Collaboration

Sharing Information Between Projects

Spring 2006 Newsletter Article

As part of the “Combating Subsoil Constraints Initiative” which CWFS Subsoil’s fits into, it is required that we collaborate with other projects running throughout the country. A component of this collaboration is staff exchange between projects to ensure continuity of trial, soil sampling and monitoring techniques throughout the initiative. There is no substitute for actual hands on experience and to see how trials are carried out outside your own backyard. Last week I visited with Roger Armstrong from DPI Victoria, Horsham Research Centre in central Victoria. Roger heads the Victorian and South Australian project and the trip down provided me with an invaluable insight into how his project has been operating. I had the opportunity to look around the centre including their soil and plant labs and processing facilities and also to go out into the field to one of the farmer survey sites to observe their soil and plant sampling protocols and their sampling rig in action.

The Horsham Research Centre is based at Grains Innovation Park in Horsham and is at the forefront of research excellence in the Wimmera region. The site is home to the Department of Primary Industries (DPI), the Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) and Parks Victoria (PV). It has first class facilities with approximately 150 DPI staff engaged in research and extension in a wide range of disciplines. These include Cereal, Pulse and Oilseed Breeding, Molecular Genetics, Grains Agronomy, Plant Pathology, Virology, Organic Chemistry, Soil Chemistry, Systems Modelling, TOPCROP, Fisheries, Meat & Wool, Farm Forestry, Agribusiness, Biosecurity & Emergencies, Practice Change and Community Relationships.

I also attended the Birchip Cropping Group main field day last Friday 20th October at their 2006 main research site 8kms south of Rupanyup. This gave me the opportunity to represent CWFS in an area we don’t normally get to and see the extent of their research trials and demonstrations. The day was your typical field day weather, windy and cold with just enough scudding showers of rain to rub salt into everyone’s drought wounds. There were numerous sponsors, agribusiness and industry professionals there to support the approximately 250 farmers in attendance. For more information visit www.bcg.org.au .

Daryl Reardon - Technical Assistant, Sub Soils Project.