A CROWD of more than 80 people were drawn to the Liebe Group's Crop Updates and Trials Review Day earlier this month.
The day kicked off with researchers and Liebe Group trial partners gathered for small round table discussions, highlighting the results and key outcomes of the research which had been conducted at the 2017-2018 Main Trial Site and from trials all across the Liebe region.
Discussions included management of crop nutrition, interactions of lime and tillage, disease management, cultivation, variety trials results and more.
Roberto Busi, from the Australian Herbicide Resistance Initiative, provided an interactive presentation from his work in herbicide resistance surveys in the Kwinana West region.
"Roberto's presentation showed a great passion towards combatting the chemical resistance of ryegrass and along with his humour, delivered an important message to growers to test the ryegrass resistant status to improve future application decisions," said Liebe Group member Michael Dodd.
With calculators in hand, the audience had their heads down for a very practical presentation from Ben White, Kondinin Group, who discussed machinery investment and replacement options with results presented from case studies of growers throughout the Wheatbelt.
Members were also fortunate to hear from Liebe's own Dylan Hirsch and Boyd Carter, who provided an update on their Nuffield scholarship travels and studies from around the globe.
To finish off the day, the Liebe Group was fortunate to have David Carter, Austral Fisheries chief executive officer, deliver a fascinating and inspiring presentation on the story of Austral Fisheries.
Mr Dodd shared his take-home messages from the presentation, saying that it was a fantastic insight into the operations of Austral Fisheries.
Highlights included how Austral Fisheries joined with Sea Shepherd to capture an illegal fishing vessel off the coast of South Africa, how a simple encounter with ocean birds put a complete stop to their Patagonian Tooth Fish operations and the importance of safety in any business.
"The tragic loss of a crew member on a prawn trawler several years ago, clearly took a personal toll on David and was a humbling reminder to the crowd of the importance of ensuring the safety of a business's greatest asset," Mr Dodd said.
"The Liebe Group is holding a Farm Safety workshop on Monday, April 1 in Dalwallinu and it's a perfect opportunity for growers to attend and take these learnings back to your farm in the lead up to seeding."
The day concluded with a sundowner where members were treated to oysters and champagne kindly provided by Tony Pekin, Scotts Watheroo Dolomite.
The Liebe Group would like to thank events partner GRDC, its Diamond partners and the research and industry partners who presented on the day.