Narrabri Field Day 2024

The University of Sydney’s research station recently hosted around 250 delegates from diverse backgrounds. The attendees included 71 farmers, 48 industry professionals, 96 university staff members, and 31 others, comprising university academics, researchers, technical staff, PhD students, and industry partners.

The event was sponsored by the Sydney Institute of Agriculture and Australia Grains Technology (AGT).

Kerry Saunders, a Gomeroi woman from Moree, hosted the welcome to the country, which was followed by a speech from the Dean of Science, Marcel Dinger.

The session continued with speeches from Prof Alex McBratney, Professor of Digital Agriculture & Soil Science, Adam Kay, CEO of Cotton Australia, and Rebecca Reardon, Vice President of NSW Farmers. This was followed by a panel discussion hosted by Dr Sabrina Lomax.

The University staff and academics based in the Narrabri research station showcased a diverse range of research projects, along with the launch of the new node of the Australian Plant Phenomics Network (APPN) at the University of Sydney. AGT, Intergrain and Longreach also showcased wheat and barley breeding lines to the various visitors.

Some of the research projects showcased by the University included:

• Hybrid wheat, led by Prof Richard Trethowan, Director of the Plant Breeding Institute
• Wheat research on heat tolerance, led by Dr Rebecca Thistlethwaite
• Cover crop research, led by Dr Thomas O’Donoghue
• Plant physiology and phenomics research, led by Dr William Salter
• Mustard research for biofuel, led by Mr Graeme Rapp
• Chickpea research on heat tolerance, led by Prof Richard Trethowan
• Faba breeding research, led by Dr Kedar Adhikari

The APPN University of Sydney Node staged its official launch as part of the annual University of Sydney Narrabri Plant Breeding Institute Open Field Day on Wednesday 11 September 2024 with APPN CEO Richard Dickmann joining Node Director Dr William Salter, Sydney Informatics Hub Director Prof Thomas Bishop and APPN Sydney senior technical officer Connor Cassidy.

The University of Sydney APPN node, funded through the Australian Government National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS), will deliver cutting-edge plant phenotyping infrastructure (including robotic and drone-based platforms), environmental monitoring solutions and data support for researchers in academia and industry.

Our node's research support services will be delivered as part of the Sydney Informatics Hub, one of the University's eight core research facilities. This reflects the importance that we place on delivering world-class research support services and emphasises the need for high-quality data collection and analysis protocols.

The node will open the door to new research opportunities that require next-generation phenomics sensors and analysis techniques. Additionally, as part of the wider APPN network, the new node presents new opportunities for Australia-wide collaborative research, with a standardised suite of sensors, data collection protocols and analytical workflows in nodes across the country.