GRDC Podcast

Chickpea production in Western Australia took a king hit in the early 2000s when a fungal outbreak hammered grower confidence and reduced crop coverage from 60,000 to 5,000 hectares. These days, it’s around 10,000 hectares. But with GRDC investment, Chickpea Breeding Australia (CBA) is working to firmly re-establish chickpea production into a premium and profitable product in WA through the releas...

Unprecedented spring rainfall and flooding in 2022 has made for a particularly tough year for many growers. In this special GRDC podcast, NSW Riverina grower, Roy Hamilton, shares his experience of salvaging a soaked harvest in a season that initially held so much promise. Then ex- NRL Balmain Tigers player turned mental health speaker and educator at the Black Dog Institute, Wayne Wigham, shares...

Cucumber Mosaic Virus - also known as CMV - is a seed transmitted virus that can cause yield losses of almost 100 per cent. That’s why GRDC is investing in a project that will support industry by providing information on minimising the impact of CMV infected seed; specifically on lentil yield in the Southern region. The project also aims to promote awareness of seed health, seed transmitted viruse...

Today's 'GRDC in Conversation' podcast interview is with Yannik Heller.  Yannik grew up in the Wimmera region of western Victoria. At 16 he left school and headed to Denmark to work on a family friend's farm. A year later he was back with some unique experiences and life skills under his belt. With a view to drive big tractors, he got work on a farm in Nhill and has stuck with agriculture ever sin...

For most Australian grain growers, 2022 has been a challenging year. Weather conditions across the country continue to be volatile meaning that this harvest many growers are faced with extreme circumstances. Dr Kate Burke is a former agronomist and an agri-strategist and in this podcast she shares some practical recommendations on determining where the value lies in your crop and what to harvest f...

Today's 'GRDC in Conversation' podcast interview is with Dr Jenny Davidson.  After briefly considering medicine as a career path, Jenny decided treating sick plants was the better choice for her. As a pulse pathologist she has spent the past 3 decades with SARDI helping the grains industry, witnessing the industry change from a focus on field peas to the pulse diversity seen across Australian farm...

It’s harvest time across most of Australia and for many growers this year they will have the added challenge of harvesting in water-logged conditions. Adverse weather creates greater risk around this busy time - but having procedures and processes in place can benefit growers, their employees and ultimately their businesses. Contact: https://denisemclellan.com.au/ More Information:      https://de...

Today's 'GRDC in Conversation' podcast interview is with Jeanette Long.   Astoundingly, until 1992, women weren't allowed to officially name their occupation as 'farmer' in Australia. It was in this era, with change emerging and an increasing recognition of women's roles in farming, that Jeanette Long began working in agriculture. Jeanette's role as facilitator, trainer, coach, business partner an...

Improving wheat yield and yield stability through better heat tolerance is the focus of research being undertaken at the University of Sydney’s Plant Breeding Institute in Narrabri, New South Wales.  GRDC has invested in the collaborative program between University of Sydney, Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, InterGrain and Agriculture Victoria.   Professor Richard Trethow...

Today's 'GRDC in Conversation' podcast interview is with Bill Long.  Bill is a farm consultant, but a farmer 'first and foremost' calling it one of the most satisfying careers anybody could ever have, despite its ups and downs. He's seen and worked with some of the best farmers in Australia and flown himself around the country in his Cessna airplane. His interest in how people make decisions led h...

Unprecedented rainfall in 2022 has resulted in extensive waterlogging across many cropping regions of eastern Australia. In this podcast, Greta Duff from Southern Farming Systems (SFS) shares the latest research findings on nutrient strategies and spring sown options following a waterlogging event. Greta led a project with GRDC investment on the topic in 2021 after a wet growing season in the high...

Today's 'GRDC in Conversation' podcast interview is with Chris Preston. In the 1980s Chris spent three years studying biofuels in the USA before returning to Australia to work in weed research at The University of Adelaide. Thirty years later, Chris is still on the job tackling the ever-evolving problem of understanding and managing herbicide resistant weeds. A challenge that has seen him explore...

GRDC’s National Variety Trials - or NVT - program is the largest coordinated trial network in the world. Across Australia there are more than 650 trials underway at over 300 locations for ten crop species. To find out more about how the data collected at these trial sites is used - we speak to agronomist and GRDC northern panel member, Peter McKenzie as well as NVT participant and grower, Stephen...

Today's 'GRDC in Conversation' podcast interview is with Peter Hayman. As Principal Scientist, Climate Applications, at the South Australian Research and Development Institute of the Department of Primary Industries and Regions, Peter works to identify climate risks to agriculture and develop R&D partnerships to help. From growing up in Japan, to studying ag science in Sydney, Peter's career path...

GRDC continues to support grains focussed innovators to develop and bring their technology to growers. One way of doing that is by partnering with accelerators like the ‘Agtech and Logistics Hub’, which has recently launched a program designed to fast track innovation in the agri-food sector.  The program is called GroundUp and we spoke to Agtech and Logistics Hub director, Thomas Hall to find out...

Today's 'GRDC in Conversation' podcast interview is with Mark Merrett. Mark is a sixth-generation farmer from Kaniva in western Victoria where his family runs a mixed operation of winter cropping and sheep. Mark always wanted to become a farmer but he's also a natural communicator. His Merrett Contracting YouTube videos have been viewed thousands of times and they're helping to connect people from...

More information: Australia is the world's largest exporter of faba beans, to help growers stay on top, breeders are developing new varieties suited to local conditions. Harnessing the expertise of different partners, GRDC has invested in research to address faba bean diseases including Ascochyta blight while maintaining a focus on higher yields.  In this podcast, Adelaide University faba bean bre...

Today's 'GRDC in Conversation' podcast interview is with Kate Burke. Kate’s working career has seen her in roles as an agronomist, a commercial manager, author and a cereal chemist. Living in Echuca, Victoria, she now runs her own consulting business Think Agri, providing corporate investors access to astute, experience-based advice when considering agri-investment decisions. GRDC in Conversation...

After a wet 2021, growers across Australia’s northern and southern grain growing regions are again bracing for widespread, heavy rainfalls at harvest this year. While the weather forecast poses significant challenges for getting crops off the paddock, getting your silos ready to store damp grain now is one way to help reduce headaches down the track. In this podcast, GRDC National, Grain Storage E...

GRDC in Conversation is a limited series of the GRDC Podcast. It features in depth, long-form interviews with growers and other experts in the grains industry. It aims to help growers explore research outcomes and ideas through a different perspective. Barry's 45-year career has seen him combine his on-farm experience with his business acumen to help farm businesses build resilience in risky envir...

For the first time in WA, there’s been a confirmed case of glyphosate and paraquat resistance in annual ryegrass. The discovery has prompted University of Western Australia weed researcher, Dr Roberto Busi, to research alternative double knock solutions. As Roberto explains, the findings have been a quantum leap forward in understanding how these resistant ryegrass populations can be effectively c...

Wheat growers in the northern grain growing region are currently experiencing one of the worst stripe rust epidemics in recent memory. To help growers tackle the challenging season, Grain Orana Alliance (GOA) have been conducting trials to provide a stripe rust early warning system for the central north region of the New South Wales cropping belt. The trials, supported by GRDC, are focused on iden...

Lupin seed integrity and establishment With split seed resulting in yield penalties higher than 70% in some areas, a new GRDC investment is looking at how growers can manage their handling of lupin seed to ensure better germination of seed in the following seasons. A benchmark study of 27 WA growers looked at germination impacts for lupins, focusing on reducing the incidence of split seed through...

GRDC has a history of working with different business accelerators to deliver grains focussed, start-up accelerator programs across Australia. Farmers2Founders is one such programme - set up to help put producers at the centre of innovation by supporting them to have more involvement in the innovation process… leading to solutions that will solve real problems for grains growers on farm. To find o...

Gravel soils account for 24 per cent of land used for crop production in southern Western Australia, and are also characteristic of major production regions in South Australia and Victoria.   In this podcast, two growers share their experience managing this challenging soil type. They have distinctly different approaches but share a desire to get the most of their crops in a high rainfall environm...