Canola2007

Canola and Australian Farming Systems – 2003 to 2007

(click on document to download – 344kb PDF file)

This report has been published to update the report published in 2003 by Rob Norton on the potential impact of the availability of types of herbicide tolerant genetically modified canola varieties.

Since that time, there have been many reports commissioned by a range of state and federal governments, as well as farmer, consumer and industry interest groups. The aim of this report is to bring that large body of information together, especially the trade and economic implications.

The report also updates the estimate of impact on the Australian grains industry, following some significant changes in the canola industry during the study period. In essence, since 2003 the area sown to canola in all states has declined, there has been a large decrease in the proportion of non-herbicide tolerant canola produced, and yields have slipped. Changing terms of trade and seasonal conditions have all impacted on the Australian canola industry.

Copies of the report are available by clicking on the cover on the left of the screen.

The 2003 report can be accessed through the reference list on the left of the screen.

The authors:

Dr Rob Norton –

Dr Norton is a Principal Lecturer (Agronomy) with the School of Agriculture and Food Systems, The University of Melbourne. He has a degree in Agricultural Science from The University of Melbourne and in 1993 completed a PhD in canola agronomy.

Dr Norton has taught agronomy and crop protection to undergraduate and post-graduate students since 1981. He is based at Grains Innovation Park at Horsham, where he supervises research projects and post-graduate students in the areas of nutrient management and crop adaptation, as well as teaching at the main undergraduate centre’s of The University of Melbourne.

He published “Conservation farming systems and canola” in 2003 and has published more than forty refereed conference and journal papers since 1999.

see: http://www.landfood.unimelb.edu.au/staff/norton.html

Professor Rick Roush –

Prof. Rick Roush joined Melbourne University in late 2006 after spending three years as Director, Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program at the University of California. He holds degrees in entomology from the University of California, Davis and Berkeley, and has been well exposed to teaching, research and research management in Australian agriculture and higher education. From 1995 he spent eight years in Australia, first as an Associate Professor in the Department of Crop Protection at the University of Adelaide, and later as Chief Executive Officer of the Cooperative Research Centre for Weed Management.

Prof. Roush’s research draws on experience in agricultural crops and natural ecosystems in various part of the world including the USA and Australia. His work contributes to a range of areas including practical pest management, basic biology and toxicology of insects, molecular biology of insect neuroreceptors, biological control of insects and weeds and conservation biology.

see: http://www.landfood.unimelb.edu.au/info/dean.html

About the Faculty of Land and Food Resources – see: http://www.landfood.unimelb.edu.au