Victorian grain growers and agronomists are being offered an opportunity to access cutting edge cereal and canola disease management advice and support through two workshops this month.

The workshops at Horsham and Melbourne will also provide the latest insights on managing fungicide resistance.

Supported by GRDC, the two-day workshops on March 23-24 (Horsham) and March 25-26 (Melbourne) are being presented by the Australian Fungicide Resistance Extension Network (AFREN).

Workshop facilitator John Cameron, of Independent Consultants Australia Network (ICAN), says the workshops will focus on issues of regional importance and offer tailored advice for growers and agronomists.

“All attendees, no matter how experienced, will pick up new and valuable understandings that have practical on-farm application,” Mr Cameron says.

Mr Cameron says the field expertise of leading agronomists will drive discussion around the impact and management of disease and fungicide resistance at a local level.

Topics to be covered during the small group workshops include:

• Cereal growth stages and spray decisions
• Where different fungicides fit
• Fungicide resistance management and resources
• Integrating fungicides, varieties, epidemiology and seasons for profit
• Cereal canopy management interactions with foliar disease decision making
• Management strategies in cereal and canola that consider the underlying risk of fungicide resistance
• Strategies for managing succinate dehydrogenase inhibitor (SDHI) and other resistance issues, including net blotches in barley and triazole resistance in powdery mildew.

Participants will receive a first-class resource kit that includes GRDC publications, copies of presentations and regional reference documents.

GRDC has established AFREN to provide growers with the information support they need to reduce the emergence and manage the impacts of fungicide resistance.

The initiative brings together regional plant pathologists, fungicide resistance experts, and communication and extension specialists from across the country. Project partners include:

• AgCommunicators
• Agriculture Victoria
• the Centre for Crop and Disease Management
• Centre for Crop Health at the University of Southern Queensland
• Department of Primary Industries and Research Development (DPIRD) in Western Australia
• Field Applied Research (FAR) Australia
• ICAN
• Marcroft Grains Pathology
• the South Australian Research and Development Institute
• the University of Melbourne.

The Horsham workshop is fully subscribed and a waitlist is being created, but some places remain available at the Melbourne workshop. To register ($55 fee) or to go on the waitlist, visit ICAN's website.

For more information, visit GRDC's website, phone ICAN on 02 9482 4930 or email erica@icanrural.com.au.

Meanwhile, growers and advisers with an interest in fungicide resistance are invited to connect with AFREN by contacting the project’s coordinator, Kylie Ireland at AFREN@curtin.edu.au.