Federal Agriculture Minister Tony Burke opened the batting, observing that productivity improvements will be a crucial factor in agriculture's response to the three great global crises: the financial meltdown, food shortages and climate change.

ABARE director Philip Glyde agreed, arguing for more effective research and development supporting a more efficient farming sector.

They didn't get any argument from graingrower David Brownhill, who with his brother Gordon and their families, farms 4700 hectares across five properties on the Liverpool Plains of northern NSW.

At an Outlook session, Mr Brownhill outlined an approach to productivity that didn't aim for a single big hit, but the cumulative effect of many small gains.

"We've tried to take the best ideas we've seen and incorporate them into a family farming business," Mr Brownhill said.

"To get the best out of your business you really need to do a lot of things. It’s nutrition, controlled traffic, no-till, keeping the weeds down.

"You get 3pc here and 5pc there, and it all adds to the bottom line."

The business, Merrilong Pastoral Company, focuses purely on summer and winter cropping.

Since 2000, the operation has worked as an opportunity cropper.

"Whenever we have a full soil moisture profile, we work out what to plant in it."

The Brownhills diverged from traditional farming approaches during the last generational handover, when the brothers decided that "it didn't make sense or cents" to split the operation.

Instead, they operate the farming aggregation using corporate principles, set up around a management board with an independent chairman.

The brothers sit on the board as executive directors, along with two other non-executive directors.

The setup is supported by a streamlined reporting process and clearly-defined roles and policies for owners and staff.

Mr Brownhill said professionalism is a key ingredient of their approach, "but discipline is the word we use the most".

"You can make an easy decision sitting in the ute, but it probably won't be the best decision you can make."