If not us, then who? HAVE YOUR SAY at GRDC forums

July 19, 2025

Statement issued by the VicNoTill board, 19 July 2025

The Grains and Research Development Corporation (GRDC) plays a vital role in shaping the future of Australia’s grain industry. With nearly 24,000 levy-paying growers, it’s a powerful engine for research, development, and extension (RD&E). But here’s the thing: if we don’t speak up, we can’t expect our priorities to be heard.

In their 2025–26 Operational Plan, GRDC outlines new investment areas. It’s a 53-page document—and the word “biological” appears just twice. Just an observation.

Meanwhile, GRDC’s own review shows:

  • Over $680 million in cash reserves
  • A $6–$9 return for every $1 invested in RD&E
  • 85% of growers rate GRDC highly as an investor in grains research

So why is it that practices like cover cropping, humates, companion planting, stubble retention, foliar nutrition, and biological inputs continue to receive minimal attention?

VicNoTill members are already trialling and refining these approaches. We are seeing the results in our paddocks. But unless GRDC hears directly from us, these practices won’t get the RD&E backing they deserve.

“Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.”

This is what VicNoTill is all about — farmers helping farmers, sharing knowledge, and driving change. But we need to take that spirit beyond our own community and into the rooms where funding decisions are made.

GRDC started hosting Grower Forums across the country in mid July which continue into August – some are in person, some are online. These are our chance and your chance to say:

“We want more trials on stubble management, diverse rotations, building soil organic carbon, and the real-world benefits of biological inputs.”

Here’s a real-world example:

One of VicNoTill’s sponsor companies produces a liquid humate—made right here in Australia. It sells 5 million litres per year into a single overseas market, after winning a three-year competitive trial. Yet in Australia, it barely gets a look in. Why? Because the local RD&E hasn’t been done. Our farm advisors don’t know about it, so they don’t recommend it.

That’s the gap, and that’s where VicNoTill comes in.

If even a handful of VicNoTill members show up and speak out, we can help influence where the hundreds of millions of RD&E dollars are allocated going forward, toward the practices we know are working.

  • Check the GRDC Grower Forum schedule. Mark your calendar. Bring a mate. And let’s make sure the future of farming reflects the innovation already happening in our paddocks.