Take a drive around the Riverina at the moment and you'll see the canola's flowering and wheat crops are looking good.
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While there's no doubt timely rainfall is vital, the decisions to get the crops to this stage are often underpinned by the agronomic knowledge gained through research and development.
Take a simple wheat crop for example.
Preparation is likely to have begun the year before because the choice of crop prior to the wheat crop has a large impact on yield potential of the current crop.
If canola was grown in the previous year, the yield of wheat would be higher compared to if the previous year's crop was wheat.
These days the fallow period between crops over summer is strictly kept clean from weeds with herbicides - because the summer rainfall stored in these soils increases grain yield.
What should we sow and when should we sow it?
Cultivars can be selected for yield, disease tolerance and grain quality but another key aspect to maximise grain yield is to ensure that crop flowers at the right time.
This is the period in spring when the risk of frosts has reduced but before the onset of summer heat stress.
Wheat development is linked to specific genes for vernalisation and day length.
Understanding which genes are in which cultivars determines the optimal time for sowing.
All that knowledge is put to use by farmers, agronomists and advisors before a seed is even planted.
Then there's the research that underpins weed control, disease management, fertiliser recommendations, machinery engineering, harvest timing and remote sensing - the list goes on.
'Agronomy' or the science behind managing crops and pastures is a broad discipline using a wide range of expertise to ensure productivity and profitability for our farmers.
That will be in the spotlight next week at the Australian Agronomy Conference in Wagga with the theme 'Cells to satellites'.
It's a chance to showcase the latest research from soils to crops, pastures to livestock production and remote sensing, while celebrating some of the science and people behind our agricultural sector.
- Dr Jeff McCormick is from the Graham Centre and is president of the Australian Society of Agronomy