Australian grain growers will benefit from new insights into precision agriculture (PA) for the grains industry with the release of the PA in Practice III manual.

Produced by the Society of Precision Agriculture Australia (SPAA) with GRDC investment, the manual is part of the project precision fertiliser decisions in a tight economic climate.

Mr Lee said Australian growers were eager to implement PA into their farming practices, and for many the goal was limiting per hectare fertiliser usage while maintaining crop yields.

“Through our National Grower Network (NGN) and grower feedback mechanisms, GRDC has identified grower demand for education and extension to optimise the outcomes of PA adoption,” Mr Lee said.

“Growers want to know the questions they should be asking suppliers, agronomists, and consultants. They want to be aware of potential challenges and have the chance to listen to other growers’ success stories and advice.”

Mr Lee said a 2021 grower survey by SPAA and GRDC indicated that more than 50% of respondents wanted to use precision agriculture to make planting and fertilising decisions based on more data.

“Through the updated PA in Practice manual, growers have access to over 100 pages of content detailing PA throughout the season: pre-sowing, sowing, in-crop and at harvest.”

SPAA Executive Offer Angelique McAvoy said the manual catered to all grain producers, agronomists or advisers regardless of their knowledge of PA.

“PA in Practice will remain a vital SPAA educational resource that will be integrated into webinars and other learning platforms. It will play a key role in bridging knowledge gaps and addressing barriers to the adoption of PA,” Ms McAvoy said.

The manual’s release complements a national series of seven SPAA variable rate technology workshops supported by GRDC investment and delivered in 2023, which provided training to support growers’ fertiliser decision making.

The Foundation for Rural & Regional Renewal or FRRR is encouraging community organisations in agriculture-dependent parts of Australia to apply for the latest round of Small Network Grants for initiatives that build community preparedness and resilience to future drought. $20,000 and $50,000 grants to strengthen networks and capabilities.

The Small Network Grants program is supported by the Australian Government’s Future Drought Fund through the Helping Regional Communities Prepare for Drought Initiative.

Grants are available through two Streams of funding for simple, one-off, or seed-type initiatives designed to strengthen local networks and capabilities of remote, rural or regional communities.

Nina O’Brien, FRRR’s Disaster Resilience and Recovery Lead, said preparing for the inevitable dry times ahead is critical for Australia.

“Our Small Network Grants program empowers local organisations to strengthen the social fabric of their town or locality by identifying and acting on their region’s drought preparedness priorities, at a grassroots level, in ways that best suit their communities.

“We look forward to seeing projects that will help community groups be better connected, informed, and resourced in the next drought,” Ms O’Brien said.

The Small Network Grants program can fund projects that fit into one of these five categories: Networks, Community Events, Training, Community Infrastructure, Development and Learning. Applications are open now, closing 26 March https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdeVdcjSwro

An inquiry into Price Gouging and Unfair Pricing Practices reinforces that the Federal Labor Government was too slow to act on supermarkets.

Leader of The Nationals David Littleproud said Professor Allan Fels’ recommendations, indicating supermarkets are taking advantage of shoppers, come after The Nationals called for the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to be directed to investigate the clear evidence of meat and fresh produce price disparity between the farmgate and the checkout prices since November 2023.

The Nationals also offered the government support to introduce big stick legislation as early as December 2022.

The inquiry recommends Labor uses its powers to require the ACCC to conduct more price and market investigations, require the ACCC to undertake market studies and that the ACCC should have the power of its own to initiate price and market studies. Mr Littleproud said it was obvious for some time that an ACCC inquiry has been needed.

“The latest report into supermarket price gouging confirms what we already know government policy, or Labor, is not paying sufficient attention to high prices and it needs to,” Mr Littleproud said.

“Labor could have started the ACCC investigation before Christmas but didn’t understand the scale nor severity of their cost-of-living crisis.

“While Labor spent last year distracted on a $450 million failed Voice Referendum, price disparity between the farmgate and the supermarket checkout was allowed to escalate out of control.

“The Nationals wanted this investigation urgently before Christmas but Labor was simply too slow to take action and in fact said that the Grocery Code of Conduct Review was their solution, which took 100 days to appoint someone since its announcement. It’s unfortunate it took Labor so long to realise that these powers exist, after previously promising Australians that two other inquiries they announced would yield results.”