Today's 'GRDC in Conversation' podcast interview is with Yannik Heller. Yannik grew up in the Wimmera region of western Victoria. At 16 he left school and headed to Denmark to work on a family friend's farm. A year later he was back with some unique experiences and life skills under his belt. With a view to drive big tractors, he got work on a farm in Nhill and has stuck with agriculture ever since. Now he finds himself in Tasmania working on the other side of the fence in the farm services sect...
Dec 18, 2022•45 min
For most Australian grain growers, 2022 has been a challenging year. Weather conditions across the country continue to be volatile meaning that this harvest many growers are faced with extreme circumstances. Dr Kate Burke is a former agronomist and an agri-strategist and in this podcast she shares some practical recommendations on determining where the value lies in your crop and what to harvest first. Kate also helped deliver the 'Opportunity for Profit' workshops run with the support of GRDC i...
Dec 13, 2022•14 min
Today's 'GRDC in Conversation' podcast interview is with Dr Jenny Davidson. After briefly considering medicine as a career path, Jenny decided treating sick plants was the better choice for her. As a pulse pathologist she has spent the past 3 decades with SARDI helping the grains industry, witnessing the industry change from a focus on field peas to the pulse diversity seen across Australian farms today. In 2021, she 'retired' but that didn't stop her. She spent this year travelling across South...
Dec 11, 2022•46 min
It’s harvest time across most of Australia and for many growers this year they will have the added challenge of harvesting in water-logged conditions. Adverse weather creates greater risk around this busy time - but having procedures and processes in place can benefit growers, their employees and ultimately their businesses. Contact: https://denisemclellan.com.au/ More Information: https://denisemclellan.com.au/ https://www.peopleinag.com.au/ See Groundcover article here Project Code: RDC2107-00...
Dec 06, 2022•16 min
Today's 'GRDC in Conversation' podcast interview is with Jeanette Long. Astoundingly, until 1992, women weren't allowed to officially name their occupation as 'farmer' in Australia. It was in this era, with change emerging and an increasing recognition of women's roles in farming, that Jeanette Long began working in agriculture. Jeanette's role as facilitator, trainer, coach, business partner and farmer has seen her put people first across her varied career roles and communication with them at t...
Dec 04, 2022•40 min
Improving wheat yield and yield stability through better heat tolerance is the focus of research being undertaken at the University of Sydney’s Plant Breeding Institute in Narrabri, New South Wales. GRDC has invested in the collaborative program between University of Sydney, Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, InterGrain and Agriculture Victoria. Professor Richard Trethowan and Dr Rebecca Thistlethwaite a re part of the team of researchers and breeders. Contact: richard.tr...
Nov 29, 2022•12 min
Today's 'GRDC in Conversation' podcast interview is with Bill Long. Bill is a farm consultant, but a farmer 'first and foremost' calling it one of the most satisfying careers anybody could ever have, despite its ups and downs. He's seen and worked with some of the best farmers in Australia and flown himself around the country in his Cessna airplane. His interest in how people make decisions led him and his wife Jeanette to develop a training program, and he's even composed a song about wild radi...
Nov 27, 2022•57 min
Unprecedented rainfall in 2022 has resulted in extensive waterlogging across many cropping regions of eastern Australia. In this podcast, Greta Duff from Southern Farming Systems (SFS) shares the latest research findings on nutrient strategies and spring sown options following a waterlogging event. Greta led a project with GRDC investment on the topic in 2021 after a wet growing season in the high rainfall zones of Victoria and Tasmania. Contact Greta Duff Senior Research and Extension Officer, ...
Nov 22, 2022•12 min
Today's 'GRDC in Conversation' podcast interview is with Chris Preston. In the 1980s Chris spent three years studying biofuels in the USA before returning to Australia to work in weed research at The University of Adelaide. Thirty years later, Chris is still on the job tackling the ever-evolving problem of understanding and managing herbicide resistant weeds. A challenge that has seen him explore the problem from different angles, but always with an ear close to the ground listening to what farm...
Nov 20, 2022•55 min
GRDC’s National Variety Trials - or NVT - program is the largest coordinated trial network in the world. Across Australia there are more than 650 trials underway at over 300 locations for ten crop species. To find out more about how the data collected at these trial sites is used - we speak to agronomist and GRDC northern panel member, Peter McKenzie as well as NVT participant and grower, Stephen Gibson. Contact NVT in your state More Information NVT home Subscribe to NVT communications Video - ...
Nov 15, 2022•7 min
Today's 'GRDC in Conversation' podcast interview is with Peter Hayman. As Principal Scientist, Climate Applications, at the South Australian Research and Development Institute of the Department of Primary Industries and Regions , Peter works to identify climate risks to agriculture and develop R&D partnerships to help. From growing up in Japan, to studying ag science in Sydney, Peter's career path is an interesting one that has seen him seek to make science useful at the centre. GRDC in Conv...
Nov 13, 2022•59 min
GRDC continues to support grains focussed innovators to develop and bring their technology to growers. One way of doing that is by partnering with accelerators like the ‘Agtech and Logistics Hub’, which has recently launched a program designed to fast track innovation in the agri-food sector. The program is called GroundUp and we spoke to Agtech and Logistics Hub director, Thomas Hall to find out how it all works and how growers will ultimately benefit. Contact: thomas.hall@agrifoodconnect.com.a...
Nov 08, 2022•12 min
Today's 'GRDC in Conversation' podcast interview is with Mark Merrett. Mark is a sixth-generation farmer from Kaniva in western Victoria where his family runs a mixed operation of winter cropping and sheep. Mark always wanted to become a farmer but he's also a natural communicator. His Merrett Contracting YouTube videos have been viewed thousands of times and they're helping to connect people from around the world with farm life. GRDC in Conversation is a limited series of the GRDC Podcast. It f...
Nov 06, 2022•28 min
More information: Australia is the world's largest exporter of faba beans, to help growers stay on top, breeders are developing new varieties suited to local conditions. Harnessing the expertise of different partners, GRDC has invested in research to address faba bean diseases including Ascochyta blight while maintaining a focus on higher yields. In this podcast, Adelaide University faba bean breeder Sam Catt and SARDI pulse pathologist Sara Blake talk about progress towards new and improved var...
Nov 01, 2022•10 min
Today's 'GRDC in Conversation' podcast interview is with Kate Burke. Kate’s working career has seen her in roles as an agronomist, a commercial manager, author and a cereal chemist. Living in Echuca, Victoria, she now runs her own consulting business Think Agri, providing corporate investors access to astute, experience-based advice when considering agri-investment decisions. GRDC in Conversation is a limited series of the GRDC Podcast. It features in depth, long-form interviews with growers and...
Oct 30, 2022•49 min•Ep. 2
After a wet 2021, growers across Australia’s northern and southern grain growing regions are again bracing for widespread, heavy rainfalls at harvest this year. While the weather forecast poses significant challenges for getting crops off the paddock, getting your silos ready to store damp grain now is one way to help reduce headaches down the track. In this podcast, GRDC National, Grain Storage Extension Project Coordinator, Chris Warrick, shares his tips on preparing silos for harvest, storing...
Oct 25, 2022•10 min
GRDC in Conversation is a limited series of the GRDC Podcast. It features in depth, long-form interviews with growers and other experts in the grains industry. It aims to help growers explore research outcomes and ideas through a different perspective. Barry's 45-year career has seen him combine his on-farm experience with his business acumen to help farm businesses build resilience in risky environments. His work has taken him from his family farm in Port Germein, SA, to working to support the ...
Oct 24, 2022•46 min
For the first time in WA, there’s been a confirmed case of glyphosate and paraquat resistance in annual ryegrass. The discovery has prompted University of Western Australia weed researcher, Dr Roberto Busi, to research alternative double knock solutions. As Roberto explains, the findings have been a quantum leap forward in understanding how these resistant ryegrass populations can be effectively controlled with paraquat and pre-emergent herbicide combinations. Contact Dr Roberto Busi roberto.bus...
Oct 18, 2022•16 min
Wheat growers in the northern grain growing region are currently experiencing one of the worst stripe rust epidemics in recent memory. To help growers tackle the challenging season, Grain Orana Alliance (GOA) have been conducting trials to provide a stripe rust early warning system for the central north region of the New South Wales cropping belt. The trials, supported by GRDC, are focused on identifying and communicating local dominant stripe rust pathogens to help growers and advisers make man...
Oct 11, 2022•14 min
Lupin seed integrity and establishment With split seed resulting in yield penalties higher than 70% in some areas, a new GRDC investment is looking at how growers can manage their handling of lupin seed to ensure better germination of seed in the following seasons. A benchmark study of 27 WA growers looked at germination impacts for lupins, focusing on reducing the incidence of split seed through harvest activities such as machinery impacts, and manganese deficiency. The study which started in 2...
Oct 04, 2022•9 min
GRDC has a history of working with different business accelerators to deliver grains focussed, start-up accelerator programs across Australia. Farmers2Founders is one such programme - set up to help put producers at the centre of innovation by supporting them to have more involvement in the innovation process… leading to solutions that will solve real problems for grains growers on farm. To find out more, we spoke to Skye Raward, co-founder and general manager of Farmers to Founders and Tegan Mo...
Sep 27, 2022•16 min
Gravel soils account for 24 per cent of land used for crop production in southern Western Australia, and are also characteristic of major production regions in South Australia and Victoria. In this podcast, two growers share their experience managing this challenging soil type. They have distinctly different approaches but share a desire to get the most of their crops in a high rainfall environment. Murdoch University’s Dr Francesca Brailsford also shares an update on the significant GRDC invest...
Sep 20, 2022•20 min
The National Grower Network is a GRDC initiative set up to directly communicate with growers and help progress locally relevant research, development and extension investments. Growers are encouraged to become involved and there are many ways to do that. To find out more about the National Grower Network, we speak to Grower Relations Manager, Vicki Green and Graham Spackman who is on the GRDC’s northern panel. Contacts: Vicki Green Grower Relations Manager Vicki.Green@grdc.com.au Graham Spackman...
Sep 13, 2022•13 min
Grain growers around Australia have a new tool, in the form of a comprehensive guide, to support informed decision making around machinery purchases. The guide, titled “Machinery investment and replacement for Australian grain growers”, is the result of a two-year GRDC initiated project to assist growers to evaluate decisions around machinery investment. The information has been gathered from contributions from more than 450 grain growers around Australia, who shared their machinery purchase and...
Sep 07, 2022•12 min
For the first time in Australia, there is a biocontrol option to help tackle flaxleaf fleabane. A rust fungus from fleabane’s country of origin, Colombia, has been rigorously tested by a research team at the CSIRO and approved for release by the Australian regulator. This new tool will be available to help growers bolster their integrated weed management strategy. This research is part of a project called Underpinning agricultural productivity and biosecurity by weed biological control, led by A...
Aug 31, 2022•16 min
How much does the general public trust the grains industry? Recent community survey work, made possible through GRDC investment, has painted a clear picture – and the results are surprising. Dr Kieren Moffat and his team have been surveying a diverse cross-section of the community to examine areas of uncertainty such as chemical usage and GMO cropping. It’s all part of a the larger Community Trust in Rural Industries project being driven by a number of Rural Research and Development Corporations...
Aug 23, 2022•13 min•Season 1Ep. 273
Weeds are one of the largest costs to Australian growers - affecting management, yields and input costs. That’s why GRDC is a platinum partner in WeedSmart - an industry led initiative designed to deliver weed control solutions. WeedSmart is the united industry voice delivering science backed weed control solutions to growers and advisors for long term productivity in Australian agriculture. To see the full list of financial, in-kind and international in-kind; and research partners visit this pa...
Aug 17, 2022•15 min•Season 1Ep. 272
Australia’s canola industry continues to grow from strength to strength - despite the presence of blackleg, a common disease that has the potential to cause more than 90 per cent yield loss. This success story is thanks, in part, to decades of targeted GRDC investment into blackleg management – delivering significant genetic and agronomic advancements to help canola growers reduce the impact of this serious pathogen. Marcroft Grains Pathology Principal Dr Steve Marcroft has been at the forefront...
Aug 10, 2022•11 min•Season 1Ep. 271
One of the greatest barriers to improving farm productivity in Australia is water. Over the past ten years, GRDC investment in water use efficiency (WUE) research has resulted in significant yield gains and underpinned an evolution in the management of summer fallows and farming sequences across Australia’s southern and western cropping regions. Southern NSW agronomist Greg Condon has been involved with WUE research projects for more than 12 years, and in this podcast he delves into the research...
Aug 03, 2022•17 min•Season 1Ep. 270
Excessive rainfall has hit northern growers over the past six months. With water logging across paddocks, growers are at heightened risk of losing nitrogen from denitrification, and it’s an issue GRDC is keen to understand better. Recent research supported by GRDC and led by Senior Research scientist at the New South Wales Department of Primary Industries, Dr Graeme Schwenke, found that on average, paddocks with waterlogging could lose 28 per cent of nitrogen from denitrification. To get the com...
Jul 20, 2022•20 min•Season 1Ep. 269
