CropMate - Climate Information for Crop Production

Project information
CropMate - Climate Information for Crop Production Summary The experience of climate extremes can influence growers in their decision making in subsequent years, even though the risk of the particular event reoccurring is minimal. A tool that can quantify this risk and demonstrate that the recent experience is a rare event will help reduce the poor outcomes that are a result of decision made from a knowledge framework biased by recent experience. CropMate - climate information for crop production NSW DPI in collaboration with stakeholders (SAGEnetwork) and industry... Background The CropMate website provides grain producers and other industry stakeholders in eastern Australia with a one-stop-shop to decision support tools linked to Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) and 100 years of rainfall data (Queensland Climate Change Centre of Excellence). The CropMate - Climate Information for Crop Production Project is developing an on-line weather companion for farmers and advisors. The CropMate website will collate regional specific climate, weather, soil, crop and economic information, via an online interactive program to assist farmers and advisers in making informed decisions at various stages during the cropping cycle. Rather than searching through the over abundance of agronomic, weather and climate information available online Implications CropMate is a website combining the resources available from Bureau of Meteorology, SILO, Farmer knowledge, farmer data including soil tests and paddock history providing a location specific decision support in the most timely and accurate way. CropMate impacts on decision making to answer specific planning and management questions at any time in the crop management cycle. All sectors of the grains industry that utilise CropMate will benefit by better crop choice in relation to the weather forecast, more targeted rotations with nutrition that matches the crops need resulting in greater profits and less crop failures. Objectives The CropMate website provides grain producers and other industry stakeholders in eastern Australia with a ?one-stop-shop? to decision support tools linked to Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) and 100 years of rainfall data (Queensland Climate Change Centre of Excellence). The CropMate - Climate Information for Crop Production Project is developing an on-line weather companion for farmers and advisors. The CropMate website will collate regional specific climate, weather, soil, crop and economic information, via an online interactive program to assist farmers and advisers in making informed decisions at various stages during the cropping cycle. Rather than searching through the over abundance of agronomic, weather and climate information available online Research The CropMate website provides growers with integrated climate information from several sources. CropMate is a web-based decision support system based on research designed to be used by growers and agronomists across the grains industry that integrates weather, climate and agronomic triggers to inform the grain producer. Decision tools include: Frost and heat risk analyser Soil moisture calculator Nbudget and Nitrogen topdressing calculator Fertiliser comparison calculator Sowing and spraying information A post harvest review Crop chooser to help you chose the most profitable winter crop to grow Rainfall, temperature, thermal time and evapotranspiration comparison tools that allows you compare these indicators across years of your choice. Seasonal outlook for your area
Project results: 
Outcomes CropMate has had a positive impact on the ability of growers capacity to make appropriate and timely decisions on crop selection and agronomic decisions in face of a variable climate. CropMate has become an eastern Australian grains package that combines the resources available from several areas to assist in location specific decision support in the most timely and accurate way. CropMate delivers an impartial and accurate picture for agricultural decision making to answer specific planning and management questions at any time in the crop management cycle. All sectors of the grains industry are benefiting by using CropMate. CropMate will benefit eastern Australian grain producers in Qld, NSW, Victoria and SA. It has the capacity to increase grain production and grain quality by assisting producers to target the best crops for the coming year and to manage those crops within that year. For example, the tool CropChooser has information to support the decision to increases the area of production of crops, such as oil seeds and pulses in years the climate forecast is favourable for these crops. The SowMan decision support tool provides risk parameters around sowing decisions, so that less crop is affected by frost and heat stress during production. Publications McIntosh, G. & Schipp, A. (2012). Cool tools on CropMate website. IREC Farmers Newsletter Large Area No. 187: Spring 2012. Retrieved from http://www.irec.org.au/farmer_f/pff_187/Weather-and-climate-information.pdf (accessed on 14/09/2012). McIntosh, G. & Edwards, J. (2011). CropMate gives support for better cropping decisions. Australian Farm Journal April 2011 Rural Press Victoria. p. 16-17. McIntosh, G. & Herridge, D. (2012). CropMate a web based decision support tool helping farmers make agronomic decisions using historic and forecast weather and climate data. Proceedings of 16th Agronomy Conference 2012. University of New England in Armidale, NSW 14-18th October 2012. p. 79. Retrieved from http://www.regional.org.au/au/asa/2012/precision-agriculture/8235_mcintosh.htm (accessed on 7/11/2012). Warden, E. & McIntosh, G. (2012). VarietyChooser: the flexible cropping management tool. Proceedings of 16th Agronomy Conference 2012. University of New England in Armidale, NSW 14-18th October 2012. p. 101. Retrieved from http://www.regional.org.au/au/asa/2012/crop-production/8225 (accessed on 7/11/2012). Roberts, K., & McIntosh, G. (2012). Use of mobile devices in extension and agricultural production- a case study. Proceedings of 16th Agronomy Conference 2012. University of New England in Armidale, NSW 14-18th October 2012. p. 99. Retrieved from http://www.regional.org.au/au/asa/2012/precision-agriculture/8224_robertsk.htm (accessed on 7/11/2012). Herridge, D., McIntosh., G. & Manning, B. (2012). NBudget A web-based decision-support tool for managing fertiliser and legume nitrogen in Australian farming systems. 2nd Asian Conference on plant microbe symbiosis and nitrogen fixation 28-21 Oct, Phuket, Thailand. Herridge, D. & McIntosh, G. (2012). CropMate a web-based platform for delivering decision-support tools about legume N2 fixation to farmers. 16th Australian Nitrogen Fixation Conference 24-27 June, Sydney. p. 38. McNee, T., Martin, P., McIntosh, G., Haskins, B., Brill, R., Jenkins, L., Fowler, J., Menz, I., Burley, T., McMaster C & Roberts, K. (2012). Large scale trials using PA for research. 15th Precision Agriculture Symposium in Australasia SPAA Precision Agriculture Australia. p. 34-40 Roberts, K. & McIntosh, G. (2012). IT brings information resources to the paddock. GRDC GroundCover, p. 98, 30-31. GRDC, Kingston ACT. Retrieved from http://www.grdc.com.au/director/events/groundcover?item_id=9F4CAD47F43E9DA7FCC925BFAD0AF4D7&article_id=EC7FFAA99F81059DDABDE73BBE95F805 accessed on 02/05/2012. Roberts, K. & McIntosh, G. (2012). Apps and other technologies. GRDC Farm Business Update for Growers at Forbes, Donald p. 41-54 ORM. Roberts,K. & McIntosh, G. (2012) Essential starter guide to technology: making life easier on the farm, GRDC Advisor and Grower Update 2012. Narrandera P. 21, Ballarat P25, Adelaide P. 21, Coonamble P21, Dubbo P21, Goondiwindi. p. 21. GRDC, Kingston ACT. McIntosh, G., Edwards, J., Herridge, D & Chen, W. (2011). CropMate A weather companion for advisors & Grain Growers. GRDC Advisor Updates 2011, 9-10 February 2011, Ballarat. P. 199-200, 15-16 February 2011, Young. P. 123-124, 23-24 February 2011, Adelaide. P. 193-194, 22-23 February 2011, Dubbo, 2-3 March 2011, Goondiwindi. p. 174-6. GRDC, Kingston ACT. McIntosh, G (2011). Tactical use of climate variability data and decision support tools to make cropping decisions using the CropMate Website. Proceedings of Climate 11 ? Impacts and Adaptations Climate Symposium. CSU Wagga Wagga, NSW 22-23 June 2011. p. ?? Warden E & McIntosh G. (2011). Poster: CropMate? and VarietyChooser: new technology providing flexible management tools. 2011 Australasia Pacific Extension Network National Forum.
Project partners: 
NSW Department of Primary Industries
Project dates: 
December 2006 to June 2013
Project website: 
https://grdc.com.au/Research-and-Development/DAN00102
Contact
Contact person: 
Graeme McIntosh
Contact email: 
Contact project
Contact organisation: 
NSW Department of Primary Industries
Funding
Funding agency: 
Grains Research & Development Corporation - Australian Government