RiskWi$e is a National Risk Management Initiative (NRMI) seeks to understand and improve the risk-reward outcomes for Australian grain growers by supporting grower on-farm decision-making. Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) have invested $30 million to support this 5-year national initiative, running from 2023 to 2028.
RiskWi$e at a glance
Grain growers are facing increasing levels of risk
The two main risks faced by grain growers that affect their business success are yield (impacted by weather changes) and price volatility – both are expected to become more unpredictable in the future.
Improved understanding of risks empowers growers
With a better knowledge of risks, grain growers will be able to make decisions about on-farm management that maximise the rewards and minimise the downside risk.
RiskWi$e is designed to help growers manage risk
RiskWi$e will use participatory action research that engages growers in the conception to implementation process to help build trust and understanding of new knowledge on risk-reward that better informs decision making on-farm.
Our target outcome
RiskWi$e seeks to understand and improve the risk-reward outcomes for Australian grain growers by supporting grower on-farm decision-making. To do this it will:
- Involve grain growers in the identification of on-farm decisions that have unknown components of risk-reward that will be studied to elucidate new insights.
- Develop an improved understanding of the risk-reward relationships for on-farm management decisions.
- Inform growers and their advisers of new insights into optimising rewards and managing risk.
- Challenge grower decision-making so future management decisions are evaluated in terms of the probability of upside returns offset against the associated downside risks.
Our goal is that 80% of grain growers can articulate their production management decisions in terms of probability of upside returns (reward) offset against the associated downside risks.
RiskWi$e themes
RiskWi$e comprises themes of work focussed on decisions that are known to be challenging. These include nitrogen (N) fertiliser applications, sowing decisions, enterprise agronomic decisions, enterprise financial decisions and managing natural capital. Plus, there are two overarching bodies of work:
- Behavioural science: This work will incorporate behavioural science across all themes to understand grower behaviour change and support adoption.
- Analytics and modelling: This work will focus on participatory research tools (‘flight simulators’) that allow growers to explore their risky decisions and internalise an enhanced understanding of risk into their gut-feel decision-making.
The latest
Getting nitrogen supply ‘less wrong’ more often
March 13, 2025
Getting the N supply to a crop ‘right’ in any one year is incredibly difficult, so that in any one year it is often ‘wrong’. So, given this uncertainty the question is, can we find an N supply target (i.e. soil mineral N and fertiliser to be applied) that we could aim for year-in, year-out, that means we get the N rate we apply ‘less wrong’ more often.
Decision Support Tool Bingo
March 13, 2025
Want to support your decision with a more analytical approach? Find the right tool for the job!
Nitrogen fertiliser decisions – the good, the right and the risky
March 7, 2025
It is difficult to make the ‘right’ N decision every year, but ‘good’ decisions are relatively easy and are more likely to be ‘right’, particularly when reviewed over several years.
Fast Graphs for “Slow Thinking”
September 10, 2024
Supporting a more deliberate and logical approach to decision making
Farm Decision Making and Risk: the interaction of personality, farm business, and risk to make more informed decisions
September 6, 2024
At the core of farm management is decision making and choosing a path that provides a farming business with acceptable reward for acceptable effort at an acceptable amount of risk. This 2020 GRDC publication is an important resource for growers, industry and our RiskWi$e approach.
Field trials compare risk and rewards for nitrogen decision approaches
August 28, 2024
A network of 43 small plot and paddock scale trials are quantifying the risks and rewards of different nitrogen management decisions over multiple years. These trials will characterise the yearly variability in response to N but importantly also measure carryover of residual N from one year to the next.
RiskWi$e partners
RiskWi$e is made possible thanks to the involvement of all partners and was established through an investment of the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC)
