grdc growers' report - Grains Research & Development Corporation

investment highlights
The project has developed more than 450
pages of material that provides information
on the major topics relevant to adopting PA in
the Australian grains industry. The modules
can be easily accessed on CD or online,
through the Australian Centre for Precision
Agriculture, for use in self-education or in
developing training workshops.
Agribusiness reference groups
The GRDC consults widely with agribusiness
groups representing fee-for-service and
retail agronomy firms involved with the
grains industry. The aim is to deliver the
best outcomes for Australian grain growers
by speeding the adoption of research
findings; identifying RD&E priorities; and
partnering to conduct extension programs
and other activities.
Examples of the contributions made by
agribusiness reference groups in 2010–11
include:
• providing comments and contributions to
the content and quality of the GRDC’s
fact sheet on late season herbicide use
• hosting a series of teleconferences,
involving the GRDC, government agencies
and other industries, in anticipation of the
plague locust outbreak, to help coordinate
the logistics of supplying products and
information to growers
• coordinating agribusiness responses to
the GRDC’s proposed delivery and
extension model.
Training and mentoring for advisers
In 2010–11 the GRDC commenced a project
to provide a training and development
program, specifically for the grains industry,
which builds the information delivery skills
and techniques of experienced agronomists
and extension personnel.
The program engages experienced advisers
who have made a significant contribution
within their region, have a long-term vision
for the industry, and wish to further their
leadership, extension and mentoring skills.
Through training in mentoring and coaching,
the participants are equipped to transfer
their skills to members of farming systems
groups and less experienced agronomists.
Understanding practice change through
consultation with extension professionals
In 2010–11, the GRDC supported the
commencement of a project to measure and
understand change in grain growers’
adoption of farming technology and
perceptions associated with specific
practice changes. A team of farming
practice adoption specialists have been
working with organisations that can provide
expert regional and technical input on
practices and factors influencing adoption
across states and subregions.
As the first step towards ongoing industry
input, stakeholders were invited to take part
in workshops to contribute to the planning of
the project. The workshops helped review
existing data and identify information gaps
and needs which included priority subregions.
Online resources
PestFax Map, an interactive risk
management tool to address pest and
disease threats in the Western Australian
grain belt, was launched at the
GRDC–DAFWA Western Australian
Agribusiness Updates in 2010–11.
Developed with GRDC support by DAFWA
and the University of Western Australia,
PestFax Map features easy-to-view maps
showing current and previous occurrences
of crop pests and diseases.
The maps assist users to predict the
likelihood that a pest or disease is heading
into a particular area. This information can
potentially be used to predict outbreaks of
pests and diseases, to help growers devise
appropriate management strategies or to
help agribusinesses make decisions about
the supply of products relating to pest and
What’s in the
RD&E pipeline
for 2011–12
disease outbreaks. The tool is accessible
through the PestFax website.
Publications
For grain growers in parts of southern
Australia, after one of the wettest summers
on record, the 2011 cropping season has
huge potential to produce a large crop—
provided that the right approaches are taken
to crop nutrition, seeding systems and crop
management. Growers will face particular
challenges in areas such as stubble
management, weed management, crop
nutrition and pest and disease control.
In 2010–11, the GRDC released a guide,
initiated by the Southern Panel, to help
growers take full advantage of the soil
moisture in their cropping systems. Called
Making the most of a wet summer in the
Southern Region, it brings together available
knowledge on issues facing growers and
provides a reference framework for decision
making in the coming season.
The full guide is available on the GRDC
website and was distributed to all growers
and advisers in the Southern Region prior
to sowing time in 2011.
• Development of a pilot diagnostic framework to identify the
reasons for suboptimal crop performance in a range of
regions and crops and the use of the framework to address
those constraints.
• Continuation of the successful Variety Specific Agronomy
program in the Western Region, focusing on the management
and performance of some of the new crop cultivars being
released.
• Improvement of integrated weed management in the Northern
and Southern regions, with growers adopting suitable practices
to manage weeds based on lifecycle and seed bank data as
well as herbicide resistance assessment.
• Surveillance of key fungal diseases for the development of
fungicide resistance nationally to allow strategic management
of fungicide effectiveness.
• A focus on delivering outcomes to southern and western
growers for the management of Rhizoctonia fungal disease.
This will include determining the impact of crop choice and
summer weed management on Rhizoctonia levels, quantifying
the effect of different soils on disease severity, and providing
advice on the steps that growers can take to minimise losses.
• Expansion of the GRDC Updates program to include economic
analysis of data presented. Growers will have access to ‘dollar
return per hectare’ analysis of research outcomes, in contrast to
the current gross margin analysis.
• New research to identify and describe the impacts of tillage on
soil properties and processes, the dynamics of soil recovery,
production responses, economic outcomes and the risks of the
soil resource.
• Research to examine the impact of elevated atmospheric
carbon dioxide levels on critical aspects of cropping in Australia,
including whether elevated carbon dioxide will affect grain
quality and marketability.
18 GRDC GROWERS’ REPORT 2010–2011