ONE of WA’s leading experts on managing soil constraints in cropping systems is the winner of the 2017 Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) western region Seed of Light award.
Department of Agriculture and Food WA (DAFWA) research officer Stephen Davies was presented with the prestigious award at the GRDC Grains Research Update in Perth this week.
The award is presented annually to an individual making a major contribution to communicating the outcomes of grains research and development in WA.
Announcing the award, GRDC Western Regional Panel chairman Peter Roberts said Dr Davies’ skills and knowledge were an asset to the local and national grains industry.
“Work undertaken by Dr Davies and his team has made enormous in-roads into the knowledge of how to deal with non-wetting water repellent soils,” Mr Roberts said.
“While it has been known for some time that WA soils are acidic at depth and lime application has a role to play, it is also other sub soil constraints that other growers have been struggling with and often they have interlinking causation and consequences,” he said.
“Research into areas of ameliorating water repellent or non-wetting soils and acidity with tactics such as deep ripping, spading, mouldboard ploughing, topsoil ‘slotting’, lime and clay application and wetting agents have all played a role in this.”
Mr Roberts said GRDC-funded work led by Dr Davies into these strategies was paying off in the development of tools for more effective soils and agronomy management to reduce production risks and lift returns.
“Dr Davies has demonstrated outstanding leadership and use of innovation and creativity in his scientific endeavours in this field,” he said.
“While some growers have been able to identity and adopt these methodologies and how they work best on their own farm quickly, as a result of Dr Davies’ field days, grower group interactions and the Regional Cropping Solutions Networks (RCSNs), almost all farmers are aware of this issue and most have started to implement some sort of amelioration activity of their own farms.
He said they were reaping the benefits of potentially higher-yielding crops that could tap into extra soil moisture at seeding and other key times of the growing season.
Based at DAFWA’s Geraldton office and part of the Soil Productivity R&D team, Dr Davies currently heads the GRDC-funded research project into delivering practical agronomic solutions for water repellent soils in WA.
In this role he liaises and collaborates with researchers and personnel from key organisations in the WA and national grains sectors, including universities, the CSIRO, grower groups and growers.
Mr Roberts said Dr Davies had more than 22 years of experience in understanding agricultural plant physiology and soils research and was always willing and open to sit down with growers and advisers to work through their issues.
“He and his team provide an excellent example of researchers who are based in the heart of crop production regions and can take on board the practical implications of the work they are doing,” Mr Roberts said.
“This helps to ensure results are relevant to growers and address the priority issues they are dealing with in the paddock.
“I applaud Dr Davies for his leadership in developing innovations in tackling soil constraints and congratulate him as a worthy recipient of the GRDC western region Seed of Light award.”
