GRDC - Driving Agronomy Podcasts

There’s a whole world out there in cyber land that is just waiting to make your life easier. All you need is the right sort of phone and a spirit of adventure. Find out more on this edition of GRDC Driving Agronomy.

Does strategic tillage undo long term improvement in soils under no-till farming systems? That’s the question that Dr Yash Dang is setting out to answer with a research project looking at the impact of occasional tillage. On this program he discusses his results so far.

Farmers have a new mate! It’s called CliMate – a free downloadable app for iPhones and iPads that brings together more than 60 years of historical weather data right up to yesterday’s rain or sunshine. CliMate puts some objective rigour behind your gut feel about what the season is going to do.

Ongoing research funded by GRDC has found some merit in sowing cereal crops in an east west direction with fewer weeds, greater yield and increased moisture conservation reported. More information on this edition of GRDC Driving Agronomy.

US weed scientist and media personality, Ford Baldwin once famously told his farmer readers to spray Roundup every Monday. Why would he say that? Well at the time it sounded like a good idea!

The key to managing foliar disease is to only grow varieties that are resistant to the disease. Grant Hollaway from DPI in Victoria reminds us how this strategy has worked in the past and why growing susceptible varieties is a recipe for future trouble.

Growers planning to control ryegrass populations in their paddocks with Sakura are being urged to only use full label rates to stave off any resistance emerging to this new and powerful herbicide.

Soil scientists are urging farmers to incorporate their stubble with additional nutrients – where and when it is possible to do so - as a way of increasing soil organic matter. CSIRO soil scientist, Clive Kirby explains in this edition of GRDC Driving Agronomy.

The timing of a slug baiting program is more important than the number of times baits are laid out. Leading slug researcher, Michael Nash from the University of Melbourne outlines the most effective slug control program and warns that spraying slugs is probably not the answer when it comes to emergency control methods.

The first case of an herbicide resistant weed was uncovered in 1970 and since then the number of resistant weeds has blown out to nearly 400. Ian Heap gives us some hard data and some hard facts on how people around the world are managing, with fewer chemical options, to control weeds.

Coonamble farmer, Tony Single, has battled Glyphosate resistance for many years. Hear his story about how he has managed to control his resistant weeds and keep farming on this edition of GRDC Driving Agronomy.

What was the reaction within Monsanto when the herbicide glyphosate first started to lose its universal effectiveness? And what lessons were learned as a result? We speak with the head of Monsanto’s global weed resistance effort, John Soteres on this episode of GRDC Driving Agronomy.

The continued proliferation of wild radish in Western Australia has caused a re-think about how to deal with the damaging weed. On this program, Bill Campbell from Nufarm in WA speaks about the lessons that Eastern Australia can learn from western farmers when it comes to dealing with wild radish.

The continued proliferation of wild radish in Western Australia has caused a re-think about how to deal with the damaging weed. On this program, Bill Campbell from Nufarm in WA speaks about the lessons that Eastern Australia can learn from western farmers when it comes to dealing with wild radish.

New research has shown that early sowing of longer season wheat varieties into a wet soil profile can deliver yield advantages of up to 2 tonnes per hectare. James Hunt from CSIRO Plant Industry explains on this edition of GRC Driving Agronomy.