Cowan Grant Trust
Roseworthy Campus Residency
Scholarship, Emma was able to make
the most of all the opportunities the
Agronomy course could offer.
“It was massive, it was amazing, it made
a huge difference and meant I could take
full advantage of everything Roseworthy
offered - a complete immersion in the
course, but also in the life of Roseworthy,
playing netball, inter-campus sports days
and footy games, making so many lifelong
friends, just everything,” she said.
“The diversity was just amazing, and you
got such a good grounding in genetics,
biosciences and ag tech. The beauty of the
course was the really good mix of things,
from doing the genetic stuff in animals
and a bit of livestock background courses,
right through to crop science and then into
production and whole farming systems.”
Graduating from Roseworthy in 2011 with
a BSc in Agronomy and Crop Science,
Emma described the first decade of her
career as “a series of happy accidents,
the result of putting myself out there and
going outside my comfort zone”.
“By proactively seeking new experiences,
some of the most unlikely jobs became the
best part of my CV,” she said.
In the decade since her graduation, Emma
certainly grasped every opportunity with
both hands. She co-founded Summit
Ag consultancy with Heath McWhirter
when she was just 26, advising clients on
irrigated cropping and dryland growing,
cotton agronomy and research.
A need to build longevity into the business
and keep their employees busy during
dry seasons led Emma and Heath to build
Yacker – a free app that connects people in
the agriculture sector.
THE UNIVERSITY OF ADELAIDE
“We realised we were often acting as a
conduit for clients to share knowledge with
each other so, knowing how farmers love to
chat, we created Yacker as an agricultural
phone directory where people could ask
questions and share experience.”
More than 800 people now use the Yacker
platform to share their knowledge and
solve problems.
Emma and her partner are kept busy
running their mixed cropping and sheep
property at Lake Cargelligo.
“It’s good to get your hands dirty, and I
always wanted to own a property. Plus,
it means we are busy with the crop and
harvesting just when most of our clients
are too, so it’s traditionally a quiet time for
consulting,” she said.
Clearly, Emma doesn’t plan on much
quiet time.
Combining work on her property with
her role at Summit Ag requires what she
describes as “a fair bit of juggling
and chaos.”
