An AFREN workshop in WA in 2025. Photo: Nola D’Souza, CCDM

AS FUNGICIDE resistance continues to emerge across Australian cropping systems, growers and advisers can strengthen disease-management strategies through a new series of workshops.

The events will be run by the Disease Management Extension Network , an investment of the Grains Research and Development Corporation.

Rolling out across WA, SA, Victoria and Queensland, the workshops are designed to address region-specific disease challenges.

Participants will receive practical, science-based guidance on disease identification, fungicide stewardship and integrated disease management.

• Perth, WA: Monday 20 July – soilborne diseases including fusarium crown rot, rhizoctonia and take-all;
• Esperance, WA: Thursday 23 July – foliar diseases including canola blackleg, barley scald and wheat powdery mildew;
• Kimba, SA: Tuesday 28 July – cereal and pulse foliar and root diseases;
• Toowoomba, Qld: Thursday 20 August – mungbean diseases;
• Maitland, SA: Tuesday 1 September – foliar diseases including barley net blotch and Ascochyta blight in lentils and lentil root diseases; and,
• Mildura, Vic: Thursday 3 September – soilborne diseases including fusarium crown rot, rhizoctonia and pulse root and foliar diseases.

The workshops will explore real-world scenarios that reflect the decisions being made on farm each season.

They aim to help industry build the skills and confidence needed to manage disease pressure effectively while preserving the effectiveness of fungicide tools for the future.

Ag Consulting Co’s Bill Long, who will facilitate the sessions alongside AgCommunicators’ Belinda Cay said the workshops were deliberately designed to be practical and interactive.

Ag Consulting Co’s Bill Long. Photo: GRDC

“These workshops aren’t about turning up and being told what to do,” Mr Long said.

“We see it as an opportunity to top up knowledge, test your thinking and have genuine conversations with leading researchers and pathologists.

“The science is important, but so is the practical experience in the room; that’s where some of the most valuable learning happens.

“So along with listening to presentations, we’ll be discussing the issues that matter most in the region and local farming systems then exploring practical solutions with people who are working on these challenges every day.

“Participants can bring their own questions, challenges and observations from the paddock and work through them with experts and peers.

“Whether you’re looking to better understand resistance risks, refine your disease management approach or sense-check decisions for the season ahead, these workshops are designed to provide practical, relevant insights that can be applied straight away.”

Participants will engage directly with disease experts from organisations including:

• Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development WA;
• South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI), the research division of Primary Industries and Regions SA
• Centre for Crop and Disease Management (CCDM)
• Field Applied Research Australia Australia;
• Agriculture Victoria
• Department of Primary Industries Queensland
• Centre for Crop Health at the University of Southern Queensland
• Marcroft Grains Pathology.

Topics to be covered include:

• Why fungicides fail and factors driving resistance;
• How fungicide resistance develops, and what it means for key mode-of-action groups;
• Disease identification for key regional diseases;
• Integrated disease management strategies including crop rotations, variety selection, timing, rates and non-chemical options;
• Practical fungicide stewardship including product selection, application tactics and strategies to prolong effectiveness;
• Scenario-based decision-making exercises that balance disease control with resistance management.

The workshops are open to growers, agronomists, advisers, consultants and others involved in crop disease management and fungicide decision-making.

Places are limited to keep discussion practical and focused.

The GRDC Disease Management Extension Network is led by AgCommunicators, in collaboration with: Adelaide University; AgConsulting Co; Agriculture Victoria; Centre for Crop Health at the University of Southern Queensland; Centre for Crop and Disease Management at Curtin University, WA DPIRD; NSW DPIRD; DPI Qld; FAR Australia; Marcroft Grains Pathology, and SARDI.

Source: GRDC