RHIZO-ID Archives

WA could be on track for record-breaking crop production

04/10/2018

WA looks to be on track for record-breaking harvest if current weather conditions across much of the grainbelt continue.

First crop production estimates were recently released by the Grain Industry Association of Western Australia (GIWA) for 2018 – WA is predicted to produce more than 15.5 million tonnes of grain and 9.9mt of wheat.

This would leave Western Australia accounting for almost half of the total national wheat crop as the Eastern States continue to go through a severe drought.

James Maxwell, Australian Crop Forecasters analyst, had this to say:

“The big drop has obviously come in Queensland and New South Wales – in Queensland we’ve only got half a million tonnes while New South Wales is at 3.4mt and that has potential to drop further. WA is looking very close, if not more than half of the wheat crop at the moment.”

WA looks set to also have solid seasons with barley and canola – the only state headed for an above-average season.

Steady rain and high commodity prices have set up WA for a successful year but GIWA report author Michael Lamond warns that frost and heat stress could impact how the season played out.

“The growing season for the majority of the State has been near perfect so fat with crops ahead of where they would normally be with a late May break to the season.” Mr Lamond said.

He continues:

“The only downside to this may be the susceptibility to heat stress if crops are exposed to sudden hot weather… The frost risk to crops is generally considered to be less than it was in 2016 – even though crops have moved along quickly this year, they are still behind in growth stage to date from where they were in 2016.”

Kwinana leading the way

In terms of production, Kwinana is predicted to produce more than 8.1mt of grain this season – a quarter of the national wheat crop.

GIWA report that Kwinana crop growth was exceptional even with late May break – cereals being the standout crop.

Most of the zone has benefited from steady rainfall and warm temperatures. Although some areas are suffering from sclerotinia in canola and waterlogged paddocks, most areas are on track for an above-average season.

Source: Farm Weekly

Mr Lamond spoke about low crop growth areas:

“The very poor area of crop growth are now confined to the eastern portions of the (Southern Albany) zone”.

The Esperance zone has experienced a change of gears compared to previous record-breaking seasons and was “shaping up for just an average year”.

Overall, “Most growers are now confident close to average yields will be achieved if the season does not cut out early.

New research for production of chickpeas

31/08/2018

A multi-nation research collaboration is hoping to unlock valuable new opportunities for the production of chickpeas in Australia.

Researchers supported by GRDC have collected and multiplied wild chickpea species located in the Middle East to build a special genetic resource from which important traits are being screened.

Researches are hoping for a possible incorporation into a new disease-resistant, stress-tolerant, high-yielding varieties for Australian growers.

Dr Francis Ogbonnaya, GRDC pulses and oilseeds manager, says the research is likely to lead to an expansion of Australia’s chickpea production area, particularly in regions where opportunities to grow chickpeas have been limited due to the availability of lines tolerant to constraints such as acidic soils, abiotic stresses and disease stresses.

Chickpeas are Australia’s most valuable cash crop

Dr Ogbonnaya explains the importance of chickpeas in Australia, “…they play an important role in terms of overall optimisation and sustainability of our farming systems.”

“They act as a break crop for cereal rotations, they add nitrogen to the soil, assist with weed control and add market diversity.”

The new research aims to help farmers who have previously had difficulty growing chickpeas due to the narrow genetic base of the domesticated chickpea.

Growth for WA

In Western Australia 2017, only 5000 hectares were planted to chickpeas because of the lack of chickpeas adapted to acidic soils.

“If growers had access to varieties with acid tolerance – and evidence is showing those traits exist in the wild material we now have available – the area planted to chickpeas in the west could potentially grow to about 500,000 hectares. Growers would have a valuable break-crop alternative to lupins.”

Wild Genetic Material

CSIRO ecophysiologist, Dr Jens Berger, says

“I am optimistic that we captured the adaptive diversity needed to improve the performance of cultivated species.”

The wild genetic material is being screened for traits such as tolerance to acidic soils, drought, heat and cold, water use efficiency and resistance to diseases such as ascochyta blight, Phytophthora root rot and root lesion nematodes.

Participating in the work are several of GRDC’s Australian research partners including the Centre for Crop and Disease Management; Murdoch University.

Strong mung bean season thanks to demand from China and Vietnam

23/08/2018

A strong mung bean season in Australia has paved the way for crops to get close to average yields.

Thanks to strong demand from China and Vietnam, mung bean prices have avoided the India-inspired slump that hit the rest of the pulse market.

Mark Schmidt, Australian Mungbean Association president, said there would be an estimated total production between 80, 90,000 tonnes now that harvest has finished.

This is above the five-year average to 2016 of 76,000 tonnes.

Mark Schmidt says:

“The production could have been higher given the better opening rain, but it has not been a bad season for mung bean growers.”

“Most growers have had better than average quality and the price went up towards the end of the season which is a good thing both for this crop.”

Mr Schmidt said the prices for legumes have increased even with India taking less than 5 percent of total exports this year. Typically, India accounts for between 30-50 percent of Australia’s mungbean exports.

“We have been lucky there have been production shortfalls in places like Vietnam and China and they are looking for imports.”

Image source: mungbean.org.au/

Strong demand in China and Vietnam

Much different to other pulse crops, where India and other destinations command the market, Mr Schmidt said there was a high East Asian demand for mungbeans which were used to make products including cellophane noodles, treasured in Chinese and Vietnamese cooking.

Demand from Vietnam and China has helped push the prices for top quality, processing mungbeans to around $1250 a tonne, while manufacturing grade beans are currently selling for around $1050/t.

“Prices have risen around $150/t since the crop was planted,” Mr Schmidt said.

According to Wayne Newton, AgForce grains section president, growers were reporting a higher percentage than usual of top quality beans thanks to a drier season.

“It’s good that we have the chance to access high-value markets and yields, generally between two to three tonnes a hectare, were not too bad in the end either.”

Mr Schmidt said most of this year’s mungbeans had been sold.

“There is not a lot in surplus which is a good sign for pricing for next season.”

Read our recent post on ‘Optimising Mungbean Yields’ project which is set to better predict what determines mungbean yield in Australia.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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, CSBP, Elders, and Landmark.

What’s our method?

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.

“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.