GRDC Grains Research Update – Goondiwindi

Goondi’s 2-day GRDC Grains Research Update is not one to miss for the Southern Qld & Northern NSW grains industry. Come along to hear and discuss the latest grains research topics, share ideas and network with colleagues and friends.

Day 1 Program – Tuesday 4 March 2025

General plenary day 1 (live streamed)

• Precision decisions in a tight economic climate – manage inputs, maximise productivity/environmental efficiencies and build economic resilience in high input-cost seasons. Tim Neale (Data Farming)
• N cycling and loss pathways – what don’t we know and what insights and questions have come from preliminary data sets in a major new national project. Mike Bell (Uni of Qld)
• Paraquat regulatory review – what's happening & what other products are or will be under APVMA review and what are the implications for industry stewardship? Gordon Cumming (GRDC)

Grain Automate (live streamed)

• On farm autonomy – connectivity, robots and machinery. Tom Andrews (Connected Farms)
• The autonomous agronomist – automating data collection tasks for agros. Tim Neale (Data Farming)
• Technology to enable site-specific herbicide application or prescriptions. Lara Vallejo-Roosdorp (Syngenta)

Spray application with Tom Wolf (Agrimetrix, Canada) (live streamed)

• Nozzle selection with pulse width modulation (PWM) and selecting the correct frequency to run these systems on
• Experiences with spot sprayers in Nth America – implications for resistance, economics, nozzles for systems
• Sprayer width & speed impacts on spray deposition of aerodynamic turbulence of wheels, tractor units & boom components. The observations are sobering.
• Drones: canopy deposition uniformity, roles, water volumes, droplet sizes & drift.
• Sprayer cleanout – where are most issues occurring?

Pot Pouri

• Biology and management of wild oats. Gulshan Mahajan (Uni of Qld)
• Management strategies for Phalaris. Bhagirath Chauhan (Uni of Qld)
• Heat stress during grain-filling in wheat (PhD presentation).Mitch Clifton (NSW DPIRD)
• Reflections on 5 years of subsoil constraint economics. Richard Flavel (UNE)

Day 2 Program – Wednesday 5 March 2025

Early risers discussion

• Key strategies for problem weeds and the role/fit of glufosinate and group 14 herbicides
  Chair: Peter Birch
  Panel: Bhagirath Chauhan, Drew Penberthy, Chris Maunder, Pete McKenzie, Paul McIntosh & Maurie Street

Farming systems (live streamed)

• Farming systems impact on soil biology, soil pathogens and system resilience. Gupta Vadakattu (CSIRO)
• How do regenerative practices such as ley pastures and manure compare to more conventional management systems in long term farming systems trials. Lindsay Bell (CSIRO)
• Farming system impacts of running higher levels of crop competition with weeds. Andrew Erbacher (DPI Qld)
• Does increasing wheat sowing rates to combat weeds lead to yield or quality instability & what are the implications for crown-rot? Maurie Street (GOA)

Chickpeas (live streamed)

• Breeding & growing chickpeas for market quality & preparing for shifts in market demand. The influence of genetics & growing environment on grain composition & quality for target markets. Sally Buck  (CSIRO)
• Water use and water use efficiency in chickpea during key stages for yield formation. Fernanda Dreccer (CSIRO)
• Understanding the nitrogen contribution of chickpeas – paddock survey of 25 crops across Queensland. Jordan Davis (DPI Qld)
• Benchmarking genetic gains in chickpea for yield and Ascochyta. What's in the pipeline; yield, heat tolerance, protein & N fixation in chickpea & other pulses. Nicole Dron (NSW DPIRD)

Phosphorus

• Legacy impacts of deep P applied ~8-10 years ago & sampling to drive decisions. David Lester (DPI Qld)
• RiskWi$e: Deep P, N & K combinations. Jayne Gentry (DPI Qld) 
• The nutritional value of manures & other organic P sources & uptake over time. Tim McLaren (Uni of Qld)
• Phosphorus budgeting for grain production systems & improving P uptake using different P sources (PhD presentation). Maryam Barati (Southern Cross Uni)

General plenary day 2 (live streamed)

• What's stripe rust really costing us? Maurie Street (GOA)
• Regional fungicide resistance and disease management update. Steve Simpfendorfer (NSW DPIRD)
• Do multi-purpose biofuel crops have a place in Australian farming systems? Anthony van Herwaarden  (CSIRO)

(Agenda subject to change)

Click here for full agenda

Live streaming

In addition to being run as a face-to-face Update, the main auditorium sessions at the Goondiwindi Update will be live streamed for online viewing.

Those who register for the free live streams, will receive links to the live streams close to the event & a link to the online proceedings. Not all sessions will be run in the main auditorium, so not all sessions will be live streamed. Please refer to above agenda.

Cost (in AUD$): See registration