Optimising Crop Establishment

Grains Research & Development Corporation (GRDC)
Written By Cristy Houghton

GRDC Optimising Crop Establishment

Project Funder: Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC)

Project Lead: Grower Group Alliance (GGA)

Technical Partners: Analytics for the Australian Grains Industry (AAGI), Primary Sales Australia and Specialised Ag.

Project Duration: March 2026 – September 2030

Project Location:  National/CWFS region.


Project Overview

The Optimising Crop Establishment project is a national initiative led by the Grower Group Alliance (GGA) and supported by the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC). The project aims to improve crop establishment through practical demonstrations, grower workshops and regionally relevant extension activities.

Central West Farming Systems (CWFS) is a regional delivery partner, helping ensure project activities address the challenges and opportunities faced by growers across Central West NSW.

Crop establishment is one of the most important drivers of grain production. Achieving the right plant population and uniform crop emergence can significantly influence yield potential, resource use efficiency and profitability. This project will help growers better understand the factors that influence establishment and how management decisions can be adapted to suit local conditions.

Project Activities

The project combines large-scale demonstration trials with practical extension activities to support informed decision-making on farm.

Key activities include:

  • Large-scale on-farm demonstration trials evaluating crop establishment strategies.

  • Seeder set-up workshops delivered across grain-growing regions.

  • Practical resources and extension materials to support adoption.

  • Collection of nationally consistent data to improve understanding of crop establishment across diverse environments.

  • Monitoring, evaluation and learning activities to identify barriers and opportunities for practice change.

Demonstration sites will investigate a range of agronomic and operational factors that influence establishment, helping validate best-practice approaches under commercial farming conditions.

By improving access to practical knowledge and skills, the project aims to support growers in making more informed establishment decisions and achieve more consistent crop performance.

Cristy Houghton

Cristy's unique career has taken her from country NSW to the city lights of Clarendon Street South Melbourne and back again. With an early career in radio as a copywriter and creative strategist, she is now a Jill of all trades as a graphic designer, website builder, blog writer, video editor, social media manager, marketing strategist and more. 

In fact, give her any task and this chick will figure out how to do it! Go on, we dare you!

No, really, we DARE you!!

Cristy has won two Australian Commercial Radio Awards (ACRAs) for Best Ad and Best Sales Promotion, and even has an 'Employee of the Year' certificate with her name on it.

Cristy and her husband James have traveled extensively through Russia, China and South East Asia, and have two fur-babies, Sooty (cat) and Panda (puppy). Cristy loves drinking coffee, meeting people to drink coffee, coffee tasting and coffee flavoured cocktails. She also enjoys road trips, TED Talks and watching cat videos on youtube.

http://www.embarketing.com.au
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