GRDC Podcast

Disease prevention is pivotal in any cereal crop. This episode explores recognising and preventing diseases in lentils with research scientist Mohsen Khani from the South Australian Research and Development Institute. Lentils are often favoured because of their profitability, but diseases can undo a season's work in a matter of weeks if not kept in check. GRDC has invested in a multi -year grain l...

In this episode, agronomist Sam Trengove, from Trengove Consulting, and lentil farmer Tim Millard talk about one of the greatest challenges for legume growers - lentil pod loss. Lentil pod loss can be devastating to a crop. In some instances, farmers can lose up to 60 percent and the main cause, wind, is out of their hands to control. GRDC has invested in a multi-year grain legume project in South...

James Hillcoat didn’t grow up on a farm. His journey began cycling five miles to a Lincolnshire farm in England, evolved through painting houses and teaching sailing in France, and eventually led him to Australian grain consulting via Marcus Oldham. Today, as a Partner at Pinion Advisory, his work sits at the intersection of profit, people and perspective. In this conversation, James shares what t...

This episode of GRDC’s Grain Automate series speaks with Tim Neale, an expert agronomist and the director of Data Farming, a precision farming company based out of Toowoomba in southern Queensland. Tim works to help the industry get smarter about how to work with technology and managing the influx of automation available now and into the future. Agronomists can spend up to 75 per cent of their tim...

Ed Scott grew up on a mixed farming property on South Australia’s Fleurieu Peninsula, but his path into agriculture wasn’t a straight line. What began with an interest in animal health and pasture production soon led him deeper into the soil beneath it all. Today, Ed works at the intersection of soils, precision agriculture, automation and sustainability, helping growers better understand what’s h...

Legume marketing has long been considered a chicken and egg scenario. What comes first? The market or the grower collaborations? This episode explores this concept and how growers can collaborate to gain market access. A GRDC investment with the Grower Group Alliance is aiming to increase grower confidence in using legumes in Western Australia. This episode is part of a four-part series investigat...

James Walter is the bioinformatics lead at Australian Grain Technologies (AGT), working at the intersection of genetics, data science and plant breeding. His role focuses on turning vast amounts of genomic and field data into practical insights that help breeders make better decisions and ultimately deliver improved crop varieties to growers. In this episode, James takes us behind the scenes of th...

This episode explores how to set pulse crops up for success, because they really don't forgive shortcuts with herbicides. Navneet Aggarwal, a senior research agronomist for the South Australian Research and Development Institute or SARDI, has been a part of the South Australian Grain Legume Project looking specifically at herbicide safety and weed management in pulses. He says preparation is key,...

This episode focuses on sandy soils and how to unlock their potential to successfully grow pulses, which have traditionally been a challenge. GRDC's investment in the South Australian Grain Legume project has led to a targeted approach to trialling a variety of methods for sandy soil improvement. Agronomist, Jason Brand, has worked closely on this project, previously with Agriculture Victoria and...

Get pulse agronomy foundations right on your farm to reduce risk and build long term profitability. This episode explores examples from the South Australian Grain Legume Project, a GRDC investment. We speak with Sarah Day, communications and extension manager with Mallee Sustainable Farming, and Wade Nickolls, whose family farms pulses at Pinnaroo in the Southern Mallee of South Australia and Vict...

In this episode of GRDC in Conversation, Oli Le Lievre sits down with Ashley Amourgis, General Manager of Southern Farming Systems, just west of Geelong.  Growing up on a dairy farm near Deloraine in Tasmania, Ashley developed a deep appreciation for agriculture as a way of life. That grounding has shaped her journey into the grains industry, where she now works at the intersection of research, ex...

This episode is part two in the GRDC Grain Automate initiative series and is led by the Society of Precision Agriculture Australia (SPAA). Emma Ayliffe, a grower and director with Summit Ag in New South Wales Central West, takes us through a pragmatic approach to autonomy and agronomy. She covers how farm data can be structured and interpreted to support confident, actionable decision making rathe...

In this episode of GRDC In Conversation, host Oli Le Lievre sits down with Darcy Warren, a leading researcher at Field Applied Research (FAR) Australia based in Geelong. Darcy’s entry into agriculture was far from traditional; growing up in the leafy Melbourne suburb of Greensborough, he discovered agricultural science almost by accident at a university open day. From those early sparks of curiosi...

In this episode, Tim Neale from DataFarming explains a new precision ag tool, weedSAT. WeedSAT is a satellite-powered weed detection tool developed with investment from GRDC through the Grain Automate initiative. It uses high-resolution commercial satellite imagery to identify larger, hard-to-kill weeds across broadacre paddocks. This enables targeted spraying using existing boom spray section con...

In this episode, facilitators Amy Wright and Lucy Pedler talk about the rise of young grower groups across South Australia’s Eyre Peninsula. Supported by AIR EP and the Future Drought Fund, these peer-to-peer networks are creating safe spaces for young growers to build skills, confidence and leadership capacity. Participants prioritise topics such as soils, technology adoption, drought resilience...

Have you been thinking of adding a legume to your rotation? In this episode, we are joined by Calingiri legume grower John Young and Glen Reithmuller who is from DPIRD in WA. John shares his experience with implementing legumes into his rotation and Glen shares the surprising efficiency of legume harvestability. Contacts: John Young  WA Grower  johnyoung@wmfarm.com.au     Glen Reithmuller  DPRID ...

As we recorded this podcast, the bushfire threat in Victoria was ongoing with lives, homes, and thousands of hectares of cropping land still at risk. In this episode, we hear from Dennis Hoiberg from Lessons Learned Consulting and get some strategies for looking after your mental health in traumatic times such as a bushfire event. We also speak to South Australian grower, Andy Barr, who has firsth...

What the eef are EEFs? This episode dives deep into not only what EEFs are, but how they can change modern grain farming. On the face of it, they are enhanced efficiency fertilisers, but what it can mean is farmers are able to take control over fertiliser loss in their paddocks and be a lot closer to meeting global emissions targets. A four year multi-million dollar co-investment is aiming to expl...

Adapting new technology on farm has always been vital to farming success. As modern Australian farming moves further into the digital age, fully automated systems are being considered and in this new Grain Automate podcast series, we'll be exploring innovative stories showing practical real-world examples of autonomy in grain farming. This episode emphasises that autonomy isn't about buying the ne...

In this episode of GRDC In Conversation, mixed farmer Wayne Pech shares the sustainable farming practices he’s weaving into his business North Stirling Downs in WA’s Great Southern region; more specifically his focus on emission management, and the importance of family involvement in agriculture. Host Oli Le Lievre asks Wayne about the on-farm changes he’s made to improve water efficiency, and how...

In this episode, grower Tristan Baldock and agronomist Brett Masters from EPAG Research in South Australia talk about why growers on the Eyre Peninsula are trialling modification practices in a bid to combat their sandy soil constraints. Trials are taking place across more than 20 farms in the GRDC southern region, and it's all part of an ongoing co-investment between GRDC and CSIRO in collaborati...

There are new tools available for durum wheat growers, presenting opportunities to close the yield gap with bread wheat. With a major pasta processing company in South Australia, durum is particularly sought after. The average area sown over the past five years in SA has been around the 50-thousand-hectare mark, but that area is now being extended into non-traditional durum growing regions such as...

Ian Longson reflects on his incredible career in the grains sector spanning 55 years, servicing farmers and agriculture businesses and passionately advocating for the industry. Through various roles in economics and policy, he’s developed a deep respect for grain farmers; not just for the value they bring to the nation’s economy, but the contribution they make to the social fabric of regional area...

According to a survey done by the Primary Industries Education Foundation Australia (PIEFA), 75 per cent of surveyed students say they know nothing or little about the grains industry - despite it being one of Australia’s largest exports.   In this episode, PIEFA CEO Luciano Mesiti outlines one of their key aims; to increase student knowledge and understanding through boosting teachers’ confidence...

GRDC has a rigorous process in and around how it invests. GRDC is constantly engaging with growers and looking for opportunitiesto take an idea, ground truth it and find out if there is a way to invest that will lead to a positive impact for growers. In this podcast GRDC southern panel Chair, Andrew Russell and senior regional manager for the southern region, Courtney Ramsey take us through GRDC’s...