SEPWA Projects in the Esperance Port Zone
Current Projects
- More than Trees & Fences
- Path to Purity
- Precision Agriculture
- Grower Group Alliance
- Farmer Wheat and Barley Variety Trials
- Pasture Phase Farming Systems
Past Projects
Grain Trials
SEPWA is involved in various projects within the Esperance Port Zone to varying levels of involvement with different organizations and the group does have a very close association with the Esperance Department of Agriculture.
More than Trees and Fences Project Case Studies
More than Trees and Fences Project details
In order to ensure the future sustainability of farms, farmers in the Esperance Port Zone are integrating production and natural resource management (NRM) on their properties.
To highlight some of the local success stories, SEPWA along with Esperance Regional Forum (ERF) initiated the “More than Trees and Fences” project. The report focuses on the stories of four local Esperance farmers and their achievements in combining NRM and production and highlights how a single treatment can provide a dual benefit, enhancing natural resource qualities while also improving production. The study, which is funded by SEPWA and South Coast Natural Resource Management Inc., will soon be released as a report.
Duration: February - December 2008
Contact Tim Fewings on 9083 1165 for further information. Email:
Path to Purity - The first steps in Grower variety purity testing for malt barley
As part of the ongoing work to improve grain quality from the Esperance port zone, SEPWA has initiated a project to trial emerging DNA genetic marker technology for varietal purity testing in malting barley. This technology is now becoming available world wide and this important SEPWA project will pave the way for national adoption of the malting barley industry. The project is jointly funded by the Department of Agriculture and Food Western Australia (DAFWA) and the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) with support from The CBH Group.
Duration: March 2008 - July 2009
Contact Nigel Metz on 9083 1115 for further information. Email:
Putting Precision Agriculture on the ground in Western Australia
Precision Agronomics Project details
SEPWA has recently become involved in a precision agriculture project lead by CSIRO in collaboration with the Department of Agriculture and Food. This state wide project will look at ways that precision agriculture can be adopted for farm efficiency gains via managing paddock and farm variability. The project will examine the benefits of managing farm inputs via precision agriculture as well as making better use of spatial data such as yield maps, topography and other soil survey methods. This project is due to commence July 1 2008.
Duration: July 2008 - July 2009
Contact Nigel Metz on 9083 1115 for further information. Email:
Grower Group Alliance (GGA)
The Grower Group Alliance (GGA) is a non-profit, farmer driven organisation connecting grower groups, research organisations and agribusiness in a network across WA. The GGA acts to support the development of more effective grower groups with expanded networking capacity and greater involvement in collaborative projects with other grower groups, industry partners and the wider research community.
The Grower Group Alliance project was developed in 2002 by grower groups and is funded by the Grains Research and Development Corporation. The GGA network includes universities, research organisations and agribusiness.
Duration: 2002 - Present
Contact Tracey Gianatti on 08 6488 3410 for further information. Email:
Farmer Wheat and Barley Variety Trials
These trials have been running for several years and have been successful in identifying new varieties grown in the Port Zone. Breeders have submitted new varieties that they believe may be adapted to the Esperance environment and they have been sown and harvested in half hectare plots with farmers machinery over a range of sites.
Plots are harvested and measured with the SEPWA weigh trailer and yield information is posted on the SEPWA web page over harvest. Detailed recieval data is collected over summer and delivery grades determined. This early source of information has proven very useful to growers making variety choices while on the header.
Duration - 2002 to present
For more information contact:
Ben Curtis on 08 9083 1111. Sarah Ellis on 08 9083 1111. Nigel Metz on 08 9083 1111.
Pasture Phase Farming Systems and Effects on Soil Health - More than a Passing Phase
This is a pasture phase farming systems project focused on the Esperance Sandplain. It originated out of a need for more monitoring and evaluation of the new ryegrass pasture varieties such as the Hybrid, Biennial, Tetraploid, Italian and Perennial Ryegrasses that are now being sown in the region.
The project will aim to determine the NRM benefits of these pastures in terms of their suitability to be part of a pasture phase farming system in the higher rainfall areas, productivity, establishment, soil health benefits and nutrition to the following cropping phase. The water use, reduction of incidence of herbicide resistant weeds, ground cover and an economic analysis of the pastures will also be carried out.
A handbook to ryegrass management on the Esperance sandplain.
Duration - July 2005 - Dec 2008
Contact Kelly Guest on 08 9083 1111 for further information. Email:
