FROST-tolerant cereal varieties remain at the top of the agenda for WA growers.
In recent weeks hundreds of WA grain growers took up the opportunity to talk to key Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) representatives about their 2012/13 production constraints at four GRDC western panel spring tours.
The main concerns expressed by growers in the Geraldton, Kwinana, Albany and Esperance port zones included dry and unpredictable seasonal conditions, non-wetting soils, frost, herbicide resistance, achieving profit from legumes and the need for attracting and retaining skilled labour in the country.
GRDC managing director John Harvey took part in the Esperance region tour and said it helped to guarantee current research was relevant to Esperance zone growers and project outputs were adopted on-farm.
He said the tours also helped to show growers the GRDC was committed to ensure its links with growers were direct, effective and at a grass-roots level.
"The GRDC western regional panel is very important and valuable in terms of being an on-the-ground contact with growers, advisers and researchers," he said.
"It also plays a vital role in being a conduit of information and intelligence to the GRDC."
GRDC western panel chairman Peter Roberts said crop conditions in the areas visited ranged from very good on the South Coast to extremely dry with evidence of non-wetting soils which continued to concern growers in the northern and eastern parts of the Wheatbelt.
"In some areas such as the northern acid sandplains tools such as mouldboard ploughing have produced good results but further south where there are different soil types the issue is proving to be more difficult for growers to manage," he said.
"The GRDC is continuing to look at the options for making pulses more profitable and to increase diversity in cropping rotations.
"From the feedback received we are also concerned about the effects of monoculture broadacre cropping systems, their reliance on the same chemistries and the potential for increased disease risk."
Mr Roberts said herbicide resistance in wild radish and annual ryegrass continued to cause huge problems for growers.
"Farmers know they can't rely solely on sprayers and the same chemicals and instead need to tackle weeds and herbicide resistance using a number of approaches including harvest weed seed management, rotations and alternative chemistries," he said.
"The GRDC is taking a multi-pronged approach to weed management and herbicide resistance by funding research into areas including alternative chemistries, crop rotation systems, the Australian Herbicide Resistance Initiative and the Harrington Seed Destructor."
During the spring tours growers were very interested to learn more about the Department of Agriculture and Food's (DAFWA) Yield Prophet tool to help them respond to seasonal conditions by adjusting their inputs.
"The GRDC and its research partners including DAFWA are trying to work out how growers can use Yield Prophet so the value it generates is applicable for their particular area and soil types," Mr Roberts said.
"GRDC-supported research is also being targeted at frost because although growers recognise it's difficult to find the answers they're keen for us to maintain our investment focus in this area."
