RiskWi$e is a $30 million, 5-year national initiative (2023-2028) aimed at improving risk-reward outcomes for Australian grain growers. By engaging growers in identifying on-farm decisions with uncertain risks, the initiative will provide insights to optimize rewards and manage risks. It seeks to empower 80% of growers to evaluate management decisions based on probability of upside returns versus downside risks. Using participatory action research, growers and advisers will assess risks in their own farming contexts. RiskWi$e responds to the growing risks in grain production and supports the GRDC’s strategic goals of managing risk for profitability.
The SA Drought Hub is supporting the three Riskwi$e groups in South Australia through financial support of projects and project management support through our Farming Systems Specialist Adoption Officer.
Learn more about the national Riskwi$e initiative through the GRDC website.
Project description:
In 2023/24, the SA Drought Hub has partnered with the 3 RiskWi$e project across SA to understand and improve the risk-reward outcomes for Australian grain growers by supporting grower on-farm decision-making.
The 3 RiskWi$e groups across SA are:
- SA Western – AIR EP
- SA Central – Hart Field Site Group – Incorporating NSS, UNFS, MPF and MNHRZ
- VIC and South East SA – MSF – Lead by BCG
The 3 groups are currently in the second year of the RiskWi$e program working on giving farmers the tools to assist them in making timely on farm decision making. The first themes for RiskWi$e have been around improved decision making around Nitrogen. This theme was directed by GRDC as a compulsory theme. The groups are now moving on to more agronomic and farm business decision making as part of their second themes.
Each group can deliver the program in a style that best suits them and their farmers.
AIREP – SA Western
On EP there are 6 farmer discussion groups lead by a group facilitator. These groups come together several times a year and work through timely in season decisions with relevant, topical guest speakers included. Drought Hub is contributing to assisting these groups to identify the challenges to adoption of strip and disc technology on Eyre Peninsula. There has been a large amount of research gone into increasing the understanding of the technology and its contribution soil moisture conservation, but the adoption of the practice has been limited. This project will identify the benefits, risks and gaps in knowledge of adopting strip and disc systems. The learning from the needs analysis have been used in the farmer discussion groups to better inform agronomic and business decision making.
Learn more about the AIREP project supported by the SA Drought Hub
Hart – SA Central
Hart, and the 4 partner organisations are incorporating decision making into their workshops and field days. Many of these discussions have been around making timely decisions around nitrogen application in relation to the current seasonal conditions.
Drought Hub has contributed to the decision making with 4 of the 5 groups involved with accessing Drought Hub funds to fill gaps in the decision-making processes of their groups. These have been different with each group:
Hart – Pre emergent decision making for dry sown crops. This project has built on work already happening in this space, with the ultimate aim to develop a decision-making tool to assist in making informed choices for pre-emergent herbicides in relation to soil type, crop type, tillage systems and expected rainfall.
UNFS – Making better decisions for frost mitigation in the Upper north. This project shares the learning of other groups such as MNHRZ and looks at how farmers make decisions to mitigate the affects of frost, including looking into alternative end use and hay production in the upper north.
NSS – Optimising nutrient input into low nutrient availability sands on southern YP. The Drought Hub funds have enabled RiskWi$e to expand into the Yorke Peninsula region with assisting farmer so make more informed nutrient decisions in highly calcareous soils.
MNHRZ – Understanding frost and minimising financial risk due to frost. This project takes the learnings from previous work carried out by MNHRZ and further extends it into applied decision making to reduce the financial impact of frost.
MSF – VIC and South East SA
Improved decision-making processes across the SA Mallee in relation to other tactical agronomic based decision making through the use of support tools, including the Mallee Nitrogen Calculator.
The Drought Hub was able to support the delivery of RiskWi$e activities to groups in Lowbank, Loxton, Bowhill and Coomandook. Funding will also allow for the updating of the ‘Mallee N Calculator’ decision making tool developed 15 years ago.
Learnings from the Drought Hub funded projects will be used in the RiskWi$e decision making workshops in 2024 and 2025.
The successful partnering with the RiskWise ARG’s has enabled the groups to deliver a fuller package of decision-making opportunities to enable farmers to add to their confidence when making informed timely decisions on farm. The process has enabled groups to further extend learnings and create better linkages with farming systems groups on the ground.
These collaborations have built better relationships with the Drought Hub and the Farming Systems groups, and also built on relationships and sharing of resources and learnings amongst the groups. Going forward, this funding model has enabled a positive value add, rather than a replication of work delivered by farming systems groups.
Learn more about the MSF projects supported by the SA Drought Hub: