The CSIRO is establishing a state-of-the-art agricultural research facility near Boorowa, 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.
Canola in flower at CSIRO's Boorowa Agricultural Research Station
Canola in flower at CSIRO's Boorowa Agricultural Research Station
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.
Leading agricultural research
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.
Latest update: early March 2018
Farming
While we are developing the site, we have used rotations of wheat, canola, vetch and oats to manage weeds and build soil fertility to ready the paddocks for more intensive experiments. Yield maps together with the soil map are building a picture of soil variability to assist future management.
Aerial image of CSIRO Boorowa agricultural research station showing paddocks.
Aerial image of CSIRO Boorowa agricultural research station showing paddocks.
Research
In 2017, Dr Anton Wasson and his team ran an experiment on the ability of different wheat varieties to take up phosphorus. They are looking to identify genes that optimise phosphorous use.
There will be limited research activities on the farm in 2018 while construction works are underway.
Construction
The new entrance from Cunningar Road and the road up to the main building site has been completed as has the major internal access road.
Construction of buildings on the site is expected to start in March 2018, including the main office and administration building, equipment workshop and storage facility, and the research facility where samples will be stored and processed. Dam and irrigation work should be underway by mid year.
Construction and commissioning of the site is expected to be completed by the end of 2018.
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