Grain growers are facing increasing uncertainty due to changing weather patterns and volatile commodity prices. RiskWi$e, a five-year, $30 million national initiative that runs from 2023 - 2028, was developed to address these challenges by helping growers make more informed, confident decisions. Led by CSIRO and funded by the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC), RiskWi$e uses participatory action research to engage growers in every step—from identifying risky decisions to exploring solutions.

The goal is for 80% of growers to evaluate management choices by weighing potential rewards against associated risks. By working directly with growers, RiskWi$e delivers practical tools and insights to better understand the risk-reward trade-offs across five key themes: nitrogen strategies, sowing decisions, agronomic planning, financial management, and natural resource capital. Behavioral science and analytics will be primarily utilised to support and understand decision making and adopting throughout the project.

RiskWi$e brings together a strong network of grower groups and research partners across Australia. At Mingenew Irwin Group, we will be focusing on the key themes of Nitrogen decisions and machinery decisions, using both trials and participatory action research groups to collect data to assist farmers with risk decision making in relation to these two themes.

At its core, RiskWi$e is about building grower confidence through better knowledge—empowering grain producers to maximize profits, reduce losses, and thrive in an increasingly unpredictable environment.