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Welcome from the Director
Welcome to the May update for the South-West WA Drought Resilience Adoption and Innovation Hub (SW WA Hub).
I was delighted at the recent announcement of grantees under the Extension and Adoption of Drought Resilience Farming Practices Grants program, delivered under the Australian Government's Future Drought Fund.
From 18 winning projects in this national $13 million program, seven collaborative projects worth $4.6 million will undertake activities or extend information in WA.
Scroll down to find out more about the successful recipients and the role the hub played in assisting applicants.
A number of the projects will address local drought resilience priorities identified through a comprehensive process undertaken by the hub.
Our Regional Advisory Committees were instrumental in this priority setting process and will meet again soon.
If you wish to have input on local drought resilience priority topics please contact us or your local Regional Node Lead representative - their details as well as the topics are available on our hub webpage.
Please feel free to forward this newsletter to colleagues, friends or clients.
Mark Holland | Hub Director
South-West WA Drought Resilience Adoption and Innovation Hub
WA farmers to benefit from E&A projects
Farmers in the South-West WA region will benefit from exciting new extension and adoption projects.
From 18 winning projects in the national $13 million Extension and Adoption of Drought Resilience Farming Practices Grants program, seven collaborative projects worth $4.6 million will undertake activities or extend information in WA.
Grant recipients include SW WA Hub Consortium Partners Stirlings to Coast Farmers, which will implement a digital weather and soil moisture monitoring technologies project, and
Western Beef which will help producers to adopt best use hay and silage practices.
The SW WA Hub team provided strong assistance to applicants during the grant round.
In total, the hub facilitated 40 project ideas involving more than 70 organisations and individuals, and team members spoke to many additional stakeholders.
Hub staff provided advice about alignment with local drought resilience priorities; interpretation of guidelines; and feedback on applications including best practice monitoring, evaluation and learning, and adoption and extension techniques.
The hub also linked applicants with similar project ideas from across the country who were applying for grants - resulting in fewer and richer applications to the FDF.
Science to Practice program now available
The program for the FDF's annual Science to Practice Forum is out now.
Held online from June 6 to 8, the forum brings together farmers, researchers, government, industry and the community to explore innovative tools and practices helping our farmers and regions prepare for future drought.
ABC Landline’s Pip Courtney is hosting this year’s three-day forum and will facilitate engaging discussions with feature speakers, presenters and panel members and share stories of drought resilience from around the country.
The 2023 Science to Practice Forum is free to attend, along with a face-to-face workshop to be hosted by the SW WA Hub at Manjimup.
Caption: SW WA Hub Adoption Manager Julianne Hill says the SW WA Hub Science to Practice Workshop will provide an opportunity for producers to learn about outcomes from projects.
Register for Manjimup workshop
In support of this year’s Science to Practice Forum, the SW WA Hub will host a face-to-face workshop on June 8 at the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development’s (DPIRD) Manjimup Horticulture Research Institute
The event will showcase outcomes from projects supported by the FDF and how they can be put into practice on WA farms. With dual themes of precision agtech and water management, the event will provide applicable and practical outcomes for producers.
Topics include improving dam water retention and performance; combining CSIRO technology and weather data to improve on-farm decisions; analysing current monitoring technology to find the right fit for your farm; and digital tools to map and improve yield.
The event is supported by the SW WA Hub’s Manjimup and Bunbury Regional Node Leads – the Southern Forests Food Council and the South West Catchments Council.
The event begins at 1pm, finishing at 5pm with a sundowner and beef and gravy roll to follow.
Hub project in focus
Value-added lupin exports
- Funding: Australian Government's Agricultural Innovation Hubs Program, with support from the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD). Initiated through the SW WA Hub.
- Lead organisation: DPIRD
- Location: Western Australia
Caption: At the Australian Pulse Conference in Toowoomba are, from left, DPIRD Lupin Industry Development Executive Officer Shy (Shyamala) Vishnumohan, Grains & Legumes Nutrition Council General Manager Katherine La Macchia and GGA Project Manager Daniel Kidd.
Sweet Lupin Association launched to promote value-added lupin exports
The Sweet Lupin Association (SLA) has been established to spearhead the promotion of ‘Australian lupin bean’ as a sustainable and healthy food source.
Establishment of the SLA, which is led by DPIRD, has been supported by the SW WA Hub via the Australian Government’s Agricultural Innovation Hubs Program.
Despite being predominantly grown in WA for stock feed or on-farm use, Australian lupin bean – also known as Australian Sweet Lupin (Lupin angustifolius) – remains relatively unknown to the global food industry and consumers.
DPIRD Lupin Industry Lead Greg Shea said the SLA would address this hurdle by raising awareness about its nutritional and health benefits.
“The SLA aims to unlock the potential of Australian lupin bean as a unique health food that is very high in protein (40 per cent) and fibre (37 per cent) and contains virtually no starch (less than 1 per cent),” Mr Shea said.
“This new association brings together WA-based lupin processing and food businesses, along with technical professionals, to promote value-added Australian lupin bean exports.
“In addition to highlighting the nutritional benefits of Australian lupin bean, the association will showcase the sustainable and ethical aspects of its production in WA and drive advancements in sweet lupin technology.”
Mr Shea is among those leading efforts to add value to lupin exports after DPIRD successfully applied for an innovation project grant offered through the SW WA Hub in 2022, via funding from the Agricultural Innovation Hubs Program.
“Through this project, we are undertaking a range of activities aimed at benefiting the lupin industry and catalysing onshore processing and export growth,” he said.
“Current work includes efforts to reduce the cost of alkaloid testing and field trials focused on the issue of alkaloids which is a key quality parameter that distinguishes the Australian lupin bean."
As part of its efforts to raise awareness and showcase the potential of Australian lupin bean, the SLA is developing a dedicated website.
Project representatives also recently attended the Australian Pulse Conference in Toowoomba, which provided an excellent platform to showcase value-added Australian lupin bean products and their benefits.
The short-term project is one of 10 diverse innovation projects which commenced in WA after grants were awarded in 2022 by the SW WA Hub.
The grants were made possible by $2.5 million provided by the Australian Government to the SW WA, enabling it to expand its remit to include agricultural innovation.
For more information about the SLA and associated activities, contact Mr Shea on 0427 449 398 or greg.shea@dpird.wa.gov.au.
Hub team member in focus
Meet Maddison McNeil
There is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach for achieving drought and climate resilience, which helps to ensure that Maddison McNeil’s job as SW WA Hub Adoption Officer is always interesting and challenging.
“I like the diversity of my role as drought resilience really is all about business resilience – it’s every single thing that makes a farming business better and for every farmer that is different,” she said.
Originally from a mixed farming enterprise at Kellerberrin and with broad industry experience, Ms McNeil is part of the SW WA Hub’s Extension and Adoption (E&A) team which aims to support the industry in a drying climate.
“This means translating research and complex issues into information that is useful and meaningful,” Ms McNeil said.
“To achieve this, we work with interested researchers and grower groups to ensure they have best practice extension and adoption factored into their projects.
“We are also identifying the drought resilience learnings from those projects - including projects funded by the Australian Government’s Future Drought Fund – that people need to know about.
“In addition, the team is building the extension and adoption capacity of the GGA grower group network and SW WA Hub Partner organisations – so that they are even more empowered to do what they do best.”
This capacity building has commenced in earnest with a highly subscribed six-part extension and adoption training program being delivered by the E&A team between May 18 to June 29.
Ms McNeil says the E&A role being undertaken by her team will remain important into the future as farming systems evolve and new research and insights are needed.
“We won’t ‘solve’ drought resilience or climate change, but if we can help somebody’s business or farm to be in a better spot than it was, then we have achieved something,” she said.
Extension and adoption training kicks off
Extension and adoption training delivered by the SW WA Hub team kicked off this week - supporting those who extend research to support farmer adoption.
Module 1, delivered by the hub's Adoption Manager Julianne Hill and GGA Project Manager Alison Lacey, assisted delegates to define priorities and then flesh them out for funding proposals or research, development or extension work.
The six-part technical content training program involves two face-to-face workshops and four online workshops delivered between May 18 to June 29.
More information about the program, for which sessions are almost fully subscribed, is available on the GGA website.
Regional Node Lead snapshot
Caption: Shannah Kanny, of NACC NRM, interviews Isseka farmer Jack Davoren.
Jack investigating new ways to improve production
Mid West commercial flower and horticulture grower Jack Davoren has recently purchased a small desalination plant as part of ongoing efforts to improve his production system and drought-proof his business.
The desalination plant allows him to utlise lower quality or otherwise unsuitable bore water on his property at Isseka, which he purchased due to its reliable access to water.
Mr Davoren is one of the farmers being surveyed by Northern Agricultural Catchments Council (NACC) Natural Resource Management (NRM) - the SW WA Hub's Geraldton Regional Node Lead.
Farmer surveys by the SW WA Hub's eight Regional Node Leads aim to track changes in knowledge, attitudes, skills or practice change as a result of the hub's activities and interactions with Regional Node Leads.
Mr Davoren is also using a plastic mulch to protect soils from evaporation and is investigating a move into winter-dominant growing to better match production to rainfall.
He runs cover crops on unused fallow land and has been experimenting with improved controls by promoting beneficial bugs.
Looking forward, Mr Davoren is prioritising native trees that may be used as windbreaks, but are also additions to his flower production.
Participate in Farm to Port survey
Grain growers are encouraged to complete a survey that will assist research aimed at optimising grain supply chains.
The ‘Farm to Port’ study is led by The University of WA and supported by the SW WA Hub through its student bursary program.
UWA PhD student Garima, who recently received an extension and adoption bursary from the SW WA Hub, said the aim of the study was to produce a framework, based on simulations, that could assist growers to optimise decisions during and after harvest.
“This could include decisions relating to transportation, storage, packaging and marketing of crops,” she said.
Bureau of Meteorology long-range forecast
The May 18 Climate Outlook issued by the Bureau of Meteorology states:
- For June to August, below median rainfall is likely to very likely (60 per cent to greater than 80 per cent chance) for much of Australia.
- June to August maximum temperatures are likely to very likely (60 per cent to greater than 80 per cent chance) to be warmer than median for virtually all of Australia.
- Above median June to August minimum temperatures are likely to very likely (60 per cent to greater than 80 per cent chance) for most of the country excluding some inland regions.
- This forecast is being influenced by several factors including an ENSO-neutral pattern (neither El Niño nor La Niña) tending towards El Niño in the latter part of the forecast period, and the chance that a positive IOD event may develop in the coming months, as well as longer-term trends.
Apply for Nuffield Drought Resilience Scholarships
Keen to travel overseas to bring home new drought resilience tools and practices from international leaders in the field?
The FDF and Nuffield Australia are partnering for the first time in 2024 to offer at least five Australian farmers overseas study scholarships in drought resilience.
Through a Nuffield Drought Resilience Scholarship, you will build your drought resilience knowledge and grow your industry and community’s capacity to deal with dry times.
Each scholarship is valued at $35,000. If you work in food and fibre and are aged between 28 and 45, apply now.
Applications close on June 9, 2023.
More time to apply for mentoring program
There is now more time to apply for the second round of the FDF-funded National Mentoring Program, with applications extended to May 29.
The National Mentoring Program brings together rural Australians with different skills to build leadership capacity and resilience in rural Australia.
Eligible applicants are 18 years and over and connected to agriculture-dependent communities.
Try out tool to assist climate planning
Australian farmers are using a new online platform to help prepare for climate variability.
Climate Services for Agriculture (CSA) gives seasonal forecasts, future climate projections and historical climate data at a 5km2 resolution right across Australia.
Funded by the Australian Government's FDF and developed by the Bureau of Meteorology and CSIRO, it provides insights into how users can adapt their business to increase climate resilience.
Get a clearer picture of climate trends
The FDF’s Drought Resilience Self-Assessment Tool (DR.SAT) gives producers a clearer picture of the climate trends likely to impact their businesses.
It does this by bringing together satellite data, scientific climate projections for 2030 and 2050, and pathways to resources to help find solutions to maintaining or improving resilience.
Since its first release in December 2021, DR.SAT has evolved by listening to feedback and applying it to each update of the tool, rolling out new functionality and content to meet user needs.
Find out about Future Drought Fund
The Future Drought Fund (FDF) provides secure, continuous funding for drought resilience initiatives and will help Australian farmers and communities prepare for the impacts of drought.
