Growers in Western Australia are well aware of the benefits of growing legumes in their rotation, but often have concerns about their reliability and can lack confidence in their production. A GRDC investment with the Grower Group Alliance is aiming to change that, and in a four-part series, we'll be tackling the agronomy, profitability, marketing, and harvesting of growing legumes in WA. In this episode, we tackle the first part of that equation: how to grow them. Joined by agVivo agronomist, and Moora grower, Erin Cahill, listen to how he grows lentils and lupins, plus some agronomic advice for growing other key legumes.  

Contact:

Erin Cahill 

agVivo 

[email protected] 

More Information:

Profitable legumes becoming a reality

Project Investment Code:

GGA2110-002SAX

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to GRDC’s National Variety Trials, or NVT, new variety podcast series, where Australia's leading breeding companies share their latest releases for the 2026 growing season. When it comes to choosing the right variety, NVT is the only independent variety information source trusted by Australian growers. In GRDC's 2025 grower survey, nine out of 10 growers accessed NVT information, and 94 per cent of those said it influenced their variety selection. Every variety featured in this podcast has been trialled through NVT, the largest independent trial program in the world. This podcast focuses on wheat. There is a separate podcast for other crops, including barley, canola and chickpea. 

Contact:

LongReach Plant Breeders 

Australian Grain Technologies (AGT) 

Australian Grain & Forage Seeds (AGF Seeds) 

RAGT 

InterGrain 

More Information:

You can find out more information about the varieties featured in this podcast at www.nvt.grdc.com.au , alongside individual breeder websites. 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to GRDC’s National Variety Trials, or NVT new variety podcast series, where Australia's leading breeding companies share their latest releases for the 2026 growing season. When it comes to choosing the right variety, NVT is the only independent variety information source trusted by Australian growers. In GRDC's 2025 grower survey, nine out of 10 growers accessed NVT information, and 94 per cent of those said it influenced their variety selection. Every variety featured in this podcast has been trialled through NVT, the largest independent trial program in the world. This podcast focuses on barley, canola, and chickpea. There's a separate podcast for wheat. 

Contacts:

Australian Grain Technologies (AGT) 

InterGrain 

Australian Grain & Forage Seeds (AGF Seeds) 

Pioneer 

BASF AustraliaNuseed 

Nutrien Ag Solutions (Dyna-Gro) 

NSW Department of Primary Industries (Chickpea Breeding Australia) 

More Information:

You can find out more information about the varieties featured in this podcast at www.nvt.grdc.com.au , alongside individual breeder websites. 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When it comes to storing fertiliser on-farm, small mistakes can turn into big problems. In this GRDC podcast, Grain Storage Extension Team member, Ben White shares practical advice on the dos and don’ts of fertiliser storage. From choosing quality product and limiting handling, through to managing moisture and avoiding dangerous silo blockages. He also highlights the safety risks growers need to be aware of, and where to find trusted resources to help with planning ahead. 

Contact:

Ben White 

Grain Storage Extension Team  

[email protected] 

More Information:  

GRDC publication Investing in fertiliser storage infrastructure, authors Cussons Media and Fertiliser Australia

Project Investment Codes: 

CMP2202-001SAX

PRB2412-001SAX 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

No matter what crop you grow, or livestock you run, the soil beneath your boots is the foundation of your farm's productivity, profitability, and long-term sustainability. And while soil has always been a cornerstone for grain growers, there's never been a consistent way to define, measure, monitor, or report on soil health in Australia. That's why GRDC has invested in the development of a national Soil Health Framework to close this gap and give growers the tools they need to manage soil more effectively. The work is being led by CSIRO in collaboration with a network of research partners. To find out more, this podcast features project lead, CSIRO's Dr Mark Farrell, Dr Stirling Roberton, who is a research scientist, also at CSIRO, and from the University of Western Australia, Emeritus Professor Lynette Abbott.  

Contacts:

Dr Mark Farrell 

Principal Research Scientist, CSIRO 

[email protected]

Dr Stirling Roberton 

Research Scientist, CSIRO 

[email protected] 

Lynette Abbott 

Emeritus Professor, University of Western Australia 

[email protected] 

More Information:

National Blueprint to standardise soil health across Australian agriculture

Development of a soil health framework for Australian agricultural production systems

Project Investment Code:

CSP2504-015RTX 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Growers around the Eradu area of Western Australia's northern growing region have been deep ripping for many years. Now they're going back and re-ripping for a second, third, fourth, and even fifth time with different machinery as it has progressed over the years. It's all about getting highly alkaline surface soil down deeper in the profile to address subsoil acidity, and at the same time, managing compaction to greater depths. This episode features Craig Topham from Agrarian Management and is part of a five-part GRDC series looking at managing soil constraints in Western Australia. Craig has three clients in the Eradu area, all aiming to achieve the same result, but doing it with different machinery and varied approaches. 

*A note for listeners. This podcast does not cover all products in the market. Different products may have different costs and benefits. 

Contact:

Craig Topham 

Agrarian Management 

[email protected] 

More Information:

Agrarian

Project Investment Code:

PLT2409-001SAX 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Fungicide resistance is a serious threat to cropping. When all available registered fungicides are no longer effective at managing disease, options for widespread disease control become limited, and the result is high yield losses. So, when a gateway mutation, the first step toward fungicide resistance in wheat powdery mildew (WPM), was detected in samples collected in Western Australia, alarm bells went off. In this episode we speak to Andrea Hills, research scientist with the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development in Western Australia, about what growers can do to help. 

This podcast is a part of the Australian Fungicide Resistance Extension Network (AFREN). 

Contact:

Andrea Hills 

Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development 

[email protected]

More  Information:

Potential for fungicide resistance detected in Experance wheat powdery mildew

Project Investment Code:

CUR2302-002RTX

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Don't wait until harvest to consider how you are going to protect your stored grain. That's the message from GRDC's stored grain extension team. When it comes to grain storage, the more you invest in pre-harvest preparation, the better the outcome. This episode features Chris Warrick from the Stored Grain Extension Team who talks about the most important strategies to implement.  

Contact:

Chris Warrick

Stored Grain Storage Extension Team

[email protected] 

More  Information:

2024 Webinar - Pre-harvest grain storage health check  

2024 story - Give grain storage a pre-harest health check

1800 WEEVIL

Stored Grain

Phosphine best management practices 

Project Investment Code:

PRB2412-001SAX

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Do you want to nail those snails in the crop? Well, naming those snails is the first step. In this episode, Prue Adams is in York Peninsula, on the snail trail and speaking with Dr Kym Perry, research fellow in entomology at the University of Adelaide. He goes into detail about the four main snail culprits in crops, how to identify, and what to do about them.

Contact:

Dr Kym Perry

The University of Adelaide

0421 788 357

More Information:

Nail The Snails

Snail Management

Project Investment Code:

UOA2205-005RTX

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

At just one millimetre long, redlegged earth mites are tiny, but that doesn't stop them from causing significant damage across Australia, especially in regions with cool, wet winters. To find out how growers can best manage this pest – we talk to Dr Paul Umina from Cesar Australia. The project ' Leading practice management of the Redlegged earth mite (RLEM)' is a GRDC investment that is led by Cesar Australia alongside other project partners. 
 

Contact:

Paul Umina 

Cesar Australia 

[email protected] 

More Information:

Redlegged earth mite best management practice guide

Cesar Australia

Project Investment Code:

CES2503-001RTX

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices