CropVision: A next-generation system for predicting crop production. Accurate and timely production estimates are essential to Australia’s grain producers and industry to better deal with down side risk caused by climate extremes and market volatilities. However, current systems for predicting crop production are inaccurate and unreliable. This project aims to develop a next generation system for advance and high accuracy predictions for yield, crop type and area at field scale. This will be don ....CropVision: A next-generation system for predicting crop production. Accurate and timely production estimates are essential to Australia’s grain producers and industry to better deal with down side risk caused by climate extremes and market volatilities. However, current systems for predicting crop production are inaccurate and unreliable. This project aims to develop a next generation system for advance and high accuracy predictions for yield, crop type and area at field scale. This will be done by integrating the state of the art global climate models (GCM), biophysical crop modelling, and high-resolution earth observation technologies. This project will deliver a next generation crop prediction system to predict crop production at field scale for improved decision-making and enhancing resilience.Read moreRead less
Novel Propagation and Conservation Technologies for Australian Macadamia. Australia’s $850M macadamia industry is a booming contributor to regional growth with a strong domestic market niche. However the industry is threatened by a severe plant supply bottleneck. Also wild germplasm for breeding is threatened with extinction. This project aims to innovate world-first tissue culture technologies for macadamia propagation and secure cryo-storage of germplasm, aided by cutting edge genomics. Expect ....Novel Propagation and Conservation Technologies for Australian Macadamia. Australia’s $850M macadamia industry is a booming contributor to regional growth with a strong domestic market niche. However the industry is threatened by a severe plant supply bottleneck. Also wild germplasm for breeding is threatened with extinction. This project aims to innovate world-first tissue culture technologies for macadamia propagation and secure cryo-storage of germplasm, aided by cutting edge genomics. Expected outcomes of these new, cross-disciplinary techniques are on-demand supply of superior trees to growers and the protection of invaluable germplasm. This should provide significant benefits for industry growth, food security and conservation de-risked from global change.Read moreRead less
Early life nutrition to improve feed efficiency in commercial dairy goats. This project aims to improve the productivity and welfare and reduce resource waste in commercial dairy goat kids. The Australian dairy goat industry is expanding (~20% per annum) yet there is little research to overcome hurdles to improving milk and meat production. There is also increased societal pressure to improve sustainability, reduce waste and maintain animal welfare. By investigating nutritional methods to improv ....Early life nutrition to improve feed efficiency in commercial dairy goats. This project aims to improve the productivity and welfare and reduce resource waste in commercial dairy goat kids. The Australian dairy goat industry is expanding (~20% per annum) yet there is little research to overcome hurdles to improving milk and meat production. There is also increased societal pressure to improve sustainability, reduce waste and maintain animal welfare. By investigating nutritional methods to improve productivity of male (for meat) and female (for milk) kids, this project will generate new knowledge relevant to Australian and international goat production systems. This project will assist goat producers to make decisions that maximise animal productivity with flow on benefits to manufacturers of goat products. Read moreRead less
Solving smoke taint: Overcoming the impacts of vineyard exposure to smoke. Vineyard exposure to bushfire smoke can taint grapes, causing significant revenue losses where smoky, ashy characters render wine unsaleable. Smoke taint therefore remains an ongoing threat to the viability of the wine industry. This project aims to safeguard grape and wine quality by building the wine industry’s capacity to predict, mitigate and respond to risk associated with vineyard smoke exposure. Expected outcomes i ....Solving smoke taint: Overcoming the impacts of vineyard exposure to smoke. Vineyard exposure to bushfire smoke can taint grapes, causing significant revenue losses where smoky, ashy characters render wine unsaleable. Smoke taint therefore remains an ongoing threat to the viability of the wine industry. This project aims to safeguard grape and wine quality by building the wine industry’s capacity to predict, mitigate and respond to risk associated with vineyard smoke exposure. Expected outcomes include establishing the mechanism by which smoke compounds are taken up by grapes and the factors that influence their sensory impact on wine. The development of innovative and interdisciplinary strategies for detecting and alleviating smoke taint will deliver important economic benefit to the Australian wine sector.Read moreRead less
How to make antibiotics in pig feed redundant, naturally. Antimicrobial resistance has become a major issue in human and veterinary medicine being partially caused by the use of in-feed antimicrobials in farm animals. This project aims to completely eliminate antimicrobials from piglet feeds. The key differential approach is based on helping the physiology of the animal rather than testing interventions against bacteria. The project will consist of developing a novel nutritional strategy of natu ....How to make antibiotics in pig feed redundant, naturally. Antimicrobial resistance has become a major issue in human and veterinary medicine being partially caused by the use of in-feed antimicrobials in farm animals. This project aims to completely eliminate antimicrobials from piglet feeds. The key differential approach is based on helping the physiology of the animal rather than testing interventions against bacteria. The project will consist of developing a novel nutritional strategy of naturally (through maternal conditioning) boosting the natural appetite and the capacity to digest in piglets early in life. The anticipated outcome is that the new peri-natal program will result in minimal bacterial proliferation and diarrhoea thus, negating the need for in-feed antimicrobials in piglets. Read moreRead less
Molecular basis of attenuation in live Mycoplasma vaccines. This proposal aims to use an innovative approach to address an urgent issue raised by the end users of an Australian-owned poultry vaccine with an extensive global market. Recently multiple mutations have been detected in the vaccine re-isolated from vaccinated birds in the field around the world. We will apply a combination of a novel technique for targeted mutagenesis, genome sequencing, and animal experimentations, to address the sig ....Molecular basis of attenuation in live Mycoplasma vaccines. This proposal aims to use an innovative approach to address an urgent issue raised by the end users of an Australian-owned poultry vaccine with an extensive global market. Recently multiple mutations have been detected in the vaccine re-isolated from vaccinated birds in the field around the world. We will apply a combination of a novel technique for targeted mutagenesis, genome sequencing, and animal experimentations, to address the significance of these mutations. Results will improve our understanding of the basis of attenuation of the vaccine, its mechanism of action, and provide commercial confidence in the safety of the vaccine, which is needed to support Australian Universities and Businesses, and the global poultry industry.Read moreRead less
Transforming residues from meat processing into engineered soil amendments. The aim of this project is to transform organic residues from meat processing into agricultural soil amendments that actively improve nutrient retention and reduce nitrous oxide (a potent greenhouse gas) emissions. Current disposal and treatment options for meat processing residues are economically and environmentally unsustainable. In this research, a modified hydrothermal carbonisation process will be developed to tran ....Transforming residues from meat processing into engineered soil amendments. The aim of this project is to transform organic residues from meat processing into agricultural soil amendments that actively improve nutrient retention and reduce nitrous oxide (a potent greenhouse gas) emissions. Current disposal and treatment options for meat processing residues are economically and environmentally unsustainable. In this research, a modified hydrothermal carbonisation process will be developed to transform organic residues into novel hydrochars. The influence of these hydrochars on soil nutrient retention and nitrous oxide production will then be assessed using stable isotope tracing, genetic characterisation, and numerical modeling. The project will reduce the economic and environmental costs of organic waste disposal.Read moreRead less
Maximising pineapple production for Australian farmers using genome editing. This project addresses the single biggest issue affecting the viability of pineapple farming in Australia and internationally: premature flowering leading to supply collapse. We aim to develop CRISPR technology to breed new pineapple varieties using non-GM approaches. Expected outcomes include the production of pineapples with resistance to premature flowering, as well as the technologies to deliver additional improveme ....Maximising pineapple production for Australian farmers using genome editing. This project addresses the single biggest issue affecting the viability of pineapple farming in Australia and internationally: premature flowering leading to supply collapse. We aim to develop CRISPR technology to breed new pineapple varieties using non-GM approaches. Expected outcomes include the production of pineapples with resistance to premature flowering, as well as the technologies to deliver additional improvements in the future. The new varieties will benefit farmers through increased production, maximising supply capability for a rapidly growing internal demand. This will benefit Australian pineapple producers through higher profitability in existing markets, as well as enabling expansion into international and future markets.Read moreRead less
Breeding super black soldier flies at scale for sustainable food production. This project aims to address the current challenges impeding the industrial scale-up of Australian Black Soldier Fly (BSF) farming across diverse feed waste substrates by generating critical on-farm knowledge. This project expects to generate fundamental knowledge in commercial BSF breeding designs whilst also developing and testing new animal evaluation technologies (ie, genetic & spectroscopy) through interdisciplinar ....Breeding super black soldier flies at scale for sustainable food production. This project aims to address the current challenges impeding the industrial scale-up of Australian Black Soldier Fly (BSF) farming across diverse feed waste substrates by generating critical on-farm knowledge. This project expects to generate fundamental knowledge in commercial BSF breeding designs whilst also developing and testing new animal evaluation technologies (ie, genetic & spectroscopy) through interdisciplinary approaches that will accelerate industry productivity. Expected outcomes of this project include the long-term growth and competitive advantage of the Australian insect farming industry, as well as promoting the benefits of a circular economy through bioconversion of organic waste into commercially viable products.Read moreRead less
Sustaining chicken-meat production with alternative protein sources. This project aims to secure sustainable chicken-meat production by the radical reduction or even elimination of imported soybean meal as the primary protein source in Australian broiler diets by its replacement with feed-grade amino acids and local feedstuffs. This project will expand our comprehension of starch/glucose and protein/amino acid digestive dynamics in poultry diets based on wheat, the primary feed grain in Australi ....Sustaining chicken-meat production with alternative protein sources. This project aims to secure sustainable chicken-meat production by the radical reduction or even elimination of imported soybean meal as the primary protein source in Australian broiler diets by its replacement with feed-grade amino acids and local feedstuffs. This project will expand our comprehension of starch/glucose and protein/amino acid digestive dynamics in poultry diets based on wheat, the primary feed grain in Australia; however, wheat does inherently possess nutritional disadvantages. Expected outcomes include soybean meal-free feed formulations for the Australian chicken-meat industry to enhance the affordable and environmentally viable production of chicken-meat coupled with improved bird welfare and flock health. Read moreRead less