DoctorBeth Penrose

Project Total: $702; This proposal is just for use of the ANSTO ICP-MS facility to measure iodine in the wheat grains. We would need to get these analysed anyway, but this way our student gets excellent training and builds her networks, and we get the analysis for free. This is an Honours project that will investigate these questions: 1. How do distance from the coast, rainfall and soil type affect iodine concentrations in Australian wheat? 2. Which surfactant is best for improving iodine fertiliser uptake by wheat and transport to wheat grain to enhance iodine concentrations? This project will use archived samples from across WA, VIC and SA to understand how rainfall, distance from the coast and soil type affect iodine concentrations, and therefore which areas are most likely to produce wheat with iodine concentrations below the recommended level. The project will also use glasshouse experiments to investigate the best surfactant to use in order to maximise foliar uptake of iodine. This project will identify areas at risk of having below optimal wheat iodine concentrations, and will refine practical solutions for growers if they wish to biofortify crops with iodine. This Honours project is adjacent to the GRDC project Synchrotron Postdoctoral Fellow no. 4: Plants - Novel foliar fertilisers and nutrition trait diversity of grains. Honours supervisors are Beth Penrose (TIA), Matt Wilson (TIA), Richard Bell (Murdoch) and Tona Sanchez-Palacios (Murdoch). Beth and Matt's time are already allocated for Honours supervision, and this proposal is just for use of the ANSTO ICP-MS facility to measure iodine in the wheat grains. It will not use any cash or in-kind from TIA. Funded by: Australian Nuclear Science & Technology Organisation - Research Portal ($702); University of Tasmania.

Project Total: $1,012,000; This project aims to assess the global and local consequences of changing feeds in aquaculture by developing a new interdisciplinary sustainability assessment framework. The project expects to generate new methods to understand and predict local farm-to-ecosystem changes and global environmental footprints under contrasting feed and climate scenarios by integrating field data with novel experiments, modelling techniques and global mapping of terrestrial and marine feed raw materials and their impacts. Expected outcomes include new methods to assess ecological, social and economic trade-offs under different feeds to inform decision making in support of an ecosystem-based approach to aquaculture spanning global to local scales. Funded by: Australian Research Council - Grant-Linkage Projects Round 1 ($720,000); BioMar Ltd ($292,000); University of Tasmania ($98,322).

Project Total: $1,483,952; Currently, the prevalence of perennial legumes in Tasmania pastures is low and is limiting the profitability and productivity of Tasmanian red meat industry. This project will take a region-focused approach to improve the proportion of legumes in the high rainfall regions of the Northwest-coast and low rainfall region of the Tasmanian Midlands, which have different constraints. The north-west coast and King Island has over 90,000ha of improved high rainfall pastures and a beef herd accounting for approximately 30-40% of the Tasmanian herd. Beef producers experience feed shortages during autumn and winter, while recent modelling by TIA has also highlighted a contraction of pasture growth during summer; these feed shortages lead to stagnation in growth rates of beef cattle. Furthermore, the low-lying flat nature of the land means that waterlogging and pugging issues are systemic in some areas in winter. This project will identify, research and demonstrate legume species that can successfully fill feed gaps during late summer/autumn and improve resilience to waterlogging/pugging. The low-medium rainfall Tasmanian Midlands (260,000+ ha of improved/modified pastures) has seen recent transformational irrigation developments that have allowed the finishing of lambs in a traditionally wool and lamb sourcing region. However, only around 10% of the area is irrigated and there is significant potential to improve the shoulder dryland grazing country to increase stocking rates. Long and unpredictable periods of moisture deficit have led to sowing failures and apprehension about renovating pastures with much of the support land being underutilised, and poor performing due to the absence of improved pasture species including perennial legumes. By successfully establishing perennial legumes, producers can extend their growing seasons beyond what is currently be achieved and enhance the resilience of their feedbase to changing and variable climate. This research will explore sowing practices that advantage legumes during establishment and how to establish legumes in existing grass dominant pastures. The project will conclude with involve and partner activities aimed at increasing adoption on farm. Funded by: Meat and Livestock Australia - Livestock Productivity Partnership ($1,399,952); University of Tasmania ($867,975).

Project Total: $8,423; Legumes are important for pasture and livestock production as they are high in protein, improve soil structure through their deep tap roots and can fix nitrogen (N) via a symbiosis with rhizobia. However, soil conditions including pH, moisture content and nutrient concentrations need to be suitable for both the legume plants and the rhizobial bacteria in order for symbiosis and nitrogen fixation to occur. Results from a study in NSW found that 90% of paddocks (n=225) surveyed had inadequate legume nodulation, due to below-optimal soil conditions necessary for N fixation. This meant either producers needed to use more nitrogen to satisfy plant demands, or N concentrations in the soil were lower than optimal, due to an assumption that presence of the legumes equated to efficient N fixation. No such research has been conducted in Tasmania in recent times. This project aligns with the Honours project of Will Coad, who is investigating the effect of soil conditions (pH, soil type, N concentration) on biomass and nodulation score of white clover in Tasmanian dairy pastures. This project investigates the effect of macro and micronutrient concentrations on nodulation of clover, which is understudied in the literature This grant is for operational costs only. Funded by: AW Howard Memorial Trust - Grant - Early Career Researcher Award ($8,423); University of Tasmania.

Project Total: $3,305,885; Opportunity exists to add up to $750M/year to the red meat industry by addressing the pasture yield gap that exists across 7M ha of SE Australia; 60% of which is thought to be due to nitrogen (N) deficiency. A more reliable legume component will stabilise N inputs through N-fixation and increase forage quality. Serradellas (Ornithopus spp.) are the only viable, near-term alternative annual legume species adapted to this key grazing region of SE Australia, yet they remain underutilised due to a lack of knowledge and farmer experience in these permanent pasture areas that typically rely on subterranean clover. After 8+years research ($7.5M investment) into development of P-efficient pastures driven by MLA, there exists a small number of 'best-bet' serradella cultivars that could be adopted on-farm almost immediately. Serradellas have several mechanisms to mitigate drought risk compared to subterranean clover including deeper roots, smaller seed size and indeterminate growth habit, as well as lower P fertiliser requirements. Researchers will partner with farmer groups to deliver an integrated research/adoption program that validates previous research, answers technical questions raised by growers and builds confidence that the serradellas offer the necessary persistence in these new environments where a changing climate threatens existing production systems. This project will prove that serradellas are a species with widespread utility and production benefits that can be captured when they are used to replace, or augment subterranean clover. Funded by: Meat and Livestock Australia - Grant; CSIRO-Commonwealth Scientific & Industrial Research Organisation; University of Tasmania.

Project Total: $49,970; Tasmania produces ~80% of the total Australian hemp seed production, and approximately 1400 ha of hemp was grown in Tasmania in 2018. Hemp provides an excellent option for short summer gaps in the cropping sequence, and goes from sowing to maturity in around 90 days. There is also anecdotal evidence to suggest that their fibrous roots can improve soil structure and function. However, at the moment it is not possible for Tasmanian farmers to make >$2000/ha gross margin as at the moment only the seed is harvested and utilised- the vegetative parts are left in the paddock and burnt. It is possible that hemp could be used as a forage crop exclusively, or as a dual prupose crop (such as canola) for both forage and seed, or forage and fibre. However, there has been no research regarding the nutritional value of hemp for animal feed in Tasmania, except for a current honours project that focusses only on one variety. This project will investigate the effects of genotype, grazing time and environment on the nutritional value (fibre, protein, minerals etc) of five genotypes. Growing these crops in two locations across the state and over two years will provide scientifically robust data regarding the nutritional value. Using two simulated grazings (performed by manually cutting the plants) will enable us to give information to growers about when the best grazing time is to suit their priorities regarding seed yield and forage production. Working in conjunction with the Tasmanian Hemp Association, producing factsheets and holding field days will ensure that the industry will be engaged and informed about the research, and that the most important research questions are being asked Funded by: AgriFutures - Grant ($49,970); University of Tasmania.

Project Total: $49,694; Current orchard floor management methods of maintaining a bare-earth strip under the tree row through application of herbicides has led to a loss of soil biodiversity, poor nutrient retention, reduced water infiltration and increased soil compaction in orchards, all of which impact on crop yield and quality. This project will establish two demonstration sites in commercial orchards to demonstrate the benefits of regenerative agriculture practices such as maintaining permanent soil cover which have been shown to revitalise soil, allowing for increased productivity and capacity building. Funded by: Department of Agriculture and Water Resources - Smart Farms Small Grants ($49,694); University of Tasmania.

Project Total: $35,000; Serradellas (Ornithopus spp.) are promising alternative, annual pasture legumes with an expanding role in southern Australia. Traditionally, yellow serradellas (O. compressus) have been used in light, acid soils where their production can exceed that of benchmark pasture legumes such as subterranean clover. However, development of improved yellow and French serradella (O. sativus) cultivars has, since 2009, underpinned an expansion of serradella use in phase-farming systems. More recently, serradellas have been found to be highly phosphorus-efficient and it is anticipated that serradella-based grazing systems may require up to 30% less phosphorus fertiliser than subterranean clover-based pastures. This has both national and global significance given Australia's dependence on phosphorus fertiliser and the importance of the world's finite phosphate rock reserves for food security. Further expansion of serradella use into the permanent pasture zone depends on the suitability of cultivars for high yields and persistence in the southern Australian climate. However, the optimum time of flowering for reliable seed production, the regulation of flowering response to climate and the physiology of seed growth in the serradellas is largely unknown. There is anecdotal evidence of persistence issues in permanent pastures (NSW) and very recent data indicating inappropriate flowering times in some cultivars presently being sold to farmers in these areas. The initial phase of the project will involve a literature review of the centre of origin of serradellas in the Mediterranean regions of Europe and their introduction to Australian farming systems. This will include the development of cultivars for use in Western Australia, areas of Central West NSW and North West Tasmania. The key purpose of the review will be to define the adaptability of serradellas to pasture zones in southern Australia, with a focus on: flowering times; the pattern on flowering; seed growth and maturation and seed protection mechanisms (e.g. hardseedness). Defining the optimum time of flowering will be beneficial as it will provide a target for maximising flower survival and potential seed production. The major climatic risk factors to be considered are frost and drought. As frost risk decreases in a given season the effect of heat/drought stress is increasing, therefore a balance between the two is required. Modelling tools will be developed to identify when the net risk for flowering and seed development is minimised for selected locations and they will also capture edaphic factors. The model will consider a flexible germination date and will be strengthened over the course of the study with supportive data gained from subsequent experiments. Establishing the optimum time of flowering will provide guidance for future experiments. For instance, genotypes that have been screened to identify differences in their time of flowering will be used in glasshouse studies to measure vernalisation and photoperiod responses to identify what controls may or may not be influencing flowering time and flowering time stability. The pattern of flowering in serradellas will also be examined so that the optimum flowering window can be more refined. Serradella is known to have an indeterminate flowering habit, but experiments will be designed to reveal more accurate details for selected cultivars about their current flowering patterns including: the distribution of flowering th Funded by: AW Howard Memorial Trust - Research Fellowship ($35,000); University of Tasmania.

Project Total: $29,713; Following the announcement of the Tasmanian Governments 'encouraging innovation in mining' initiative in 2017, several priority research topics have been proposed by Mineral Resources Tasmania (MRT). One priority is to study the geochemistry of the Royal George tailings site (Eastern Tasmania). This site has been progressively rehabilitated by the Tasmanian Government over the past decade) with groundworks including reprofiling of the tailings and introduction of vegetation to stabilise the surface and reduce geoenvironmental risks associated with wind-blown dusts from the tailings surface. Previous studies at the site conducted by Noble et al. (2016) focussed on documenting the mobility of arsenic at this site following liming. Now that plants are able to persist at the site, there is a priority to measure concentrations of heavy metals in the plants there, and to understand the risk to animal and human health posed by the heavy metal concentrations in the plants and water at the site. The project's strategy will focus on: 1) representative tailings sampling across the site to a maximum depth of 50 cm; 2) sampling of botanical communities in vicinity of where tailings are collected; 3) surface water sampling to determine if this poses a risk to the wombat community through ingestion; 4) sampling of wombat hairs from those present on site, and sampling a community at a non-mining impacted site to determine if those at Royal George have been exposed to (bioaccessible) metals. This integrated investigation will apply a range of analytical techniques including chemical digestion of plant matter, solution ICPMS, X-ray diffractometry, static geochemical testing and chemical testing of wombat hair. This study will be the first to truly undertake a source-pathway-receptor investigation at a rehabilitated site in Tasmania, allowing for a holistic evaluation of the success of the groundworks. It also establishes a new collaboration across three UTAS disciplines/institutes (TIA, CODES and Biological Sciences), which if successful, can be used a template for assessing other sites in the state. The key outputs of this study will include: 1. A final report for MRT 2. Recommendations of plants to grow in similarly contaminated sites 3. Evaluation of risk to wombats from similar mine tailings 4. Presentation to MRT 5. Presentation to TMEC 2019 Funded by: Department of State Growth (Tas) ($29,713); University of Tasmania.

Project Total: $81,676; The project will provide expertise in forage management and integrated farm systems as part of activities in Objective 2 and objective 3 of Project Proposal. Specifically, the project will help to develop technical solutions for erosion control in maize-based cropping systems, as well as assisting with extension and outreach activities to support diversification of maize systems into mixed maize and livestock economies. Funded by: Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research - Grant-Research and Development; University of Tasmania.