GRDC Podcast

Assisting growers to work smarter with their inputs to increase profitability is the focus of many GRDC investments. Recently, Australian maize growers have found there's a peak in the nitrogen response curve, beyond which there is no measurable effect on yield. Meantime, irrigation discussion groups expanded into paddock scale demonstration, which provided growers with the opportunity to further investigate key management options. This podcast explores the outcomes of those recent trials into irrigated grains, specifically maize. 

Contact

Melinda Mann

Events and Communications, Irrigation Farmers Network

[email protected]

More Information

Grain maize good management guide

Project Investment Code

ICF2308-001SAX 

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The GRDC’s National Variety Trials (NVT) new Variety Podcast series gives breeding companies the microphone to share their new releases for the 2025 growing season. 

This podcast focuses on sorghum, barley and oats – there are separate podcasts in this four-part series for canola, field pea, lentil, lupin and wheat. 

The varieties mentioned in this podcast have all been trialled through NVT – a program to help Australian grain growers make informed varietal decisions by providing comparative information on topics like yield performance, disease resistance ratings and grain quality. 

More information

Visit the NVT website.

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Widespread frosts on top of a very dry season mean that southern growers are having to make some tough decisions. We speak to consulting agronomist, Martin Culbert, who is traveling across the southern region and helping growers with their post frost decision making. Martin advice is to approach the situation logically, and to get out there and conduct an assessment of the entire paddock in order to get a grasp of where the worst impact is – before making a salvage decision. There may be areas within the paddock that growers can portion out - to get next year's seed. Martin has also developed a spreadsheet/in-paddock calculator that just requires time and some basic maths to conduct. Growers can use it to make a data based decision - as to what their next step is. 

Contact

Martin Colbert, Consulting Agronomist

[email protected]

More  Information

Frost Management Resources

Mallee Sustainable Farming - Better Frost Decisions webinar (25/9/2024)

IFarmWell  

LifeLine - 13 11 44 (available 24 hours/ 7 days a week)

Project Investment Codes

AIP2404-001RTX, FAR2204-001RTX 

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Today's 'GRDC in Conversation' podcast interview is with Belinda Cay. 

Belinda Cay is an experienced agricultural communicator. Across her career she has had a breadth of experience that has uniquely put her in the position to “put others in the spotlight” in a way that has supported them and in turn the broader agricultural industry. 

She grew up on a family farm and was influenced by her father, who was a plant breeder. Belinda's early connections to agriculture included riding bikes around the Department of Agriculture and helping with seeding. With a passion and interest in science, she pursued further education and discovered a passion for science communication, which led her to work at the famous Questacon in Canberra producing a kids science show.  

In being awarded a GRDC Seed of Light Award, GRDC Southern Panel Chair and Victorian grain grower Andrew Russell said, “Ms Cay is an outstanding advocate for the grains industry, making research and development accessible and relatable to growers through her expert communications – ensuring that growers are engaged and can reap the benefits”. 

Download the transcript for this episode 

More Information 

GRDC in Conversation is a limited series GRDC Podcast. It features in-depth interviews with growers and other experts in the grains industry who share their expertise, knowledge and experiences by exploring their personal stories, history, influences and motivations. The views expressed in this podcast are solely those of the interviewee and do not necessarily reflect the views of GRDC, the interviewees’ employer, institution or other associated parties. 

GRDC Project Code: HAG2308-001SAX 

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Blackleg is the most serious disease in Australian canola, and while fungicides are commonly used to help manage this disease, there are concerns that an overreliance on fungicides could encourage fungicide resistance. In order to explore this further, GRDC is making a significant investment into fungicide resistant management strategies in blackleg in canola. Extensive research is taking place at the Grains Innovation Park in Horsham in Victoria's Wimmera region. We catch up with Dr Angela van de Wouw who is one of Australia's leading researchers into blackleg in canola and PhD student Alec McCallum, whose research is examining the emergence and management of fungicide resistance to blackleg.

Download the transcript for this episode

Contact:

Angela van de Wouw , University of Melbourne

[email protected] 

More Information:

AFREN 

UCI Blackleg upper canopy infection management App

Blackleg Management Guide

Project Investment Code: CUR2302-002RTX 

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Today's 'GRDC in Conversation' podcast interview is with Ross Kingwell  

Ross Kingwell has had a long and distinguished career as an agricultural economist, with over 150 published journals and book chapters and 350 conference papers and major policy and industry reports.  

In this GRDC In Conversation episode with Oli Le Lievre, Ross shares years of wisdom in research, science, agro-politics and some pivotal moments that shaped who he is today. His early years were influenced by family exposure to agriculture and then lecturers who taught critical thinking and effective communication.  

He discusses his key collaborative achievements, including the development of a farming systems model and the introduction of endpoint royalties in the grains industry. Ross is offered an opportunity to reflect on his journey as he talks about receiving the GRDC Seed of Light award in 2024.  

Download the transcript for this episode 

More Information 

GRDC in Conversation is a limited series GRDC Podcast. It features in-depth interviews with growers and other experts in the grains industry who share their expertise, knowledge and experiences by exploring their personal stories, history, influences and motivations. The views expressed in this podcast are solely those of the interviewee and do not necessarily reflect the views of GRDC, the interviewees’ employer, institution or other associated parties. 

GRDC Project Code: HAG2308-001SAX 

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Neil Smith farms at Merredin in Western Australia and after dabbling in chickpeas in the early 2000s, he has now been growing the crop continuously for the past four years. 

As president of MADFIG, the Merredin and Districts Farm Improvement Group, Neil is a big advocate of peer-to-peer learning and is a part of the cohort of 'Legume Leaders' that has been established by the Grower Group Alliance, with investment from GRDC. 

In this episode, Neil shares the challenges and benefits of growing chickpeas, as well as his key tips for growers wanting to incorporate them into their farming system. 

Download the transcript for this episode

Contact: 

Neil Smith 

Grower 

[email protected] 

More information: 

Closing the economic yield gap of grain legumes in WA 

Legume Leader bios and contact details

Project Code: 

GGA2110-002SAX 

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🎙️ Today's 'GRDC in Conversation' podcast interview is with Ben Single 

Ben Single, founder of Single Ag, discusses his journey from studying aerospace engineering to developing a weed mapping system using drones. This GRDC In Conversation episode with Oli Le Lievre explores the importance of controlling chemical-resistant weeds in agriculture and the challenges of implementing new technology on the farm.  

Ben highlights the role of his family in the business, the need for clear communication and defined roles and the turning point when he decided to commit full-time to Single Ag and the subsequent growth and success of the company.  

Download the transcript for this episode 

More Information 

GRDC in Conversation is a limited series GRDC Podcast. It features in-depth interviews with growers and other experts in the grains industry who share their expertise, knowledge and experiences by exploring their personal stories, history, influences and motivations. The views expressed in this podcast are solely those of the interviewee and do not necessarily reflect the views of GRDC, the interviewees’ employer, institution or other associated parties. 

GRDC Project Code: HAG2308-001SAX 

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Shane Boardman and his family moved from Victoria to northern New South Wales in the late eighties. Not long after their move, they started dabbling in precision agriculture technologies. In the mid-nineties he commissioned an electromagnetic survey of one of his paddocks. At the time, he didn't have the machinery to take the EM data and apply VR technologies. It was when Boardman Ag took over Glen Ayr properties south of Goondiwindi, that they embarked on the next steps and turned their attention to variable rate technologies. This podcast explores the Boardman’s trials, and the benefits of using precision ag technology including how it's transformed yield on their broadacre cropping enterprise.  

Download the transcript for this episode

Contact:

Christian Capp

[email protected] 

More Information:

Society of Precision Agriculture 

Project Investment Code: SPA2201-001SAX 

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🎙️ Today's 'GRDC in Conversation' podcast interview is with Loretta Serafin 

Loretta Serafin is a research agronomist with the New South Wales Department of Primary Industries. In this GRDC In Conversation episode with Oli Le Lievre, Loretta discusses her work in the summer grains industry and her passion for providing quality research results to growers.  

She talks about her love of plants, the challenges and rewards of working in agriculture and the importance of access to reliable information.  

Loretta is currently working on her PhD and she highlights the potential for expanding the production of summer grains in Australia and the focus on water use efficiency and early sowing techniques. 

Download the transcript for this episode 

More Information 

GRDC in Conversation is a limited series GRDC Podcast. It features in-depth interviews with growers and other experts in the grains industry who share their expertise, knowledge and experiences by exploring their personal stories, history, influences and motivations. The views expressed in this podcast are solely those of the interviewee and do not necessarily reflect the views of GRDC, the interviewees’ employer, institution or other associated parties. 

GRDC Project Code: HAG2308-001SAX

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