NGN Can early planting of wheat be profitable in Sth Qld and Nth NSW

Reference number: PROC-9177193

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Release date:: Tuesday 17 December 2024
Closing time:: Friday 31 January 2025, at 05:00 PM ACT local time
Enquiry deadline:: Friday 24 January 2025, at 05:00 PM ACT local time

Summary

Variable climatic conditions and periodic rainfall has led to the appeal of increasing cropping diversity in Northern NSW and Southern Queensland. The optimum planting period for spring wheat is mid-May to June, with anthesis occurring in September. Growers from the Goondiwindi NGN considered the appeal of winter or longer season wheat varieties to take advantage of soil moisture which accumulated earlier in the year (February–March). Current developments in breeding have seen the new cultivars adaptable to warmer climates. The investment would evaluate these new cultivars and potential genetics that would benefit future cultivars for the suitability of production in the local regions.

This investment is designed to illustrate what yields are possible for the longer season wheat types in the sub regions, and to understand what other farming systems issues need to be considered as a result of planting cereals in an earlier sowing window.

Offer period

Offers will remain open for acceptance by the GRDC for a period of 6 months after the Closing Time.

Document contact and enquiries

Attention: Lyndal Gordon, Contract Administrator
Grains Research and Development Corporation
Email: lyndal.gordon@grdc.com.au

Make all requests for further information or clarification in relation to this procurement in writing (email) prior to 24 January 2025.

GRDC will publish all requests and responses to requests on the GRDC website under Questions and Answers at the bottom of this webpage.

Consortia response

GRDC will accept Tenders from Consortia.

Lodgement of Tender

Submit your Tender response electronically through the Grains Investment Portal.

AusTender

TBC.

Description

Outcome

By March 2028, growers in the NW NSW and SW QLD regions will have access to yield and economic data comparing early/long season varieties to currently grown commercial spring varieties over three years of field experiment results. Extension activities will disseminate the risk-rewards of incorporating winter wheat into their farming systems, expected to reach 30% of growers in the region.

Outputs

Output 1.

Title: Field experimentation trials 2025 -2027.

Description: Conduct a minimum of three field-based experiments each year comparing early/long season commercial cultivars sown March with main season spring types, sown after late April in Northern NSW and Southern Queensland. Experimental sites should be well characterised and weather data recorded throughout the season.

Experimental sites should be a platform for grower and advisor discussion. In addition, discussions should generate agreed input data for economic analysis which must be used to inform whole farm economic impact analysis.

Output 2.

Title: Publication resources on the risk-reward of early/long season wheat in Northern NSW and Southern Queensland.

Description: Using a variety of appropriate communication platforms (such as media release, podcasts, radio interviews, field walks, ground cover stories) disseminate learnings including grower experiences.

From Output 1 learnings, produce a factsheet or similar outlining key considerations for sowing early/long season wheat in the target region and likely risk-rewards growers are likely to experience.

Annual reports will include seasonal updates and key learnings, culminating in a final project report upon the completion of field experiments and extension activities. This report will highlight key results, such as the optimum planting window and yield potential compared to benchmark spring wheat. It will also outline extension materials and detail the number of growers and advisors the project engaged with.

Proposed Budget

Proposed Contract & Term

GRDC will contract under the terms of the GRDC Standard Two-Party Research Contract.

The schedule(s) attached to the contract will detail the project details: the outcomes, outputs, milestones, budget, participating personnel and required intellectual property.

The template contract containing the proposed Terms and Conditions is available on the Application resources page on the GRDC website.

It is anticipated that any resultant contract in relation to this procurement will commence with a proposed term of 40 months.

Conditions for Participation

The following are mandatory conditions with which a Tenderer must comply to participate in this procurement process:

The Tenderer must be a single legal entity or recognised firm of partners except where the Tender is submitted by a consortium and the Tender specifies that each member of the proposed consortium will be party to the contract.
The Tenderer and any proposed subcontractor must be compliant with the Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012, the Modern Slavery Act 2018 and any other applicable labour laws and standards in the jurisdiction in which they operate.
The Tenderer and any subcontractor must not have a judicial decision against it (not including decisions under appeal) relating to employee entitlements and who have not paid the claim.
The Tenderer and any subcontractor must not be named on the Consolidated List, being the list of persons and entities who are subject to targeted financial sanctions or travel bans under Australian sanction laws, as maintained by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Minimum Form and Content Requirements

The following are the mandatory content and format requirements that the Tenderer must complete and provide to participate in this procurement process:

Submit Tenders using the Grains Investment Portal.
Write Tenders in English and express any measurements in Australian legal units of measurement.
Budget details must be submitted on the ‘GRDC Budget Template’ provided in the Grains Investment Portal.

Evaluation Criteria

In the table below are the Evaluation Criteria that the Tender Evaluation Team will use to assess the value for money of all Tenders.

No	Type	Weighting
1	Technical – Qualitative evaluation criteria related to non-price factors such as methodology, project plan, track record, experience.
1a	Describe the method/s to achieve the investment outputs, including: number of years and seasons of field testing, lab work etc. proposed locations of activities. management and design of experiments etc. statistical design and analysis capacity.	40%
1b	Demonstrated track record of the project team, including: a) relevant achievements of the project leader in providing leadership, co-ordination, management, monitoring and evaluation and the timely delivery of high-quality outputs. b) relevant technical knowledge and experience of all key personnel (including proposed subcontractors) in the research area. c) relevant achievements in the delivery of commercial IP (if relevant). d) ability of the project team to collaborate with the relevant research organisations and industry personnel to build on the research (national and international) already undertaken in this area.	30%
1c	An overview of your approach to data management in accordance with GRDC RD&E Data Management Guidelines, including: existing data that you intend to use during the project and any potential restrictions on its use, including in publication or commercialisation of the intended project outputs how all data will be managed during the investment new valuable data that will be created during the project and the Approved Repository where it will be stored. Note: We recommend searching the GRDC Data Catalogue for data that could be used in your proposed work, either by negating the need to generate new data or by adding to analyses being carried out.	30%
2	Price - The tendered budget.	N/A
3	Risk - Risks inherent in the application including the degree of compliance with the draft contract and any actual or perceived conflict of interest.	N/A
4	Australian economy - The economic benefit of the procurement to the Australian economy.	N/A