BCG members can expect some exciting new features at Trials Review Day in 2021 on Friday 19 February at the Birchip Leisure Centre. Plans are still underway for a face-to-face event however the day will also be livestreamed for the first time ever so no one misses out. “We’re continuously hearing from our members and […]
BCG’s research program is the result of years of planning and harvest represents the final step in a year of monitoring, inputs and assessments. “Trials are sown in a range of sowing conditions including various stubble loads, different weed pressures and varying soil nutrition status so it represents the real-world farming systems that are employed in the […]
Good sowing programs take into account in-season factors such as weather, disease and pest pressure, input costs and market behaviour. BCG Trials Review Day, held on Friday 19 February 2021, will address such topics giving growers and advisors independent, statistically rigorous results addresses to enable them to complete their 2021 and future sowing programs with confidence. The 2021 BCG research program amounts to approximately 10 000 plots and extends across 39 […]
BCG’s Research Agronomist, Kate Maddern, has been awarded the prestigious Victorian Rhodes Scholarship for 2021. The news was announced by the Governor of Victoria, the Honourable Linda Dessau AC, on Saturday 31 October via Twitter after a comprehensive selection process from a field of approximately 40 applicants. “We are extremely proud of, and excited for, […]
It’s hard not to think about the role of genetics when talking to Joel Donnan because his passion for stud sheep and the fact that he’s a fifth-generation farmer all suggest ‘it’s in the blood’. Joel farms at Willangie—in between Birchip, Sea Lake and Woomelang in north west Victoria—with his parents, Andrew and Denita, his brother Trent, wife Lauren and their two children, Leni and Arlo. The highly successful Anden Stud comprises of […]
Georgina Warne is part of the next generation of young farmers across the Wimmera and Mallee who have moved home to work side by side with their parents. BCG were excited to catch up to talk about her farming journey. Thanks for agreeing to be this month’s Farmer in Focus Georgina. Can you tell us about yourself and […]
The fact that Wimmera wheat growers risk 20 per cent yield loss in wet years from Septoria tritici blotch (STB) will be a point of discussion at the BCG Members Only Trials Review Day 14 February. STB, a stubble borne disease found in wheat, is becoming more prevalent in medium rainfall zones, including the Wimmera. […]
BCG is undertaking soil sampling again in 2020. The benefits of soil sampling include: establishing the current nutrient status of your soil to provide the basis for future strategies indicate the ameliorants required to correct a soil’s possible physical and chemical property imbalances identify factors that may be limiting crop and pasture production improved farm […]
The Birchip Cropping Group (BCG) Community Network was launched in August 2017 in response to emerging trends being observed in the Wimmera and Mallee. Population decline, the impact of technology, ageing infrastructure, climate change, farmer wellbeing and a declining ecosystem are all major issues which to date have not been solved by traditional mechanisms. These […]
In the Horsham region, the optimal start of flowering window (OSF) for canola is between 18 July and 25 August with the start of flowering defined as the time when 50 per cent of plants have one flower. A Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) funded trial at Kalkee was designed with 32 varieties and […]
One of the many things I enjoy about living and working in a rural area is that there is no such thing as an average day. For me that can mean a week like this one where I’ve gone from the BCG board meeting, to our building climate resilience event, helping shift paddocks for harvest, deliver […]