Part 2 Curiosity to Commitment - Farmers Navigating Ag Tech Adoption

 🎧 Join host Chris McDonough live from the Grain Automate Expo in Loxton 🌾 as he takes you out into the paddock for a deep dive into autonomous machinery 🚜 — featuring SwarmFarm and insights from a local grower 👨‍🌾 In this episode, Chris chats with: Bailey Kilpatrick from SwarmFarm Robotics, …

Part 1 Curiosity to Commitment - Farmers navigating ag tech adoption

Join host Chris McDonough straight from the Grain Automate Expo in Loxton as he catches up with 3 growers and a machinery reps about how farmers are tackling the big leap into ag tech. 🎧 Stick with us—there’s about 30 seconds of background noise at the start as we resolve some mic issues, but the…

Salinity and Drought - What every farmer should know

This MSF FarmTalk episode is part of the 101 Soils Questions Series. We explore the basics of dry saline land—how it forms, why it gets worse in drought years, and what steps you can take to support recovery. Dr Chris McDonough, Insight Extension for Agriculture, joins host Tanja Morgan to discuss:…

Tackling Compaction with Strategic Ripping

In this episode of MSF FarmTalk’s 101 Soils Questions series, we explore what’s really going on beneath the surface when it comes to compacted sandy soils. Nick Paltridge chats with Nigel Wilhelm about the causes of compaction, how to identify it, and how strategic deep ripping can improve root acc…

Cutting through the carbon clutter

What does "building soil carbon" really mean on Mallee farms and why should you care? In this episode, we cut through the confusion and get straight to the facts. Nick Paltridge sits down with Amanda Schapel from PIRSA to unpack what soil carbon actually is, how it interacts with soil function, an…

Feeding the Soil, Fueling the Farm

In this episode of the MSF Farm Talk podcast, we dig into what’s really happening beneath the soil surface. Soil biology expert Dr Gupta Vadakattu from CSIRO joins us to explore the hidden microbial world in our paddocks. We talk through: What soil biology actually is How microbes help crops s…

What it's really like using a SwarmBot

In this episode of MSF Farm Talk, we take a look at on-farm adoption of autonomous spraying technology. Merredin grower Brad Jones chats with Kylie Matthewson about his journey bringing Swarm Bot onto his family farm, how it’s working, what it took to get started, and whether it’s stacking up econo…

A Farewell Chat with Nick Paltridge

In this special episode, we say goodbye and thank you to Nick Paltridge, who has been Mallee Sustainable Farming’s podcast host, project manager, communicator, and all-round good sport for the past three years. Nick reflects on his time with MSF, sharing memories from the paddock, what he’s learne…

Building a stronger pulse in the Mallee

In this episode, Nick Paltridge is joined by MSF's Research Manager, Dr Penny Roberts to explore what it takes to grow profitable, resilient lentils and other pulses in the Mallee. They discuss the drivers behind the surge in pulse production, practical agronomy tips for low rainfall zones, and a …

Early Sowing, Legumes and Long- Term Fertility

In this episode of MSF Farm Talk, we kick off a new series inspired by the book 101 Questions about SA Cropping Soils. Host Nick Paltridge is joined by Dr. Nigel Wilhelm from the South Australian Research and Development Institute to explore how cropping systems have evolved over recent decades—esp…