Riverine Plains

When rainfall drops and dams run low, keeping water clean and reliable is a challenge for every farm.

In this episode, we break down practical on-farm water management strategies with Riverine Plains’ Sayra Samudio, irrigation consultant Peter Smith, and district vet Elke Erregger. 

Learn what’s working, what needs fixing, and the steps you can take now to keep your livestock healthy and productive.

This episode was produced as part of the Farm Water Management Planning Project, delivered through the Southern New South Wales Innovation Hub and funded by the Australian Government's Future Drought Fund.

Riverine Plains Senior Project manager - Kate Coffey, gives an overview of new project 'Scoping the correlation between stubble management for subsurface acidity and Fusarium crown rot in cereal crops' and is joined by local farmer Paul Brown who has had first hand experience with PreDicta B DNA testing.

Riverine Plains member, farmer and Incitec Pivot - Technical Agronomist, Lee Menhenett discusses the the essentials of managing nitogen inputs effectively and the concept of nitrogen budgeting.

Join Nick Ennis from Lawson Grains and Scott Brown, from Rural and Remote First aid discuss the importance of on farm safety.

Dr. Stephen Simpfendorfer joins Senior Project Manager, Kate Coffey, to unravel the complexities of Fusarium Crown Rot in wheat production. Crown Rot has the potential to cost farmers, with losses that could mount up to $23.4 million, and the culprit is lurking in a staggering 75% of tested paddocks. 

We navigate through the maze of contributing factors, from the shift in farming practices to the nuances of soil health and crop rotation history. With Dr. Simpfendorfer's insights, we grasp the full picture of how wet seasons, larger stubble volumes, and subsurface soil acidity can amplify the disease, threatening our cereal crops right at the critical grain fill stage.

Together with Dr. Simpfendorfer and with the support of GRDC, we are aiming to equip farmers and agronomists with the tools to be proactive and overcome the crown rot challenge.