Valuable frost research is equipping grain growers with practical information on how to identify frost damage in cereal crops. In this podcast WA Department of Primary Industries & Regional Development research officer, Dr Ben Biddulph, discusses what to look for, when and where, to identify frost damage.

Blackleg is a common yet economically serious canola disease in Western Australia (WA). While it has the potential to cause severe yield loss, the good news is that it can be successfully managed. Dr Khangura joins Deb Bishop to discuss blackleg management tactics and GRDC resources that are available to help WA growers combat the disease.

With water such a valuable commodity nowadays, it’s little wonder that irrigators ask themselves whether they are better off selling their water or using it to grow out a crop. It’s a tough question. So GRDC last year asked the Irrigated Cropping Council to see if they could come up with some answers.

Diamondback Moth is an occasional pest of canola, but severe infestations of adults and/or caterpillars can cause up to 80 per cent yield losses in canola and other brassica crops. This pest can also rapidly develop insecticide resistance and an integrated pest management plan is advised for sustainable control.

Trials are underway to determine accurate control thresholds for Russian Wheat Aphid under Australian conditions. The national trials are also looking at the potential impact of the insect on Australian yields. On this podcast, SARDI Entomologist Maarten van Helden discusses this important work.

A research effort led by CSIRO, with GRDC investment, has developed a modeling tool that could in future years help growers rapidly understand the extent of crop damage following a frost event to aid with timely decision-making post-frost. The Frost Mapping project is one of a number of projects related to GRDC’s key investment target strategy for frost.

This episode is focussed on the second research component of the Frost Mapping project, assessing frost damage before its visible to the naked eye, using the Electromagnetic spectrum. This is a collaborative project involving Mick Faulkner, the University of Western Australia, Agriculture Victoria and grain growers, including David Mitchell from Mintaro in South Australia’s north eastern grain growing zone.

Using a GRDC/RCSN ‘local project’ investment into tactical fungicide use involving a local western region farm adviser is addressing the issue of managing spot form of net blotch (SFNB) in barley crops. This disease is a R&D priority for the Regional Cropping Solutions Network Kwinana West (RCSN) group and for the GRDC Western Regional Panel. This podcast highlights how local research results are providing solutions for this disease, especially the economics of fungicide use.

Glyphosate resistance is on the rise in Australia’s grain growing regions. With 17 key weed species already identified as resistant, sustainable herbicide practices have never been so important. In this podcast Andrew Storrie from AGRONOMO discusses what herbicide resistance (or susceptibility) testing options are available to WA growers.

Grain growers in Tasmania could be averaging cereal yields of 7 tonnes per hectare. The top 10 percent of those growers could be doing double that tonnage. This is a major outcome the Hyper Yielding Cereals project wants to see after 5 years of Research, Development and Extension. This podcast will take you to Hagley in northern Tasmania where the GRDC has invested in a major trial to lift feed wheat and barley yields, as well as improve grain quality and reduce the need for the island state to import cereals.

Researchers at the Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries are testing the law of unintended consequences – in this case whether wheat varieties that stay greener longer are also prolonging the feeding of aphids on wheat plants. On this podcast, Entomologist, Melina Miles and her team take us into the tiny world of aphids.

After identifying a need to lift cereal yields to take advantage of the extensive soil amelioration work that’s been happening in Western Australia and newfound opportunities to sow early crops, a group of innovative Esperance growers were keen to investigate options. Quenten Knight a member of the Soil Constraints West steering committee and an agronomist with Agronomy Focus in Esperance put together a study tour plan for the group and with a GRDC Grower Development award, the Esperance growers had the means to travel.

For many central western NSW grain growers in 2018, the decision to graze their cereal crops reaped big rewards. But it’s not as simple as letting a mob of sheep loose on your best farming paddock. On this podcast, Peter Matthews, a Technical Specialist with the NSW Department of Primary Industries discusses the tactical and strategic decisions you need to take for a successful cereal grazing program.

The Birchip Cropping Group (BCG) seeder demonstration day was held in April 2019 to compare six commercially-available conventional seeders and precision planters in establishing canola at two sowing rates. In this podcast, the GRDC’s Andrew Etherton talks through the event and the GRDC investment behind it - a four-year industry collaboration aiming to increase the profitability of growers in Australia’s southern and western grain producing areas.

Monitoring a crop is an integral part of a growers integrated pest management (IPM) strategy. Not only does it reveal if any damage is occurring, it also helps in determining pest and beneficial presence and abundance. In this podcast, agronomist Phil Bowden explores these insect monitoring methods in detail, to help growers and advisors make an informed risk assessment and to decide if chemical control is warranted.

Grain yields in the high-rainfall zone (HRZ) have always posed a paradox, remaining far lower than modelling had predicted. However, that is now changing as a result of a comprehensive new research program covering farm-management practices, soil nutrition and plant biology and the development of tools that are helping to better predict the yield and economic benefits of applying inputs in the high-rainfall zone.

It’s actually not about luck. Controlling Crown Rot is about good management. On this podcast, senior plant pathologist, Andrew Milgate, from the NSW Department of Primary Industries, explains that the control of Crown Rot in southeastern Australia needs a specific strategy to prevent inoculum levels climbing to the point that reducing the impact of the disease could take years.

On this podcast Tasmanian grower and Southern Panel member Michael Chilvers discusses the major constraints to cereal production in high rainfall areas, and how he is using the latest germplasm research and fungicide management strategies to help achieve the potential yield for his region.

Winter wheat varieties allow wheat growers in the Southern Region to sow much earlier than currently practised, meaning a greater proportion of farm can be sown on time. The GRDC’s Management of Early Sown Wheat project focuses on which varieties have the best yield, adaptation in different environments and their optimal sowing window. Associate Professor at La Trobe University, James Hunt, is involved in the project and talks us through the results of an experiment and their significance for growers.

Managing herbicide resistant weeds has become a major concern for grain growers, especially in the northern region which has the highest number of glyphosate resistant weed species. These are mainly summer weed species. It was for this reason that GRDC invested in the tactical tillage project and called for a non-chemical means of weed control for use in an integrated weed management system.

The Regional Cropping Solutions Network encourages West Australian grain growers to voice local farming concerns and put forward research ideas to help increase grower profitability in their local port zone. In this podcast, WA grain grower and western region RCSN co-ordinator, Julianne Hill outlines the network’s collaborative structure and how it makes the best use of the Grains Research and Development Corporation's investment of grower R&D dollars.

The push to develop perennial cereals suitable for the Australian landscape is gathering pace with longevity of a new generation of plants being a key focus of researchers. On this podcast Matthew Newell from the NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI) takes us into the heart of ongoing trial work at the Cowra Research Station.

Svetlana Micic is DPIRD’s Albany based entomologist and has been running snail baiting trials with local farmers and researching snail reproduction. In this podcast, Svetlana talks specifically about the snail problem and what baiting strategies growers should use to help manage this crop pest issue.

In this podcast, CSIRO’s Steve Henry outlines the research he has been doing with mice in cropping systems. Part of that project, which GRDC has invested in, involves bait trials aimed at getting better uptake of Zinc Phosphide the chemical used in mouse baits.

Maximising the benefit derived from applied fertiliser has never been more important as nutrient demands increase. Researchers in southern central NSW have tested several different nitrogen application methods and their findings challenge the current industry practice. On this podcast, NSW DPI researcher Graeme Sandral discusses work undertaken over several years and the resulting conclusion that mid row banding of nitrogen has proved to be the most cost efficient application method.