GRDC Podcast

An important role of pulse crops is nitrogen fixation, and key to that process are nodules – what are they and why do growers need to know more about them? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rhizobia are microbes that play an important role in nitrogen fixation in pasture and pulse legumes, but acid soils can have a big impact on the success of rhizobia. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rhizobium is a tiny microbe with a big dollar impact. Ensuring this beneficial soil bacteria has an optimal effect requires a number of key conditions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The speed at which fungicide resistance can develop leaves no room for complacency. For example there are examples where spot form of net blotch has developed resistance in just one or two seasons. On this podcast Fran Lopez Ruiz from the Centre for Crop and Disease Management gives details of research which proves that some fungal diseases can start independently of the normal disease spread mech...

Like any other industry, agriculture needs to know where it’s going so it can create a pathway to the future. That’s where deep thinkers like Professor Tim Reeves comes into play. On this podcast Tim addresses the big issue facing agriculture right now – a doubling of production with the same amount of water and land and doing it sustainably. Contact: Professor Tim Reeves t.reeves@unimelb.edu.au L...

Grazing dual purpose crops can be very profitable with high livestock prices. So doing it well quickly translates into extra dollars on the bottom line. Farm advisor, David Harbison says getting the fundamentals right takes planning and active management, with the result being significant shifts in profitability. Contact: David Harbison dragriculture@activ8.net.au Useful information: https://grdc....

Growers and advisers are urged to go beyond a visual inspection of crops to determine the exact cause of ill-thrift in a crop. Research that followed the devastating impact of beet western yellows virus in 2014 canola crops in South Australia has thrown up some anomalies causing scientists to urge more precision when it comes to diagnosing potential crop disease. Contact: Piotr Trebicki piotr.treb...

At the 2020 Grains Research Update at Goondiwindi digital soil mapping specialist Ed Jones from the University of Sydney, gave a presentation on mapping soil properties and their impact on yield. It’s what in the near future will become the way growers and their advisors calculate what management a paddock, or section of a paddock needs to increase crop yield and maximise grower profit. The techni...

Snails are one of those pests that can’t be controlled by any one tool – but a significant amount of research is happening across the country to give growers effective control options. In this podcast, South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI) entomologist Helen Brodie shares the latest research findings and insight on controlling snail populations. More Information: Helen Brodie...

A grain grower survey conducted across 25 farm businesses in Western Australia’s northern agricultural region found the majority considered their cereal crop yields were being adversely affected by the inefficient use of micronutrients. In this podcast, grower Dylan Hirsch, based at Latham in WA, talks us through this survey and the broader GRDC investment behind it. The investment is a two-year p...

New research has shown just how deep canola roots will travel in their search for moisture late in the season. Trials have shown that there are significant yield advantages from early sown canbola that experiences a dry finish. But there are trade offs. In this podcast CSIRO’s John Kirkegaard reveals just how low canola roots go and the benefits that can be derived from early sown canola. Contact:...

Controlled Traffic Farming is in simple terms driving your heavy vehicles on the same wheel tracks every time you’re in the paddock. In Australia’s southeastern grain growing region Controlled Traffic Farming has been widely adopted in high and medium rainfall zones but not so much in low rainfall zones. With investment from the GRDC a research project was undertaken to find out why this farming s...

The GRDC has invested in a two-year project that aims to identify the requirements for, and benefits of, micronutrient foliar application in medium-to-low rainfall areas of WA’s Northern Agricultural Region. The research project is led by Western Australian grain grower group, the Liebe Group, in partnership with Murdoch University. Murdoch University’s Professor Richard Bell talks us though the r...

Ironstone gravels are important cropping soils and a better understanding about the mineralogy and physical characteristics of these soils, especially their soil moisture holding capacity and high rates of phosphorus ‘fixation’ is urgently required. So the GRDC has invested in new research, led by the University of Western Australia, to study and understand these soils to help growers maximise cro...

Fall Armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda was detected in Australia for the first time in January 2020 and a warning was issued to grain growers to inspect crops for signs of the pest’s presence. The larval stage of the moth is similar in appearance to many caterpillars already present in agricultural and horticultural crops and can cause severe economical damage, even total crop destruction. At the 20...

A new research project in the Southern Region will take the principles of Precision Agriculture and apply them to addressing sub-soil constraints. Simply put, this innovative approach will identify the location of poorly performing soil, potentially reducing the areas within a paddock that need soil amelioration work to be done. Professor Roger Armstrong from Agriculture Victoria explains more on...

GRDC’s investment in faba bean breeding has contributed to the delivery of new and improved Faba bean varieties to grain growers. In Western Australia’s Esperance Port Zone the high rainfall makes Faba beans a suitable legume to include in crop rotations and WA’s Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development senior research scientist Mark Seymour has been working with growers to make t...

Farmers and their advisers, naturally, are mostly focused on growing better grain – finding those incremental improvements that can often mean so much to the bottom line of farming businesses. But there are people also working at the other end of the grain trail – a long way from the farm – focused on improving market access and even developing new and innovative grain products to make Australian...

Esperance Port Zone grain grower Neil Wandel has been including faba beans in his crop rotations for 4 decades. While they might not be the highest value legume he could grow, the range of benefits faba beans bring to his paddocks make them a favourite rotation crop. Contact: Mark Seymour, Senior Research Officer Grain Crop Agronomy Department of Agriculture and Food, Western Australia PMB 50 | Es...

The complexity of agriculture would lead some people to label farming as a form of art. Working with the climate, the landscape, the machinery, the crops, the business … the list goes on. Somehow synthesising all the elements that go into making a modern farm and coming out the other end with a profitable enterprise. And doing it year after year. It’s no wonder farmers need to be resilient. In the...

The complexity of agriculture would lead some people to label farming as a form of art. Working with the climate, the landscape, the machinery, the crops, the business … the list goes on. Somehow synthesising all the elements that go into making a modern farm and coming out the other end with a profitable enterprise. And doing it year after year. It’s no wonder farmers need to be resilient. In Par...

A key research question that has an appreciable bearing on our future management of this pest relates to the way in which resistance has evolved in the Redlegged Earth Mite. Has resistance in RLEM evolved time and time again at a local scale, or has one mutation spread widely to confer resistance to mites in other regions? In this podcast Professor Ary Hoffman from the University of Melbourne reve...

Trials undertaken on the Riverine Plains testing early sowing times for both spring and winter wheat varieties have produced some interesting results, particularly around moisture requirements at sowing. At the other end of the season, it’s all about avoiding the frost window during flowering and also spreading out flowering dates. On this podcast FAR Australia researcher Michael Straight talks ab...

At a meeting of the Esperance Port Zone, Regional Cropping Solutions Network, mid way through 2019 a decision was made to help grain growers better understand weather forecasts and rain deciles. What was wanted was advice on how to interpret this vital information so better on-farm crop management decisions could be made. For this GRDC podcast Debra Bishop went to the Bureau of Meteorology head of...

GRDC’s Pulsecheck program aims to introduce growers who are new to growing pulses to all the challenges and rewards to be had by diversifying into these increasingly popular grains. So, what’s Pulsecheck all about? This podcast we hope will convince you to check your pulses. Contact: Jason Brand 0409 357 076 Jason.brand@ecodev.vic.gov.au Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoic...