+10 YEARS INVESTING IN RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
PRODUCER LED INNOVATION
Agrimix invests significant resources into Research and Development. We aim to find practical and scalable solutions to increase livestock productivity and sustainability across Northern Australia.
We are continually looking to collaborate with leading research institutions and we’re really proud to be developing innovative solutions that will help Australia achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
Current research projects
TRANSFORMING THE MEASUREMENT OF SOIL CARBON
Agrimix, in collaboration with Australia’s leading soil and greenhouse gas institution, QUT, have developed a measure-model-verify (MMV) technology which enables low-cost accurate soil carbon measurement. The core of this technology is the use of eddy flux and other remote sensing data integrated with soil carbon models.
NEW PASTURES TO INCREASE LIVESTOCK PRODUCTIVITY IN THE NORTH
Agrimix is leading a 3 year Cooperative Research Centres Project that brings together beef producers and leading research institutions to find new legume cultivars and reliable commercial-scale establishment methods that will increase livestock productivity across Northern Australia. This project included greenhouse gas mitigation investigations to determine if Desmanthus can help reduce methane emissions in cattle.
Impacts of Desmanthus on Productivity, Profitability and GHG Emissions
Our previous research suggested feeding beef cattle Desmanthus could reduce methane emissions by up to 10%. Partnering with CSIRO and JCU, we put it to the test in a 16-month commercial grazing trial at Cungelella, a Northern Australia Pastoral Company property in central Queensland. Adding Progardes® Desmanthus to buffel grass pastures cut methane intensity by 9% in the wet seasons, and the cattle finished with carcases 10 kg heavier. The results are now published in Animal Production Science (Charmley et al. 2025). The project received grant funding from the Australian Government’s Methane Emissions Reduction in Livestock (MERiL) program.
Driving research projects
Nick Kempe
Director
Never one to back down from a research idea- Nick is head innovator at Agrimix and is passionate about backing science to deliver practicable research outcomes.
Chris Gardiner
JCU Researcher and Plant Breeder
Chris has dedicated his life to pasture legume science and innovation. He’s a keen researcher, as well as a dedicated lecturer at James Cook University.
Previous research projects
ANIMAL PRODUCTIVITY
Promoting live weight gain in animal production
Researchers at James Cook University have investigated the animal productivity benefits of feeding Progardes® to cattle, goats and sheep.
ANIMAL BENEFITS
High protein feed
Increased body condition score & carrying capacity
Improved herd fertility
Reduce lick requirements
Quality silage
PASTURE PRODUCTIVITY
Productive, resilience and sustainable pastures
Progardes® Desmanthus is underpinned by extensive research and development, demonstrating the legume can improve pasture productivity and pasture resilience.
DOWNLOADABLE RESOURCES
Good water use efficiency and high dry matter production for our cultivar JCU2
PASTURE BENEFITS
Increased drought resilience
Increased dry matter production
Increased pasture quality
Increased soil nitrogen
GREENHOUSE GAS MITIGATION
Livestock productivity can lower methane emissions
Collaborating with CSIRO, JCU and MLA, Agrimix have investigated the potential for Progardes® Desmanthus to be used as a nutritional supplementation strategy for greenhouse gas mitigation. You can read the final report from our first trials below.
GREENHOUSE GAS MITIGATION BENEFITS
Improve soil health
Increase biomass production
Increase soil water infiltration and storage
Ability to earn carbon credits
