How do you take soil samples from your paddocks? A leading soil scientist maintains that many farmers are leaving a lot of valuable information buried in the paddock, which could be easily accessed with a slightly different approach to sampling. On this podcast, Jason Codon invites you to look at soil sampling with soil variability in mind.

And you thought you were responsible for that amazing wheat crop. Think again. There are people in back offices all over Australia who know the seed you sow, infinitely better that you could hope. These are the people of SAGI – Statistics for the Australian Grains Industry. The name does not even hint what SAGI does. Take a listen and find out about the best friends you will ever have in the grains industry.

They may be tiny but the damage they can potentially do is far from small. Root Lesion Nematodes are well known as a problem, but there is still much to learn about them and their impact on crops. A new investment by GRDC aims to fill in some knowledge gaps in parts of WA and develop further options for growers seeking to better control the nematodes if they are proving a problem in individual paddocks.

Trials in Western Australia are showing how well canola can out compete ryegrass if some simple management changes are made. At a trial site in Kojunup, that was blanketed in ryegrass plants, adjusting seeding rates, seed size and row spacing had a dramatic impact on ryegrass plant numbers.

Growers with acid soils know full well the risks involved in growing pulses. While new acid tolerant rhizobia are on the way, this podcast focusses on giving you an insider’s view on getting the best performance from your pulses growing in acidic soil.

A leading soil scientist has argued for a more strategic approach to nitrogen application. One way of doing that is by increasing soil carbon levels. But the CSIRO’s Jeff Baldock goes one step further and argues that putting a value on soil organic carbon would encourage farmers to grow more legumes.

Crop competition is one of the key pathways to controlling unwanted weeds in your paddocks. On this podcast we look at one trial in Western Australia that is testing crop competition against prolific ryegrass populations, proving that out-competing weeds really works. The trial is also looking at the pre-emergent herbicide degradation, particularly in dry times. AHRI’s Mike Ashworth provides some food for thought.

Nick Gillett from the WA’s eastern wheat belt has been making use of carbonate rich soils from his own farm to correct the pH of his farm’s acidic soils, rather than truck-in coastal. An option that saves freight costs, which can then be put towards spreading more of his farm sourced lime over more hectares to improve his soils and crop yields.

How economically viable is incorporating organic matters into your sub-soil? That’s what new research funded by GRDC is trying to ascertain. While it’s been long understood that some sub-soils constrain root growth, just how that could be feasibly addressed has been sticking point. On this podcast Dr Roger Armstrong from Agriculture Victoria discusses ways sub-soil constraints may be overcome.

The speed at which weeds develop resistance to herbicides makes farmer vigilance if paramount importance. On this podcast, weed scientist, Dr Chris Preston reveals the current resistance status of both grass and broadleaf weeds.

The Australian Grains Genebank at Horsham is a critical stop along the long development pathway to deliver new varieties that will increase the profitability of Australian grain growers. On this podcast we go deep inside the facility to see how it works and to learn more about the role of the Australian Grains Genebank plays in your industry. It’s a fascinating story.

Entomologists, with the help of growers and grower groups, are looking at whether chaff lines and other harvest weed seed control are having an impact on invertebrate populations in a paddock. Survey work is underway to find out if insect behaviour and movement are affected by extra chaff left in the paddock after harvest. On this podcast, DPIRD entomologist, Svetlana Micic takes us into the paddock to explain what she thinks may be happening.

Trials are underway in Western Australia to measure the suitability of Flax (or Linseed) as a viable and profitable break crop in systems that have few other alternatives, at the moment. Flax has been grown in WA’s sandy soils in the past but was dropped for the system when a market disappeared. On this podcast Bronwyn Copestake from Southern Dirt talks about the trials and also potential markets for this new crop that could deliver a lot more diversity for WA farmers.

DPIRD researchers, led by Dr Craig Scanlan, have been investigating nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) crop use efficiency, soil storage and yield responses. The current body of evidence used to support N, P, and K decisions is inadequate across a range of situations and this uncertainty has led to some lack of grower confidence in fertiliser recommendations. These decision gaps exist in N, P and K fertiliser management because of climate and systems changes that have occurred after most crop nutrition knowledge was first documented in WA.

Sandy soils, typical to parts of Western Australia and found in South Australia’s and Victoria’s mallee country, create considerable and costly grain constraints. In WA water repellency, resulting in low nutrient use efficiency and poor crop establishment, affects around 10 million hectares. WA’s annual price tag put on lost production through water repellence is estimated at $250 million.

Shrinking the difference between your possible crop yield and your actual crop yield is one way of increasing your profitability. On this podcast the “secret” to reducing your yield gap is exposed and it turns out that for most growers there’s plenty of gains to be made.

A new grain cleaning method is being trialled in WA to enable growers to further reduce the presence of snails in their harvested grain and oilseeds. It’s a snail roller, in common use in Victoria, but new to WA. On this podcast Nathan Dovey from Stirlings to the Coast Farmers talks about the advantages and some of the drawbacks that farmers will have using a snail roller.

The GRDC’s nutrition decisions following a dry season project is looking at a variety of ways to fix multiple soil constraints – pH, sodicity and salinity. The second year of the five year project has thrown up some interesting results which makes researchers optimistic that they may be able to deliver a sub-soil amelioration package for growers.

Esperance-based grower Gavin Egan started using clay spreading, delving and deep ripping to ameliorate soil water repellence and compaction issues seven years ago. For Gavin, the results have paid off. What was typical Western Australian flat Mallee country, producing around 2t/ha cereal crops, is now delivering double those yields. This topic was the focus of the GRDC investment Soil Constraints West project. The project is a collaboration between the GRDC and the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, and aims to help improve soil constraints and lift yields and grain grower returns.

At a glance you can now determine just how much your local climate has changed over the past 60 years. The Bureau of Meteorology has published climate guides based on your Natural Resource Management (NRM) area. The guides are a part of the Federal Government’s Drought Initiative. On this podcast we speak to one of the authors of the guides and he reveals some data that may – or may not – surprise you.

In Western Australia’s eastern wheatbelt the sand plain soils are prone to acidification. To neutralise the acidity grain growers apply coastal lime usually sources from sites hundreds of kilometres away from their farms. However as part of a project initiated by the Kwinana East Regional Cropping Solution Network group research is being done to locate and assess on-farm lime sources as an alternative to coastal lime.

Not everyone can be in the Top 20 percent of growers. But YOU can. And the scale of your operation won’t put you into, or keep you out of, that exclusive club. On this podcast, we hear about some practical ways for you to judge and improve your financial performance. And it’s information that you already have.

An astounding $90 million worth of canola is estimated to be lost from the back of harvesters every year in Western Australia. In this podcast Planfarm consultant and harvest loss expert, Peter Newman, talks about practical steps and resources WA canola and cereal growers can use to minimise harvest losses and maximise capacity. Peter is leading a targeted GRDC extension project on this issue, and has developed a harvest loss calculator and popular Twitter handle for sharing information and solutions. He also works directly with grain growers.

Decisions around lime applications to acid soils have suddenly become a lot easier with the availability of the iLime Calculator, a smartphone app that is easy to use and reveals the tangible benefits of applying lime over time. The app can be customised to incorporate your own inputs. On this podcast Chris Gazey, the Soil Science and Crop Nutrition Portfolio Manager with the WA Department of Primary Industries and Region Development, explains how it works and the benefits of the new iLime app.

Pulse growers consistently report a greater boost in cereal production following a pulse crop than they would normally get from manufactured nutrients like nitrogen. Why is that? What is so special about the nitrogen delivered to the soil by a pulse crop. Soil scientist Cassie Schefe thinks she has the answer.