GRDC Podcast

Victorian agricultural consultant, Cam Nicholson, has had a career spanning more than four decades – and over the years he’s learned a lot but mostly he spends his time passing on his knowledge to others.    And that’s one of the reasons Cam has received this year’s GRDC “Seed of Light Award” in the south, which recognises the outstanding contribution, dedication and commitment of individuals to c...

Rhizoctonia is an important disease of cereals in southern and western growing regions, especially in low rainfall areas. Losses have been estimated at about $15 per hectare for wheat and $12 per hectare for barley in the southern region.    Unfortunately, fungicide control of rhizoctonia has proven to be difficult, often with mixed results with seed treatments.     In February 2025, we sat down w...

With the ever-increasing cost of farming, getting bang for your herbicide buck is an important consideration when it comes to chemical handling and sprayer set-up.  In this podcast Victorian grower, Richard Stecher, shares his experience with getting professional advice on correct sprayer set-up. We also hear from Nutrien Ag agronomist, Chris Dunn, who shares his thoughts on how agronomists and gr...

More is not always better when it comes to adding nitrogen (N) to your irrigated wheat crop. That's one of the key messages from a GRDC investment that’s been set up to investigate profitable, irrigated farming systems.   In this podcast, FAR Australia Managing Director, Nick Poole, Pinion Advisory senior consultant, Brendan Wallace and Francis grower, Wayne Hawkins, share some surprising findings...

A major farming systems initiative, spanning five years, is underway in the low and medium-rainfall regions of Western Australia.   Its aim is to support growers in navigating evolving climatic conditions, enabling them to make informed business and agronomic choices to bolster both on-farm profitability and sustainability.  In this episode, we get an overview of the results from the first two-sea...

Both yield and performance rely heavily on good crop establishment, which is why GRDC is investing in a range of projects to determine the key factors affecting crop establishment. Getting crops established in hot, dry conditions is the focus of this research, which also looks at soil textures and deep sowing across multiple environments. In this podcast we speak to CSIRO farming systems researche...

In this week's podcast, machinery specialist Jack Desbiolles from the University of South Australia runs through important considerations for seeder set-up when sowing long coleoptile wheat varieties.  The work is part of a major national GRDC project, led by CSIRO, exploring integrating long coleoptile wheat into Australian farming systems.  Research partners include the University of Melbourne,...

Listeners are advised that this podcast contains references to suicide There’s no shortage of stressors in farming, and while crop destruction is often clearly visible, the impact on grower mental health can be less apparent.      Although awareness and access to rural mental health services is growing, agronomists can sometimes find themselves on the frontline witnessing or discussing issues with...

Significant research is underway to help Western Australian farmers sustain their own on-farm nitrogen factory though growing and harvesting pasture legume seed.  The Harvestable Annual Legume Options (HALO) project is a Western Australian Agricultural Research Collaboration project with GRDC investment.   It brings together the pasture legume breeding, agronomy and bio-economic modelling expertis...

Wheat powdery mildew is becoming increasingly difficult to manage, in part because there’s widespread resistance to the available chemicals. So, what to do? It’s a complex matrix of deciding whether it’s worth growing a disease resistant variety which doesn’t yield so well or go with the susceptible variety and hope your fungicides will do the job.  There is some hope on the horizon in the form of...

Warm conditions across much of Western Australia and variable rainfall in 2024 contributed to mixed levels of fungal disease severity in the State’s cereal, pulse and oilseed crops. With this in mind, the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development in Western Australia, with investment from GRDC, is urging growers to start thinking about their integrated disease management strategies...

In this episode of GRDC In Conversation, host Oli Le Lievre chats with Merrie Carlshausen, a former nurse turned essential advocate for farming communities in Western Australia.   Merrie shares her journey from her beginnings in nursing to her work with rural financial counseling and the Liebe Group, where she has facilitated impactful change in farming practices and family dynamics. Merrie highli...

Chris Warrick and Alex Conway are part of the GRDC's grain storage extension team. Their task is to help growers with their on-farm storage, as well as undertake development activities to try and understand tools and equipment that can be used to better store grain on-farm.  On this podcast episode, Chris and Alex talk about three topics on grain storage - fumigating and venting in grain bags, rec...

In this episode, we sit down with David Tropiano, a grain farmer from Mullewa, WA, as he shares his journey from a reluctant start in farming to running a multi-generational operation.   David opens up about the realities of farming in Western Australia, from handling different soil types and the competitive land market to the impact of weather on crops.   He also reflects on the evolution of farm...

According to Dr Greg Rebetzke, Chief Research Scientist at CSIRO, plant breeding is the key cornerstone of modern agriculture. Unless we have the best varieties, giving us the capacity to breed high yielding crops, then there's greater risk in farming. This podcast delves into the history of plant breeding and Dr Rebetzke brings us up to date with the latest research into breeding and explains pla...

In this episode of GRDC In Conversation, host Oli Le Lievre speaks with Fiona Dempster, a researcher and grower from Mingenew, Western Australia. Fiona’s unique background in natural resource management and her ongoing research with the University of Western Australia bring fascinating insights into the intersection of scientific study and hands-on farming.   Fiona shares her journey from city lif...

The AgriFutures Horizon Scholarship Program provides a bursary of $5000 a year during the final two years of a degree, along with professional development, work placements and networking opportunities.  Supported by the GRDC, the scholarship program fosters the next generation of agricultural leaders who are interested in contributing to the Australian grains industry's success.  In this podcast,...

In this episode, host Oli Le Lievre sits down with Mike Ewing, a scientist with over 40 years of experience in agricultural research, particularly in farming systems, break crops and whole-farm profitability.   Mike discusses his long-standing passion for plants and their unique adaptations, especially in the challenging environment of Western Australia's grain-growing regions. He shares insights...

Mouse populations across a large part of grain growing regions were higher than average across the 2021 and 2022 seasons, requiring an increased effort in mouse management from growers.  To help Australian grain growers reduce crop losses due to mouse damage, a GRDC investment is examining mouse bait application techniques to better understand the performance and likely efficacy of various options...

In this episode of GRDC In Conversation, host Oli Le Lievre speaks with Steve Davies, a soil scientist and researcher based in Western Australia. Steve’s love of dirt spawned from his quirky teacher in high school. That small moment budded into a 20+ year career investigating how to make grain farming more sustainable and productive.  In this episode, Steve explains how he collaborates with resear...

Being an agronomist is a role with many hats, and while the in season can be demanding, with the right network and support it can be hugely rewarding work.   In this podcast we hear from two successful agronomists that came to the profession in very different ways, Meteora Agronomic Consulting independent agronomist Liz Lobsey and Platinum Ag Services senior agronomist Matthew Howell. They have th...

In this episode of GRDC In Conversation, host Oli Le Lievre talks to Ryan Skamp, a former carpenter-turned-farmer and co-founder of an ag-tech startup. Ryan shares his unconventional journey from city life in Perth to establishing a career in agriculture, driven by a passion for problem-solving and efficiency.   Now the co-founder of "Skan," Ryan and his team develop technology solutions to optimi...

Rhizoctonia is a soil borne disease that causes a huge impact for farmers in Australia, particularly in the low and medium rainfall zones, with yield loss in the vicinity of $150 million for wheat and barley annually.  With GRDC investment, the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) in Western Australia is developing disease risk and management strategies that are practi...

In this episode of GRDC’s In Conversation, host Oli Le Lievre chats with Erin Cahill. Erin is a fourth-generation farmer and agronomist from Moora, Western Australia. Erin shares his journey from working with agronomy giant CSBP to starting his own farming business which started with a few humble hectares and scaled drastically through the years.   It hasn’t been without challenge though. His farm...

For many farmers, it’s been a tight finish to the season due to dry conditions or frost. This makes preparing the books and finances for the year ahead more challenging, but as we’ll explore in this podcast, help is available and there are practical steps you can take to get ahead. Tony Hudson is the Director and Founder of Hudson Facilitation. A key part of his business is private financial consu...