Dr Sofie De Meyer Awarded State Government Scholarship

24/07/2018

Dr Sofie De Meyer, MALDI-ID CEO, has just been awarded one of six new Aquaculture and Agriculture entrepreneur scholarships by the McGowan Government.

The scholarships are supported by the State Government’s $3.41 million Science and Agribusiness Connect initiative. 

mark mcgowan labor

Image source: abc.net.au

The scholarships are part of an innovative program designed to assist entrepreneurs with travel, testing, training and/or commercialisation in their specialised field.

Dave Kelly, Science and Fisheries Minister, explains that these scholarships will help WA grow in a number of areas.

“These exciting and innovative projects have the potential to grow WA jobs and the $6.8 billion agriculture sector, particularly in the regions… One project alone could help grow our seafood industry by generating 20 new direct and indirect jobs and $5 million over five years.”

The scholarship will allow Dr De Meyer to further investigate legumes, and how they can help to increase pasture performance.

Click here to read the full article by the Government of Western Australia.

Watch the short video below to learn how MALDI-ID are using the power of science to transform legumes in our agriculture.

Delayed Lupin flowering important to increase yield.

19/07/2018

UWA postgraduate student, Candy Taylor, recently delivered her thesis on lupin flowering times at the University of WA’s Frontiers in Agriculture showcase.

During the presentation, Ms Taylor highlights that Australia accounts for 51% of the global 1.3 million tonnes of Lupin production. And Western Australia produces a staggering 70 – 80% of Australia’s lupins.

Lupins tend to flourish in the Northern Wheatbelt thanks to the short seasons. Because of the Lupins early flowering time, parts of WA don’t capitalise on later season rains which are perfect for lupin crop.

LupinasAlbus

Image source: www.freenatureimages.eu

Ms Taylor has concluded that by delaying the flowering time of a narrowed leaf lupin for 22 days, you could increase yield by up to 16%.

Whereas, the best delay of flowering for high rainfall areas to boost yield is 18 days.

Click here to learn how our RHIZO-ID kits can help increase your legume yield.

 

Pulse crops on the rise in 2018

11/07/2018

The current money on offer for profitable pulse crops, such as lentils and chickpeas, is on par with average levels according to data.

In the past nine months alone, there have been substantial drops in price for pulse crops, as much as hundreds of dollars per tonne. 

Although it’s not all bad, some pulses used in stockfeed are on the rise.

Lupins and faba beans have shown an increase in price due to increased domestic demand.

Faba beans are also gaining popularity in the pet food industry because of their high protein. It is suggested that over time, the long-term prospects for faba beans may further improve.

Results found in a report by Pulse Australia and the Grains Industry Market Access Forum predict that crops used for human consumption are expected to rise significantly. The report also suggests that stock feed crops will have prices better than usual.

sustainable farming

A stockpile of lentils?

Not all crops are expected to have increased profit. Unfortunately, lentils are expected to fare the worst.

Because of the significant amount of lentils around the world, farmers should prepare for lower than normal prices, in the decile two to three range, for the upcoming season.

Australia is reported to still be holding lentil stocks from the 2016 and 2017 season.

Below: Port Adelaide Decile pricing shows low decile 1 – 2

Port Adelaide Lentil Decil

Image Source: Pulse Australia – Global Pulse State of Play

Good news for Chickpeas?

Chickpeas are expected to have a decile pricing between 5 – 6, which is a decent price considering it is predicted that large amounts of chickpeas from the 2017/season have not been sold.

There were approximately 200,000 tonnes of unsold chickpeas from the previous season.

Below: Brisbane Chick Pea Decile pricing shows to be in the middle decile 5 – 6

brisbane chick pea decile

Image Source: Pulse Australia – Global Pulse State of Play

Improved Pulse Plantings

Pulse Australia Chief Executive, Nick Goddard said he predicted pulse plantings in Australia to improve this year thanks to pricing and agronomic factors;

“It is very dry in many cropping areas which will impact plantings, while farmers are also looking to their rotations and giving pulses a bit of a spell after a pretty solid push over the past couple of years when prices were good”.

He continues;

“It may have been time pulses came back in terms of percentage they made up of traditional plantings, traditionally they have made up 7pc of the plant, but over the past two years that figure was around 15pc, due to the chickpea boom. This year, I’d expect that would be back at around 5-7pc.”

Due to the improving value of wheat and barley, Nick Goddard says it is a good time to lower pulse plantings a little.

 

 

RHIZO-ID Kit information

02/07/2018

What you need to know about RHIZO-ID Kits

For the analysis of one paddock up to 100 hectares, you will require one RHIZO-ID kit for each legume plant species.

For paddocks larger than 100 hectares, we strongly recommend using an additional RHIZO-ID kit for better accuracy. Every kit contains four sample bags, for four individual locations in the paddock.

legume root

Previous research has shown that four locations per paddock provide a good overview of the rhizobia situation in that paddock.

We are able to analyse the following rhizobia groups: Group AM/AL (Medic), Group C (Clover), Group FE (Pea, Faba-bean, Vetch, Lentil), Group GS (Lupin spp., Serradella spp.) and Group N (Chickpea).
If your legume host/rhizobia group is not on this list, contact us to discuss the different options.

For more information, watch our short video on the sampling process. We explain how to collect your legumes, and how to use your legume kit.

Order your RHIZO-ID kit online. We proudly ship worldwide. 

Instructional video for sampling your legumes for analysis

02/07/2018

Have you recently ordered a RHIZO-ID kit? Or, perhaps you want to order a RHIZO-ID kit but want to learn more about the sampling process.

Either way, be sure to check out this short informative video that explains the simple steps to follow.

 

Click HERE to order your RHIZO-ID kit.

 

A brief summary of the sampling process:
  • Dig out 5-10 plants per location in the paddock – wash and dry
  • Sort plants according to species and cut off roots
  • Place in kit bags
  • Record sample numbers and paddock GPS location as instructed
  • Return to MALDI-ID

 

How RHIZO-ID can increase crop yield or pasture performance

02/07/2018

Knowing if your legumes contain the correct rhizobia, and if the rhizobia is working the way it should be to increase crop yield or pasture performance is vital. 

What do you need to know about legumes?

Legume roots produce a natural fertilizer. 

The nodules that form on the roots of legumes contain rhizobia bacteria.

For the rhizobia bacteria to take nitrogen from the air and produce ammonia (fertilizer) it is important to know if the correct rhizobia is in your legumes.

Did you know?

The Australian agriculture industry uses 5.3 million tons of fertilizer each year! Legume roots are a sustainable farming fertilizer.

A successful farmer does two things very well:

First, they reduce their environmental impact as much as possible.

Second, they find cost-effective farming methods which transcends into increased yields.

So, how exactly do we help farmers achieve these two things?

With the power of science and our easy to use RHIZO-ID kits, we can identify what type of rhizobia is in your legume root nodules to improve production.

legume root
What do you need to do?

All you need to do is order a RHIZO-ID kit from our website or through our distributors.

1 kit is sufficient for the analysis of one legume species.

Each kit contains four sample bags.

Simply send in roots from four different locations in a 100-hectare paddock and we will begin the analysis.

It really is that easy.

We are trusted leaders in the farming industry:

Our kits are sold through leading farming organisations such as;

ALOSCA Technologies, CSBPElders, and Landmark.

What’s our method?

RHIZO-ID explanation

Traditional ways to identify root nodules include growing the bacteria. This method can be time-consuming, labour intensive and expensive for farmers.

Here’s the deal:

We have combined an innovative method which incorporates both previous methods to save time and money for farmers, whilst being environmentally friendly.

Our scientific-led research team use a mass spectrometer machine and genetic sequencing of protein markers to detect and identify the different strains and their unique fingerprints.

We generate a fingerprint of root nodules and then we compare that fingerprint with the database that we have comprised of the current rhizobia inoculants.

This means that there will be less fertilizer needed because nitrogen from the legume is put into the ground and it’s available for (wheat or barley) crop after the legume component.

We ship world wide.

MALDI-ID testing available through CSBP

02/07/2018

MALDI-ID proudly partners with leading agriculture company – CSBP.

The MALDI-ID test can be conducted anytime in season and can now be accessed through your local CSBP Area Manager.

CSBP

“At CSBP we’re constantly looking at how new technology can assist our customers.”

MALDI-ID RHIZO-ID kits have been recognised by expert agronomers as an efficient way to identify the correct rhizobia needed for crops or pastures.

 

Click here to read the full article by CSBP

 

We analyse fresh root matter for a legume pasture to give an ID of strains of rhizobia present in root nodules. This method helps to determine if the correct strains of rhizobia exist in your soils or if your land needs to be reinoculated before next season.

Learn more about our RHIZO-ID kits or place your order online now.