Australia’s canola industry continues to grow from strength to strength - despite the presence of blackleg, a common disease that has the potential to cause more than 90 per cent yield loss.

Over the past ten years, GRDC investment in water use efficiency (WUE) research has resulted in significant yield gains and underpinned an evolution in the management of summer fallows and farming sequences across Australia’s southern and western cropping regions.

With water logging across paddocks, growers are at heightened risk of losing nitrogen from denitrification, and it’s an issue GRDC is keen to understand better.

Long coleoptile wheat is getting a lot of grower interest and some new research been delivering some exciting results.

When it comes to maximising the productivity of irrigated crops, research is proving it isn’t as simple as adding water and lots of nitrogen fertiliser.

A 90-day summer chickpea crop could soon be a reality for the north, giving growers a pulse option to plant in February and harvest in June.

What does it take to optimise mungbean yields in Australia’s northern growing region?

Fusarium wilt is significant mungbean disease that can result in up to 80 per cent yield loss.

The National Oat Breeding Program, backed by joint $5.4 million investment from AgriFutures Australia and GRDC, is being propelled into a new era under the leadership of commercial breeding company, InterGrain.

In this podcast, program leader Stuart Nagel explores the history of vetch and its adaptability in cropping and mixed farming systems.

After favourable springs in both 2020 and 2021, slug populations are on the rise and sliding into regions that don’t normally see them.

Dual-purpose crops under irrigation offer an attractive graze and grain return. But what's the best set-up to maximise potential at the paddock level?

A collaborative project, called area wide management for cropping systems weeds, is taking a unique approach to traditional weed control by collaborating beyond fence lines with varying land users across three pilot regions - the Sunraysia, the Darling Downs and the Murrumbidgee irrigation area.

Across Western Australia’s grain growing regions, farmers are reporting increased mouse activity, sparking new concern about risks heading into the 2022 season.

Scientists from the Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation at the University of Queensland have been trailing sowing the summer crop in winter. And while the trials have taken place in cool conditions, the results have proved to be red hot.

Dr Peter Boutsalis from the University of Adelaide explains the resistance status of annual ryegrass to pre-emergent herbicides.

Dr Grant Hollaway from Agriculture Victoria and Professor Robert Park from the University of Sydney share all the details on the latest variety disease ratings and recommendations to help growers make informed stripe rust management decisions this season.

In WA, a series of trials over several years has been studying the interaction between wheat seeding timing and pre emergent herbicides choice on annual ryegrass seed production, with some helpful results on offer.

Grain storage is a long-term investment so it’s important to get it right from the start. Considerations need to include storage design and structural integrity, effective pressure testing and knowing how to seal silos correctly to achieve successful fumigation. Manufactures are a good source of information, but make sure they’re not your onlysource. And that’s where GRDC’sGrain Storage Extension Projectcan help. In this podcastnational extension team member Ben White takes youthrough the latest evolution in Silo features and pressure testing methods.

The Seed of Gold is one of the grains industry’s most prestigious awards. First presented in 2007 only four people have received this honour. The latest recipient is globally recognised research scientist Emeritus professor Stephen Powles from Western Australia who was presented with his Seed of Gold in 2021. The award is given in recognition of an individual’s outstanding contribution, dedication and commitment to communicating research outcomes to the Australian grains industry.

It’s an unusual thing to see – a mob of cattle grazing contentedly in a patch of paddock, held there by an invisible border. But virtual fencing technology is really taking off and is showing promise as a tool to help mixed farmers control weeds. On Heath Nickolls’ cattle and grain property near Pinnaroo in the South Australian mallee, the CSIRO’s Dr Rick Llewellyn is leading a GRDC and Australian Wool Innovation investment trialling virtual fencing to gain better crop integrated weed management. As Rick and Heath explain, a strip grazing trial of 40 Angus heifersis delivering promising results.

Nick Poole from FAR Australia provides an excellent explanation of how to target fungicide applications for the best economic return. He describes the value of focusing on critical growth stages and their ‘money leaves’, the best way to manage disease risk in crops before tillering, and the importance of protecting fungicide effectiveness for the long term.

It’s been common practise across the southern grain growing region to wait for opening rains, before applying a knockdown herbicide, then seeding the crop. But new research is revealing weedsare better controlled by adopting a three-pronged approach of sowing early, at a high density crop seeding rate while also applying an efficient herbicide. As the University of Adelaide’s Dr Gurjeet Gill and Ben Fleet explain, the mid-trial results come from a five-year GRDC investment looking into weed management across a range of rainfall zones in SA, Vic and WA.

While farmers typically spray fungicide to manage one disease, applications should be considered in a broader context. Dr Steven Simpfendorfer describes how spraying one pathogen can inadvertently encourage resistance in other pathogens that may be present. He outlines some typical examples, including rusts and powdery mildew in wheat; blackleg and sclerotinia in canola; as well as net blotches and powdery mildew in barley.