Trial Update N trials, Time of planting - some interesting results , word from the Consultants.

This project has sort to identify the potential to measure the value added from training of on farm employees. This has been achieved by reviewing the literature on valuing training and interviewing industry stakeholders to develop an understanding of the training system. Once the system was defined, opportunities to measure and improve the systems were identified.

There is significant diversity in the labour productivity metrics such as area per employee (174ha to 290ha per employee), bales per employee (1260 to 2290) and cost of labour per bale ($23 to $36). These differences do require further analysis to allow meaningful benchmarks as machinery assets and use of contractors for farming and picking impact them. Although there are challenges to compare metrics between farms, in their current form they do provide useful measures for the same farm over time.

The process of shifting employees towards their productive potential will require an understanding of the specific skills required for cotton production tasks on farm. The Cotton Basics course provides a logical breakdown of the task that are impacted by employee capacity. This project recommends that the Dreyfus Model of skills acquisition be used as scale of capacity for each of these tasks. By breaking down the employees role and ability to specific tasks and skill level, capacity development can be targeted and value to the farm business quantified.

Realising value from training is not limited to the quality of the training event. Current training evaluation research has identified pre training attitude and post training application as more critical to realising value than the training event itself. This emphasises the role of the employer making clear the need for the training and how it will impact the farm enterprise, and post training re-enforcing the new skills and knowledge through practical application. This is very difficult if the training provider does not know the particular skills needs of the farm business, or the employer does not know what the trainer is providing.

Ultimately, the value of this research will be realised by growers and farm managers improving the productivity of their enterprises by attracting and developing the people who work on their farms. It would be useful to have a fuller understanding of the skills and attributes that are valued, the relationship of these skills and attributes to specific farm practices, and the current practice of employee capacity development.

There are currently about 4,000 permanent employees on cotton farms, with many more seasonal and casual workers. The vast majority of training is currently done on farm. Initial analysis of production figures suggests a significant difference in contribution to farm productivity between employees, and therefore significant gains to farm productivity from employee capacity development.

In line with CRDC Strategic Plan 2013 - 18, CRDC has supported the Australian Rural Leadership Foundation with the substratal belief that the success of the Australian cotton industry is driven by

its people. Their skills, knowledge, attitudes, innovations,

commitment and capacity to adapt are the fundamental

and often intangible elements of the industry’s success.

Investment in people and the activities that bring them

together is critical for long term sustainability, fostering

continuous improvement and creating opportunities for

innovation. The People program is a key integrating element

of the Plan, focusing on Workforce Capacity, Networks and

Communication as the three approaches through which

the people who drive the Australian cotton industry will be

supported.

The demand for skilled and capable people in regional Australia

is growing as people choose to live in more urban areas and

the resources boom creates greater competition for labour. As a

regionally based sector, the Australian cotton industry is being

affected by labour shortages. The challenge for the industry is twofold.

Firstly, how to continue developing and supporting its current

workforce so it continues to be an attractive industry in which to be

employed. Secondly, how to develop and attract a future workforce

which brings the energy, commitment and innovation that underpins

the long term sustainability of the industry. The ARLF is a not-for-profit organisation delivering development programs for current and future leaders of rural, regional and remote Australia.

ARLP programs are designed to develop leaders from the ‘inside out’ and use experiential learning and critical self-reflection as cornerstones for development by providing participants with experiences to:

• grow as an individual

• develop their leadership capabilities and broaden their perspecti es

• learn from and mobilise a network of peers

• better serve the greater good of rural, regional and remote Australia.

The ARLF as a provider of leadership development across rural, regional and remote Australia requires an evaluation framework that will elicit comparative data across time regarding the impact of alumni leadership on their workplaces, industries and communities. The research study informing this evaluation framework defined how impact was understood and the enabling and disabling factors which facilitated ARLF alumni in enacting their leadership in context.

The International Congress of Entomology (ICE) is held every four years in different countries in the world. In 2016, the conference was held in the Orange County Convention Centre in Orlando in Florida in USA from the 24th September – 1 October 2016. The conference was attended by 6,568 delegates from 102 countries. The conference serves as a forum for entomologists working on various aspects of entomology to interact and learn from each other.

The purpose of travel were:

Dr Mensah received an invitation by the Organising Committee of the International Congress of Entomology (ICE) to attend and organise Integrated Pest Management (IPM) symposium at the Conference held in Orlando in Florida, USA from 20 September to 30 September 2016.

to attend and present a paper on IPM in cotton cropping systems: Development and exploitation of a new semiochemical product for cotton IPM on transgenic cotton in Australia at the ICE Conference

Ruther activities included Dr Mensah meeting and discussing field experimentation, preliminary results and commercialization pathway of DAT 511 (a new NSWDPI Fungal Biopesticide product developed by Dr Robert Mensah) with Mr Mark Peacock (BASF Global Lead Researcher Biologicals). Mr Mark Peacock BASF-USA is lead researcher of the independent testing of DAT 511 against stink bugs on soybeans in Spain. BASF has indicated that the commercialization of DAT 511 product will depend on the results of the trials. Hence the need for Dr Mensah to visit Mr Peacock while in the USA to discuss DAT 511 trial protocols and review preliminary results.

Agriculture is facing current productivity challenges in terms of managing pests and diseases, which

will significantly increase within the next decade. With a general decline in productivity growth and

changes to external factors in managing weed, pest and disease risk, Australia more than ever requires

access to new and safer pesticide and veterinary medicines. The plant and animal industries are all

facing significant emerging biosecurity threats and being impacted on by pesticide resistance.

Australia is no longer on the global priority list for pesticide and veterinary medicine

commercialisation as it was 20 years ago..

Australian agriculture is experiencing increasing market failure regarding investment in agricultural pesticides

and veterinary medicines as the case for commercial investment is not always sufficient given the

regulatory cost for chemical registration and the relatively small market size.

The delivery of Access to AgVet Chemicals Collaborative System, was

contracted to establish a forum to develop a sustainable approach for collaboration regarding AgVet

chemicals, building on recent cross industry discussions on AgVet chemical access that were

supported by industry and government stakeholders. It could include establishing a collaboration and

co-investment framework to more efficiently improve AgVet technology access for agricultural

industries at reduced cost.

Australian irrigators are under increasing pressure to

maintain the viability of their farm businesses in the

face of reduced surface and ground-water allocations;

increasing competition from alternative users (such as

urban, industry and the environment); the cost-price

squeeze; and the uncertainties in climate change.

The key challenge to irrigation growers is then how

to identify practical and actionable strategies that

increase returns per ML of water available at the

whole farm level while at the same time reducing or

minimizing risks.

Here we report the experiences of a team of farming

systems that used experimental and participatory

modelling methods to explore farmer’s opportunities to

develop more profitable and less risky irrigated cotton-grains, rice-grains farm businesses.

For all our case study farms we could jointly identify and

quantify strategies that would allow them to improve

returns without increasing risk. In some cases our results

confirmed farmer’s intuitive expectations. Farmer’s

response to this new information varied, though a key

learning was a better understanding the trade-offs

between potential gains in profits at the cost of taking a

little extra risk.

Clearly for farmers on river entitlements, the value of

seasonal stream flow forecasts

(www.bom.gov.au/water/ssf) was a positive surprise.

Dryland growers are looking to adjust planting dates to better utilise planting opportunities and available soil moisture and minimise the negative impacts of peak flowering during extreme heat events. Greater understanding of the physiological development of dryland cotton, especially BG3 under different row configurations will enable growers to make better management decisions to maximise returns.

Pupae busting is a major hurdle to the adoption of dryland cotton. It’s a major expense, causing significant moisture loss, which minimises further opportunity cropping for dryland growers. The expansion of dryland cotton is significantly influenced by the need to pupae bust. Ratoon cotton can cause major issues in subsequent crop rotations.

Gomeroi Country extends broadly from the Qld / NSW boarder region to Tamworth, Aberdeen/ Muswellbrook, Coonabarabran and Walgett. The Gomeroi people are the traditional owners of this Country. The communities that this region encompasses have significant levels of indigenous populations. The economic conditions of these communities are also changing rapidly and are moving from a largely agricultural base to a more diverse economy which includes the mining and resource extraction industries.

The aim of the project is to undertake a skills audit of Gomeroi people in Narrabri to ascertain their current skill levels. The ultimate goal (but outside the scope of this project) is to use the information collected in this project to develop the necessary support and training for local Gomeroi people to take advantage of the range of jobs provided by mining and agriculture in the region. This study will undertake a skills audit of the Gomeroi people in the Narrabri region, both on country and off. A skills audit is a method of identifying and accounting the existing and deficient skills in a community to illuminate under- utilised human capital which can be re-invested into creating a viable local economy. The skills audit will also point to areas in which training and education are needed so that suitable courses can be developed.

The results of this project have the potential to generate major outcomes and multiple uses for the Narrabri Gomeroi People. They are ultimately the “owners” of these results and therefore future direction must be ‘owner driven'. The only limit will be “what they choose to do with the information and recommendations”. A key component to any decision will be a driver to assist with facilitating steps to ward planning for and instigating their chosen direction.

There are aspects of this project that worked and with further tweaking make this ultimately a very valuable methodology. The employment of an Indigenous Field Assessment Officer(FAO) is important – but reliability and honesty are paramount in the candidate. Additionally, the role of the Liaison to assist organisation, training and reporting.

Of major importance is the software solutions and ownership of the hardware which are housed at CRDC, Narrabri. The methodology outcomes are tangible and repeatable. Further community profiling now has the benefit of this first campaign thus allowing for engagement of this style of audit of other valleys.

This travel sponsorship funded two people to attend the Australasia Pacific Extension Network Conference in Christchurch, New Zealand. The purpose of the representation at the conference was to tell the “All for one and one for all: the story of "Harcourt" and the Dawson Valley Cotton Growers”, which explored the aftermath of the 2010/11 floods and how the Dawson Valley cotton grower community responded in a proactive way by using the industry’s voluntary Best Management Practice (myBMP) program, and support from incentive funding provided by the Fitzroy Basin Association, CRDC and the Australian Government. Cotton growers Mike and Debbie Austin share their own personal story as an example.

Prof. Dr. Silvia Dorn, Professor of Applied Entomology from ETH Zurich in Switzerland was on a scientific exchange to the Australian Cotton Research Institute (ACRI) in Narrabri from 5 – 12 February 2011. The exchange was organized by Dr Robert Mensah (NSW Department of Industry & Investments, Australian Cotton Research Institute Narrabri, NSW) and Assoc. Prof. Gimme Walter (School of Biological Sciences, University of Queensland, Brisbane). Prof. Dorn gave two presentations during the visit to staff of University of Queensland (UQ), NSWDII, CSIRO and DEEDI. The presentations were titled “Herbivore behaviour matters: insect flight performance and host switch” The presentations emphasized the importance of insect flight and choice behaviours of Helicoverpa spp. between Bt cotton and refuge crops. According to Prof. Dorn, insect species can evolve adaptations to distinct host plants, limiting the gene flow between populations from different host plant species and this will have implications on Helicoverpa spp. resistance management in transgenic cotton crops in Australia