Liebe Group Launches into 2026

The Liebe Group officially launched its 2026 season last week, holding its annual general meeting and season launch event.

Boyd Carter was officially elected as the new chairperson of the group, a position that will be supported by incumbent chair Brad McIlroy in a co-chair role.

Liebe Group Executive Officer says the co-chair role is about supporting a smooth transition.

“Brad has held the chairperson role for 4 years and has played an integral role in being the leader and spokesperson for the group on behalf of the board.”

“The group is heading towards its 30 year anniversary in 2027, and at the same time we will be beginning a new strategic plan cycle so we wanted to ensure that our succession plans for that role were well in place as we head towards that significant milestone.”

The Carter family has been long time members of the Liebe Group, with Boyd’s father Keith having been President of the group between 2006 -2009 and the family hosting the groups Main Trial Site in 2003 and 2023.

Also stepping on to the board is Maya farmer Brendon McAlpine who has been on the group’s R&D subcommittee since 2023 as well as hosting the Main Trial Site in 2024.

The season launch event was a chance for the group to reflect on the previous year and start to look forward to 2026, with planning well underway for another great year of R&D and events.

As part of its annual rotation, the Liebe Group Main Trial Site is moving east to Kalannie, to be hosted by the Nixon family, with a plethora of trials planned with a number of collaborative partners.

One of the highlights so far of the year ahead will be an amelioration to depth trial, that aims to improve understanding of different correction techniques of deep acid soils.

In Collaboration with a team from the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, this will include spading limesand and lime alternatives to a depth of around 50cm, in an attempt to open up the bucket size and achieve a large increase in productivity on that soil.

Another highlight of the year will be a continuation of the group’s work on early sowing of canola, where the group will look at some principles around hyper yielding canola in these early sowing scenarios and just how far yields can be pushed with different fertiliser strategies.

During the afternoon, local farmer Bob Nixon presented on the role of carbon in whole of

landscape management including biodiversity plantings to manage salinity and increasing soil carbon being a co-benefit of soil amelioration.

The audience also heard from a panel of Lentil growers, who shared their experiences in growing the crop in 2025. Particularly pertinent in a season where fertiliser supply shortages loom large, interest in legumes are high and lentils are providing the opportunity as a viable alternative to lupins.

Growing lentils aren’t without their challenges, with limited herbicide options and harvest being challenging and the panel shared some of their learning of what worked and what didn’t in 2025.

The group is also supporting this space with a Lentil agronomy trial looking at crop safety of different herbicide mixes. Furthermore, a research experiment looking at acid tolerance of lentils will also be conducted in collaboration with Murdoch university.

These sessions were part of the National Carbon Farming Outreach Program being led by the Grower Group alliance with which the Liebe Group is a part of.

The event finished with a sundowner with the group’s Diamond partners CBH Group, with Chief project delivery officer Sam Gliddon provide an update on the co-operatives key network projects and priorities. This was a great opportunity for growers to connect with CBH and have questions and issues heard.

For the Liebe Group collaboration is a core value, and the group acknowledges and thanks the support from all its industry partners including the Grains Research & Development Corporation, the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development and the Farm Weekly.

Furthermore the support of our corporate partners including diamond partners Rabobank, RSM, CSBP and CBH group, along with our Gold and Silver partners is greatly appreciated and vital to success of farming in the region.

The group looks forward to an exciting 2026, memberships to the Liebe Group are now open, and growers can go to www.liebegroup.org.au/membership to join.

This event was delivered with funding support from the Commonwealth of Australia through the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water under the Carbon Farming Outreach Program, in collaboration with the Grower Group Alliance.