Overview

RiskWi$e – 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 was developed in response to two primary issues;

• Firstly, growers in various forums including the GRDC National Grower Network highlighted that the risk associated with grain production has escalated and needs attention.

• Secondly, to action Objective 5 ‘Manage risk to maximise profit and minimise losses’ of the GRDC RD&E Plan (2018-23). Managing risk is also now integral to the GRDC RD&E Plan (2023-28).

RiskWi$e at a glance

• Grain growers face 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.

Target outcome:

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 partners