New VicNoTill member brings agricultural business experience to the board

Kilter Rural farmland general manager Angus Ingram, Melbourne, has been announced as one of two new VicNoTill board members, joining fellow member Callum Lawson.

Mr Ingram started working as a jackaroo at Mt Isa in his 20's, before he started working as an agricultural manager at ANZ Bank.

He moved into agricultural investment management about eight years ago, and now manages more than 9000 hectares of arable land for Kilter Rural, while based in Melbourne.

Kilter Rural focuses on living roots, effective water infiltration, encourage worm populations and a strong microbial population, cycling nutrients, and fungal-dominant soils.

He said he looked to combine commercial agriculture with sustained ecosystem protection, and had a key focus on water security.

"Fundamentally, from an investment perspective, soil health is about management risk and if you can ensure the crops you are growing are resilient to seasonal conditions, drought or flood, you need a healthy soil type," he said.

"And that's the physical components, chemical and nutrient components and the biological components.

"Most farmers are very familiar with the physical and mineral components, but maybe less so the biological ones.

"They all work together, and understanding that so they are cycling and are resilient to stressed or difficult seasonal conditions for reduced risk."

He said he thought he would bring carbon market knowledge to the board, and looked forward to learning from fellow members.

"It's an impressive group of humble, progressive achievers," he said.

"I'll probably bring a slightly different perspective because I'm not living on-farm these days or operating my own assets.

"I'll bring perhaps a bit more knowledge on carbon markets, I'm really keen to learn from the others and bring a slightly different lens to the board given my more corporate agricultural experience."

He said he felt passionate and interested in the group and its methods, and looked to contribute valuably to the board.

"The main reason I got involved in business is just to help us be better farmers and manage risk for investors, and deliver better returns through healthy, more resilient grain production," Mr Ingram said.