Even though consultants haven’t traditionally seen discussions with growers about stress management and mental health as part of their role it actually makes good business sense. The ‘slow creep’ of drought-related stress is detrimental to growers if unaddressed, but supporting growers to understand and manage their stress helps to prevent developing mental health problems, while also supporting future relationships and business outcomes. Consultants are skilled to support grower’s decision-maki...
Nov 25, 2020•17 min•Ep. 202
Rhizoctonia will cause yield losses especially where cereal crops have had a dry finish, but because this disease doesn’t like moist soils, those growers who have received late spring rains are unlikely to notice any impact. What this season does emphasise, however, is the need to monitor crops as what might appear completely healthy above ground could be significantly impacted below ground. One of the country’s leading authorities on rhizoctonia is Alan McKay, principal scientist soil biology a...
Nov 18, 2020•16 min•Ep. 201
An estimated 12.5 million hectares of sandy soils in southern and Western Australia are deemed at moderate and high risks of water repellence. In this podcast, researcher Dr Jack Desbiolles from the University of South Australia evaluates the effectiveness of available soil wetter chemistries and seeding tactics to improve crop productivity in non-wetting sandy soil. The research findings explored in this podcast are the result of two field trials that were run in 2018 and 2019, made possible th...
Nov 11, 2020•24 min•Ep. 200
We all look for disease ratings when selecting a variety. Is it moderately resistant (MR) or moderately susceptible (MS)? What do MR and MS and all of the other designations actually mean? When it comes to pulses, in the past those ratings have meant different things to different people – but now a uniform description has been developed. Agriculture Victoria plant pathologist, John Fanning explains how it will work. Contact: Josh Fanning Joshua.fanning@agriculture.vic.gov.au Learn more about you...
Nov 04, 2020•8 min•Ep. 199
A key consideration when growing a cereal grain crop such as wheat is knowing a variety’s Optimal flowering period. With that knowledge sowing times can be planned to minimise risks such as frost damage and heat stress, and maximise crop productivity. But what happens when the Optimal Flowering Period moves, as a result of climate change. Contact: Andrew Fletcher, CSIRO Agriculture and Food 08 9333 6467 Andrew.L.Fletcher@csiro.au Resources: https://grdc.com.au/resources-and-publications/grdc-upd...
Oct 28, 2020•11 min•Ep. 198
Accessing the latest information on fungicide resistance has never been easier – thanks to the newly established Australian Fungicide Resistance Extension Network (AFREN). In this podcast, Dr Kylie Ireland from the Centre for Crop and Disease Management (CCDM) discusses what the network has to offer, and the top five fungicide best management practices. AFREN has been established by the GRDC to develop and deliver a fungicide resistance management guide, workshops, information sessions and webin...
Oct 21, 2020•9 min•Ep. 196
Frost damage to Canola is a significant annual issue for the nation’s grains industry. Spring frosts in particular are the most economically damaging for growers as crop yields and quality are developing at this time. In this podcast NSW DPI crop physiologist and frost researcher Dr Rajneet Uppal discusses when and where to search within a canola crop for frost damage, how to identify pod damage and recommendation for minimising frost risk generally. Dr Uppal’s work is being conducted as part of...
Oct 21, 2020•9 min•Ep. 197
A missing link will soon be added to the pulse chain. A new and quite simple way of measuring the quality of pulses on farm is being developed that has the potential to add some serious cash to the bottom line of farmers. Work is being undertaken at the Agriculture Victoria laboratory at Horsham in Victoria, where this podcast was recorded. Contact: Cassandra Walker Cassandra.walker@agriculture.vic.gov.au Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices...
Oct 14, 2020•12 min•Ep. 195
Western Australian growers are urged to be on alert following the discovery of succinate dehydrogenase (SDHI, Group 7) resistance in spot form of net blotch (SFNB) in barley crops in the WA grainbelt. The resistance has been uncovered by the Centre for Crop and Disease Management (CCDM), which is a co-investment by the GRDC and Curtin University. In this podcast, CCDM researcher Dr Fran Lopez shares the details of this significant discovery and its consequences for the grains industry. Contact d...
Oct 07, 2020•10 min•Ep. 194
Deciding on what portion of your winter cereal crop will be cut for hay, can be a complex decision. One important factor is the amount of nutrient that is exported in the hay and the cost of replacing that nutrient. On this podcast, crop nutrition specialist Rob Norton discusses some of the critical issues you need to keep in mind when deciding your hay cutting strategy. Further information: Rob Norton Robnorton001@gmail.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices...
Oct 07, 2020•13 min•Ep. 193
Spot Form Net Blotch is the most common foliar disease of barley in Australia and given the right season, it can cause significant losses. A new fact sheet is now available that details the very latest knowledge about the disease and its management. This podcast features Agriculture Victoria plant pathologist, Mark McLean who has devoted the better part of two decades researching the disease. Contact: Mark McLean markmclean@agriculture.vic.gov.au Useful resources: https://grdc.com.au/__data/asse...
Sep 30, 2020•11 min•Ep. 192
A summer rainstorm can restore your soil moisture profile after harvest, but it could also deliver enough of the wet stuff to grow a summer crop. On this podcast we look at a series of trials that are testing the growability of a range of legumes that have been grown mostly much further north. Further information: James Nuttall James.nuttall@agriculture.vic.gov.au Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices...
Sep 23, 2020•12 min•Ep. 191
When it comes to managing subsurface acidity, the message is clear - it’s much better to prevent subsurface acidity than it is to treat it. Across Australia’s growing regions, subsurface acidity has largely gone undetected and untreated, but a significant amount of research is underway to help growers address this important issue. In this podcast, Primary Industries and Regions SA soil consultant Melissa Fraser shares the latest subsurface acidity research findings and management advice. More in...
Sep 16, 2020•16 min•Ep. 190
The farm is one of Australia’s most dangerous workplaces. According to year-to-date figures from Safe Work Australia, which compiles data on work-related traumatic injury fatalities, 21 of 104 workplace fatalities in 2020 have occurred on-farm, that’s roughly 20 per cent of the total. The only other workplace with a higher number of fatalities is the transport, postal and warehousing sector which would employ much bigger numbers than farming. Of the 104 deaths up until early August, 34 were from...
Sep 09, 2020•10 min•Ep. 188
Western Australian grain grower Duncan Young farms at Beverley in the west of the State’s central wheatbelt. Duncan is a well-respected grower and is the immediate past president of the WA Farmers Grains Council. One of the things that makes Duncan Young a good operator is his approach to chemical safety on farm and, with National Farm Safety Week a recent event, Debra Bishop speaks in this podcast with Duncan about the steps he takes to keep everyone safe on farm when working with hazardous che...
Sep 09, 2020•14 min•Ep. 189
A new resource for grain growers called Profit from Precision Agriculture offer grain growers an easy to follow step by step approach to adopting PA. Put together for GRDC by consultants Rural Directions and Think Agri, the resource acts as an implementation guide and cautions against rushing too quickly to buy the latest PA equipment without first understanding how the principles of precision agriculture would apply on your farm. On this podcast, we speak to one of the authors, Patrick Redden f...
Sep 02, 2020•13 min•Ep. 187
The five-year iMapPESTS project is using the latest in-field technology to rapidly and accurately monitor and report on airborne pests and pathogens. In this podcast, South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI) researcher Rohan Kimber discusses that the project has achieved so far and what opportunities exist for this in-field technology. iMapPESTS is a $21 million dollar research, development and extension (RD&E) endeavour funded by the Australian Federal Government through ...
Aug 26, 2020•17 min•Ep. 186
They say travel broadens the horizons and that was certainly the case when Riverine soil scientist Cassandra Schefe visited North America to look at farming systems in Canada and the US. In Canada Cassandra found researchers extracting protein from pulse crops for use in domestic food products, making growing pulses more valuable, while in the US her focus turned to the use of cover crops in Summer. An established practice in the US but could it work in Australia was the question Cassandra wante...
Aug 19, 2020•12 min•Ep. 185
Knowledge gained from six years of research on root lesion nematodes has been compiled into easy to read region specific fact sheets. Growers and advisers will be able to better assess the risk that root lesion nematodes pose to a paddock across a range of scenarios – from doing nothing to a full control program. Agriculture Victoria plant pathologist, Josh Fanning talks us through the new facts sheets in this podcast and you can click on the link below to find your fact sheet. Contact: Josh Fan...
Aug 12, 2020•9 min•Ep. 184
Delivering nitrogen to your crop is one of the more difficult decisions you make each year. Have you supplied enough, or have you supplied too much. This year you have a new friend, in the form of the Nitrogen Reference Manual for the Southern Region. The release of the manual comes at the perfect time for growers who are poised to do top up nitrogen applications. On this podcast, we hear from ag consultant Bill Long about the manual, soil scientist Cassie Schefe about what’s happening in your s...
Aug 05, 2020•19 min•Ep. 182
The national Hyper Yielding Crops initiative is the GRDC’s new investment to push crop yield boundaries in high yield potential grain-growing environments across Australia. The initiative will involve five centres of excellence. Attached to each centre of excellence will be five focus farms (25 farms in total) and a lead grower network aimed at taking research and development learnings from small plot to paddock scale. Grower and adviser involvement is now being sought to inform the research dir...
Aug 05, 2020•18 min•Ep. 183
Between 2017 and 2019 strategically placed wheat trials, located as far north as Central Queensland down to the Riverina region of NSW delivered data that will provide grain growers with regional information about variety adaption and recommended sowing times. The project is part of a bilateral agreement under the grains agronomy and pathology partnership between GRDC and NSW DPI, who brought Queensland’s Department of Agriculture and Fisheries onboard to work on the project. Contact: Darren Ais...
Jul 29, 2020•18 min•Ep. 181
New research into Nitrogen applications as part of the Tactical Wheat Agronomy for the West project could challenge the way the industry thinks about what determines the timing of N applications. The research project, a WA Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development and GRDC investment, involved trials across Western Australia’s wheatbelt and revealed a key influencer of wheat yield, quality and protein level, is environment. Contact: Dr Dion Nicol | Wheat agronomist and physiologi...
Jul 23, 2020•11 min•Ep. 177
Rhizoctonia is a fungal disease that’s causing some concern to growers in the Southern and Western regions. On this podcast we speak to SARDI scientists Alan McKay and Blake Gontar about some of the management options available to growers and, in particular, how they can lessen the presence of the disease in the soil moving in to 2021. Contact: Alan McKay Alan.mckay@sa.gov.au Blake Gontar Blake.gontar@sa.gov.ay Useful resources: https://grdc.com.au/resources-and-publications/all-publications/fac...
Jul 23, 2020•15 min•Ep. 178
A GRDC investment could see growers in the southern region growing crops like wheat and canola and even peas in the same paddock at the same time. Inter-row cropping is not new, but scientifically evaluating it on a broadacre scale is new. On Part 1 we heard Agriculture Victoria crop scientist, Garry O’Leary explain the aims of the multi-site trials. On Part 2, senior research agronomist, Penny Rifkin takes us into the paddock at Hamilton in Victoria to explain some of the challenges and opportu...
Jul 23, 2020•11 min•Ep. 179
It’s radical. It certainly looks different. But the potential benefits could be enormous. It’s called intercropping – growing two or more crops in the same paddock at the same time. In Part 1 of this two part mini-series, we hear about the sheer scale of trials underway across Victoria and what is hoped to be achieved. Agriculture Victoria crop scientist, Garry O’Leary dreams of a future that might be, but with a big dose of realism tossed into the mix. Contact: Garry O’Leary Garry.oleary@agricu...
Jul 23, 2020•12 min•Ep. 180
Yield losses from Red Leather Leaf in Oats could be significantly higher than growers have previously believed. One reason might be that the stubble borne foliar diseases is difficult to identify. On this podcast, Agriculture Victoria research scientist, Mark McLean talks about trials currently underway and why there is strong suspicion that this disease is costing farmers yield. Contact: Mark McClean mark.s.mclean@agriculture.vic.gov.au Useful resources: https://grdc.com.au/resources-and-public...
Jul 15, 2020•7 min•Ep. 176
A five year GRDC investment aimed at boosting the yield of high value irrigated crops is entering its second year in southern NSW and Victoria. In this podcast, FAR Australia researcher Michael Straight says the gap between what is achieved and what is achievable when it comes to yield comes down to doing the little things right. We also hear from Charlie Aves from the Irrigate Cropping Council about how the pathways that will emerge from the research will be disseminated to growers. Contact: Mi...
Jul 08, 2020•13 min•Ep. 174
The Dryland Legume Pasture Systems (DLPS) project is evaluating a diverse range of annual pasture legumes on mixed farms in the low to medium rainfall zone (<450mm). In this podcast, researcher Ross Ballard from the South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI), the research division of Primary Industries and Regions SA, shares information on the new and existing commercial lines tested so far, including the new stand medic (Medicago littoralis) cultivar scheduled for release in...
Jul 08, 2020•22 min•Ep. 175
Think of it as a new breath of fresh air for your crops. Keeping the critical growing window open longer will deliver you bigger yields. Professor Victor Sadras from the South Australian Research and Development Institute has been researching this topic and on this podcasts he speaks about what he has found, in particular the relative importance of grain weight and grain number. Contact Victor Sadras Victor.sadras@sa.gov.au Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices...
Jul 01, 2020•9 min•Ep. 173
