Sclerotinia stem rot costs western and southern canola growers around $59 million dollars in crop losses annually. In today’s podcast, Dr Lars Kamphuis from the Centre for Crop and Disease Management (CCDM) shares the latest research on pre-breeding efforts to develop resistant varieties.

Fungicide Resistance in cereal crops such as barley could become as significant an issue for the Australian grains industry as Herbicide resistance in weeds. Powdery Mildew alone costs many millions a year in crop yield losses according to the industry. Researchers at the Centre for Crop Disease Management, a national research centre co-supported by WA’s Curtin University and the Grains Research & Development Corporation are leading the way in developing new technology and fungicide management strategies to address fungicide resistance in grain crops.

Just how close is Australia’s grains industry to being able to incorporate robotics into a weed control program? Well a lot closer than perhaps many people think. On this podcast we speak with Guy Coleman from Sydney University on the practical advancements in the field of robotics and discover that making face recognition software applicable to weeds is one of the final hurdles.

Following a dry 2018 what is the likelihood of disease risk this season. According to the experts, the risk of disease this year can not be ignored. On this podcast, Agriculture Victoria scientists, Grant Hollaway and Joshua Fanning, outline the risks and how to minimise them over the coming months.

Impact of cotton production on grain production in the north.Transitioning from dryland cotton back into a cereal or pulse crop can be problematic for growers with residual issues associated with the harvested cotton crop. On this program Jon Baird from NSW DPI at Narrabri discusses trials he has undertaken on differing sowing options following a cotton crop.

Early sowing of canola has clear advantages as is reflected by the number of growers choosing to position their canola seeding program first. On this podcast, NSW DPI Agronomist, Col McMaster outlines the latest research findings and reminds us of the key issues to consider.

Inspired by what he saw a neighbouring doing and with GRDC's investment in the Soils Constraints West project & DPIRD support, Corrigin based grain grower Simon Wallwork bought a mouldboard plough from the UK and began a soil amelioration program that is resulting in improved water penetration and better grain yields.

Western Australian grain growers face a lot of constraints when it comes to the soils they work to grow the grain we demand.In this podcast we’ll look back at the recently concluded Soil Constraints West project, a GRDC 5 year investment to improve soil structure and health, thereby lifting productivity and growers’ profitability.

In frost-prone areas, it is important to have a comprehensive frost management strategy as part of annual farm planning. In this podcast, Dr Ben Biddulph from Western Australia’s Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) shares his considerations and pre-seeding checklist for grain growers.

When used strategically, soil amelioration can help grain growers overcome a suite of soil and agronomic constraints, including acidity, water repellence and high weed populations.In this podcast the focus is on crop establishment challenges after soil amelioration, including the use of pre-emergent herbicides.

In this podcast Dana Mulvany, a research officer from Western Australia’s Dept of Primary Industries and Regional Development, talks about her work researching sodic soils in low rainfall environments and the impact of water harvesting on crop yields.

In this podcast, Dr Stephen Davies from WA’s Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development talks to Lucinda Jose about outcomes from the Soil Constraints West project that can help growers better manage water-repellent soils.

In this podcast, Wayne Parker, from Western Australia’s Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development and Soil Compaction project leader, talks to Lucinda Jose about the causes of soil compaction and the outcomes from the Soil Constraints West project that growers can adopt to improve their soils.

In this podcast, SARDI Senior Research Officer Liz Farquharson takes us through the latest rhizobia strain research and related management options available for southern growers. While commercial release of the strain may seem like a while away, there is still plenty that growers can do to promote nodulation of winter pulse crops.

For some grain growers the potential risk of a frost event damaging their cereal crop can result in a conservative sowing strategy. But sowing late to avoid frost damage can result in less than optimal grain yields at the end of the season. In this two-part podcast Matt Gardner form AMPS Research discusses sowing strategies, site elevation and crop monitoring tools and how these variables can help manager frost risk without unnecessarily sacrificing yield.

In this two-part podcast Matt Gardner form AMPS Research discusses sowing strategies, site elevation and crop monitoring tools and how these variables can help manager frost risk without unnecessarily sacrificing yield. At Matt’s early sowing trial site near Premer on the NSW Liverpool Plains the paddock has a 50-metre variation in elevation.

Grain growers in central and southern NSW cannot afford to ignore crown rot inoculum levels in their paddocks. Allowing inoculum levels to build even for just one year can create a problem that may take several years to resolve.

A new resource for canola growers will help them better identify insect pests in establishing canola crops, enabling more sustainable and effective control strategies.

This podcast focuses on accessing and using the wealth of information on the NVT website to make informed variety selection decisions. Manager NVT Systems, Neale Sutton says the site makes it easy for growers to connect with crop trial results specific to their location and unique environment.

We sometimes hear about the rundown of Phosphorus nutrient deep in the soil profile and a deal of research is being conducted right now into Deep P Placement and the benefits derived from that. Well just recently research in south eastern Australia has attempted to address another issue deep in the soil profile and that is soil acidity or low pH and its effect on legume yields.

Indonesia is, by far, Australia’s biggest single wheat customer. Each year, on average, Indonesia buys 4.2 million tonnes of Australian wheat, worth 1.2 billion dollars. That’s nearly one quarter of all Australian wheat exports. In this podcast AEGIC CEO Richard Simonaitis talks about the opportunities and challenges facing Australian wheat exports to Indonesia.

That’s what GRDC’s Farming Systems Project is all about – testing real decisions a farmer might take and how that affects the profitability of a farm now and into the future. On this podcast the CSIRO’s Dr Lindsay Bell takes us through just some of the scenarios being examined at the main trial site at Pampas on the Darling Downs.

As a form of weed control in crops reducing row spacing can have a significant impact on weed populations. By reducing crop row spacing the biomass of the weed are reduced but what’s even more important is weed seed numbers are dramatically reduced.

There is often a reasonable level of subsoil moisture from summer rains, which are more common than in the past, to help boost establishment if accessed by roots.

WA’s sand plain soils feature multiple constraints including water repellence, acidity and compaction, all focus points of GRDC’s $33-million-dollar investment in the Soil Constraints West Project. Soil constraints result in lost grain production worth more than $4 billion annually, just in WA.