Just add water to 'get the crop in'

A half-day program will be presented to farmers and industry representatives keen to hear agronomy and crop trial updates, staffing tips, and plant breeding news.

Hart Field-Site Group chair Ryan Wood says the event is an excellent opportunity to prepare for the season ahead, ask questions direct to industry experts, share experiences with like-minded farmers and simply have a catch up over a coffee.

"We have a half-day program packed with timely information and updates," he said.

"The Hart board is excited with the list of speakers on this year's Getting The Crop In program and really looking forward to the return of some 'normality' heading into our 2021 events.

"I'd encourage anyone interested, to get online and register, come along and be part of it, we'd love to see you there."

Kicking off the event, Mr Wood will welcome guests before Hart researchers Brianna Guidera and Rebekah Allen share some of the key highlights of the Hart 2020 trial program, including the official launch of the 2020 Hart Trials Results book.

RELATED READING: Nitrogen rates provide surprising yield benefits

RELATED READING: Hart Field-Site welcomes a crowd | Photos

The always-anticipated farmer guest speaker for 2021 is David 'Seth' Cooper from CC Cooper & Co, who will give an insight into his family's farming operations, which now span from its heartlands in Jamestown to across the WA border and east into far western NSW.

Seth will speak about spreading the risk of farming, how the family manage their diverse and geographically expansive operation, as well as some of the results and lessons learned in their use of a disc seeder at their Jamestown farm and soil amelioration at Narrung.

Plant breeding; unlocking technology for the future will be the focus for Australian Grain Technologies chief executive officer and head of breeding Haydn Kuchel, who leads Australia's largest plant breeding company, all based in the Mid North.

Hear how the plant breeding process has evolved, current breeding and selection strategies, as well as the way forward for breeding through the use of technologies.

Staff - how to attract them and how to retain them will be the focus for speaker Pinion Advisory senior agribusiness consultant Carlyn Sherriff, who will give some practical ideas for attracting staff to your business - how to find them, how to target advertising to find the right people - and also how to keep staff or attract them back seasonally, as well as information about resources to assist with awards, wages, tax, super and obligations as an employer.

And to finish, guests will hear a marketing update to find out where Australia's grains industry is currently sitting in the international market, trends and predictions moving forward.

The event will be held from 8am to 12.30pm at The Influencers Church, Stradbrooke Road, Clare, on Wednesday, March 10.