Positive outcomes from ongoing research and development supported by the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) have enabled Western Australia graingrowers to stay at the forefront of agriculture in the past 12 months.

Western Panel Chairman and Hyden graingrower, Dale Baker said the GRDC consulted growers to establish research priorities and direction, ensuring GRDC’s $24 million western region investment in 2004/05 addressed grower needs in the medium term, while also helping manage emerging issues.

Western Australian growers were hard hit by rust and frost and these issues are being addressed through breeding programs and research projects.

“Promising development of new frost tolerant Australian malting and feed barley varieties should significantly lower the risk and cost of frost damage, at least in barley.

“Frost tolerant traits have been discovered in a diverse collection of barley lines from other countries, prompting the GRDC to support an aggressive breeding strategy to incorporate frost tolerance into commercial barley varieties,” Mr Baker said.

One of the first GRDC-funded barley varieties, Hamelin, is being received as malting following two years of commercial testing and brewing trials.

Hamelin is a medium maturing barley intended to replace Stirling as a malting barley option in medium and low rainfall areas.

“Developed by the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia and the GRDC, with support from the Western Malting Barley Council, Hamelin meets the specifications for the malting barley grade and should be well received by international markets, particularly China and Japan,” Mr Baker said.

Investment into farming systems has also continued in 2004.

A new precision agriculture (PA) steering group formed in August, integrating GRDC supported PA activities, will put Western Australian graingrowers in a stronger position to realise the benefits of PA.

Despite showing potential for increased returns and/or savings from $10 and $50 per hectare, only about three per cent of growers nationally are using PA.

“By raising awareness of PA activities and providing opportunities for projects to

co-operate, more growers will be introduced to the benefits of PA and will be able to access appropriate peer and technical support, industry input and guidance on directions,” Mr Baker said.

The popularity of no-tillage in WA continues, with an estimated 70 per cent of growers adopting it. Accordingly, the GRDC continued its long-running support of the Western Australian No-Till Farmers Association and its Meckering research site.

Stubble management research and options were a major focus of the GRDC Western Panel 2004 spring tour and growers have identified the need for better stubble management practices.

The GRDC also supported research into the impact of stubble retention practices on soil biology.

According to Mr Baker, stubble retention positively increases micro-organism mass in soil and in Western Australia those soil micro-organisms are highly efficient deliverers of biologically derived nitrogen.

“Managing soils for optimal biological fertility can therefore positively influence potential yield.”

A GRDC project supervised by Frances Hoyle of the University of Western Australia found nitrogen supply in dryland agricultural systems derived mainly from microbial decomposition of soil organic matter and crop residues, making stubble retention an important factor.

The Single Vision strategy was launched in WA at the GRDC-supported Grains Week.

“GRDC backed the development of the ‘Australian Grains Industry Strategy 2005-2025’ as another step in its commitment to driving innovation for a profitable and environmentally sustainable Australian grains industry,” Mr Baker said.