GRDC Podcast

Pulse growers would be well aware of the damage Helicoverpa larvae can do to their crops. Fortunately, farmers have access to strong chemistry that can adequately control the pest. But for how long?

On this podcast, Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries (DAF) entomologist, Melina Miles, offers us an insight into her research and explains why the Helicoverpa Resistance Management Strategy is so important to the future security of the pulse industry.

Contact:

Melina Miles

Department of Agriculture and Fisheries (DAF)

0407 113 306

[email protected]

Resources: https://grdc.com.au/GRDC-FS-Helicoverpa-resistance-management?utm_source=soundcloud&utm_medium=short_url&utm_term=National&utm_content=Resistance%20management%20strategy%20for%20Helicoverpa%20armigera%20in%20Australian%20grains

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According to WA’s Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development that estimate of $4.3 Billion in lost production is nearly equal to half the value of the state’s annual grain production, so soil constraint issues are significant.

The type of constraints common to the West include water repellency, acidity, subsoil compaction and soil structure decline and the Grains Research & Development Corporation has invested in the development of an analytical tool called ROSA.

ROSA stands for Ranking Options for Soil Amelioration and its purpose is to help grain growers rank their soils and prioritise soil amelioration options.

Further Information:

Dr Elizabeth Petersen

DPIRD Economist

0404 077 194

email: [email protected]

GRDC Project code: DAW00244; DWA00243; DWA00242; DWA00236

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To aid Russian Wheat Aphid management planning and development of cultural controls, there is a need to know what role green bridges play in supporting RWA populations.

This information will be used to develop predictive models that will estimate seasonal aphid risk within each affected region. Findings by cesar and SARDI will enable researchers to better inform advisers and grain growers about how to best manage this new pest.

Additionally, determining what beneficial insects are best placed to manage RWA is another big question that will be investigated.

Further information:

Dr Elia Pirtle

Consultant - Sustainable Agriculture

cesar 293 Royal Parade, Parkville, Victoria 3052

m: 0414 143 456

e: [email protected]

GRDC project code: 9176535

Useful resources

* Russian wheat aphid: Tactics for future control https://grdc.com.au/rwa-tacticsfuturecontrol

* Russian wheat aphid: Tips & Tactics https://grdc.com.au/TT-RWA

* Crop aphids: The Back Pocket Guide https://grdc.com.au/CropAphidsBackPocketGuide

* Beneficial Insects: The Back Pocket Guide https://grdc.com.au/resources-and-publications/all-publications/publications/2010/08/beneficial-insects-the-back-pocket-guide-southern-and-western-regions

Contacts Greg Baker, SARDI Science Leader - Entomology, 08 8429 0933, [email protected] James Maino, Senior Consultant - cesar, 03 9349 4723, [email protected]

Reporting RWA occurrences in 2018

Growers and advisers are encouraged to continue reporting occurrences of RWA to PestFacts and to take advantage of pest identification services provided by cesar and the South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI) through the National Pest Information Service.

Reports from Tasmania, Victoria and Southern NSW can be made through:

the cesar website the PestFacts Reporter App available on iTunes and Google Play

through Twitter on @cesaraustralia

contacting cesar directly at 03 9349 4723.

Reports from South Australia can be submitted through:

Twitter @PestFactsSARDI

contacting SARDI directly: Rebecca Hamdorf p: 08 8429 0682 e: [email protected] or Kym Perry p: 08 8429 0738 m: 0421 788 357 e: [email protected]

reports can be submitted online using the PestFacts Map.

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People tend to see farmers as one large group of food and fibre producers. But have you ever thought about what different individuals they are? How would you encourage these independent, self-sufficient people to adopt change or innovate?

Agronomist Cam Nicholson is passionate about providing advice to boost farmers’ profitability and productivity, and one of the keys he uses is to work out the personality types of his clients.

Everybody learns and responds differently, Cam says, and over the past 15 years he’s developed his assessment of farmers based on the temperament typing of the Myers Briggs Type Indicators (MBTI) and the work of Queensland psychologist Rod Strahan.

Cam says farmers break up loosely into four types:

SJs, or ‘the dependables’ – love what they do, very reliable and methodical. They need a good reason to change.

SPs, ‘the doers’ – a bit like the dependables but they work at a more frantic pace and tend to not quite finish off jobs.

NFs, ‘the pioneers’ – first to try something, adopt new technology quickly, love to think strategically about big picture, take risks.

NFs, ‘the team builders’ – they farm with intergenerational change and the environment in mind, and both males and females contribute equally.

About 80% of farmers fall in to the first two categories - about 55% are dependables and 25% are doers. In the Australian population overall, the dependables are 40% and the doers account for 15%.

The balance are the pioneers and the team builders, who together make up about 20% of farmers. In the Australian population there are only 15% of these types.

The trick to providing advice, Cam says, is to pick the temperament type by asking the client questions, assessing their answers and observing how their farm runs.

This works both ways. Cam says farmers should identify their own personality types through simple testing online, so that they know their strengths and how they’ll respond to pressure or making decisions.

Then find complementary personality types within the business, he says, or bring someone with the necessary skills in. Ditto for involving women in the decision making, as that helps to balance out the way in which decisions are made and information gathered.

And while it’s difficult to change the personality type you’re born with, you can choose to work in some areas that aren’t natural to you, rather than continuing to work in the same way.

While there’s a bit of conjecture over the actual split, Cam believes that the influence on temperament types is 40% genetic, 40% what you learn in the formative years aged 12-15, and about 20% the crowd you hang out with.

And funnily enough, there’s not a lot of difference between the average Australian farmer in his/her 50s and 60s, and the younger digital natives coming through – they’re young, but inherently conservative, he says. While it took him 15 years to learn this, Cam says he’s spent the following 15 years sharing his knowledge with others and becoming a more effective advisor.

Further Information

Cam Nicholson, Nicon Rural Services

03 5258 3860 or 0417 311 098

[email protected]

https://grdc.com.au/resources-and-publications/grdc-update-papers/tab-content/grdc-update-papers/2018/03/agronomists-as-drivers-of-practice-change http://www.grainandgraze3.com.au/resources/Farm_Decision_Making.pdf http://www.agriculture.gov.au/abares/outlook/Documents/innovation-nicholson.pdf

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