Jasmine Marsh has recently completed her Bachelor in Agricultural Science with Honours at the University of Queensland and is now undertaking the 18-month DEDJTR graduate research agronomy program. She will spend the next six months working with BCG, six months with Landmark in Horsham and six months with researcher Ash Wallace at DEDJTR.
In my Honours year I did research looking at using gene editing techniques to increase protein digestibility in sorghum, so it has been nice to get out of the lab and into the field.
My first month at BCG has been exceptionally busy and exciting. The wide range of tasks have meant not only assisting in operations and trials, but attending events including the farmer data workshop in Berriwillock and the GRDC Farm Business Updates in Bendigo.
I have been working closely on the GRDC-funded managing early sown wheat project with trials located at Longerenong and Curyo. The trials are investigating the opportunity of an early break and the use of winter wheat varieties.
Participation in sowing and irrigation of these trials has enabled me to get a greater understanding of the scale of trials and how they relate to farmers paddocks.
With three times of sowing now in the ground and one further sowing time to happen this week, I have been busy both packing seed and doing emergence and establishment counts. At both Curyo and Longerenong, Scepter and Cutlass sown on March 15 are at GS30-31, with winter wheat lines having eight to nine tillers.
The logistics of seed packing is quite a procedure which needs to be undertaken with accuracy to ensure trials are sown correctly. The outlined process has helped us keep track of the many trials and locations that BCG will be conducting trials at this year.
As well as heading out to the field to irrigate I have participated in soil testing, which has especially been interesting after the wet spring of 2016. Sub-soil moisture is what everyone has been talking about, and it was fascinating to see the variability between different paddocks especially when it comes to what crop were grown in 2016.
I have also enjoyed living in Birchip and while it is a lot colder than where I grew up, I enjoy the sense of community. While I have never played hockey before the Birchip team have been amazingly welcoming and understanding. It’s when you live in a small community that you realise the importance of sport.
And hopefully in the next five months I can score a goal, for the right team. I am also looking forward to learning more and starting to see results that can be communicated to BCG members, because ultimately, the work being undertaken is all a process to ensure agriculture can improve into the future.
