Developing and fostering an effective research and development program is a pivotal goal for TurfBreed.
With that said, and after much searching, TurfBreed has appointed its first Research and Development co-ordinator to establish and run a national program.
Introducing Andrew Fletcher, who has a strong R&D academic background but wants to work for an organisation, such as TurfBreed, that strives for a commercial outcome and focus to its existence.
And although Andrew likes to be in a research-based role, he wants his research to have a tangible and commercial outcome for the company he is working for.
Katie Fisher meets Andrew and finds out what he has to offer TurfBreed’s newest role.
Introducing Andrew Fletcher…
While Andrew is not from a farming background, he became interested in agriculture through his schooling which made him decide to go on and study Agriculture Science at the University of Queensland (QLD).
This has since led Andrew to completing Post Graduate studies, such as a Masters and PhD.
His PhD was on evaluating QLD wheat varieties based on their water use efficiency and genetic makeup.
During his undergraduate studies, Andrew worked casually for Pacific Seeds at their research station which gave him a grounding in hands-on trial work.
Also, during his PhD studies, Andrew worked for the University Crop Research Unit where he managed field trials from design through to evaluation.
“This gave me an excellent insight into the challenges and procedures required for field work, but also the practical skills required at each stage which I enjoy,” Andrew said.
So why did Andrew apply for the position?
“While I am academically experienced, I want to work with a business such as TurfBreed that has beneficial commercial outcomes for its members, such as the turf growers,” Andrew said.
“I saw my background and broad technical skills as being complimentary to the role and this is why I sought to apply, but it’s the commercial and grower engagement aspect that was most appealing.”
Why turf research?
Andrew stems from a background in agriculture research, where for the past six years he has worked on improving wheat crop yields with limited water.
“I will admit, moving into turf was a big change – but it had the same objective in terms of growing turf well with less water,” Andrew said.
“Plant physiology is my background so looking at plant stress, drought stress and then picking the best ones which can adapt, and cope really fascinates me”
“Once I know what mechanism (or characteristic) it is that dominates a plant I can look at that particular trait”
For Andrew been able to identify what specific biology process a plant such as turf is utilising to become adapted to a specific environment is all about making it better.
“For instance – some plants which are more drought tolerant or use water more efficiency are doing this at the leaf or cellular level and it comes down to their chemistry and how they are photosynthesising,” he said.
“A tiny change in efficiency and suddenly you may see a massive change in how you grow your turf.”
So, for Andrew, it is more about being able to identify, at a plant level, the particular traits which can very easily be communicated to growers that will make a specific variety more dominant.
“I want to be able to understand the traits of specific varieties, for instance thatch which can suppress weeds or, a variety that is able to retain water and be more drought resistant,” he added.
“It is about understanding what traits we are looking for in to grass and how it relates to its physiology.”
What do you believe turf’s role is in the market?
From Andrew’s limited time spent in the turf field he has still managed to travel and see many farms located in QLD.
“What I want to do is focus on providing or doing research that means something to both the growers and the consumers”
“The data I produce must have the results that can easily be communicated back to both the grower and the consumer.
“For instance, why a grower can justify charging either $12 or $25 a metre for their turf.
It is about putting meaningful data around results that show the consumer they are getting their money’s worth.”
Looking back at wheat, Andrew said the end consumer doesn’t care about what type of wheat they are eating as long as it is consistent in flavour.
“So the wheat farmer must select the variety that they think the consumer wants out of 1000s of choices – the market is very consumer driven rather then what a grower may want to produce,” he said.
“But through TurfBreed’s R&D program I would like to see results that mean something to the consumer and that explain why they should be spending $25 a metre and what that money is going towards.
“It is about making sure the grower has the correct data to give the consumer when they are making their final purchasing decision.”
The program …
Andrew, or Fletch, as he has commonly become known by all, will be based at QLD but with the intention of managing many different trial sites across the Country.
In QLD, he is designing a Living Library that will act as TurfBreed’s genetic repository for all of its varieties in Australia. It will contain pure stock of all TurfBreed’s genetic variety material.
A separate Trial Site will contain all TurfBreed’s varieties and most of the varieties on today’s market.
Included will be any new turf varieties that TurfBreed has imported to be compared and trailed against all the other varieties on the Australian market.
“The aim of these sites will be to show how the varieties perform in different environments so the consumer can make productive decisions,” Andrew said.
“It will be important that we replicate our different growing environments across the Country as this will help us decide which are the most suited to TurfBreed and growers and which are best suited to all environments.
“I want to be able to put solid data around basic things such as growth rates and be able to tell customers conclusively how much mowing turf needs and how much biomass turf grass is producing – not to forget how much water they need to use!
“Characteristics like establishment after planting for the consumer and regrowth or harvesting cycles for the grower will be particularly important when we are looking at new varieties.”
Andrew is also eager to develop more standardised ways to measure colour – a very important trait for consumers.
He also believes that data around the density of the turf canopy and how much it closes in and how this affects the appearance of the turf grass will be of benefit to marketing a turf variety.
“To date such measurements can be very subjective but I want to put a real and repeatable value on this density measurement, so it doesn’t matter if a grower or myself is doing the measurement we both get the same results,” he said.
Andrew recently purchased a Multispectral Imagining Drone to look at the Normalised Differential Vegetation Index (NVDI) of turf grass.
Put simply, by measuring the near-infrared (NIR) light that reflects back off a plant at different wavelengths, multispectral imaging can identify areas of stress in a paddock and provides a quantitative metric for the vigour of a turf plant.
“We can review all our research plots at once and combine this into one image and gain consistent data instead of gathering subjective measurements – in short, it enables us to measure all traits at the one time,” he said.
“It will help to speed up the process of evaluating different traits.”
In all, Andrew has a ‘bucket of ideas’ he is looking forward to exploring – while he acknowledges it will take time to get the R&D program into full swing it is certainly “something he is looking forward to doing for TurfBreed’s growers”.