GRDC invites you to National Grower Network (NGN) forums to have a say on the issues affecting your on-farm profitability.
The NGN forums – held across the northern, southern and western grain growing regions during winter, spring and summer – are your opportunity to work with GRDC staff and panel members to prioritise local research, development and extension issues.
GRDC grower relations manager (south) Courtney Ramsey says about 18 meetings are held annually in each region to shape future grains RD&E.
“Our invitation is for everybody to help GRDC understand what issues are affecting your on-farm profit and influence the RD&E agenda,” Ms Ramsey says.
“We want to build positive relationships so when an issue or opportunity arises, growers and other stakeholders can approach us with confidence.”
At each forum, Ms Ramsey says those who attend will hear about the status of RD&E in their local region.
“We change the locations of forums in each subregion annually to give as many people as possible the chance to interact with us directly,” she says.
“Sometimes we will team up with farming systems groups who are also keen to gather intelligence on research priorities to avoid duplication of effort.
“Everybody is invited to contribute to the identification of issues affecting profitability and we then seek to build a better understanding of each issue. Attendees then vote to prioritise these issues locally for consideration of investment.”
GRDC grower relations manager (north) Graeme Sandral says GRDC panel members also attend the forums to help refine potential RD&E approaches and ensure issues are well understood.
“We’ve streamlined the process internally to ensure that where local development and extension needs can be identified, investments can receive prompt action for the forthcoming season,” he says.
“Input gathered at every NGN forum is also provided to GRDC investment managers to help direct levies towards broader RD&E priorities in the areas of crop genetics, enabling technologies, soils, nutrition, agronomy, farming systems, crop protection and biosecurity.”
Summer cropping
GRDC grower relations manager (west) Jo Wheeler says Western Australian growers who attended NGN meetings reported wetter-than-average conditions during winter 2021, with many crops suffering waterlogging losses.
“Growers told us they were concerned about salinity and wondered what they were going to do with bare areas of soil over summer,” Ms Wheeler says.
“We put together a quick research project about growing summer crops and the impact they are likely to have on the following winter crop.
“If we see another wet winter, the findings from our project will help inform what growers can expect if they grow a summer crop and the impact on soil moisture reserves for the subsequent winter cereals.”
Fallow definitions
Ms Wheeler says another example of how grower inputs from NGN forums turned into a research investment concerned the question of what constitutes a fallow.
“We’ve come up with three different options for what growers are calling a fallow,” she says.
“One definition is a complete brown-out with chemicals; the second sees volunteer pasture or weeds as a fallow, which is sprayed out before seed-set, while the third involves sowing a pasture and spraying it out before seed-set.”
She says GRDC research is studying all three options of what people consider fallow and the impact on the following wheat crop in
terms of the economics. The results will be compared with continuous wheat to determine the most profitable option.
Ironstone soils
When GRDC travelled to South Australia’s Kangaroo Island in 2021, nutrient retention in ironstone gravel soils was high on the list of concerns for growers who attended the NGN forum, Ms Ramsey says.
“Accordingly, we varied a national project to ensure there was the delivery of trials on Kangaroo Island that locals could look at.
“The goal is to provide growers with the tools to better understand these ironstone gravel soils so they can implement management to increase yields or use inputs more efficiently.”
Potassium deficiencies
Another instance of input from an NGN forum turning into a GRDC research project involves potassium deficiencies.
“Growers from high and medium-rainfall areas such as Millicent and Maitland told us soil tests were showing potassium reserves in their soils were sufficient, but crops showed signs of potassium deficiency and were responsive to potassium inputs,” Ms Ramsey says.
“We’re now looking to see if we can identify some potassium-responsive soils that through additional investment can be used to revise the critical values for potassium in differing soil types.
“Our current soil tests for potassium are based on WA research undertaken on sandy soils, and evidence suggests critical values have limited relevance for other soil types.”
Soil water
In the northern region, Mr Sandral says growers in south-eastern New South Wales highlighted a lack of independent information on soil water savings from stripper front stubble residues compared with draper fronts.
“We contacted FarmLink researchers who have since teamed up with CSIRO’s Tony Swan and Charles Sturt University’s Dr John Broster and Grassroots Agronomy,” he says.
“The aim is to determine if the differences in stubble architecture created by the stripper front stubbles actually lead to a soil moisture advantage over draper fronts.”
Liming
Another project to emerge from one of the NGN forums concerns improving acid soils with liming in low-rainfall landscapes.
“Growers wanted better information to determine if it was worth investing in lime, given that anecdotal reports suggested there were limited returns in low-rainfall environments,” Mr Sandral says.
“Barry Haskins from Ag Grow Agronomy and Research is working with Charles Sturt University’s Dr Jason Condon to look at crop responses to lime in western NSW.”
Barley losses
In another western NSW NGN research project, Field Applied Research Australia’s Dr Kenton Porker is looking at methods of reducing grain loss in barley with a focus on reducing head loss, brackling and lodging.
Informed
Ms Ramsey says those who attend GRDC’s NGN forums are kept informed about them status of the local RD&E priorities identified.
“Keep an eye out for GRDC’s NGN forums in your area and take the opportunity to come along to have your say,” she says.
Southern region
Tues 19 July, Hart, SA - At Hart Field Site at 9am, after Winter Walk. Includes lunch.
Wed 3 August, location TBC - At Skipton, Skipton Golf Club.
Thurs 4 August, location TBC - At Birchip Leisure Centre.
September, Gippsland, VIC - date and location TBC - with the Gippsland Ag Group.
Western region
Tues 28 June, Quairading, WA - Register to attend.
Tues 19 July, Dowerin, WA - Register to attend.
Wed 20 July, Bencubbin, WA - Register to attend.
Thurs 21 July, Burracoppin, WA - Register to attend.
Mon 1 Aug, Binnu, WA - Register to attend.
Wed 17 Aug, Gairdner, WA - Register to attend.
Thurs 18 Aug, Salmon Gums, WA - Register to attend.
Northern region
Tues 12 July, Barellan, NSW - Register to attend.
Tues 12 July, Grogan, NSW - Register to attend.
More information: Courtney Ramsey,
To find out where NGN forums are being held, visit GRDC Events.