2024 Western Australia

Australian Agronomy Conference Update

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The 21st Australian Agronomy Conference will be led by a team from the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, CSIRO, Murdoch University, Curtin University, University of Western Australia and Australian Association of Agricultural Consultants WA  in mid to late August 2024

The conference theme will focus on the practice changes happening in different agricultural systems that exist in Western Australia. The components might include:

• Renovating hostile soils, increasing yield potential without more rainfall.

• Resource use efficiency, matching traits with environment and management.

• Growing crops when the season breaks, be it late March or early July.

• Higher versus lower rainfall cropping, what is different aside from rainfall?

• Precision agriculture, digital agriculture, big data and spatial tools, let us use them.

• Matching products grown to the demands of our customers, an international focus.

• Livestock as the business focus versus a mixed farming or full cropping business focus.

• Diversifying the crop rotation, are their options aside from pulses?

• Managing weeds and diseases where chemical use is restricted.

Possible field trips include

• Muresk/Northam/Dale (frost, early sowing, disease, glasshouse/lab research)

• West Midlands (higher rainfall cropping, horticulture)

• Wongan Hills/Dalwallinu/Kalannie (systems thinking, farming to the environment)

• Tammin/South Burracoppin/Merredin (dryland farming, sodicity, soil acidity, heat stress)

• Albany/Kendenup (higher rainfall cropping, waterlogging, soil amelioration, viticulture, livestock, grain export)

• Kwinana/Forrestfield (focus on exporting grain and processing grain – WA is an export state – why do we do things differently to the east coast)

• Gingin/Swan Valley/Coastal plain (horticulture, viticulture, livestock)

• Margaret River/Brunswick Junction (livestock, viticulture, horticulture)

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Congratulations WA - the 2024 EOI was approved by members at the 2019 Australian Agronomy Conference.

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To express interest in being involved in the WA conference please contact 

Dr Ben Biddulph 
Chief Scientist

Primary Industries Development Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development  Perth WA
Email: ben.biddulph@dpird.wa.gov.au