Stats increased capacity helps grow grains research gains

Statistical science has been hailed as an ‘unsung hero’ of improvements in Australia’s grains industry, helping to deliver rapid advances in crop varieties, agronomic knowledge and farming practices.

While the critical role it plays in ensuring research trials are well designed, well targeted and results accurately interpreted can be inconspicuous within the broader industry, the practical outcomes aren’t – relevant research is a key step to productivity and profitability improvements in the paddock.

It’s little wonder then that the industry is firmly focused on expanding the use and resourcing of statistical analysis teams in agricultural research and development programs, given their potential to improve the cost-effectiveness of research, the integrity of results and ultimately a wider adoption of outcomes.

At the same time, this involvement is presenting invaluable opportunities to nurture and extend the skills of the next generation of experts in biostatistical analysis, known as biometricians, who will be key collaborators on research programs into the future.

Leading this contribution is the Statistics for the Australian Grains Industry (SAGI) program, a Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) initiative supported by the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries (DAF), which is actively involved in a number of northern-focused research projects including three with the Cooperative Research Centre for Developing Northern Australia (CRCNA).

The CRCNA brings together industry, universities and other research bodies, small to medium enterprises, regional development organisations, northern jurisdictions and international partners in a collaborative research and development venture to assist businesses, governments and researchers in identifying opportunities for business and growth in the north.

SAGI’s involvement with the CRCNA venture has seen a new member added to the team, graduate biometrician Emily Plant, who works for DAF and is engaging with project collaborators on trial design, data collection and analysis.

Supervisor and SAGI principal biometrician Kerry Bell (DAF) said the northern Australia projects also provided an opportunity for young biometricians like Emily to gain experience as a consulting biometrician across a range of areas, such as communications and stakeholder relationship management.

“The CRCNA projects provide an excellent opportunity for capacity building through involvement in project consulting, communications with project stakeholders and collaborators, understanding and addressing the research questions, nurturing relationships between project participants and spending time in the field at trial sites and grower meetings,” Ms Bell said.

“Building and nurturing professional relationships with researchers, agronomists, consultants and growers is a real strength of SAGI and something we see as vital in delivering robust, relevant and adoptable research outcomes.

“If those working relationships are strong, it helps us gather, analyse, understand and interpret the whole spectrum of project data which ensures the research outcomes will be more meaningful to growers.

“From there it’s important to effectively communicate those outcomes and highlight how they can be used to make more informed management decisions at a paddock level – there’s little point in having good statistics if they don’t help drive practice change.”

Projects under the current $4.5 million investment partnership between CRCNA and GRDC are:

• A project led by agronomist Tony Matchett from Savannah Ag Consulting and two far north Queensland-based producers to develop an oilseed industry in northern Australia.
• A collaboration between the Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation – a research institute of the University of Queensland supported by the Queensland Government (UQ-QAAFI) – and Radicle Seeds Australia (an Emerald-based and farmer-owned seed company); AgForce Queensland; Northern Gulf Resources Management Group; Elders; and four grain growers in the Gilbert and Burdekin catchments to de-risk broadacre cropping options for northern Queensland.
• A project with DAF and a Georgetown grower focused on developing a broadacre cropping sector in northern Queensland.
• And research with the Northern Territory Department of Primary Industry and Resources developing a broadacre cropping sector in the NT.

For more information on CRCNA and its research projects, visit www.crcna.com.au.

For more information on SAGI and some of its capacity building initiatives and to listen to a ‘mind-blowing’ story about SAGI statisticians, tune into this GRDC podcast

Contact details

For interviews

DAF Media
media@daf.qld.gov.au

Contact

Toni Somes, GRDC Communications Manager – North
0436 622 64
toni.somes@grdc.com.au