Growers, agronomists and researchers are benefitting from the innovative on-stop cropping platform known as GRDC Communities.

The GRDC Communities – Field Crop Diseases platform is home to a wealth of resources, including articles, papers, videos and podcasts, from Australia’s best crop disease researchers.

As well as timely and credible resources, the site includes a useful ‘Ask an Expert’ service for growers and agronomists where they can ask questions directly to researchers and industry experts.

GRDC Communities – Field Crop Diseases project manager, Jodie Harrison, says the site draws upon the vast experience of researchers, experts and resources to identify and discuss pressing crop disease problems.

“GRDC Communities – Field Crop Diseases is a joint project between GRDC and Agriculture Victoria and aims to bring together experts from across Australia to discuss and promote best practices information on crop disease issue, providing timely advice on their management and helping to minimise their impact on grain growers’ profitability,” Ms Harrison says.

She says the content is tailored to meet the different needs of growers and agronomists, with information available on platforms including the website, newsletters, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and Podcasts.

Timely feedback and advice

University of Southern Queensland researcher Adam Sparks has been actively involved with GRDC Communities – Field Crop Diseases since 2016 and believes the program is a vital bridge between researchers, growers and agronomists.

“It gives me a way to get my research out to growers and agronomists, which benefits me, but it also benefits them because they then know where to get answers and who to contact.”

As a result of being involved in the project, Associate Professor Sparks says he has received phone calls and emails from growers and agronomists, with questions about his current research and feedback on what they are seeing in the paddock.

“As researchers, this means we get valuable feedback from growers and agronomists and we can also ask for them to send samples in, so we can get more materials to work with,” he says.

Value for growers

Hart, South Australia, grower Nathan Zweck admits he is relatively new to farming, having only started in the industry four years ago. He grows wheat, barley, field peas, faba beans and lentils on 1500 hectares.

Nathan says the GRDC Communities – Field Crop Diseases platform has been extremely useful for him in familiarising himself on some of the diseases he encounters on his farm.

“There is so much information out there which is available for farmers to help us keep informed of the latest crop disease issues,” he says.

“It can be quite intimidating, but looking at the GRDC Communities – Field Crop Diseases website and social media channels allows me to keep up-to-date on what’s happening and sometimes there are diseases on there that might have been found somewhere else early in the season, which gives me a prompt to go out and check.

“There are a lot of things that we should be checking for, but can be forgotten about during the growing season.

“Sometimes farmers can just make decisions based on their agronomist’s advice without learning about the reasons why those decisions are being made.

“I think it is good to gain an understanding of what we are looking for in terms of crop diseases and why we do what we do to manage them.”

GRDC Communities – Field Crop Diseases has enabled continuous cropper James Venning, from Bute in South Australia, to stay informed about the latest research and management strategies for Septoria leaf blotch and powdery mildew two disease which can be problematic on the upper Yorke Peninsula.

He uses GRDC Communities – Field Crop Diseases to ensure his knowledge base is sound.

“I look out for any new research to inform myself on disease control or better management techniques to combat disease,” James says.

“As a grower, GRDC Communities – Field Crop Diseases helps me because I don’t have to be constantly asking my agronomist for advice and can use the information on the website to make some decisions for myself.”

Growers and advisors interested in information from crop nutrition experts are encouraged to follow the GRDC Communities Crop Nutrition platform, which is a joint project between GRDC and NSW DPI.

More information: Jodie Harrison, 0438 890 292, Jodie.harrison@agriculture.vic.gov.au