grain research News
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Agricultural consultant rounds out GRDC panel
Well known agronomic and agribusiness consultant Chris Wilkins brings over 20 years’ experience in the Western Australian grains industry to his new role with the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC). Hailing from Badgingarra in WA’s grainbelt, Mr Wilkins said his skills would add to the spread of expertise on the western regional panel whose key role is to feed ...
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History sheds revealing light on crop sequencing
Forty years of crop sequencing trials have recently been collated by the Department of Agriculture and Food WA (DAFWA), giving Western Australian grain growers real insights into the rotational benefits of break crops. Representing more than 160 crop sequence experiments, the results were presented by DAFWA’s Mark Seymour at the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) supported 2009 ...
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Big bucks from carbon sequestration - fact or fiction?
With carbon credits in the news and Australia developing policies to meet its Kyoto targets, many farmers are intrigued by soil carbon’s potential to not only boost soil productivity but put money in the bank by selling carbon credits. But just how realistic is that goal? Dr Jeff Baldock of CSIRO Land and Water, SA, will address this and other aspects of soil carbon in the Grains Research and ...
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In-crop nitrogen key to summer sorghum yields
With the summer cropping season on our doorstep, growers are weighing up their planting options against the market, seasonal conditions and gross margin calculations. For many the summer cropping rotation will include sorghum and maximising crop yield and profitability will be a key driver of all pre-plant and in-crop agronomic decisions. Recent research funded by the GRDC, Queensland Alliance ...
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New crop of plant scientists emerges at CSIRO
Under the CSIRO Plant Industry Summer Student Program, 17 students are engaged in a range of important agricultural research projects designed to discover, for example, how high temperatures affect crops and the genetic bases of crop development. The Program, which runs from 6 December to 11 February, provides university students with real insights into the day-to-day working lives of some of ...
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Strategic organic matter throughput helps to build soil carbon and boost crop yields
Potential improvement in crop yields and reduced greenhouse gas emissions were among the benefits of increased soil organic matter throughput according to the findings of a project funded by growers and the Australian Government through the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) and the Victorian Department of Primary Industries (DPI). The relationships between organic matter inputs ...
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Researchers discover how to make green plastics from plants
Australian researchers are a step closer to turning plants into ‘biofactories’ capable of producing oils which can be used to replace petrochemicals used to manufacture a range of products. Scientists working within the joint CSIRO/Grains Research and Development Corporation Crop Biofactories Initiative (CBI) have achieved a major advance by accumulating 30 per cent of an unusual fatty acid (UFA) ...
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Using rotation crops to improve soil quality
Soil quality issues are being researched within two crop rotation experiments that started in 1994 at Narrabri. They compare several crop rotations that include or exclude legume phases. The data presented here relate to the most recent 2-year cycles of these experiments. Following cotton harvest at the end of the previous cycle, rotation crops are sown (winter cereal, faba beans (grain) or vetch ...
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Nitrogen soil tests - Do they always reflect what is going on?
Do soil tests always reflect what’s going on? Emphatically, NO. The usefulness of nitrogen (N) soil testing is frequently a topic of discussion in both academic and farming circles. Those for the negative generally cite variability involved in sampling, lack of analytical laboratory accuracy and/or precision and lack of response calibration as factors that influence their position. While they ...
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Don’t be caught out by exceeding pesticide MRLs
Growers of pulse crops selling to export markets should be wary of being caught out by exceeding pesticide MRLs (Maximum Residue Limits) set in the countries buying their produce, according to Queensland Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry senior entomologist Mr Hugh Brier. Mr Brier said MRL restrictions could vary significantly from country to country. He said it was vital that ...
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Symposium Tackles Golden Horseshoe’s Ag Identity
The Town of Lincoln and Niagara College hosted an agricultural symposium last week, inviting 90 people in the agricultural sector from across the Golden Horseshoe to talk about growing the food and farming cluster in the region. In the photo, answering questions from the audience are presenters, from left: VRIC CEO Jim Brandle, GHFFA executive director Janet Horner, Food and Beverage Ontario ...
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