GRDC Podcast

More about this podcast  In this episode of GRDC In Conversation, we’re joined by Brianna Peake, Chief Stakeholder Relations Sustainability and Strategy Officer at CBH Group. Brianna’s journey of growing up in Western Australia, shapes how she approaches sustainability today in one of nation’s largest agricultural cooperatives. Enriched with travel and a diverse set of experiences she shares her l...

When a new variety of lentil came out that was a bit more boron tolerant, Scott Wandel thought it was time to give the legume another go. Farming at Mount Ridley, near Grass Patch in WA, Scott increased the hectares planted to lentils quickly after their introduction.  As a member of SEPWA, the South East Premium Wheatgrowers Association, Scott is a part of the cohort of 'Legume Leaders' that has...

More about this podcast  In this episode, we sit down with Bec Kelly, a third-generation farmer from Mingenew, WA, who shares her journey from global adventurer to dedicated farmer. After traveling through America, South America, and Europe, Bec returned to the family farm in 2018, where she has since embraced the highs and lows of agriculture.   She talks about the unpredictability of farming, he...

While new innovations in farming technology and machinery offer growers incredible increases to productivity and profitability, many of these innovations are released without growers having any hands-on experience with how they work or understanding how they can add value to their farming systems.  That’s why a GRDC National Grower Network investment for Live Machinery Demo Days was created. The f...

More about this podcast  In this episode of the GRDC In Conversation podcast, Oli Le Lievre sits down with Ben White, a highly respected agricultural engineer, researcher, and extension specialist. Ben is known for his work at the Kondinin Group, where he has spent over 20 years testing agricultural machinery, developing cutting-edge research, and providing farmers with practical solutions to impr...

Long coleoptile wheat varieties have the potential to deliver increased yield and therefore profit to Australian growers. That’s why GRDC is investing in extensive research to future proof the crop.  Steve Simpfendorfer from the NSW Department of Primary Industries is part of the nationwide project team, and his area of specialty is looking at how disease interacts with deep sowing.  This four-yea...

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 lentil, field pea and lupin – there are separate podcasts in this four-part series for barley, canola, oats, sorghum and wheat.  The varieties mentioned in this podcast have all been trialled through NVT – a pr...

At Yuna, in Western Australia’s northern growing region, Jason Batten started growing vetch about three years ago, and so far, he’s been impressed with how well the crop grows in his corner of the world.  As a member of the Yuna Farm Improvement Group, Jason is a part of the cohort of 'Legume Leaders' that has been established by the Grower Group Alliance, with investment from GRDC.  In this episo...

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 wheat – there are separate podcasts in this four-part series for barley, canola, field pea, lentil, lupin, oats and sorghum.  The varieties mentioned in this podcast have all been trialled through NVT – a progr...

Since 2013, an unidentified weevil has been reported by growers and advisers to be repeatedly causing damage to canola crops in localised areas of Dongara and Mingenew in WA's northern grain growing region.  As part of a two-year GRDC investment, the critter was recently scientifically identified and described as a new pest weevil species of unknown origin, representing a new genus of broad-nose w...

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 canola – there are separate podcasts in this four-part series for barley, field pea, lentil, lupin, oats, sorghum and wheat.  The varieties mentioned in this podcast have all been trialled through NVT – a progr...

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...

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 pr...

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...

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,...

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...

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...

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,...

🎙️ 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 t...

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 Gle...

🎙️ 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...

Instances of spot form net blotch in barley crops across the low rainfall zones of Western Australia have been increasing in recent years, mainly due to the increased area of barley on barley, and the use of more susceptible varieties in these areas.   A GRDC investment with the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development is aiming to quantify the yield impact of spot form net blotch...

🎙️ Today's 'GRDC in Conversation' podcast interview is with Jan Edwards  Jan Edwards is the Director of Agronomy and Ideation at Incitec Pivot Fertilisers. In this GRDC In Conversation episode with Oli Le Lievre, Jan talks about her varied upbringing in different areas of regional Australia and her following career journey.   Jan has worked in both the private and public sectors and was part of ea...

Variable rate technology falls under the umbrella of precision agriculture and it includes a range of tools that are not only becoming commonplace, but also constantly evolving. New South Wales grower, Mike Smith has been using variable rate technologies for more than 20 years and has some valuable insights. We visit Mike on his property just southeast of Moree, and he explains how technology and...

🎙️ Today's 'GRDC in Conversation' podcast interview is with Tom and Melissa Andrews  Tom and Melissa Andrews, founders of Connected Farms, discuss the importance of connectivity in agriculture and how it can improve technology adoption, operational efficiency, farm safety and overall well-being. In this GRDC In Conversation episode with Oli Le Lievre, The Andrews highlight the role of connectivity...