As an agronomist, your aim is to provide the best agronomic recommendations possible for your clients.
However, this can be difficult to achieve in a landscape of constantly evolving products, pests and weather patterns.
It is the agronomists who remain curious and open to trialing new products, as well as challenging and improving the current standards, who will be in the best position to provide recommendations to generate the most value for their clients.
James Considine, Belle Barnes and Barry Haskins are three agronomists who, like hundreds of agronomists from around the country, have been utilising the Trial Supplies research equipment.
They have experienced first-hand the value generated as an agronomist from completing their own research trials.
Based in the Victorian Mallee, James Considine, a senior agronomist at Nutrien Ag Solutions in Berriwillock, values the real time feedback their internal trials provides his team during the season.
“Having the ability to trial and validate new products in our region before recommending them, is becoming increasingly important,” James explains.
“One of our grower paddocks may cross over multiple different soil types, and the crop safety plus re-cropping work from the supplier just cannot be done in all these scenarios, “he says.
“Running our own small plot spray trials enables us to look at products earlier in our conditions, understand their performance on specific challenging weeds and what value they add in different spray mixes in real time.
“Our team has purchased a number of Trial Supplies hand booms over the years, as we continue to build our internal trials capacity.
“We really value the reduction in spray exposure for our team members from the Brolga.”
Over in Shepparton, Belle Barnes, an agronomist with AGnVET, has valued the flexibility to conduct trials as needed, along with having such an easy-to-use product.
“Owning our own trial equipment gives us the flexibility to complete trials as needed,” Belle says.
“For example, we may have a di cult to control weed observed in a paddock following a spray pass,” she adds.
“In the weeks following, we can have our own trial established in another eld, looking at different products and tank mixes aimed specifically at this hard to control weed.
“From this work, our team can then adjust their spray recommendations during the season and provide a better result for our growers.
Barry Haskins is a senior agronomist and director at Ag Grow Agronomy and Research near Griffith in NSW. He has a large team of agronomists who all benefit from the internal trials they conduct.
“We work hard to find solutions for problems we identify in our everyday agronomy across agchem, nutrition and varieties,” Barry says.
“By running our own small plot trials, we bring research to our region which otherwise wouldn’t have been here,” he says.
“Our internal research trials also link us in with specialists in the elds in which we are working.
“This significantly increases the knowledge base of our team that translates into more effective recommendations for our growers.
“The Trial Supplies business enables us to access the specialised products we require for the work we are doing.
“The Brolga has been an ideal tool for our irrigated powdery mildew cereal trials, and having easy access to their range of safety gear has been really important for our team.”
Planning and conducting trial work enables graduate and senior agronomists to bridge any knowledge gaps they may find, with data produced from their own patch.
James, Belle and Barry are doing this during the season, with their IP generated enabling more accurate and customised recommendations to their growers.
Plus, the trials are always a good excuse to get colleagues and growers together to talk about the latest innovations.
The Trial Supplies team is always happy to discuss your planned research work, and get you equipped with the right tools to successfully complete your trials.
