Queensland Grains Research - 2015 Regional Research Agronomy Network

Abstract

Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries (DAF) delivers applied research and development (R&D) that promotes productive and profitable agriculture for grains cropping systems in partnership with the Grains Research and Development Corporation. The Queensland ‘Regional Research Agronomy Network’ (RRAN) is a new initiative based in the three major grain production nodes of Emerald (Central Highlands), Goondiwindi (Border Rivers/Maranoa) and Toowoomba (Darling Downs/Maranoa/South Burnett). The network of researchers and technicians conduct regional validation research trials across a range of grains cropping systems themes including pathology, agronomy, farming systems, weeds,physiology and crop nutrition.
This first trial book captures the essence of the R&D effort and its breadth the network have undertaken since their formation less than two years ago. The R&D is undertaken with the support of collaborating growers, local agronomists, seed companies and GRDC and aims to answer the questions of “how can this advance in grain production technology be applied for best results in this region”? The network is therefore an important part of the regional delivery of grains R&D, linking and adding value to the work and ideas of Australia’s leading grains researchers. Scientific rigour, regional focus, technical excellence and wide collaboration networks are the cornerstone behaviours of this team.
This trial book reports the individual trials the RRAN has undertaken across Queensland and are presented here to trigger discussion, exploration of the results, and highlight the next areas of exploration to answer further questions as we travel along the continuous improvement and increasing productivity journey in partnership.
We thank the team and the editors for their work in undertaking the trials, the data analysis and reporting the large array of papers in this first edition of the trial book.
Finally, we hope that these reports provide insight into how to gain higher productivity or profitability from your grains enterprise. We welcome any feedback or insights into the trials and results reported in this book and look forward to the RRAN providing on-going valuable insights into grains production in Queensland.