World view for updates

The Grains Research and Development Corporation is set to take WA growers on a round-the-world tour next month, as it finalises plans for the next Grains Research Update in Perth on February 25-26.

With a theme of “Innovation: applying grains R&D on the farm”, leading the charge will be a presentation on green-on-green weed detection by Guillaume Jourdain, the co-founder of French technology start-up Bilberry.

Mr Jourdain, an engineer by trade, will reveal the results of trials using revolutionary technology that can detect weeds at 60km an hour, day and night, within agricultural crops.

Also on the agenda is a presentation by Canadian grain and oilseed producers Jordan and Jennifer Lindgren, who have made it their mission to maximise crop production while minimising costs.

The Lindgrens use field-scale trials to determine which products, genetics and practices work on their Saskatchewan farm, in a bid to educate themselves and share knowledge with fellow growers.

Closer to home, New South Wales grower and Nuffield scholar Andrew Freeth will offer fresh insights on on-farm grain storage, while Bunge Asia distribution director William Syers will talk about future demand for Australian grains.

The latter will form part of the second theme for the event, “The big picture: what our export customers want”.

This section of the event will include a presentation from Australian Export Grains Innovation Centre chief executive Richard Simonaitis, who will discuss future relations with Indonesia.

GRDC Western Region Panel chairman Darrin Lee said this year’s Grains Research Update would be invaluable to individual growers and the industry as a whole.

“The issues confronting grain growers are constantly evolving and to ensure they remain profitable, the advice and recommendations made to them must be constantly reassessed and updated,” he said. “Update agendas are carefully refined each year to ensure the issues addressed are those that are front and centre for local growers, to help them navigate the 2019 growing season and beyond.”

The Perth sessions will be complemented by two one-day events at Mullewa on February 22 and Kendenup on February 28, with each hosted by regional grower groups.

To register, go to giwa.org.au/2019researchupdates or grdc.com.au/updatedates.