RiskWi$e Project

Farming with Confidence: Helping Growers Make Better Risk-Reward Decisions with RiskWi$e

The GRDC RiskWi$e project is a 5-year project focused on deepening the understanding of on-farm decisions and supporting grain growers with practical strategies and tools to improve risk reward decision-making. Project goal is to empower growers to make informed, confident decisions that maximise returns while managing potential losses. 

Grain growers today are navigating more unpredictable seasons and greater price volatility than ever before. These two factors, seasonal yield risk and market price fluctuations, are key challenges that directly impact farm success. RiskWi$e seeks to expand the understanding of these risks and provide support that helps growers respond effectively, rather than reactively. 

The project takes a participatory approach with growers involved to help shape the research and ensure that outcomes are relevant, trustworthy, and ready to apply on-farm. With better knowledge of the risks at play, growers are empowered to make sound decisions that maximise opportunities while managing the potential downsides.

In Western Australia’s Northern Agricultural Region, the Mingenew Irwin Group (MIG) is leading efforts across two key RiskWi$e themes: Nitrogen decisions and enterprise financial decisions. The nitrogen theme takes a whole-of-system look at fertiliser strategies to improve the risk-reward decision. The enterprise financial decisions theme explores economies of scale and timeliness with regards to machinery investment, efficiency benchmarks and the role of future machinery automation. MIG is working closely with growers to better understand how machinery investment decisions are made—when to upgrade, whether to buy new or second-hand, and how these choices fit into the overall business risk profile. 

If you're a grower in the Northern Ag Region, your experience and insights are vital. MIG is currently inviting growers to take part in a short survey that contributes to the Enterprise Financial Decisions research theme. This work is led nationally by CSIRO, coordinated in WA by the Grower Group Alliance (GGA), and supported locally by MIG. 

Want to get involved? Reach out to MIG and have your say. Your input helps shape tools and advice that reflect the realities of farming in our region. 

RiskWi$e Toowomba Conference

From June 24–25, representatives from MIG—including Annabelle, Sophie, and Montana—attended the national RiskWi$e meeting in Toowoomba. The event brought together grower groups, GRDC and GGA representatives, and other industry professionals to reflect on progress and share insights from across the program.

This two-day forum explored diverse approaches to managing risk in Australian farming systems, providing a valuable platform for learning, collaboration, and communication.

Annabelle from MIG and Simon from WMG delivered a joint presentation examining how farmers in WA’s Northern Agricultural Region approach machinery decisions.

If you’d like to learn more about the presentation or the annual conference, check out our article in MIG Links!

Trial Progress Update

Two nitrogen-focused trials have been sown this year: the N Banking Trial at the Heavy Land site and the N Upfront Trial at the Sandplain site. Both trials were sown on 26 May 2025 using the DPIRD small plot seeder.

The Sandplain N Upfront Trial is testing how much nitrogen can be retained when large amounts are applied early in the season, while the Heavy Land N Bank Trial aims to investigate whether nitrogen can be ‘banked’ in the soil to support crop yields in future years.

Varying nitrogen rates were applied across different plots to assess their effect on crop establishment, plant density, and overall plant health. Establishment counts have now been completed at both sites, and tissue testing is underway to collect valuable nutrient data.

Stay connected for upcoming results and insights from these trials!