The innovative Grains Research Development Corporation (GRDC)-funded Northern Grower Alliance (NGA) has wasted no time in linking researchers and growers through a northern New South Wales faba bean tour by Tamworth-based entomologist, Dr Adrian Nicholas.

NGA chief executive officer, Richard Daniel, said the newly-formed alliance will fast track research results into the hands of growers by helping scientists 'field truth' their work.

"We are helping researchers build better linkages with growers and this will also highlight any commercial limitations of research early on," Mr Daniel said.

"NGA is helping researchers look at how their small-plot management strategies work on a larger scale and if this saves one or two years in a research project that is a fantastic result."

Mr Daniel said northern faba bean growers were battling yield variability and NGA agronomists are keen to progress the promising work of New South Wales Department of Primary Industries researcher, Dr Nicholas.

"We organised for Dr Nicholas to meet with NGA agronomists including Drew Penberthy, Brad Coleman and Greg Rummery who took him onfarm to examine faba bean crops."

Dr Nicholas is investigating the damage to faba beans by thrips.

He’s particularly keen to determine whether one or both of the species found in faba beans, namely Western flower thrips and Onion thrips, cause the damage and whether there’s a difference in yield from damage done at the emergent or flowering stages.

"The cooperation from growers will make an enormous difference to our research by giving on-farm comparisons to the research trials in Tamworth.

"We have plots being treated for thrips at the emergent stage, flowering stage, and continuously, as well as some not being treated," Dr Nicholas said.

"This tour and follow-up visits will give us far more information about the nature and extent of the problem."

Dr Nicholas said he was surprised at how uniform the situation was across the dozen properties visited around Belatta, Edgeroi, Rowena, Burren Junction and Cryon.

"All of the crops we saw had thrips and all showed damage to the plants, although at relatively low levels.

"We will go back in September to see how much damage actually materialised in terms of bean set, and compare that to the species we collected from each crop."

Thrips have the potential to reduce yield by up to 30 percent on individual plants in severe situations and in previous seasons we have seen crops with up to 60pc of plants damaged.