NORTH-EAST UPDATE – Nov 2025

Riverine Plains as North-East Node lead for the Victoria Drought Resilience Adoption & Innovation Hub, is continuing to deliver events and information related to dry-season management and business efficiency.

 

---

Rainstick on Landline

As the NE Node lead of the Victoria Drought Resilience Adoption & Innovation Hub, Riverine Plains is supporting Rainstick, a novel bioelectrical technology startup, through early-stage problem and market validation. The project is exploring indigenous technology that may support successful canola establishment. The technology mimics the effect of lightning and is showing potential to boost germination and early vigour of seeds during challenging sowing conditions, as well as strengthen crop resilience under tough conditions.

During September, ABC’s Landline featured Rainstick and Riverine Plains, showcasing the work being done to improve drought resilience in the region.

You can learn more about this project on our Projects page.

 

---

Farm Office and Xero Efficiencies Workshop, Yarrawonga

The Farm Office and Xero Efficiencies Workshop, delivered by Carmen Quade from AgriFocused, supported local farm businesses in improving their business management and digital organisation skills. The session attracted 25 participants and was supported directly by the Victoria Drought Resilience Adoption and Innovation Hub.

Participants represented a diverse mix of livestock and broadacre farming enterprises from across the region. Of those attending, 23 were female, highlighting the strong engagement of women in farm business management.

The workshop focused on simple, practical steps to streamline business operations and improve record keeping using the Xero platform.

Feedback from participants was overwhelmingly positive, with many noting that the session provided practical, easy-to-implement ideas they could action immediately to improve business organisation and reduce administrative stress.

 

---

Precision agriculture & automation: increasing efficiency, farm business sustainability

 

Precision agriculture and automation can drive efficiency in farming operations, improving the application of resources by directing inputs to where they’re most needed.

In early October, Riverine Plains, in conjunction with SPAA, hosted a GRDC Grain Automate workshop at Rutherglen to support growers in successfully implementing variable rate technology, to begin the path to automation. Setting up boundaries, understanding zoning and preparing the farm for automation were key topics, as well as data transfer, platforms to enable more timely management decisions, mapping and zoning tools and using data to improve profit.

Although farmers can find these sorts of technologies overwhelming, the adoption of precision agriculture — and data analysis more generally — can help drive decisions while also improving the efficiency of inputs and management, to better set up the farm business for long-term sustainability.

 

---

Dry-season agronomy & livestock feeding in focus

 

Managing the dry conditions was a focus for Victorian and NSW growers at a field day hosted by Riverine Plains at Gerogery in October.

New seed technology supports farmers to be more productive and profitable, especially under challenging conditions, and farmers were keen to see how new varieties stack up in the national variety trials (NVT) on show. Farmers also learned how varieties vary in their response to fungicide application, even when conditions remain dry.

The benefits and challenges of including legumes such as faba beans in the rotation to support system resilience was another area of interest for farmers on the day. Optimal sowing rates, nutrition and disease management for the region were discussed in the context of recent seasonal conditions.

Many livestock farmers continue to hand-feed, and Rob Inglis from Elders spoke about feed budgeting for weaners, pre-joining and gestational management, containment feeding and prioritising breeding stock during the dry conditions. Key messages were to begin feeding early to prevent a drop in condition score (to feed less overall), assess pasture for quality and quantity based on animal class and reproductive status, and calculate the feed surplus or deficit, and then feed appropriately.

 

---

Hay vs grain, drought resilient pastures & other spring decisions

 

A severe deficit in early spring rainfall, and poor soil moisture reserves, meant many farmers considered cutting crops for hay instead of keeping for grain.

Riverine Plains supported timely decision making during this period through our blog Spring decisions on hay and grain and by sharing local rainfall and soil-moisture data with members, as well as tips on preventing haystack fires.

Hay and fodder was also a focus of a drought-resilient farming practices field day at Howlong during October. Farmers heard how incorporating an annual pasture species into the cropping systems for grazing or hay can improve system resilience, as well as practical tips to maximise production of high-quality fodder for grazing or hay. Vetch and clover were also explored as local options for fodder or for green/brown manuring.

This spring we’ve also focused on pre-harvest grain storage and harvest safety, a livestock health alert, as well as tips on annual pastures in cropping systems.

 

---

Sharing outcomes within and beyond the Vic Hub

 

Riverine Plains staff Kate Coffey and Pip Grant presented at a forum on current Research, Development and Extension in the Vic Hub’s North-East Node during early November. The forum included other Vic Hub representatives, as well as from the North-East Catchment Management Authority, Goulburn Broken Catchment Management Authority, Gecko Clan and Vic Hub partner Agriculture Victoria.

Along with other groups, Riverine Plains highlighted its research and development work across the region, including: consulting local groups to identify research gaps, crop-establishment trials utilising Rainstick technology, microbial trials to build soil carbon, farmer surveys to understand non-chemical options for pest control, development of local weather station networks for more informed decision making, workshops on stock containment and delivering timely seasonal information for farmers. The forum also presented an opportunity to identify gaps for future research.

 

For further information on the NE Node’s work, please contact Kate Coffey by emailing kate@riverineplains.org.au