On the 21st of February, 8 SFS team members made the trip up to Bendigo to attend the 2023 GRDC Grains Research Update. The two-day event was jam-packed with talks discussing the latest in research as well providing the opportunity for the team to do plenty of networking, especially after online-based events in 2020-22 due to COVID.  

Key topics and take-aways for Day 1 included: 

• Talks on crop disease such as Septoria, rust and powdery mildew, and canola disease management. The disease pressure in 2023 is predicted to be extreme due to the carry-over of inoculum from 2022 crops.  

• Discussions on new herbicides and mixing new chemistry. For pre-emergent herbicides, consider soil type, tillage system, varietal difference and forecast rainfall. 
• Hyper Yielding Crops update. The biggest agronomy lever in closing the yield gap for hyper yielding wheat is disease management. 
• Subsoil amelioration focusing on zoning different soil types within a paddock. This may mean not ameliorating some areas within a paddock, decreasing costs.  

Key topics and take-aways for Day 2 included: 

• Can Australia survive without glyphosate? Learnings from Europe, Canada and Argentina. The use of glyphosate for public and home gardens is banned in most jurisdictions, with agricultural use limited to minimum and no-till systems in many jurisdictions.  

• Impacts of soil characteristics and environmental factors on Reflex® and Overwatch® efficacy. Length of carry-over will be determined by factors such as the beginning concentration in the soil, soil type and rainfall post-application (particularly summer rainfall).  
• Research on novel seed traits – long coleoptiles and hypocotyls for deeper sowing into subsoil moisture. 
• Long-term weather forecasting and climate outlook tools for forecasting extreme weather. Although the models are pointing to an El Nino, there is currently no evidence of the formation of one yet and this time of the year has the poorest forecasts. 

Senior Research and Extension Officer, Greta Duff, also presented the research undertaken by Southern Farming Systems into mitigating yield losses following waterlogging through crop nutrition. Understanding the crop growth stage and timing of waterlogging is critical to determining potential yield impacts. For those interested, Greta will also be presenting the talk again at our 2022 Season Results Day.  

Photo:  Greta Duff presenting at the 2023 GRDC Grains Research Update. (Photo supplied by Jessie Wettenhall, SFS).