GRDC Podcast

A GRDC National Grower Network investment, based in Western Australia, has been working to improve knowledge of fallow management and the economic value of fallows in cropping rotations. Through this project, it has been identified that there are four key objectives growers should take into account when considering fallow – profitability, moisture, weeds, and nitrogen. In this episode, Laconik fou...

Neil Wandel moved to Esperance in 1979 with his wife, one kid, and another on the way. Their operation was a tough lot to crack, but through gumption and careful planning, they navigated the highs and lows of starting a successful farm before becoming Esperance Quality Grains. In this episode of GRDC’s In Conversation, host Oli Le Lievre speaks with Neil on how the many years of working in the gra...

Svetlana Micic has spent the past 22 years as an entomologist with the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, where she has been an exceptional communicator of GRDC-invested project work around insect pest monitoring, surveillance and integrated pest management.   That dedication to ensuring information is shared with those who need it most has led her to be highly respected by...

An ambitious GRDC investment, being led by the University of Adelaide, is working to develop new high yielding soybean varieties for a broader range of growing environments. Worth $6 million, this significant investment builds on the achievements of past breeding programs and will accelerate the delivery of new varieties to growers by ‘speed breeding’ - harnessing new technology to improve germpla...

Tom Longmire from Beaumont, Western Australia, has dedicated himself to driving sustainability and efficiency on the family farm through innovation. Through combining his learnings from Marcus Oldham College and his experience working farms across Australia, he is discovering exactly how cutting-edge technology and data-driven decision-making can improve the farm for years to come. In this episode...

Each year, the GRDC Seed of Light Award recognises the outstanding contribution, dedication, and commitment of individuals to communicating research outcomes to people working in the grains industry. At the Goondiwindi GRDC Grains Research Update event in March 2025, Mark Congreve was presented with the prestigious award for his valuable work in the agricultural extension space. Mark is a senior c...

Fusarium crown rot in cereals is often associated with a tough finish, but the characteristic whiteheads are far from the full picture. It’s a significant disease with hidden yield impacts even in a good year, so pro-active management at pre-sowing is a must.  In this podcast, senior researcher with NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, Dr Steven Simpfendorfer shares the l...

New precision weed management technologies are helping Australian grain growers to more effectively target weeds and ultimately reduce their total herbicide costs.    Optical sensors as well as ‘remote and sensor’ weed mapping systems are becoming more widely available, and that’s why GRDC is investing in a series of case studies to explore the benefits and costs related to these technologies.   ...

The National Variety Trials (NVT) Program was established by GRDC in 2005 and since then it has evolved into the largest coordinated variety trial network in the world. Each year, more than 640 trials are conducted across over 300 locations nationwide, encompassing 10 different crop species.  This year marks the 20-year anniversary of NVT – a great time to reflect on the evolution and success of t...

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...