From Methane Reduction To Farmer Value: Dr Apeh Omede’s Trek Program Journey

A promising project looking for a clearer pathway

Dr Apeh Omede is a senior lecturer and researcher at the University of Tasmania’s Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture. Apeh researches nutritional strategies to increase livestock productivity and environmental sustainability. One of his projects focuses on cost-effective, adoptable on-farm feed technologies that could help livestock producers reduce methane emissions.

The research has strong impact potential, but Apeh wanted to strengthen his capacity to deliver outcomes from his work. At the time, his thinking was largely centred on the technical goal of methane reduction and on farmers as the primary end users.

Apeh joined the Trek Program to move his research closer to impact. He needed to understand who else was connected to the problem, what different stakeholders valued, and what evidence would be needed for the technology to be adopted in practice.

What the Trek Program changed

The Trek Program gave Apeh a shift in mindset: from leading with the research idea to learning about the people connected to the problem.

Through ecosystem mapping, Apeh began to see that farmers were only one part of a broader stakeholder system that also included advisors, agronomists, feed manufacturers, policymakers, government agencies, retailers, and consumers. Even within farming, different groups have different needs, constraints, and reasons for adopting new technology.

The skills developed through the Trek Program helped Apeh communicate the value of his research more clearly, while problem-owner profiling helped him think more deeply about who was experiencing the problem, what they were trying to achieve, and what would make a solution useful in practice.

This changed the way Apeh framed his project. Instead of asking only whether the technology could reduce methane, he began asking whether it could create value for the people who would need to use, support, or adopt it.

Building momentum through evidence and engagement

Since completing the Trek Program, Apeh has continued developing the methane reduction project with a clearer understanding of what adoption may require.

This mindset has helped Apeh build stronger momentum. Apeh’s project was one of three Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture projects to receive funding from the JM Roberts Charitable Trust Foundation in May 2024, with his project receiving a total of $9,000. He was also part of a successful consultancy research grant with an industry partner to test feed materials and products.

Apeh is now continuing this research-to-impact skill development journey through CSIRO’s ON Prime program. ON Prime is helping him apply the approach he learned in the Trek Program with greater intensity and scale, as he works with his team to speak with farmers, feed industry stakeholders, government, and regulatory agencies and refine the project around what end users and partners truly need. Some of these conversations have led to non-disclosure agreements, creating the potential for future research collaborations.

Don’t assume understanding of the problem

Apeh’s next step is to move from lab-level validation towards on-farm trials. He is also looking towards commercialisation grants that could help increase the adoption- readiness of his technology.

For other researchers, Apeh’s advice is clear:

“Don’t assume, as a researcher, that what you think is a research priority is similar to what’s on the priority list of your stakeholders.”

He also encourages researchers to move past the hesitation that can come with reaching out. Through the Trek Program and his continued stakeholder conversations through the ON Prime program, Apeh has found that many stakeholders are willing to engage.

“They want to talk to you. They truly want to talk to you.”

For Apeh, this has become central to his development as an impact-focused researcher: not only advancing the science, but building the evidence, relationships, and understanding needed for that science to make a difference.