Soil CRC’s CEO Dr Michael Crawford, and Soil Knowledge Broker Felicity Harrop headed into the field this month to inspect some of our long-term trial sites and connect with staff from our grower group participants Birchip Cropping Group (BCG) and Central West Farming Systems (CWFS).
The sites are part of a Soil CRC project evaluating novel approaches for drought resilience, which receives funding through the Australian Government’s Future Drought Fund under the Long-Term Trials Program.
“The project is investigating innovative cropping and mixed farming practices through the lens of drought resilience and risk management, to help Australian farmers better prepare for future drought,” Dr Crawford said.
“BCG and CWFS are managing two of the seven long-term field sites involved in the project, which is evaluating drought resilience in different farming systems across four cropping regions.
“This ongoing collaboration with our grower groups is enabling data collection for up to eight years on a range of soil types and constraints with varying risk of drought.”
Dr Crawford visited CWFS in Condobolin NSW and met with CEO Diana Fear and Trials Agronomist Chiara Stommel for a tour of CWFS’s Research Innovation Hub, the Fettell Centre, and the long-term trial sites at the DPIRD Condobolin Agricultural Research and Advisory Station.
“It was great to see the research underway in the field and to connect with our project participants in the central west of NSW,” he said.
“I also enjoyed a dinner in the local pub with CWFS Committee Members and other growers and got some useful insights into the soil and climate challenges they are facing and the way the Soil CRC is addressing them.”
Felicity visited the long-term trial site at Birchip in Victoria where she caught up with BCG’s research manager Alison Frischke and research agronomist Ashlee Tierney.
“The discussions at Birchip centred around opportunities to improve soil health for maximum water and nutrient use efficiency, to ensure every drop of rain that falls at any time makes it into the soil and is available for use by the crop,” Felicity said.
“We talked about the data to be collected, including costs for economic analysis of treatments, and the potential to use a soil penetrometer to measure improvements in soil structure and potential water infiltration between treatments, as well as the soil sampling strategy.”
This discussion emphasised the need for the easy-to-use portable soil sensor technology that the Soil CRC is currently developing. The site visit highlighted the importance of moisture conservation and ground cover for the Birchip district, as they are currently experiencing a decile 1 rainfall year (the lowest 10% of rainfall totals).
The visits were part of a tour of long-term trial sites being undertaken by Project Leader Professor Richard Bell from Murdoch University, along with Murdoch University colleague and Project Coordinator Dr Hassan Sardar, Professor Frank Agbola from the University of Newcastle (who is leading the economic analysis of the treatments being investigated) and Dr Abe Gibson, Research Scientist from Southern Cross University. The group also headed to the Riverine Plains trial site in Burramine, Victoria to meet with field trial manager Matthew de Roos and others, and to the DPIRD site at Lockhart, NSW where they met with Dr Murray Hart.
Photos from the Central West Farming Systems site. Pictured are Dr Abe Gibson (Southern Cross University), Professor Richard Bell (Murdoch University), Diana Fear (CWFS), Professor Frank Agbola (University of Newcastle), Dr Michael Crawford (Soil CRC,) Chiara Stommel (CWFS) and Dr Hassan Sardar (Murdoch University).
Photos from the Birchip Cropping Group site. Pictured are Ashlee Tierney (BCG), Dr Hassan Sardar (Murdoch University), Alison Frischke (BCG), Felicity Harrop (Soil CRC), Professor Richard Bell (Murdoch University) and Professor Frank Agbola (University of Newcastle).
Photos from the Riverine Plains site visit with Professor Richard Bell (Murdoch University), Dr Abe Gibson (Southern Cross University), Matthew de Roos (Riverine Plains), Professor Frank Agbola (University of Newcastle) and Dr Hassan Sardar (Murdoch University).
The site visits provided a fantastic opportunity for the grower groups to share local knowledge with researchers, enabling a better understanding of localised climate and soil management issues.
This information will help to further guide trial management and monitoring discussions with the grower groups managing the trials, ensuring the data collected during the trial period will help to solve the problems relevant to the local farming system.
Dr Crawford said face-to-face meetings with researchers and grower group members provides a valuable opportunity to build stronger relationships, foster collaboration, and ensure alignment on shared goals.
“These in-person discussions allow for a more dynamic exchange of ideas, immediate feedback, and deeper understanding of local contexts and challenges. They also help clarify research priorities, refine trial designs, and identify practical solutions that are more likely to be adopted by farmers,” he said.
“Examples such as this, bringing together scientists from three different universities from across Australia, to meet and interact with grower groups and farmers in the wheatbelt of Victoria and NSW, show the benefit of the Soil CRC in creating new innovation networks and enhancing the capability of grower groups and researchers alike.
“Ultimately, these meetings strengthen trust and cooperation, laying a solid foundation for impactful and relevant future research.”
Keep an eye out for project updates in the Soil CRC and grower groups’ newsletters and on our social media channels. There will also be opportunities to visit the field sites during the season to hear about progress.
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Main image: Pictured L to R: Professor Frank Agbola (University of Newcastle), Dr Michael Crawford (Soil CRC), Dr Abe Gibson (Southern Cross University), Diana Fear (CWFS), Professor Richard Bell (Murdoch University), Dr Hassan Sardar (Murdoch University) and Chiara Stommel (CWFS).
Image credit: Images supplied by Dr Hassan Sardar (Murdoch University) and the Soil CRC.