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2010 - A New Opportunity

BCG team member Fiona Best (left) with James Jess (right) showing participating Rainbow farmer Rob Robinson (centre) the importance of monitoring growth stages when grazing cereals.

The BCG theme for this year is ‘2010 – A New Opportunity’. BCG will work hard for farmers and rural communities in 2010 to identify new opportunities for improvement in farm practice, cost minimisation, on-farm communication, technology adoption and risk management.

In line with this mission, BCG will release their 2009 key research result at the BCG Members Only Trials Review Day on Friday 19 February. BCG hopes that the messages delivered will empower farmers to embrace new farming opportunities.

A key talking point of the day will be the results of the Grazing Cereals trial at Woomelang and demonstrations at Rainbow. These results are the first for the region, demonstrating how some of the locally grown commercial cereal varieties performed when grazed.

BCG Extension Manager Fiona Best commented on the results: “Early indications are that by following some key steps, grazing certain cereals may be a profitable farm strategy for some systems. In one farm demonstration, grazing cereals was able to produce the equivalent of $24/ha of supplementary feed without impacting on yield.”

With many farmers in the region planning their cropping rotations for the coming season, BCG has also included disease management in the program. Dr Grant Hollaway will talk farmers through managing diseases such as crown rot via careful crop type and variety selections and soil testing. This will help farmers to take full advantage of the 2010 season.

The day is the first chance for farmers to get together and talk with industry specialists about their plans for the coming season. BCG encourages participants to ask questions, challenge results and share experiences.

To ensure your farm business is prepared for new opportunities in 2010 come to the BCG Members Only Trials Review Day on Friday 19 February at the Birchip Community Leisure Centre. The day will start at 9.00am. Farmers are encouraged to become BCG members before the day.

For more information contact Fiona Best on (03) 5492 2787 or visit: http://www.bcg.org.au/news/2010_Trials_Review.php