ExtensionAUS™: answers at your fingertips

Call to action/take home messages

ExtensionAUS™ is a national online network that allows two-way dialogue and provision of information and advice on crop disease and nutrition issues - 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year - when and where you need it.

ExtensionAUS™ gathers experts in crop nutrition and diseases and offers:

• A single portal to access information;
• Real-time information exchange between growers and research & development experts;
• Coordinating sources of information and decision-support tools -streamlining the task of finding the right information for you;
• Timely, relevant, peer-reviewed and up-to-date information; and
• The opportunity to pose a question directly to the expert panel via the Ask an Expert tool.

When making on-farm decisions, time spent searching for information can mean the difference between acting in the right window for a bumper crop or pouring profits down the drain. Since its inception in 2014, collaboration and responsiveness have become synonymous with extensionAUS™. ExtensionAUS™ uses the latest technology such as online meetings and collaboration tools to connect industry experts across Australia to share knowledge easily and efficiently. This information is then delivered to growers and advisers via web content including articles, YouTube videos, webinars, eBooks, social media and more.

Seasonally relevant information at your fingertips

ExtensionAUS™ brings together the experts into ‘communities of practice’ in crop nutrition and field crop diseases. A ‘community of practice’ is a wide range of experts from around Australia, who are willing to formally network together to share knowledge and information to support farmers, their advisers and grains researchers. ExtensionAUS™ communities have members from state government, private industry, universities, industry organisations, grower groups and agronomists.

These experts meet monthly to discuss current issues, local insights and the knowledge around them, to determine where the gaps lie and respond to what’s front of mind for growers and advisers in their area of expertise. This regular interaction helps inform decision making and allows extensionAUS™ to deliver real-time, quick and easy access to information; equalling faster and better-informed decision-making. Our experts peer-review all information published by extensionAUS™, ensuring extensionAUS™ is not only timely and relevant but research-based and credible. Through extensionAUS™, growers and advisers have access to more than 180 crop nutrition and 160 crop disease resources, with new and seasonally relevant content added weekly.

Can’t find the answer? Ask an expert!

ExtensionAUS™ also offers the option to pose a question directly to the crop nutrition and field crop diseases communities of practice via ‘Ask an expert’. ‘Ask an expert’is an online tool which offers growers and advisers one-to-one answers, directing your question to the most trusted and qualified expert, taking into account variables such as crop type and location. You don’t have to know who to approach; extensionAUS™ will do the work for you. Whether you’re out in the field, on your mobile device, or at home, sitting at your desk – the expert who can help find the solution is just a click away.

How are growers and advisors using extensionAUS™ resources?

Recent feedback from extensionAUS™ users has shown that the resources provided are extremely useful , with users stating:

“It has become a go to site/source of information, when reading up on current problems and topics, providing good refresher info and new research that has come to light.”

“[I have] used resources directly to show to clients, shared relevant articles with farmers.”

“Searched up further information on and found other links to an issue then discussed it with other agronomists”

“[I] used a warning on Septoria in wheat, assessing crops, was preparing to control, season dried up. Looking at altering fungicides used as a result of info read.”

ExtensionAUS™ has also become a key tool for industry experts who engage in communities of practice, not only to exchange knowledge, but to provide information for their clients. Rob Norton, Regional director, International Plant Nutrition Institute (IPNI) and chair of the crop nutrition community of practice said:

“This – to me – is the first time that a coordinated multi-state and multi-stakeholder approach has been undertaken to provide regular updates to growers”

How can you use extensionAUS™ today?

1. Follow us on Twitter @AuCropNutrition and @AusCropDiseases or Facebook: eXtensionAUS Field Crop Diseases and eXtensionAUSCropNutrition
2. Check out our top 5 articles/videos from 2017 by visiting our website
   1. Crop nutrition
      1. When do retained stubbles increase the need for nitrogen?
      2. Micronutrient deficiencies - real but unpredictable
      3. How effective are high nitrogen rates for canola-wheat rotations?
      4. Focus on nitrogen and biomass for better canola
      5. Save the best grain for seed - know your zinc levels
   2. Field crop diseases
      1. The northern chickpea Ascochyta diaries
      2. Monitor blackleg severity to ensure return on fungicide application
      3. Spot the difference – identifying fungal diseases on canola
      4. Preliminary Predicta®B results show prevalence of ascochyta inoculum
      5. Reduce resistance risk with good fungicide management
3. Ask an Expert – visit our website and navigate to the community of practice which you want to ask a question of. Your question will then be directed to the relevant expert.
4. Subscribe to our newsletters – visit our website to subscribe.
5. Join a community of practice – contact Tony Cox via the details below for more information.

Acknowledgements

This project is made possible by the significant contributions of growers through the support of the GRDC, the authors would like to thank them for their continued support.

The field crop diseases and crop nutrition communities of practice are supported by the Grains Research & Development Corporation (GRDC), in partnership with Agriculture Victoria and the New South Wales Department of Primary Industries (NSW DPI). ExtensionAUS™ is delivered in partnership by the GRDC, the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation, Agriculture Victoria and NSW DPI.

Contact details

Tony Cox
NSW DPI
Orange Agricultural Institute, 1447 Forest Road
Orange NSW 2800
Mb: 0427 259 691
Email: tony.cox@dpi.nsw.gov.au

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