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20 results found
  • Tapping local drainage knowledge turns on an opportunity
    Water Resources, 15 Jul 2025
    Tapping local drainage knowledge turns on an opportunity

    Facing severe waterlogging on their Merivale property, WA grain growers Riley and Tom Curnow have incorporated GRDC-supported research into their farming system. Their adoption of deep ripping, surface and subsurface tile drainage, and late sowing of spring barley has helped improve yields and soil health. Their experience highlights the practical benefits and economic returns of innovative water management strategies.

  • To plant, or not, on late summer rain?
    Water Resources, 13 Feb 2025
    To plant, or not, on late summer rain?

    Higher returns are possible from a farming system that can flexibly optimise sowing opportunities throughout the year, rather than limit itself to particular sowing windows. CSIRO’s Dr Lindsay Bell has researched this via the Northern Farming Systems project and has collected 10 years of data.

  • Managing waterlogging is a long road travelled
    Western, 26 Aug 2024
    Managing waterlogging is a long road travelled

    Working with South Coast NRM on a GRDC-supported National Grower Network project, the Marold family has been evaluating the efficacy and economics of subsurface drains to increase the long-term sustainability of their production system. This has built on the family’s experience with raised beds, which were found wanting in the Esperance high-rainfall zone where waterlogging is a frequent event.

  • The continuing quest for a long-term waterlogging solution
    Western, 21 Aug 2024
    The continuing quest for a long-term waterlogging solution

    Waterlogging is a risk cropping in the high-rainfall Esperance region in Western Australia. To manage this risk the Marold family have been trialling several different forms of drainage.

  • Economics stack up for subsurface drains
    Water Resources, 15 Aug 2024
    Economics stack up for subsurface drains

    A grower-led GRDC-supported project managed by South Coast NRM has investigated the efficacy and economics of installing subsurface drains in southern Western Australian cropping country prone to waterlogging.

  • Trials explore backup crop tactics after waterlogging
    Water Resources, 09 Aug 2024
    Trials explore backup crop tactics after waterlogging

    The agility of GRDC’s National Grower Network enables it to quickly respond to seasonal events like waterlogging to provide valuable datasets and insights for grower’s decision-making. Trials in southern WA highlighted the importance of using short-season varieties and the timing of sowing after waterlogging, with economic analysis suggesting that losses can be minimised by swiftly establishing a late sown crop.

  • How well is fallow working to build profit across your farming system?
    Water Resources, 06 Mar 2024
    How well is fallow working to build profit across your farming system?

    Waiting until there is a threshold of soil water before sowing is critical for maximising water use efficiency

  • New guide on water use for dryland cropping
    Water Resources, 25 Jan 2024
    New guide on water use for dryland cropping

    The Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) has introduced 'Water Smart Farming', a comprehensive manual designed to enhance water use efficiency in dryland cropping. This publication addresses the complex challenges of managing soil moisture, unpredictable rainfall, and varying soil and crop types. Aimed at growers and advisors, the manual consolidates the latest research into a single, accessible resource. Topics covered include crop water usage, plant available water capacity, technological advancements in water use efficiency, and managing dryland cropping risks. Mark Callow, GRDC’s sustainable cropping systems manager, emphasizes the importance of agronomic decisions rooted in up-to-date research for maximizing water efficiency and yield. Authored by leading Australian researchers, including CSIRO's Kirsten Verburg and SARDI's Peter Hayman, the manual presents an integrated approach to farm water management.

  • Comprehensive strategies to enhance western farming systems
    Water Resources, 17 Nov 2023
    Comprehensive strategies to enhance western farming systems

    A series of major farming systems trials in Western Australia are taking a participatory approach in garnering baseline information to rethink aspects of cropping rotations. The data generated will be used by modellers to determine lower greenhouse gas emission cropping systems for growers in low and medium-rainfall regions.

  • Maize the winner, but it comes at a cost
    Water Resources, 14 Nov 2023
    Maize the winner, but it comes at a cost

    Grain maize proved to be the highest-yielding irrigated crop in research trials but, as a summer crop, it also uses the most irrigation water.

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