GCTV Ep#11 Regional Advisory Panels & RCSN
Narrator: Over the past couple of years GRDC has undergone
enormous change.
At the corporate level, a familiar face became the new managing director, a new Corporate
Structure was put in place, and the latest Five Year Plan implemented.
At a regional level there were changes too.
In 2011 three out of four members of the regional advisory panels retired.
So a model was adopted where two thirds of the panel members would be retained.
Stuart Kearns: GRDC Executive Manager Regional Grower Services
So we do need new ideas new people coming in but at the same time we need old heads
around the table too.
And old heads it is probably just as much old heads as it is wise heads and we need
that continual commitment so we would probably be looking to keep panel members around for
a six-year period.
Narrator: When the 2013 regional advisory panels began
their two-year terms, two thirds were wise heads.
One of those who did not stay on was the southern panel chairman of the past eight years.
David Shannon: GRDC Regional Advisory Panels former Chairman - South
I was asked by my friends to describe what is it like being a panel member and being
on GRDC and I said how good is this, I am going to events talking to people, stuff that
I want to do as a farmer but do not have time to do.
And now I am going and doing it and not only can I contribute to the industry but I can
actually add value to my own business by understanding what some of the issues are.
Narrator: Over this time more structural changes took
place at a regional level.
The appointment of three regional grower services managers and the creation of regional networks
to identify local issues and fast track their resolution, the Regional Cropping Solutions
Networks.
So rigorous is GRDC�s normal research project vetting process that it could be 18 months
before a project starts up.
The RCSN with its in-depth understanding of an issue could decide whether research was
even needed to resolve it.
Stuart Kearns: It may be a communication or extension solution.
It might be just as easy as jumping on a bus and travelling across the border and seeing
someone elses research that they might be doing in that state.
Narrator: Flooding rains uncovered a major issue for
growers in the Griffith region of NSW in 2012.
While the increasing occurrence of herbicide resistance weeds in no-till farming systems
had been known for sometime, when isolated patches of resistant annual Rye grass and
common sour thistle began appearing in new locations after floodwater receded the RCSN
took quick action recording data for comparison with paddock histories.
Andrew Rice: GRDC Regional Grower Services Manager - South
This project will not provide the solutions to managing herbicide resistance but it will
provide the most important platform and that is the understanding of how its developed
and how it will likely continue to develop if we do not change.
Narrator: For GRDC executive manager of growers services
Stuart Kearns the Regional Cropping Solutions Networks are proving their worth.
Stuart Kearns: Yeah there has probably been about 14 or 16
of those fast tracked projects throughout the southern region and the western region.
So they range from anywhere between a $20 thousand project looking at iSpot or slugs
and snails through to something like a $50 thousand project looking at validating yield
profit in the sands of western Australia.
Narrator: GRDC�s medium to long-term research projects
continue to be prioritised by the regional advisory panels before being submitted to
the national panel for selection and funding.
However there is one other task for the panels and according to the only new panel chairman
in 2013, delivering research outcomes could be the biggest challenge of all.
Keith Pengilley: GRDC Regional Advisory Panel Chairman - South
How do we roll that into applied research and development then the most critical part
extension, getting it to growers where they can actually then look at the information,
analyse it themselves and adopt it on their farm.
Narrator: These new panel members are stepping up to
that task.
Growers, and all working in the grains industry, are encouraged to make contact with every
panel member as well as the Regional Cropping Solutions Networks.
It is by using these regional teams that growers can put forward their ideas and help set GRDC�s
future direction.
Ends
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