New research from CSAS. Model-aided envirotyping to improve ideotyping of wheat to enhance genetic gains in breeding programs. doi.org/10.1016/j.ag...

Installing bat audio monitors in darling downs Perennial pastures and annual crops for my colleague @vanessagorecki.bsky.social to collect baseline data on bat presence in these agricultural landscapes

A night time visitor on the mountain. These thinks are little armoured tanks.

CSAS researcher Assoc Prof Rhett Martin is presetting a seminar titles: How Has the Farming Sector Responded to Biodiversity Certification? Date: Wednesday 28/5/2025 Time: 12.30 to 1.30pm AEST Zoom: Zoom ID: 837 8355 0254 RSVP: Register at: forms.cloud.microsoft/pages/respon...

Planting Koala food trees on the mountain

The wheat crop has emerged

New research from CSAS PhD student @peteinnes.bsky.social has defined the vernalization requirements of the candidate perennial grain crops Mountain Rye and Intermediate Wheat Grass. This will help in identifying appropriate production regions for these novel crops. academic.oup.com/aobpla/artic...

Its been a big weekend on the mountain. Hay baled and in the shed and the winter wheat crop planted.

CSAS researcher Dr Jarrod Kath presenting on he exciting natural capital work and the value it can bring to farmers in todays CSAS seminar.

It is that time of the year that we cut out perennial pasture grass for hay. This is the most profitable block on the farm. #Perennial plants allow establishment cost to be deferred over multiple years and the risks with planting every year are eliminated. Also plenty of soil benifits.

Just lovely on the mountain this morning

We’re proud to share our latest CSAS publication - a global bibliometric analysis of research on soil constraints. This study, coauthored by @chloelai.bsky.social, maps 1,418 pubs to uncover trends and gaps in soil constraint research. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

The best part of being an academic is seeing your students graduate. Congratulations Dr Suman Gajurel

Flooding of the river that runs past my parents place

CSAS researcher @keithpembleton.bsky.social is using our phenospec plant eye high throughput phenotyping system to investigate the impacts of drought stress on sorghum and mungbeans in 3D.

CSAS researcher @alittlebitmeg.bsky.social spoke about her research on under loved and underappreciated wildlife species in Australia and South Africa which has revealed their crucial roles in our ecosystems for todays CSAS seminar presentation.

Night time hay making on the mountain

More night time hay rakeing on the mountain

New research from CSAS shows how to quantitatively derive phosphorus parameters for the APSIM cropping systems model. A step change in increasing the efficiency of this limited and critical resource. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Any recommendations for tools to visualise local #BLAST results? I came across Kablammo which seems to fit the bill, just wondering if there are any others to consider #bioinformatics #genomics kablammo.wasmuthlab.org

Most nutrition for the money? Grains, legumes, and tubers. True in 1894, still true today.

Today, I’m introducing a series called #PolycultureMonday where I describe different polyculture arrangements, the role of each component, and the success of various cropping systems on the first Monday of every month. For this inaugural thread, I will be discussing the Three Sisters (🧵)

This was a cool development in Denmark in 2024. Looking to 2025, as countries update their climate commitments (NDCs), they should include agriculture-specific GHG reduction targets and incorporate agricultural mitigation measures. Which country will be next to make a splash on ag & climate?

Its really coming down now

The rains are here

Rain is forecast for tomorrow so we are planting mungbeans. This field has been in fallow for 3 years so it will be interesting to see if there is any long fallow syndrome

I’m seeing a growing number of students complain: “My grade doesn’t reflect the effort I put into the course.” Public service announcement: An A is for excellence, not for effort. The true measure of learning is not the time and energy you put in. It’s the knowledge and skills you take out.

My previous skeet has generated a lot of interesting points, both for and against using AI. So I've created a poster, summarising some of the key points, that some people might find useful for an overview. I've also done a bit of my own research to gain #EduSky #EduLib #AcademicSky #Skybrarians

The #climate/water paradox: As temperatures rise, more #water evaporates into the atmosphere & more precipitation occurs. But land areas are getting drier not wetter. Why? Because more water evaporates from soils. The rain that falls is in intense events in fewer regions, leading to worse #floods 👉

Well that pulled us up

Making #lucerne #alfalfa hay in an Austrian summer means being nocturnal. Good thing I have my mate to keep me company.

We don’t resource academics to be part of the community - Dr Fiona Russo We actively disincentivise this! When we’re busy the first thing that drops off the list is relationship building without a specific academic agenda It’s shortsighted - we need good relationships to do good research #HSR24

A lucerne room, but where is the lucerne?

Diversity of #lucerne #alfalfa flowers colours here from white to dark purple all in the same cultivar. This species is fascinating as it is a complex of 8 sub species. It is seriously underrated for what it contributes to farming systems in terms of #soil health, resilience and profitability.

Hay now cut. Now it is time to incessantly watch for rain

The first break in the rain long enough to make hay. Quality wont be as good as it would have been 3 weeks ago but it will make up for it in quantaty. Make hay while the sun shines.

Been a big weekend on the mountain. Two lambs and 12 chickens put in the freezer on saturday night. Got a fire call to fight a grass fire saturday night and then an early start today for the kids had a soccer carnival with 5 games. Everyone is exhausted.

One of the advantages of working in the same industry as your brother - you get to meet up at work trips and events. @keithpembleton.bsky.social

Why are university HR template forms always so shit to use?

Got fed up with it raining every time we go to make hay so I planted our next crops today. Guarentied to make it stop raining now.

Today I gave up one of the two academic service roles that I have. It was the one that did not pay me anything extra and caused the most problems for me and the people around me. I am so happy.

@lwpembleton.bsky.social this is apparently what out mother thinks is an appropriately sized steak

New life on the farm today

FFS up to 60 emails received for the day. Could have been 15 if the same emails were not consistently forwarded to me from 4 different people. Had enough and closing outlook now. Tomorrow will be a select all and delete. If it is important they will call.

I just sat through a the exact same meeting that I had 12 months ago. Same people in attendance and exactly the same actions allocated. I think there is a 80% chance that I will have the exact same meeting this time next year.

Fascinating presentation by Dr Damber Bista on the effect of habitat disturbance on Red Pandas and the trade offs they make to co-exist with humans for todays Centre for Sustainable Agricultural Systems research seminar

This is why I love living on the mountain. My neighbour very kindly gave up his Saturday to help/teach me how to put a new clutch in my tractor. Then we we realised there was a third bearing (was only 2 on the parts list) he then offered to bale the hay for us.

Today, myself and over 120 other Australian Fulbright scholars called on Australians to vote yes and recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples in our constitution as the First Australians and commit to a voice, where they can provide advice on laws and matters that affect them.

Our perennial grains experiment on the Darling Downs in Australia is looking very dry after 2 months of 0 rain and some hot weeks. Grain yields will be low. Might not be too bad in a farming systems context as these species would also provide a source of forage for livestock in situations like this

Well this sucks