Project at a glance

Grain growers are facing increasing levels of risk

The two main risks faced by grain growers that affect their business success are yield (impacted by weather changes) and price volatility – both are expected to become more unpredictable in the future.

Improved understanding of risks empowers growers

With a better knowledge of risks, grain growers will be able to make decisions about on-farm management that maximise the rewards and minimise the downside risk.

RiskWi$e is designed to help growers manage risk

RiskWi$e will use participatory action research that engages growers in the conception to implementation process to help build trust and understanding of new knowledge on risk-reward that better informs decision making on-farm.

Project aim

To understand and improve the risk-reward outcomes for grain growers by supporting grower on-farm decision-making. The project:

• Involves grain growers in the identification of on-farm decisions that have unknown components of risk-reward that will be studied to elucidate new insights
• Develops an improved understanding of the risk-reward relationships for on-farm management decisions
• Informs growers and their advisers of new insights into optimising rewards and managing risk
• Challenges grower decision-making so future management decisions are evaluated in terms of the probability of upside returns offset against the associated downside risks

RiskWi$e comprises five themes:

• Nitrogen (N) decisions
• Sowing decisions
• Enterprise agronomic decisions
• Enterprise financial decisions
• Managing natural resource capital

National project lead

CSIRO

Project principal partner

Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC)

NSW Action Research Group

The RiskWi$e NSW Action Research Group (ARG) is led by Southern NSW Innovation Hub and is a collaboration between 10 organisations working across the low, medium and high rainfall broadacre production zones of the majority of NSW.

NSW ARG RiskWi$e projects include:

• Nitrogen (N) Decisions - with AMPS Research, Grain Orana Alliance (GOA), Central West Farming Systems (CWFS), Ag Grow Agronomy, FarmLink Research, Holbrook Landcare Network, Riverine Plains, Southern Growers, Irrigation Research and Extension Committee (IREC), and Irrigation Farmers Network
• Managing Phosphorus in the Farming System - with AgGrow Agronomy
• Lime and Learn: Risks in Acid Soils of Low Rainfall Farming Systems - with Grain Orana Alliance
• Farm Expansion Decisions - with AMPS Research
• Slow Thinking Frameworks - with Holbrook Landcare Network and Riverine Plains
• Soil Carbon Risks in Cropping Systems - Managing Natural Resource Capital - with CWFS

NSW Action Research Group (ARG) lead

Southern NSW Innovation Hub

NSW project partners

AgGrow Agronomy, Agricultural Marketing and Production Systems (AMPS), Central West Farming Systems (CWFS), FarmLink Research, Grain Orana Alliance (GOA), Holbrook Landcare Network, Irrigation Farmers Network, Irrigation Research and Extension Committee (IREC), Riverine Plains, and Southern Growers.

Project funding

RiskWi$e is made possible thanks to the involvement of all its partners and was established through a $30 million investment of the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC).