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 information:

Dr Melissa Fraser

[email protected]

Useful resources:

https://grdc.com.au/resources-and-publications/grdc-update-papers/tab-content/grdc-update-papers/2020/02/subsurface-acidity-how-far-has-the-research-advanced

https://youtu.be/0bUfCwpfBxo https://grdc.com.au/resources-and-publications/all-publications/publications/2018/legumes-in-acidic-soils

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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 chemicals.

Useful resources:

https://ww2.health.wa.gov.au/Articles/A_E/A-guide-to-the-management-of-pesticides-in-local-government

https://safefarms.net.au

[email protected]

www.Auschemwa.com.au

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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 this sector. While those figures don’t tell us what caused the fatalities, it’s a reminder to us all to never underestimate risk. And one area of potential risk on-farm is the handling of hazardous chemicals.

In this podcast, Safe Farms WA executive officer Maree Gooch discusses chemical safety on farm, relevant government legislation and what growers should know to legally comply with the legislation.

Contact:

Safe Farms WA Maree Gooch, Executive Officer

0438 374 136

[email protected]

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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 from Rural Directions.

Contact:

Patrick Redden

[email protected]

Useful resources:

https://grdc.com.au/resources-and-publications/all-publications/publications/2020/profit-for-precision-agriculture https://grdc.com.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0031/394078/Profit-from-Precision-Agriculture-Output-3-Report.pdf?utm_source=website&utm_medium=download_link&utm_campaign=pdf_download&utm_term=South&utm_content=Profit%20from%20precision%20agriculture

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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 the Rural R&D for Profit Program, as well as investment from all seven plant industry Research and Development Corporations (RDCs), and in-kind contributions from national and international partner organisations including, SARDI, Agriculture Victoria and Rothamsted Research (UK), to name a few.

The seven plant industry RDCs involved in this project are Hort Innovation, Grains Research and Development Corporation, Sugar Research Australia, Cotton Research and Development Corporation, Wine Australia, AgriFutures Australia, and Forest and Wood Products Australia.

Contact:

Rohan Kimber, SARDI

[email protected]

Useful resources: https://grdc.com.au/resources-and-publications/grdc-update-papers/tab-content/grdc-update-papers/2020/02/imappests-sentinel-surveillance-for-agriculture https://www.imappests.com.au/ https://groundcover.grdc.com.au/weeds-pests-diseases/diseases/sentinel-takes-watch-of-plant-pests-and-diseases

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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 wanted to answer.

Contact:

Cassandra Schefe

[email protected]

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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 Fanning

[email protected]

Useful resources: https://grdc.com.au/resources-and-publications/all-publications/factsheets/2019/root-lesion-nematode-southern https://grdc.com.au/resources-and-publications/all-publications/factsheets/2019/root-lesion-nematode-western https://grdc.com.au/resources-and-publications/all-publications/factsheets/2019/root-lesion-nematode-northern

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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 soil right now and grower Andrew Russell about his nitrogen program and the pleasant surprise he got this year.

Useful resources:

https://grdc.com.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0024/392136/A-Nitrogen-Reference-Manual-for-the-Southern-Cropping-Region-FINAL.pdf?utm_source=website&utm_medium=download_link&utm_campaign=pdf_download&utm_term=South&utm_content=A%20nitrogen%20reference%20manual%20for%20the%20southern%20cropping%20region

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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 direction.

Through the new investment, high yield potential cultivars suited to local environments will be identified and the most appropriate agronomic management tactics – including paddock selection and preparation, canopy management, disease, weed and pest control, and crop nutrition strategies – will be explored to assist grower and adviser decision making.

Extension co-ordinator:

Nick Poole, Managing Director Foundation for Arable Research Australia

+61 499 888 066

Jon Midwood, TechCrop Services

0400 666 434

[email protected] @Crop_Watch

Regional contacts:

Ashley Amourgis SFS, VIC

[email protected]

Ian Herbert SFS, TAS

[email protected]

Kate Coffey Riverine Plains, NSW

[email protected]

Jen Lillecrapp MFMG, SA

[email protected]

Phillip Mackie Stirlings to Coast farmers, WA

[email protected]

Useful resources: o https://grdc.com.au/news-and-media/audio/podcast/hyper-yielding-cereals-project

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2PndQdkNRHHNrRus6zZ2v5QKw8hIwVvs o

https://grdc.com.au/resources-and-publications/grdc-update-papers/tab-content/grdc-update-papers/2019/03/hyper-yielding-cereals-are-extra-inputs-needed-and-if-so,-do-they-pay o

https://groundcover.grdc.com.au/crops/cereals/new-hyper-yielding-investment-to-push-crop-production-boundaries

https://grdc.com.au/resources-and-publications/grdc-update-papers/tab-content/grdc-update-papers/2020/07/tasmanians-are-on-the-frontline-of-fungicide-resistance-what-options-are-available-to-slow-the-train

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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 Aisthorpe, Senior Regional Research Agronomist

Department of Agricultural and Fisheries

07 4991 0808

0427 015 600

www.daf.qld.gov.au

Useful resources: https://grdc.com.au/resources-and-publications/grdc-update-papers/tab-content/grdc-update-papers/2020/02/yield-stability-across-sowing-dates-how-to-pick-a-winner-in-variable-seasons

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