Bringing Regions Together Through Stubble Management: Shared Learnings from Corrigin to the West Midlands

By Simon Kruger & Kate Parker

As the State NRM funded Stubble Management Project draws to a close, a recent knowledge-sharing visit by Corrigin farmers Ash Jacobs and Connor Baker to the West Midlands region provided a fitting finale to this cross-regional initiative. A collaboration between the Corrigin Farm Improvement Group (CFIG) and the West Midlands Group (WMG), the project has focused on exploring practical stubble management techniques to enhance groundcover, improve soil function, and support climate resilience across two of Western Australia’s major grain-producing regions.

The visit marked a valuable opportunity for West Midlands growers to hear firsthand how stubble management is being approached in the Central Wheatbelt, and to reflect on shared challenges, innovations, and outcomes from both regions involved in the project.

Closing the Loop on Collaborative Learning

Throughout the Stubble Management Project, both Ash and Connor have played an active role in trial design, practice change, and grower engagement in the Corrigin district. By travelling north to meet with West Midlands growers, they helped close the loop on a project that was always intended to bring communities together through applied learning.

Ash Jacobs, a fourth-generation grower from Corrigin, has spent more than a decade refining his stubble management practices to address issues such as erosion, moisture loss, and delayed sowing. His use of a strip and disc system has provided consistent soil cover, reduced harvest time, and improved summer rainfall retention. Ash spoke about the importance of adapting systems annually, noting that stubble isn’t just a residue to manage—it’s a resource that, when handled well, supports the productivity of the next crop.

Connor Baker, a research agronomist with Corrigin Farm Improvement Group (CFIG), brought a complementary perspective grounded in soil structure, nutrient dynamics, and crop rotation planning. His presentation highlighted how continuous cropping systems in the eastern wheatbelt are relying on stubble cover to hold fragile sands, build organic matter, and retain applied nutrients. His insights helped bridge the connection between stubble management and broader goals like improving water use efficiency and reducing nutrient loss.

Shared Results and Real-World Application

The Stubble Management Project has involved six demonstration sites across the Northern Agricultural Region and Central Wheatbelt, comparing three practical treatment approaches:

• Standing stubble left untouched
• Mechanical manipulation using tools such as stubble crunchers
• Pre-seeding applications of nitrogen or biostimulants to support stubble breakdown

Trial sites were established under commercial conditions, with the aim of evaluating each treatment’s influence on stubble decomposition, nutrient cycling, seeding operations, and early crop establishment. Importantly, the project also looked at how these effects vary between regions with different rainfall, soil types, and farming systems.

Ash and Connor’s presentations provided West Midlands growers with a chance to reflect on the outcomes seen in Corrigin—particularly where similar tools or practices had been trialled—and to discuss how different strategies could be adapted locally.

A Project Built on Partnership

The exchange between CFIG and WMG has reinforced the value of regional partnerships in addressing shared agronomic challenges. While farming systems and soil constraints may differ between the Central Wheatbelt and the Northern Agricultural Region, the core goals remain the same: improving groundcover, retaining moisture, reducing erosion risk, and building more resilient cropping systems in a changing climate.

By bringing farmers together to compare approaches and outcomes, the Stubble Management Project has helped ensure that the findings are practical, regionally relevant, and grounded in lived experience.

West Midlands Group would like to sincerely thank Ash Jacobs and Connor Baker for making the journey north to share their experiences, and to all growers and partners who contributed to the success of the Stubble Management Project. The connections built between regions have helped translate research into action—and created a strong foundation for ongoing collaboration in soil stewardship and sustainable cropping.

For more information on the Stubble Management Project and outcomes from the trials, visit the WMG project page.