IG to Moree
GRAINGROWERS will bring its popular Innovation Generation (IG) conference to the country, with the first IG Local to be held this year in Moree.
The business will partner with Future Farmers Network (FFN) to hold the new conference, which will be an abridged version of the flagship event.
The IG Local event will be held in February while the main IG event will take place at its usual time in early July in Canberra.
The Moree event will be at the Moree Services Club in Albert St, Moree on February 23.
The conference commences at 2pm with a dinner following at 6:30pm.
Kazakh switch
THE GOVERNMENT of Kazakhstan has announced a restructure of the way it funds the central Asian nation’s grains industry.
It will switch the grants distribution scheme to favour the production of oilseeds instead of cereal crops.
Kazakhstan is an important wheat producer, growing 13.5 million tonnes in 2015-16 according to the International Grains Council.
Funding for wheat production will be slashed by 95pc, while corn subsidies have also been cut.
In contrast, subsidies for soybeans, canola and other oilseeds have been lifted substantially.
More wheat
The International Grains Council (IGC) has raised its forecast for world wheat production in 2016-17 by three million tonnes to 752mt.
This smashes the previous record, set in 2015-16 of 736mt.
Carryout stocks are also at record levels according to the IGC forecast, at 235mt.
Aussie breeding in Africa
TECHNOLOGY developed by Agriculture Victoria scientists will be used to breed more productive cassava, a vital food crop in Africa.
Cassava is a fleshy root vegetable native to South America but a staple in many parts of tropical Africa.
The Ag Vic technology is known as Optimum Haploid Value (OHV) and allows breeders to make better genetic decisions faster.
It has been licensed to NextGeneration Cassava Breeding (NextGen), a humitarian organisation, for free.
Professor German Spangenberg, Agriculture Victoria’s Executive Director Biosciences Research, explained that OHV is an advancement of genomic selection, which uses genetic information and physical characteristics to select the best parental lines. Using OHV and genomic selection, breeding cycles are shorter and improved plants can be bred much faster.
Australian farmers will also benefit from the technology, which can be applied to a range of plant species.
“The technology also has potential application for other crops, including those like wheat and canola that are important to the Australian agriculture sector,” Prof Spangenberg said.
OHV was developed by Ag Vic in conjunction with Dow AgroSciences.
Leadership winners
GrainGrowers has announced the participants for its 2017 Australian Grain Farm Leader Program (AGFLP).
The participants are:
* Robert Allen (NSW)
- Jordan Anderson (QLD)
- Jasmyn Crimmins (WA)
- Darcy Gorman (VIC)
- Sarah Kennedy (NSW)
- Oscar Pearse (NSW)
- Matt Rigby (WA)
- Rob Terry (TAS)
- Callum Wesley (WA)
David McKeon, GrainGrowers General Manager Policy and Innovation, said the participants showed the strength in the Australian grains industry.
“It’s fantastic to see the strong calibre of future leaders out in our industry.”
The Australian Grain Farm Leaders Program (AGFLP) is a national leadership program designed specifically for young Australian grain farmers.