A series of workshops will be conducted across the southern cropping region this month to enable grain growers to better manage frost risk.

GRDC’s Better Frost Decisions workshops in Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania will explore the practical aspects of managing frost on-farm and will assist growers in developing locally relevant frost management strategies.

GRDC Grower Relations Manager – South, Tom Blake, says the free-of-charge workshops aim to increase grower awareness of the options available to reduce frost risk and the importance of mapping frost risk across an entire farm.

“The workshops will cover all frost-related considerations for growers, from the impact of a changing climate, climate and temperature scenarios, zoning strategies on-farm, whole farm frost risk management, and the impact on profitability,” Mr Blake says.

“These highly interactive workshops will allow for plenty of opportunity for questions and answers and grower discussions.”

The workshops are being delivered by Mallee Sustainable Farming (MSF) and supported by various other farming systems groups through the Better Frost Decisions initiative as part of GRDC’s ‘Applying current knowledge to inform grower decision making to mitigate the impact of frost, now and in the future’ national investment.

Mr Blake says the Better Frost Decisions initiative will provide the mechanisms to underpin grower and adviser decision making in relation to pre-season planning, in-season management and responding to frost events during the growing season.

“The initiative will support a range of local events and activities that will allow growers, advisers and researchers to share the latest research, knowledge, decision-making tools and experiences relating to the practical management of frost.”

The Better Frost Decisions initiative will also allow growers and advisers to develop strategies to better plan for and manage frost risk across local landscapes, and provide the opportunity for growers and their advisers to provide direct feedback to GRDC in relation to frost-related research priorities specific to local districts.

The workshops have been developed by leading experts on frost management, including scientist Peter Hayman from Department of Primary Industries and Regions research division, the South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI), agronomic consultants Mick Faulkner and Michael Moodie, and research scientist Kenton Porker, all of whom will be involved in presenting at the workshops.

The workshops will be at:

• Lock (SA) – Tuesday, March 16: From 1-5pm at Lock Sports Club
• Cummins (SA) – Wednesday, March 17: From 9am-1pm at Cummins Institute. For registrations at Lock and Cummins, contact Naomi Scholz, eo@airep.com.au
• Mininera (Victoria) – Thursday, March 18: From 9am-2pm at Mininera Football Club Rooms
• Tasmania – Wednesday, March 24: From 8am (online workshop). For Mininera and Tasmania workshop registrations, contact Michelle McClure, 0488 600 692 or mmclure@sfs.org.au
• Booleroo (SA) – Thursday, March 25: From 1-5pm at Booleroo Sports Club. For registrations, contact Denni Agnew, 0431233679 or denni@unfs.com.au
• Farrell Flat (SA) – Friday, March 26: From 1-5pm at Gally’s Meeting House. For registrations, contact Jarred Tilley, 0427662056 or greenwith.invermay@outlook.com
• Ouyen (Victoria) – Monday, March 29: From 12-5:30pm at Ouyen Football Club. For registrations, contact Sonia Allen, 0438 854 581 or sonia.allen@msfp.org.au

An online workshop will be conducted for Mallee farmers (and accessible following the workshop) on the MSF Better Frost Decisions website.