Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) Ground Cover

Irrigation allows crop mix to follow the markets

Wed, 02 May 2012 12:40:00 GMT

With a family history of growing innovative crops under irrigation, it is not surprising that Yelarbon farmer Phil Donges takes crop flexibility in his stride.

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Salt-tolerant durum may return profitability to lost land

Wed, 02 May 2012 12:40:00 GMT

The decades-long despair of growers watching productive land being lost to transient salinity may be about to be arrested by a major breakthrough in salt-tolerance genetics.

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Soybeans show strength to withstand heavy rainfall

Wed, 02 May 2012 12:40:00 GMT

The floods across northern Victoria and southern NSW were among the worst on record, with many farms suffering severe damage. But for the Barnes family the unheralded weather produced some positive...

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Precision soil probes guide amelioration works

Wed, 02 May 2012 12:40:00 GMT

Gavin Beeck is not someone who likes to rely on guesswork when it comes to determining the nutrients needed to improve soil health on his Gnowangerup farm.

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Updates mirror industry dynamism

Thu, 03 May 2012 12:40:00 GMT

One of the GRDC's central responsibilities as the manager of national grains research in Australia is to effectively disseminate the outcomes of the research it funds on growers' behalf.

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IT-friendly research Updates

Thu, 03 May 2012 12:40:00 GMT

Loaded with the new GRDC Weed ID app, iPads were on hand at the Adelaide Grains Research Adviser Update, as were GRDC webmaster Nikki Bricknell and manager of delivery platforms Tom McCue who were...

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Northern grower joins GRDC board

Thu, 03 May 2012 12:40:00 GMT

Goondiwindi grower John Woods has been appointed to the GRDC board.

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Corporates to leave Europe GM-free

Thu, 03 May 2012 12:40:00 GMT

Some of the world's largest biotech companies are withdrawing their GM research and products from Europe, citing the ongoing political and consumer resistance there to the technology.

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New tool to help manage frost and heat risks

Thu, 03 May 2012 12:40:00 GMT

A web-based tool is now available to better manage climatic risks

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Grower sees R and D slowly thawing the frost threat

Thu, 03 May 2012 12:40:00 GMT

After frost ruined Peter Roberts's crops in 1999, the WA grain grower has been taking steps to progressively mitigate the risk on susceptible paddocks

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Fungicides need management plan

Thu, 03 May 2012 12:40:00 GMT

Crop protection specialists are encouraging growers to develop a disease management plan for their fungicide use this season to manage both cereal rust and maximum residue limits (MRLs).

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Canopy management leads to record wheat yield

Thu, 03 May 2012 12:40:00 GMT

A Darling Downs family has become the first cropping enterprise in Queensland to break the eight-tonnes-per-hectare yield barrier.

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Soybean back as southern summer crop

Thu, 03 May 2012 12:40:00 GMT

A farming family in northern Victoria has swung back to growing soybeans due to the crop's high profit potential and low cost of production

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Scholarship broadens student’s horizons

Thu, 03 May 2012 12:40:00 GMT

Tiffany Hunt, a third-year rural science student at the University of New England (UNE), is well on the way to a promising career in agriculture after being awarded a GRDC-supported Horizon...

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Hidden pain of a drought-breaking flood

Thu, 03 May 2012 12:40:00 GMT

A report on the perceptions and experiences of farmers during the torrential rains that started in late 2010 and ended Australia's decade-long drought reveals many shades of emotions, from relief and...

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Industry snapshot

Thu, 03 May 2012 12:40:00 GMT

Research Award HRZ appointment Scientists honoured Adjuvants explained Faster market reports Nuffield Scholarships

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Farm-grown bread rises in Victoria’s south-west

Thu, 03 May 2012 12:40:00 GMT

While an appetite for value-adding has seen visionary growers move beyond the farmgate, rarely does a chef venture the other way - into the paddock. But that's what Victorian chef George Biron has...

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Nimble management keeps cropping on a roll

Thu, 03 May 2012 12:40:00 GMT

Summer pulses play an important role in achieving high returns, both in terms of dollars and nitrogen

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Strong commodity price outlook

Thu, 03 May 2012 12:40:00 GMT

Global agricultural commodity prices are likely, after a short-term dip, to remain strong for the next decade, according to a leading market analyst.

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Grain expectations in sugar country

Thu, 03 May 2012 12:40:00 GMT

The decision to grow grains and pulses in northern Queensland proved to be a steep learning curve for Aaron Sanderson

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Science closes in on salt-tolerant crops

Thu, 03 May 2012 12:40:00 GMT

A salt-tolerant durum wheat that out-yields commercial varieties by 25 per cent on salty soils has been developed by scientists using a sophisticated new approach to traditional crop-breeding...

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Hopes for a salt-tolerant barley lift after first test

Thu, 03 May 2012 12:40:00 GMT

A salt-tolerance gene inserted into barley has undergone a small GM field trial in WA and produced results that reward years of gene discovery work for a South Australian research team

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GRDC scholar anchors barley trial

Thu, 03 May 2012 12:40:00 GMT

The 2011 GM barley trial has at its helm GRDC scholar Rhiannon Schilling.

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Irrigation still lifts N and yield in ‘wet’ Tasmania

Thu, 03 May 2012 12:40:00 GMT

Additional inputs can increase Tasmanian wheat yields by 20 per cent, but it is only profitable when the input prices are economic

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Wet weather prime for snail control

Thu, 03 May 2012 12:40:00 GMT

Grains industry and entomology authorities have urged southern growers to intensify their approach to snail control.

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Vertosol soils reveal dual-purpose potential

Thu, 03 May 2012 12:40:00 GMT

Grazing the cracking clay vertosol soils in northern NSW may not have the long-term impact on subsequent crop yields as previously thought.

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Seed-borne Fusarium tests crown rot strategies

Thu, 03 May 2012 12:40:00 GMT

There were several commercial wheat crops in northern NSW in 2011 that experienced high levels of crown rot even though they had come out of good rotations, such as canola and double-cropped...

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Grain technology in progress

Thu, 03 May 2012 12:40:00 GMT

It can take many years for novel solutions to evolve from concept to products. Here we look at the progress of some of the projects previously reported in Ground Cover

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Investment to strengthen role of pulses

Wed, 02 May 2012 12:40:00 GMT

The partner agencies in Pulse Breeding Australia (PBA) have emphasised their confidence in the direction the pulse industry is taking with a commitment to invest about $11.8 million a year in PBA...

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Quality reputation starting to bite

Thu, 03 May 2012 12:40:00 GMT

Pulse exporters are becoming increasingly bullish about the prospect of pulse crops as they expand from being handy break crops into strong export performers in their own right

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Pulse demand rising but challenges remain

Thu, 03 May 2012 12:40:00 GMT

A Queensland pulse processor's steady business expansion is seen as one sign that the demand for Australian pulses is beginning to accelerate

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PestIQ – new online insect tool

Thu, 03 May 2012 12:40:00 GMT

A new tool now available to growers and farm advisers will help identify and manage insect pests in south-eastern Australia.

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Researchers step up to push durum reliability

Thu, 03 May 2012 12:40:00 GMT

A new five-year investment in the Australian durum industry is aiming to improve the reliability of this high-value crop for growers

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A paddock-to-plate pasta tale

Thu, 03 May 2012 12:40:00 GMT

Their Scottish forebears spent time at the Victorian goldfields before taking up land in South Australia's Clare Valley in the 1860s, but it is the current generation of the Maitland family that has...

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Soil probes build confidence in tackling nutrient constraints

Thu, 03 May 2012 12:40:00 GMT

While soil sampling can be perceived as a time-consuming chore, one grower says the practice has given him the knowledge needed to address costly crop constraints

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Water availability lifts southern soybean prospects

Thu, 03 May 2012 12:40:00 GMT

Recent field days in south-eastern Australia have given growers the opportunity to consider options for growing soybeans

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Are you ready for in-crop spraying?

Thu, 03 May 2012 12:40:00 GMT

Spraying specialist Bill Gordon looks at the issues governing effective spray operations

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On-farm review helps to plan biosecurity risk management

Thu, 03 May 2012 12:40:00 GMT

It's never too late for a biosecurity risk assessment to help address existing and new crop threats

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NVT surveillance helps verify pest-absence data

Thu, 03 May 2012 12:40:00 GMT

When it comes to meeting the expectations of international grain buyers there is a world of difference between -not known to exist and -known not to exist for exotic plant pests and diseases.

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Communicators’ role in RD and E recognised

Thu, 03 May 2012 12:40:00 GMT

The importance of communication is highlighted in this year's recipients of the GRDC Seed of Light award

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