The On Farm Experimentation project was led by the Centre for Crop and Disease Management (CCDM) at Curtin University. These case studies outline how the OFE project helped growers run paddock-scale trials with confidence.
Many farmers trial treatments by observation or uncalibrated yield data, but OFE provides a robust method to separate treatment effects from natural paddock variability. The project has developed an analysis tool that accounts for this variability, giving growers confidence that trial results reflect real treatment effects. A web-based platform, being developed with project partner NGIS, will allow growers and advisors to analyse their own trials easily.
Next steps
Since the completion of the On-Farm Experimentation project, the Curtin for Agribusiness Profitability (C4AP) Initiative has been developed within the Centre for Crop and Disease Management at Curtin University. This group, led by Julia Easton, has been extending and creating the research capability to develop next generation agribusiness analytics to support the WA grains industry. Key building blocks in this development have been made through the Digital Edge, a project funded by the WA Department of Jobs, Tourism, Science and Innovation’s Agribusiness Connect program and Digital Edge for the Eastern Wheatbelt, an innovation grant funded by the South-West WA Drought Resilience Adoption and Innovation Hub through the Future Drought Fund.
