When Western Australian Ag Research Company TrialCo signed on with GRDC to run a trial on non-wetting sandy soils in low rainfall country the last thing anyone expected was a wet start to the growing season. In this podcast TrialCo field operations manager and TrialCo’s executive officer outline the reasons for the trial and the methodology applied to evaluate the use of surfactants in sandy non-wetting soils.

Innovative lab technology has helped uncover new information on the water and nutrient use efficiency of ironstone gravel soils. It's a first for the grains industry and a big step forward in managing this often-underperforming soil type.

Generous rain and high prices have increased the economic risk from Sclerotinia and blackleg of canola this season. Dr Steve Marcroft outlines the very real risk of fungicide resistance developing in blackleg of canola in Australia – and how growers can achieve sustainable disease control.

The ‘Fungicide Resistance Five’ is the basis for an integrated disease management strategy that growers can use on-farm to reduce fungicide resistance pressure on crop pathogens. This six-part podcast series, produced through the Australian Fungicide Resistance Extension Network (AFREN), unpacks the individual elements of the strategy to inform growers why and how they should minimise the risk of fungicide resistance developing in their paddocks. AFREN is a significant GRDC investment that brings together a national network of regional plant pathologists, fungicide resistance experts and communications and extension specialists. It is co-ordinated through the Centre for Crop Disease Management (CCDM), a co-investment between the GRDC and Curtin University.

The ‘Fungicide Resistance Five’ is the basis for an integrated disease management strategy that growers can use on-farm to reduce fungicide resistance pressure on crop pathogens. This six-part podcast series, produced through the Australian Fungicide Resistance Extension Network (AFREN), unpacks the individual elements of the strategy to inform growers why and how they should minimise the risk of fungicide resistance developing in their paddocks. AFREN is a significant GRDC investment that brings together a national network of regional plant pathologists, fungicide resistance experts and communications and extension specialists. It is co-ordinated through the Centre for Crop Disease Management (CCDM), a co-investment between the GRDC and Curtin University.

The ‘Fungicide Resistance Five’ is the basis for an integrated disease management strategy that growers can use on-farm to reduce fungicide resistance pressure on crop pathogens. This six-part podcast series, produced through the Australian Fungicide Resistance Extension Network (AFREN), unpacks the individual elements of the strategy to inform growers why and how they should minimise the risk of fungicide resistance developing in their paddocks. AFREN is a significant GRDC investment that brings together a national network of regional plant pathologists, fungicide resistance experts and communications and extension specialists. It is co-ordinated through the Centre for Crop Disease Management (CCDM), a co-investment between the GRDC and Curtin University. Using fungicide mixtures and rotating between Mode of Action groups is vital to eliminate resistant pathogen strains. Fungicide resistance specialist Dr Fran Lopez Ruiz from the Centre for Crop Disease Management at Curtin University highlights the importance of a dynamic spray program.

The ‘Fungicide Resistance Five’ is the basis for an integrated disease management strategy that growers can use on-farm to reduce fungicide resistance pressure on crop pathogens. This six-part podcast series, produced through the Australian Fungicide Resistance Extension Network (AFREN), unpacks the individual elements of the strategy to inform growers why and how they should minimise the risk of fungicide resistance developing in their paddocks. AFREN is a significant GRDC investment that brings together a national network of regional plant pathologists, fungicide resistance experts and communications and extension specialists. It is co-ordinated through the Centre for Crop Disease Management (CCDM), a co-investment between the GRDC and Curtin University.

The ‘Fungicide Resistance Five’ is the basis for an integrated disease management strategy that growers can use on-farm to reduce fungicide resistance pressure on crop pathogens. This six-part podcast series, produced through the Australian Fungicide Resistance Extension Network (AFREN), unpacks the individual elements of the strategy to inform growers why and how they should minimise the risk of fungicide resistance developing in their paddocks. AFREN is a significant GRDC investment that brings together a national network of regional plant pathologists, fungicide resistance experts and communications and extension specialists. It is co-ordinated through the Centre for Crop Disease Management (CCDM), a co-investment between the GRDC and Curtin University. South Australian plant pathologist Dr Tara Garrard covers the range of agronomic practices growers have at their disposal to reduce disease pressure, limit fungicide applications and lower the risk of promoting fungicide resistance in their crops.

The ‘Fungicide Resistance Five’ is the basis for an integrated disease management strategy that growers can use on-farm to reduce fungicide resistance pressure on crop pathogens. This six-part podcast series, produced through the Australian Fungicide Resistance Extension Network (AFREN), unpacks the individual elements of the strategy to inform growers why and how they should minimise the risk of fungicide resistance developing in their paddocks. AFREN is a significant GRDC investment that brings together a national network of regional plant pathologists, fungicide resistance experts and communications and extension specialists. It is co-ordinated through the Centre for Crop Disease Management (CCDM), a co-investment between the GRDC and Curtin University.

South Australian grain growers have been alerted to several cases of fungicide resistance in recent growing seasons, including in net form net blotch of barley, and wheat powdery mildew. In this podcast, Dr Hugh Wallwork, from the South Australian Research and Development Institute, the Department of Primary Industries and Regions’ research division, talks about the factors that contribute to fungicide resistance and how fungicide management needs to begin with variety and seed treatment selection before sowing. He explains that growers should be using all available agronomic practices to reduce disease pressure and should avoid repeat applications of a single fungicide active or chemical Mode of Action. This will help protect the effectiveness and availability of their essential fungicide controls.

Growers in the north could consider fungicide resistance less of a threat than growers in the south and west, however there is no room for complacency. As Professor Levente Kiss from the University of Southern Queensland’s Centre for Crop Health points out in this podcast, as long as there are fungal crop diseases there is a risk of fungal resistance. Barley, wheat and pulses can all be affected. Northern growers need to appreciate the importance of rotating and mixing fungicides, including as seed treatments, in order not to encourage fungicide resistance in important diseases such as barley net blotches, mung bean powdery mildew, wheat powdery mildew and septoria tritici blotch.

In Western Australia, outbreaks of fungicide resistance have occurred in several important diseases of barley. Resistance is a significant but preventable problem that can largely be managed by taking care not to repeatedly expose a pathogen to the same product or chemical Mode of Action Group. It is important for growers to recognise that this management regime can include fungicide seed treatments and in-furrow fungicide applications, as well as foliar sprays later in the season. Fungicide rotations to manage and prevent fungicide resistance need to take all of these applications into account. Geoff Thomas, plant pathologist from the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development WA, discusses the importance of using an integrated disease management program to reduce disease pressure and manage fungicide use and resistance in WA cropping systems.

Some ground breaking research has resulted in a breakthrough for growers and agronomists wanting to measure the potential impact of disease on yield. A national network of trials over five years will result in a new ability to quickly and accurately assess potential disease impact on some of the more popular cereal varieties. On this podcast we look at the results of that research and also how it all came about and salute the hard work of the many agronomists, scientists and biometricians involved.

Farmers across the Western Region are using a variety of stubble strategies to protect soil moisture over summer and to protect those soils from harsh winds. Noel Keding has taken stubble strategies to the next level using a stripper front on his cereals. Noel has some experience using stripper fronts in both low and higher rainfall environments, so his experience may help other growers who are wondering whether stripper fronts might be an option. On this podcast Noel talks about the advantages of using stripper fronts in his experience including significantly greater harvest efficiency but also some of the challenges such as getting the crop germinated and out of the ground because of the extra shading from the straw.

Losing just one millimetre of topsoil in a wind erosion event can result in significant changes to soil fertility and cause yield losses in subsequent crops of up to six per cent. But there are some measures growers can take to protect their topsoil and reduce the impact of severe wind. In this podcast, Cropfacts consultant Harm van Rees, Agronomy Solutions director Sean Mason and South Australian Department of Primary Industries and Regions consultant Mary-Anne Young join in a discussion on dealing with the effects of wind erosion via ongoing soil management or tactics when multiple dry seasons have ruled out other options.

The GRDC has for the first time committed to a multi-million-dollar global investment into dedicated research programs to address crop production constraints and the opportunities machine learning can provide, with the aim of driving profitability gains for Australian grain growers. Nine “use-cases” will form the core of the investment which will involve national and international research partners.

Online Farm Trials (OFT) is a website that contains a wealth of cropping data from the nation’s leading research organisations, and it’s proving to be an invaluable resource for both growers and researchers alike. This podcast shares how growers can use the platform to make informed management decisions, and how research organisations can benefit from getting involved and contributing trial information. This podcast features Federation University OFT project lead Nathan Robinson, GRDC emerging technologies officer John Rivers and Denielle Smith from Northern Growers Alliance. The OFT platform is a GRDC and Centre for eResearch and Digital Innovation collaboration.

Changing rainfall patterns in the drier parts of the western region have prompted a rethink of strategies for grower Clint Della Bosca. On this podcast focusing on stubble management in Western Australia, Clint talks about the vital importance of stubble in his system as weather patterns unfamiliar to his area begin to emerge.

Plant Available Water, is key to determining potential crop yield. It’s also the basis for sowing decisions and fertiliser applications. Many things affect how much stored soil water is available, rainfall before and during the growing season, infiltration, evaporation and transpiration. And then there’s Plant Available Water Capacity, which is the total amount of water a soil can store and release to a crop which differs depending on the crop.

As many Western and Southern region grain growers start preparations for sowing this year’s winter crops, there are still a few areas in the eastern states northern region where late sown summer crops such as sorghum are still standing. In this podcast you’ll hear from a leading authority on Mouse behaviour and management, about the challenges facing growers yet to harvest and those needing to plan a mouse baiting strategy pre-sowing.

Foliar diseases are a major constraint to profitable barley production across Australia, affecting both yield and quality. In this podcast, senior plant pathologist Dr. Lisle Snyman from the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries Queensland discusses the presence and spread of barley foliar pathogens across Australia's growing regions. Dr Snyman was part of the barley foliar pathogen project. The four-year GRDC investment successfully characterised major barley pathogens in Australia and identified effective resistance genes from around the world. Part two of this podcast focuses on a new three-year research initiative that is leveraging the findings from this completed research, by progressing the most promising NFNB, SFNB and scald resistance genes for use in Australian breeding programs.

New research is harnessing advanced computer capabilities and artificial intelligence to fast-track the development of new barley varieties with improved foliar pathogen resistance – shaving years off conventional breeding program processes. Dr Kai Voss-Fels is the project lead and senior research fellow with the Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation, based at the University of Queensland in Brisbane. The program is off to a strong start, thanks to the findings from the four-year barley foliar pathogen project. Part one of this podcast explores these findings in more detail, with focus on pathogen presence and spread across Australia’s growing regions.

Growers are set to get better variety recommendations faster through a new GRDC investment, INVITA, which is adding value to the National Variety Trial (NVT) program. The investment is led by Prof Scott Chapman from the University of Queensland (UQ) which is working in collaboration with Australian partner, CSIRO. The investment, INVITA, leverages off a major EU investment INVITE (Innovations in plant Variety Testing in Europe), a consortium led by INRA in France (INRA being the French equivalent of CSIRO). The main INVITE collaborator with INVITA is Prof Fred van Eeuwijk, a statistician from Wageningen University and Research (WUR), the world's number one agricultural university.

Until now, only limited information has been available about in-paddock summer weed distribution and abundance in Western Australia. However, a two-year survey, which will be completed in 2021, will provide hard numbers for the entire wheatbelt. The survey, completed with investment from the GRDC, has been coordinated by Albany-based agronomist Andrew Storrie, of AGRONOMO.

A new GRDC publication containing the latest research into canola production in Western Australia’s low rainfall zones is now available. This detailed GRDC publication also contains grower case studies outlining how growers manage their crops to get the best results in these challenging environments. In this podcast you’ll hear from one of those growers Tony Murfit, who farms near Merredin, about a three hour drive east of Perth. Debra Bishop travelled to the eastern grain belt to record this account of Tony Murfit’s experience as a canola grower.