Eyre Peninsula grain growers, farming systems groups and others in the grains industry are meeting this week with the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) Southern Panel.
The GRDC Southern Panel spring tour will visit growers’ farms and research trials across the region – discussing the season, industry opportunities and challenges – as well as local research facility Minnipa Agricultural Centre.
GRDC Southern Panel chairperson Andrew Russell said the spring tour was a key event for panel members and played an important role in shaping GRDC’s investment decisions.
“The spring tour gives us a chance to directly engage with growers, advisers and researchers in the paddock,” he said.
“Talking to grain growers in their paddock and at trial sites helps us guide GRDC’s investment in RD&E to help ensure it is relevant and practical for South Australian growers.
“Sometimes constraints and opportunities are difficult to articulate. Engaging with growers on site and seeing for ourselves, really helps us understand issues and opportunities for investment.”
Eyre Peninsula produces almost half of South Australia’s wheat, 28 per cent of its barley and 32 per cent of its canola, while lentil production has grown in the past five years across the region.
The tour is bookended in Port Lincoln, with stops in Verran, Rudall, Kimba, Minnipa, Port Kenny, Wudinna, Lock, Tooligie, Cummins, Brooker and Wanilla.
Topics for discussion and sharing include innovations to manage sandy and calcareous soils and related challenges, grain storage opportunities and frost management.
The panel is also meeting with Agricultural Innovation and Research Eyre Peninsula’s Rudall young farmers group and agronomic advisory businesses.
GRDC Southern Panel member and EP-based research agronomist Andrew Ware helped to organise the tour and is the co-host.
“We’re excited to have the GRDC Southern Panel back on the Eyre Peninsula. The last time the panel visited the region was in 2019,” he said.
“This year, both the Lower and Upper EP regions endured one of the driest starts on record, with no significant rainfall until June. Since then, it’s been a bit of a roller coaster ride with above average rainfall in July followed by a dry start to August, leaving the season’s fortunes currently in the balance.
“This visit is a timely opportunity for the panel to see firsthand how growers are managing the season and to discuss how farming systems on the Eyre Peninsula are evolving in response to emerging opportunities and constraints.”
