Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 4441 IREC Farmers' Newsletter No. 197 — Autumn 2017 It was interesting to see the number of common research areas that was of highest priority across the groups, as groups were not told how other groups had voted. The issues of spray drift, herbicide resistance and crop rotations were raised at each of the meetings. This is remarkable as crop rotations and herbicide resistance were top issues for a number of groups in the 2014 meetings. The priorities raised at the 2014 meetings led to the establishment of a number of projects, including: l Maximising On-farm Irrigation Profitability In the Murrumbidgee Valley, this project is examining the effect of reduced deficit irrigation on nitrogen use efficiency and water use efficiency in irrigated cotton. In the Murray Valley the project is investigating what crop and management regime will allow continuous double cropping in the rice farming system. While the northern Victoria site at Numurkah site is exploring the productivity and profitability of maize through better nitrogen and water management. l  Optimising the Management of Manures in Southern NSW Cotton Production This Cotton Research and Development Corporation funded project is investigating the benefits of using animal manure in cotton production systems. The priorities generated from the breakfast meetings are valuable information as RDCs, research institutions and funding bodies are keen to fund projects that are relevant to irrigators, who are the levy payers. IREC will work with other farmer groups with aim of establishing projects to address some of these priority issues. Further information Iva Quarisa T: 02 6963 0936 E: [email protected] The Coleambally breakfast meeting inspected a cotton crop and heard about projects instigated from priorities raised at the last round of meetings in 2014. The Whitton breakfast meeting inspected the new layout and automated supply system at the IREC Field Station before discussing priority R&D issues. Growers were firstly asked to write down their ideas on paper, with each person then sharing their best idea. These were written up on butcher’s paper. Once all the ideas were listed, each person got to vote on the five ideas that were most important to them. This process ultimately showed what the top issues for the group were. The top issues from each of the meetings are listed as follows. Gogeldrie meeting 1. Herbicide resistance 2. Soil moisture monitoring and irrigation scheduling 3. Spray drift 4. Fertiliser efficiency (losses in different forms) 5. Soil quality — improving microbes Yenda meeting 1. Crop rotations — cotton/rice/pulses 2. Spray drift awareness 3. Profitability of cropping enterprises 4. Incorporating stubble after rice 5. Water use efficiency 6. Field layouts and design — t/ML = $/ML Coleambally meeting 1. Amelioration of cut areas 2.  Understanding soils — sodicity, impact of irrigation systems and compaction 3. Shorter-season summer crops 4. High-yielding short-season rice Benerembah meeting 1.  Beds versus hills in cotton, especially early season irrigation looking at waterlogging/soil temperatures 2. Cut/fill nutrient management 3.  Spray drift — education 2,4-D, ppm thresholds to cause damage and lessons from north 4. Compaction 5. Benefits of wheat stubble incorporation for cotton 6. Herbicide resistance, alternative weed management