The Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) held a succesful research update in Bendigo last month, adapting to the challenges presented by COVID-19 restrictions.
A hybrid in-person and remote conference was conducted, but a number of the Victorian grains industry's leading agronomists and researchers managed to make it to the All Seasons Resort in Bendigo to discuss a range of topics critical to crop prospects in 2021.
The ever- present topic of herbicide resistance was well covered by Peter Boutsalis, Plant Science Consulting and Katie Asplin, CropLife, who talked about reducing the risk of glyphosate resistance in key problem weeds.
Agriculture Victoria duo Grant Hollaway and Mark McLean spoke about the prospects for fungal disease outbreaks in the 2021 season while entomologists Jess Lye and Paul Umina discussed why 2020 was such a bad year for army worm.
While the focus of the conference was agronomy, Grain Trade Australia boss Pat O'Shannassy analysed the Australia-China trade situation and what would happen next for Australian barley producers.