GRDC Podcast

Justine Baillie and Michael Scobie are the co-leads of the Ag Technology Adoption program at the University of Southern Queensland. They’re trialling and investigating a range of different types of technology to help growers boost crop quality and yield, in a bid to revolutionise farming. The project is providing tools and capacity for drought preparedness through the integration of digital techno...

At GRDC's National Grower Network (NGN) forums, growers have been asking for information about the cost of inorganic P fertilisers and potential lower cost options of organic P fertilisers. A GRDC investment to explore this topic has delivered some interesting outcomes and to find out the details we speak to Maurie Street from the Grain Orana Alliance, and Dr Tim McLaren from the University of Que...

Ash Wiese is a farmer, food producer and agribusiness innovator from Western Australia. In this episode of GRDC In Conversation, host Oli Le Lievre sits down with Ash to explore his fascinating journey from studying accounting to returning to his family farm and revolutionising the way grains are marketed. Ash shares insights from his Nuffield Australia Scholarship, highlighting lessons learned fr...

We know Brolga and Kookaburra are great Australian birds but they are also the names of two new, game changing varieties of mungbeans. To find out how growers can access these higher yielding mungbean varieties, we speak to Queensland Department of Primary Industries principal plant breeder, Dr Merrill Ryan. Also during this podcast we talk to Allora grower, Tim Thorne, who is considering the vari...

Kate Witham is a research agronomist in Western Australia and has a passion for broad acre cropping. She’s also the 2025 recipient of GRDC'S “Emerging Leader Award” in the West. So far, Kate’s career highlight has been her role as the SLR lead working on GRDC’s Long Coleoptile Wheat project, led by CSIRO. She's a dynamic operator in the industry, helping growers reap the benefits of her ongoing re...

In this episode of GRDC In Conversation, host Oli Le Lievre sits down with Brad Egan, a forward-thinking grain grower from Esperance, Western Australia. Brad shares insights into the evolution of his family farm, the challenges of farming in a changing climate, and how data-driven decision-making is helping to improve productivity despite declining rainfall.  From using drones to optimise spraying...

Precision weed management is where optical sensors and remote and sensor weed mapping systems are used to target weeds and therefore cut herbicide costs. The technology is becoming more widely available, which is why GRDC is investing in a series of case studies, to explore the benefits and costs related to these technologies. With green on brown systems, weeds can be detected in a fallow field. A...

In Australian canola crops, turnip yellows virus is the one of the most widespread and economically damaging viruses, and over the past decade, epidemics have commonly occurred in different regions causing considerable losses.   Turnip yellows virus is particularly challenging to manage because it is transmitted by green peach aphid and needs just a few aphids per plant to cause substantial spread...

In this episode of GRDC In Conversation, host Oli Le Lievre sits down with Callum Wesley, a third-generation farmer from Southern Cross, WA. They discuss Callum’s innovative approach to farming in a low-rainfall zone and his journey collaborating with researchers that has led to a nationwide research project which could revolutionise seeding strategies for dryland farmers across Australia. Callum...

GRDC, CSIRO and University of South Australia have done a lot of work on how to deal with the sandy soil situation. Hot off the back of a huge investment, culminating in a series of workshops in 2023, they're scaling up, taking the machines and expertise to more than 20 farms across the southern region. It's a project with a great deal of grower involvement and targeted to making that sandy stuff...

A passion for pulses and in particular a love of lentils has inspired the career of research scientist Dr Audrey Delahunty. Growers are already benefiting from Dr Delahunty’s research into genetic solutions for heat tolerance in lentils, and now she's extending into frost quality technology and other pulses. Meantime, Dr Delahunty is also the recipient of this year’s GRDC “Emerging Leader Award” i...

Gemma Walker is a mover and shaker in the Western Australian grains industry, literally! If she isn’t moving from a board meeting in one city to the next, she’s flying back home to the family sheep and wool property in Munglinup. Gemma is at the forefront of WA’s ag industry, promoting sustainable practices for the future as well as getting her hands dirty on the farm. In this episode of GRDC In C...

Sclerotinia stem rot is a canola disease that is challenging to manage using rotation due to the wide range of crops that play host to the fungus that causes it. Since there are no Australian canola cultivars with sclerotinia resistance, the disease is usually managed with preventative fungicide sprays at flowering. However, fungicides can be costly, and their return on investment is difficult to...

Precision weed management is where optical sensors and remote and sensor weed mapping systems are used to target weeds and therefore cut herbicide costs. GRDC is investing in a series of case studies to explore the benefits and costs related to precision weed management technologies. One of those case studies is Warakirri Cropping, one of Australia's largest grain growers with 11 cropping farms ac...

Ray Harrington has always had an eye on the battle taking place in the fields of Aussie agriculture, the war on weeds and pests. So, he and a group of like-minded farmers, researchers and innovators took up the torch to solve it once and for all. In this episode of GRDC’s In Conversation, host Oli Le Lievre speaks with Ray about his journey to inventing the Harrington Seed Destructor, one of the m...

Sclerotinia in lupin is a sporadic disease found across the WA grainbelt. When weather conditions favour disease spread, it can cause significant loss of yield and grain quality.   With GRDC investment, collaborative research by the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, the Centre for Crop and Disease Management, and the Mingenew-Irwin Group has been looking at ways lupin grow...

A GRDC National Grower Network investment, based in Western Australia, has been working to improve knowledge of fallow management and the economic value of fallows in cropping rotations. Through this project, it has been identified that there are four key objectives growers should take into account when considering fallow – profitability, moisture, weeds, and nitrogen. In this episode, Laconik fou...

Neil Wandel moved to Esperance in 1979 with his wife, one kid, and another on the way. Their operation was a tough lot to crack, but through gumption and careful planning, they navigated the highs and lows of starting a successful farm before becoming Esperance Quality Grains. In this episode of GRDC’s In Conversation, host Oli Le Lievre speaks with Neil on how the many years of working in the gra...

Svetlana Micic has spent the past 22 years as an entomologist with the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, where she has been an exceptional communicator of GRDC-invested project work around insect pest monitoring, surveillance and integrated pest management.   That dedication to ensuring information is shared with those who need it most has led her to be highly respected by...

An ambitious GRDC investment, being led by the University of Adelaide, is working to develop new high yielding soybean varieties for a broader range of growing environments. Worth $6 million, this significant investment builds on the achievements of past breeding programs and will accelerate the delivery of new varieties to growers by ‘speed breeding’ - harnessing new technology to improve germpla...

Tom Longmire from Beaumont, Western Australia, has dedicated himself to driving sustainability and efficiency on the family farm through innovation. Through combining his learnings from Marcus Oldham College and his experience working farms across Australia, he is discovering exactly how cutting-edge technology and data-driven decision-making can improve the farm for years to come. In this episode...

Each year, the GRDC Seed of Light Award recognises the outstanding contribution, dedication, and commitment of individuals to communicating research outcomes to people working in the grains industry. At the Goondiwindi GRDC Grains Research Update event in March 2025, Mark Congreve was presented with the prestigious award for his valuable work in the agricultural extension space. Mark is a senior c...

Fusarium crown rot in cereals is often associated with a tough finish, but the characteristic whiteheads are far from the full picture. It’s a significant disease with hidden yield impacts even in a good year, so pro-active management at pre-sowing is a must.  In this podcast, senior researcher with NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, Dr Steven Simpfendorfer shares the l...

New precision weed management technologies are helping Australian grain growers to more effectively target weeds and ultimately reduce their total herbicide costs.    Optical sensors as well as ‘remote and sensor’ weed mapping systems are becoming more widely available, and that’s why GRDC is investing in a series of case studies to explore the benefits and costs related to these technologies.   ...

The National Variety Trials (NVT) Program was established by GRDC in 2005 and since then it has evolved into the largest coordinated variety trial network in the world. Each year, more than 640 trials are conducted across over 300 locations nationwide, encompassing 10 different crop species.  This year marks the 20-year anniversary of NVT – a great time to reflect on the evolution and success of t...