GRDC - Driving Agronomy Podcasts

Farmers are being encouraged to think broadly about sowing times to take more direct advantage of late summer rainfall. James Hunt from CSIRO talks about a three pronged approach which has been successful in higher rainfall zones of the southern region where winter wheat varieties are still available.

A survey of growers has demonstrated a good understanding of rhizobial inoculation of legumes, but with some shortcomings when it comes to the details. We find out more on GRDC Driving Agronomy

Countering many of the abiotic stresses experienced by crops is well within the grasp of farmers and can lead to increases in productivity. On this program, Canadian agronomist Steve Larocque explains his systems approach to agriculture.

New GRDC funded research will seek to find out if adding additional potassium to a crop will help it resist the stress of drought and frost. More information on GRDC Driving Agronomy.

2015 will see the introduction of frost tolerance ratings in cereal crops. On this program GRDC Managing Director, John Harvey explains how it came about and also talks about some of the other R&D highlights of 2013.

GRDC makes travel awards available twice a year for farmers wishing to expand their knowledge to the direct benefit of the Australian grains industry. On this program we hear from farm consultant Sam Trengove, who along with 30 farmers, toured the grain growing areas of North America as recipients of a GRDC travel award.

Farmers are being urged to control summer weeds soon after harvest. For more on this story listen to GRDC Driving Agronomy.

A survey of eastern Australian growers has found that only around 15 percent of farmers are using true controlled traffic farming where all their wheel tracks are at a 3 metre spacing. This surprise result is discussed on this edition of GRDC Driving Agronomy.

The recent uncovering of ryegrass resistance to both Glyphosate and Paraquat in a WA vineyard has highlighted the value of the chemicals on which we rely. On this program we hear about one experiment which showed it’s possible for a ryegrass plant to develop some resistance to Paraquat even when it has not been applied to the plant.

Patch management of Glyphosate resistant weeds is being proposed by scientists as one means of eradicating resistant weeds. Patch management involves putting resources into patches of weeds whose seeds are relatively immobile. Find out more on this edition of GRDC Driving Agronomy.

Is Lupin the next super food? Definitely, according to Dr Regina Belski who has studied the health benefits of Lupin as a food for human consumption. Find out more on this edition of GRDC Driving Agronomy.

The international pulse industry hopes to use a proposed international year of pulses in 2016 as a springboard to introduce innovative new pulse products to the western world as a way of increasing demand for pulses.

GRDC’s capacity building program is providing opportunities for scores of people to develop their knowledge and skills to further benefit the grains industry. Find out more on this edition of GRDC Driving Agronomy.

If you are growing canola this year, it’s time to check your crop for the presence of Blackleg disease. On this program, Blackleg specialist, Steve Marcroft describes the checking process and tells us why it is important.

GRDC is funding a three year project to monitor mouse populations across the grains belt of Australia. To find out more about this story listen to an interview with Simon Humphrys from the Invasive Animals CRC on GRDC Driving Agronomy.