GRDC Podcast

A cohort of Legume Leaders has been established by the Grower Group Alliance in Western Australia, with investment from GRDC and the help of grower groups located from Yuna to Esperance. The Legume Leaders will be sharing their insights over a seven-part series, which will be released throughout 2024. In this introductory episode, we’re joined by GGA project manager Daniel Kidd and DPIRD senior re...

🎙️ Today's 'GRDC in Conversation' podcast interview is with Greg Rummary  Greg Rummery is an agronomist at Walgett, New South Wales. He has 30+ years experience in dryland grain production and pasture management in northern and western New South Wales. In this GRDC in Conversation episode with Oli Le Lievre, Greg discusses how the area manages their variable environment, the evolution in farming p...

Autumn and Winter waterlogging is relatively common in WA’s Albany and Esperance port zones, but it can severely impact grain production. But new research is giving growers greater confidence to sow late season cereal varieties or reseed in a challenging season. The research, made possible with GRDC investment, involves Stirlings to Coast Farmers, Fitzgerald Biosphere Group and Southeast Premium W...

🎙️ Today's 'GRDC in Conversation' podcast interview is with Tom Coggan. Tom Coggan is a fifth-generation farmer at Meandarra, Queensland, with integrated enterprises of cropping, cattle and sheep. Tom has recently returned to the farm and has a Masters in Agribusiness. In this GRDC in Conversation episode with Oli Le Lievre, Tom discusses the importance of communication, his approach to managing t...

Carbendazim is a broad spectrum fungicide used to control a range of diseases on pulses. But as a schedule 7 chemical with restrictions on its use, there's growing uncertainty about maximum residue limits in some international markets.  In this podcast, GRDC ‘s Gordon Cumming and Agriculture Victoria’s Dr Joshua Fanning, discuss the current situation on Carbendazim use in Australia and alternative...

🎙️ Today's 'GRDC in Conversation' podcast interview is with Anna Madden. Anna Madden and her husband Steve own and operate an irrigated farm in Wee Waa, New South Wales. While studying Rural Science, a lecturer told Anna about the role plants will play in feeding the world's growing population, and so her career projection pivoted from the livestock industry into plants and she hasn’t looked back....

The Australian Synchrotron in Melbourne is a super high-tech operation that produces powerful beams of light a million times brighter than the sun. In a partnership between GRDC, the University of South Australia and the University of Queensland, researchers have been given access to the Australian Synchrotron and it's giving them a perspective on soil they've never had before. They're using the S...

Tammin grower was an early adapter of the SwarmBot technology from SwarmFarm. GRDC’s GrainInnovate program has played a key role in supporting SwarmFarm’s progress and with Brad only the third person in WA to bring a bot on-farm, he has been able to harness the power of this innovation to streamline his farming operations, reduce costs, and minimise environmental impact.  We spoke to Brad at a fie...

This summer has seen high numbers of fall armyworm (FAW) across Queensland and Northern New South Wales. In some late sown crops, FAW has had a disastrous impact and caught many growers and advisers off-guard. Dr Melina Miles, Principal Entomologist at the Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, shares her insights on what can be done to manage this pest in such a challenging season, a...

Net form of net blotch is an important foliar fungal disease of barley and its impact on yield and decreased profitability has prompted a new GRDC co-investment: Integrated management strategies for net form net blotch in low, medium, and high rainfall zones. This investment aims to develop and deliver cost effective integrated disease management strategies across the northern and southern regions...

Raising the bar on crop nutrition in northern New South Wales is the aim of a new partnership between Outlook Ag and GRDC. Field trials have been established to help combat very area-specific problems and improve yield in a range of crops. In this episode, we speak with three of the lead consultants from Outlook Ag – Mitch Cuell in Narrabri, Greg Giblett on the Liverpool Plains, and Greg Rummery i...

It’s 2024 and we’re looking at similar conditions across a wide portion of the country, particularly in Victoria and South Australia. There is enough soil moisture that self-sown canola will now survive until the sowing window creating the perfect green bridge for both aphids and virus. To help growers mitigate the risk over the upcoming sowing period, we speak to independent agronomist Craig Davi...

In this podcast, Associate Professor Fran Lopez, Program Leader for Fungicide Resistance Management and Disease Impacts at the Centre for Crop and Disease Management at Curtin University, talks about the importance of rotating fungicides to minimise the risk of fungicide resistance developing in your paddocks. He outlines strategies for growers to implement on farm including planning ahead, unders...

While previous acid soil testing practice was to not test as deep, new research, has identified greater acidic layering, where crop roots remain under the soil not benefiting from the full potential of amelioration. In this episode, we talk to Mark Richards from NSW DPI, and grower Andrew Lord about the new 5cm rule for testing soil pH. It allows the hidden acidity in lower layers to be recognised...

In this podcast, University of Southern Queensland’s Centre for Crop Health Director Professor Levente Kiss talks about the challenges of managing powdery mildew in mung bean crops. Recent research trials have further validated the Powdery Mildew MBM management app and shown there is often no economic benefit in spraying the crop. As Professor Kiss points out, controlling powdery mildew in mung be...

Deep ripping is an expensive investment and a slow process, so it’s important to do it right the first time. Whether a grower is a first time or long-time ripper, it can always be done better. In this episode, Debra Bishop catches up with engineer Peter Nunn from Nufab to discuss all things ripping, as well as grower Brady Green about his first count experience of what to look out for.  Download t...

In this podcast, Professor Robert Park, University of Sydney, talks about rusts and managing rusts with fungicides. Until now, there have been very few cases of resistance to fungicide in rusts. However, recent research has shown insensitivity in the barley and wheat leaf rust pathogens to Group 3 DMI fungicides. At this stage, there have been no known in-field failures of fungicides for rust but...

GRDC's Emerging Leader Award for the Northern Region in 2023 was taken home by established research agronomist Mathew Dunn. Mathew has been working as part of a farming systems research team that is looking at identifying agronomic and management factors that drive profit and optimise returns from a long-term, whole system approach. In this episode, we chat with Mathew about his research, as well...

GRDC's National Grower Network Forums or NGNs provide opportunities for growers to meet and inform GRDC face-to-face about issues, constraints or research ideas that are acutely relevant to their farming system and location. The forums are all about designing and delivering research that's been identified and prompted from local grower feedback, drawing together local growers, regional advisors, a...

Dealing with sandy soils has long been the bane of many grain growers. But a six-year GRDC investment in sandy soil amelioration in the southern region has come up with a raft of research and grower options which are providing impressive on-farm results. Because of it, affected growers are increasingly turning to deep ripping and spading to improve productivity. In this episode, we speak with some...

Almost six million hectares of WA's sand-plain soils in the medium and high-rainfall zones feature multiple constraints, including water repellence, acidity, and compaction. An estimated 250,000 hectares of those six million have been ameliorated, typically involving strategic one-off deep tillage. A GRDC investment is helping to determine the longevity benefits following soil amelioration, lookin...

A GRDC investment focused on grower decision making for summer spraying has revealed several insights into the behaviours that motivate different spray decisions. It’s hoped that the outcomes of this research will help growers to better understand what might be affecting their decision making and influencing the effectiveness of their spray programs. This podcast will be followed by a series of wo...

Although it may be native to the northern region, the Rutherglen bug has, in recent years, changed its behaviour and its diet has expanded. It can now do significant damage to a range of summer crops. Very little is known about the ecology of the Rutherglen Bug; and as part of a GRDC investment, CSIRO has partnered with New South Wales Department of Primary Industries and the University of Queensl...

Incorporating readily available organic-soil ameliorants to boost productivity of sandy soils, has been the focus of a three-year GRDC investment in the medium to high rainfall zones of Western Australia's Wheatbelt. The experiments, using organic ameliorates such as hay, stubble straw, and manure, monitored effects of amelioration on crop growth and yield with results varying across trial sites....

A trial near Bolgart in WA is showcasing historic wheat varieties, allowing growers to look back in time to measure yield and genetic gains that wheat breeders have achieved over the past 50 years. The trial site features 48 varieties starting from the late 60s, up to the most recent varieties of two to three years ago, including bread wheat, Clearfield-tolerant wheat, and udon wheat varieties. Th...