Drought Resilience Adoption and Innovation Hub
Category: ‘General’ news
Hard seeded legume pasture systems
Hardseeded legumes are proving to be more productive than traditional legume pastures thanks to varieties which allow harvest without special equipment and sowing in summer or before the conventional cropping program. Legume pastures are typically sown after cereals, canola and lentils. This limits biomass and subsequent pod production in the year of establishment. Along with […]
The start of cropping season
Sowing Easter is upon us which, on our farm, means another cropping season has started. While in north west Victoria we are working on getting our crops in the ground despite receiving less summer rainfall than in recent years, also in our thoughts are those affected by floods along the east coast of Australia. The […]
BCG’s research and extension program announced
In line with the start of the growing season BCG has finalised site selection, trial designs and the extension calendar for 2021. The 2021 BCG research program extends across the Mallee, Wimmera and North Central region and consist of approximately 130 research trials, the first of which will be sown next week at Watchupga in the […]
Farmer in Focus – Edward Rickard, Curyo
Edward returned to the family cropping property at Curyo nearly 12 months ago. Prior to that, he has worked in Melbourne and London, travelled overseas and completed a Business degree from RMIT and a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) qualification in Melbourne. Please tell us about your farming operation Dad (James), Mum (Patrice), my brother (Matthew) […]
BCG staff recognised
BCG staff members Alison Frischke and Chris Cook were recognised for ten and five years of service respectively at BCG’s Trials Review Day held in February. CEO Fiona Best said “Alison and Chris are committed BCG staff members who deliver high quality outcomes for our members and partners. BCG is very fortunate to have such knowledgeable people in our team willing to […]
Meet the team – James Taylor
BCG is pleased to welcome its newest team member James Taylor. Hailing from Serpentine in North West Victoria and a Agricultural Science graduate, James is taking on a Research Agronomist role. What is your background? Joining BCG from a role with MLA (Meat and Livestock Australia) in the Sheep Genetics team where I supported sheep breeders to get the most […]
Natural capital accounts provide new possibilities for farmers
Lower interest rates, access to new markets, habitat credits, stewardship payments, increased property values, building resilience to climate change, improved data and knowledge to inform management decisions… These are just some of the many possibilities farmers could seize in the future should they be part of La Trobe’s Natural Capital Accounting Project in collaboration with […]
Don’t wait for the insect crisis
Don’t wait for an insect crisis to make changes to your pest management strategy. This was the key message from the BCG FMC Integrated Pest Management workshop held at Birchip on Thursday the 11th of March. Leading Australian Entomologists Dr Paul Horne and Jessica Page facilitated the discussion on the day with the aim of […]
Research and extension in 2021
We’re excited to be implementing the Research and Extension program in 2021 and while not all the locations and dates are confirmed, here’s an initial list: Research & Extension Projects:GRDC, Plant Establishment – WimmeraAgriFutures, Oaten Hay Agronomy – WimmeraMurray Dairy, Fodder for the Future – North CentralNational Landcare Program, Validating the benefits of multispecies cover cropping […]
Neutral to positive N most profitable
Dr James Hunt from La Trobe University will present at BCG’s Trials Review Day this Friday results of three years of research into nitrogen management systems designed to sustainably increase crop yields. “Australian wheat yields are only half what they could be for the rainfall received. Nitrogen [N] deficiency is the single biggest factor contributing to this […]