Queensland Grains Research 2020-21 Regional agronomy (research)

Abstract

Welcome to the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries’ (DAF) sixth edition of Queensland grains research that summarises the research, development and extension (RDE) conducted by DAF’s Regional agronomy (research) team across the grain growing regions of Queensland.
The Regional agronomy (research) team is a key part of the Queensland Government’s strategic investments to support more productive, profitable and sustainable farming systems. The team has up to 20 research agronomists, extension officers and technical support staff based in Goondiwindi, Emerald and Toowoomba. Every project reported here has co-investment from the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) in their pivotal role of investing in RDE to create enduring profitability for, and on behalf of, Australian grain growers.
This year’s edition provides the usual results of annual trials, but also contains summaries of work to date across some longer-term initiatives, such as the Northern farming systems project that is now in its eighth year. Despite the constraints of a prolonged drought and the spread of COVID-19, the team have continued to ‘get their hands dirty’ conducting RDE within local farming systems and so ensure the results are both rigorous and relevant to grain growers and agronomists. Queensland grains research provides up-to-date local results and information that growers and agronomists can use to make the best decisions for the farms that they manage.
The Queensland grains industry faces a range of challenges as our soils age and our farming systems mature. For example, growers face declining soil fertility, extreme climate variability and the threat of herbicide-resistant weeds. However, agronomic advances from targeted RDE and on-farm innovation have delivered, and will continue to support, better practices that advance our agriculture. This edition reports the Regional agronomy (research) team’s contribution to improved farming systems and practices with experimental work, data, analysis and insights across several RDE themes: Pulses, Nutrition, Soils, and Farming systems research. Articles report on both individual experiments and summaries across years, with valuable quantitative data on the responses and economic returns for those locations.
None of the RDE reported here would be possible without the collaborating RDE agencies across Queensland and New South Wales, co-investors including the Cotton Research and Development Corporation, and the growers, agronomists and agribusinesses that have provided support along the way. We thank them for this.
We trust that the RDE reported here will help the grains industry and the wider Queensland community use the improving seasons for the economic recovery that will be needed in the post COVID-19 era. Of course, we would also value any feedback on work contained in this publication.