Ground Cover

Trillions of dollars are being spent on AI and generative AI, but the real value, Dr Chad Jennings says, lies in narrowing down data for on-farm decisions Artificial intelligence (AI) and generative AI (gen AI) would bring “mind-blowing” changes, Almanac’s Dr Chad Jennings told the GRDC Grains Research Update in Perth. Dr Jennings, who has spent more than two decades working on geospatial analytics, recently joined Almanac after working with Google Cloud.

Start Date 12 June 2025 1:00 pm (Australian Eastern Standard Time) End Date 12 June 2025 2:00 pm (Australian Eastern Standard Time) Description Join us to discuss cyber security and awareness for farm businesses with Mathew Dickerson from Axxis Technology. Mathew brings 36 years in IT and telecommunications to this topic along with his experience in owning Axxis, a group of four regionally based tech businesses.

A $10 million project is set to transform how Australian agriculture understands and addresses soil health – creating a standardised, cross-sector approach. The Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) will invest $6.8 million in a five-year initiative, which will see Australia’s national science agency CSIRO lead the development of a Soil Health Framework tailored to Australian production systems.

In a changing international trade climate, Grains Australia’s Dr John Ackerman says the Australian grains industry needs to act strategically and remember the sector’s importance to ‘human survival’ A rise in ‘non-tariff measures’ despite free trade agreements signals a challenging shift in international markets, according to one expert.

Peter Hayman – SARDI How to interpret seasonal forecasts and how to use them for decision making. Peter will discuss his tips and tricks for making the most out of the BoM seasonal forecasts. As part of the national GRDC funded RiskWi$e project, he will highlight how this information can be applied to decision making using a worked example of in season nitrogen planning. Peter will be joined by Michaela Alexander, Agriculture Segment Lead - Broadacre from the Bureau of Meteorology.

00:00:05:03 - 00:00:07:12 Intro: This is a GRDC podcast. 00:00:12:17 - 00:00:53:29 Shannon Beattie: Sclerotinia stem rot is a canola disease that is challenging to manage using rotation due to the wide range of crops that play host to the fungus that causes it. Hi, I'm Shannon Beattie. Since there are no Australian canola cultivars with sclerotinia resistance, the disease is usually managed with preventative fungicide sprays at flowering.

Greater computing power, more connected data and AI as a partner are all part of the evolution of digitally networked agriculture The grains industry is on the cusp of making major productivity gains with the nexus of autonomous technologies now coming together, according to Ben Kelly, marketing manager for John Deere Australia.

Gene variants are being transferred into Australian canola varieties to overcome a common and costly shortfall in the crop’s performance Australian paddocks are among the most difficult environments for canola (Brassica napus L.) establishment, setting up a particular challenge for pre-breeders such as CSIRO’s Dr Matthew Nelson. CSIRO estimates have 40 to 60 per cent of canola seed sown in Australian paddocks failing to establish.

Researchers identify genetic variation, enabling breeders to create better-adapted sowing options for growers Shifting sowing dates can be a simple but effective adaptation strategy to cope with new environments, leading to better crop performance and increased yields. To better harness these advantages in oats, a GRDC investment with CSIRO has generated elite lines containing newly discovered variation in flowering time genetics.

Every year, GroundCover™ tracks a group of growers throughout Australia as they navigate the cropping season. In the second part of this year’s series, our 2025 participants are busy getting paddocks and machinery ready. Some have had rain while others are contemplating what can be sown dry Western Australia Jo Ashworth farms with husband Wal, son Morgan and daughter-in-law Libby at Goodlands and Kalannie, 300 kilometres north-east of Perth, WA.