We're building a state-of-the-art agricultural research facility near the town of Boorowa in southern NSW.
Boorowa Agricultural Research Station (BARS) will be a purpose-built 290 hectare facility designed to help develop Australian farms of the future by testing emerging technologies in crop science, agronomy and farming systems.
Located around 100km northwest of Canberra, BARS replaces CSIRO's Ginninderra Experimental Station, which was established just outside of Canberra in 1958 and originally had a focus on pasture and animal research but more recently on grains crops. The new facility provides a fresh opportunity to study a broad and integrated range of agricultural sciences.
Boorowa Agriculture Research Station, March 2019
Boorowa Agriculture Research Station, March 2019
BARS will feature the latest digital agriculture technologies such as precision agriculture, and remote and non-destructive phenomic crop monitoring. It will also continue CSIRO's long history in agricultural breeding and genetics, with hundreds of small plots dedicated to the development of new varieties of wheat, canola and grain legumes, as well as pastures. Additionally, the facility will operate experiments on innovative agronomic strategies such as nutrient management, tillage and stubble management, crop and pasture sequences for mixed-enterprise systems, and sowing times.
The site makes it possible for CSIRO to conduct long-term farming systems experiments that investigate changes to the soil over time and provide a better understanding of the impact of factors such as soil organic matter and soil acidity on farm profitability.
To help design what experiments to run, where to run them, and to provide a baseline to study changes to soil fertility over the decades to come, a comprehensive proximal soil sensing survey of the entire farm is being undertaken to obtain a three-dimensional map of the soil.
BARS will assist CSIRO to deliver on its commitment to increase food production in cropping and livestock systems, improve drought tolerance and disease resistance, and improve nutritional values to meet the challenges of the future.
Works are nearly complete at BARS, with:
Five of the planned six buildings at BARS have now been constructed
Five of the planned six buildings at BARS have now been constructed
In the coming months, we'll be focusing on:
Our farming activities at BARS have slowed since the December 2018 harvest but we will soon be gearing up again for another productive season and sowing ahead.
Aerial view of the buildings at the Boorowa Agricultural Research Station
Aerial view of the buildings at the Boorowa Agricultural Research Station
The focus of our researchers and support teams over the next six months will be the transition from our Ginninderra Experimental Station (on the outskirts of Canberra) to BARS. While this is happening we will still be conducting research in the ACT and NSW with a small number of projects planned for BARS.
As you can imagine, as we get closer to the opening and commencement of research activities at BARS we have had many visits from relevant CSIRO staff and researchers but also from peak industry bodies, the Hilltops Council and government offices and regulators.
We are also happy to welcome the new BARS manager, Stuart Brown who started in February 2019.
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CSIRO is grateful for the support of our investment partner, the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) in helping to develop BARS.
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