On Target With Irrigated Ag

Irrigation Research & Extension Committee•www.irec.org.au

Welcome to IREC’s podcast channel - On Target with Irrigated Ag!

On Target with Irrigated Ag, hosted by the Irrigation Research & Extension Committee (IREC), brings engaging conversations on a variety of irrigated agriculture focussed topics, including farming innovations, new technology, industry updates and of course crop trials and research in the Murrumbidgee Valley.

On Target with Irrigated Ag is a space where farmers, researchers, industry, advisors and leaders share experiences, results and analyse different farming practices, tools and strategies to help improve productivity, profitability and efficiencies in irrigated farming and agriculture.

As a non-for-profit farming system group, IREC facilitates cross-industry collaboration and cooperation between all those connected with irrigated agriculture in the Murrumbidgee Valley. We have been bringing irrigators, researchers, industry, agencies, and government together since 1939. Through these collaborative efforts, IREC makes a significant contribution to improving the irrigation industry's productivity, profitability and sustainability.

We welcome any feedback you have or ideas for future podcasts – please email us irec@irec.org.au

Last refreshed: July 8th, 2025 at 5:21 PM ⓘ

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Episodes

2023-24 NSW Southern Valleys Cotton Season

This podcast presents an insight from Kieran O'Keeffe (Regional Extension Officer Southern NSW CottonInfo and IREC Executive) on the 2023-24 NSW Southern Valleys Cotton Season. The 2023-24 season will be remembered as a very rewarding season with district yields averaging a record 12.2 b/ha with around 1 million bales produced in southern NSW.

Sep 19, 2024•20 min•Season 1Ep. 10

Rice Season - 2024

This podcast presents an insight from SunRice's Manager Grower Services and Extension Mark Groat on the 2024 rice harvest in the southern region. The majority of the crop is the bold medium grain type called V071, which has averaged 13T / ha across the whole MIA – an outstanding effort by growers. Listen in to hear more on the yield and quality this year along with more information about Rice Extension's focus sites.

May 22, 2024•12 min•Season 1Ep. 9

Optimising Water Management in Young Almond Orchards with Heavy Soils

This podcast presents insights adopted from an article published in the Irrigation Research Extension Committee’s Farmers’ Newsletter, 210, Spring 2023, titled: Optimising Water Management in Young Almond Orchards with Heavy Soils, by Carlos Ballester, Rodrigo Filev-Maia and John Hornbuckle (Deakin University). Given water is a critical resource for food production in Australia — and the Riverina in particular — practices for increasing drought resilience are of great importance. This is why def...

Nov 06, 2023•7 min•Season 1Ep. 8

Growth Regulator Performance

This podcast presents insights adopted from an article published in the Irrigation Research Extension Committee’s Farmers’ Newsletter, 209, Autumn 2023, titled: Growth Regulator Performance Dampened in Season 2022 by Sam O’Rafferty and Hayden Petty from Summit Ag Agricultural Consulting. In 2022, two trials were conducted to investigate canopy and lodging management in irrigated barley at Whitton and irrigated durum wheat at Darlington Point as part of the Optimising Irrigated Grains project, fu...

Aug 31, 2023•9 min•Season 1Ep. 7

Glyphosate-Resistant Weeds

This podcast is an adapted summary of an article published in the Irrigation Research Extension Committee’s Farmers’ Newsletter, 209, Autumn 2023 Glyphosate-resistant weeds on the move in the Riverina by Christopher Preston from the School of Agriculture at the University of Adelaide and Christina Ratcliff from CSIRO’s Agriculture and Food unit. This episode is part of the Area Wide Management of Weeds Project. Glyphosate is used by many land managers to control weeds. When land managers rely on...

Aug 21, 2023•6 min•Season 1Ep. 6

Damian Jones - Nitrogen Rates in Durum Wheat

This podcast features Damian Jones Trial Manager with Irrigated Cropping Council. This episode is part of the Optimising Irrigated Grains Project which has been funded by the Grains Research & Development Corporation. .As part of the Optimising Irrigated Grains a number of trials were undertaken in region. In 2022, a local trial was undertaken in the Darlington Point area, which assessed the impact of nitrogen rates in durum wheat.

Aug 07, 2023•14 min•Season 1Ep. 5

Damian Jones - Chickpea Disease and Inoculation

This podcast features Damian Jones Trial Manager with Irrigated Cropping Council. This episode is part of the Optimising Irrigated Grains Project which has been funded by the Grains Research & Development Corporation. .As part of the Optimising Irrigated Grains a number of trials were undertaken in region. In 2020 a trial in the Whitton area looked at the impact of disease and inoculation in irrigated chickpeas.

Jul 24, 2023•17 min•Season 1Ep. 4

Dr Cassandra Schefe

This podcast features Dr Cassandra Schefe soil scientist and director at AgriSci Pty Ltd, who is the project lead on the Cool Soil Initiative Project. One of the newest projects that IREC are involved in is the Cool Soil Initiative. The Cool Soil Initiative is all about supporting farmers explore their on-farm practices in order to improve the health of their soil, increase their yield, and reduce on-farm greenhouse gas emissions.

Jun 26, 2023•19 min•Season 1Ep. 3

Hayden Petty

This podcast features Hayden Petty agronomist with Summit Ag. This episode is part of the Optimising Irrigated Grains Project which has been funded by the Grains Research & Development Corporation. As part of this project IREC have facilitated a number of focus paddock trials and demonstrations over the past few years. The aim of this focus paddock trial was to determine the fit for Plant Growth Regulators on durum wheat sown in a double cropping scenario behind cotton....

Jun 01, 2023•10 min•Season 1Ep. 2

Sam O'Rafferty

This podcast features Sam O'Rafferty agronomist with Summit Ag. This episode is part of the Optimising Irrigated Grains Project which has been funded by the Grains Research & Development Corporation. As part of this project IREC has facilitated a number of focus paddock trials and demonstrations over the past few years. The purpose of this focus paddock trial was to assess the influence of Plant Growth Regulants and nitrogen rates on the standability, head loss and yield of an irrigated barl...

May 29, 2023•13 min•Season 1Ep. 1

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