Simple Identification of On-Farm Lime Sources in the Western Region

Tender RFT Number Closing Date and Details Time

Simple Identification of PROC-9175502 5pm ACT local time Tenderers must submit their On-Farm Lime responses electronically Sources in the Friday 12 January through the Grains Western Region 2017 Investment Portal at: https://access.grdc.com.au

Full Details

RFT Description RFT No. PROC 9175502: Request for Tender for Simple Identification of On- Farm Lime Sources in the Western Region

Release Date Wednesday, 29 November 2017

Closing Time 5pm ACT local time, Friday 12 January 2017

Offer Period Tenders will remain open for acceptance by the GRDC for a period of 6 months after the Closing Time.

Deadline for submission 5pm ACT local time, Tuesday 19 December 2017 of Tender enquiries

Document Contact and Attention: Stephanie Meikle Enquiries Grains Research and Development Corporation Email: [email protected]

Electronic Lodgement of Tenderers must submit their responses electronically through the Grains Tenders Investment Portal at https://access.grdc.com.au

Please note between COB Thursday 21 December 2017 and COB Tuesday 2 January 2018, while the Tender remains open, GRDC offices will be closed and staff will be unavailable to provide technical support for the

P PO Box 5367 Kingston, ACT 2604 Australia Page 1 T +61 2 6166 4500 F +61 2 6166 4599 E [email protected]

GRAINS RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION ABN 55 611 223 291 Grains Investment Portal.

Aus Tender TBA

Simple Identification of On-Farm Lime Sources in the Western Region

ORIGINATING IDEA: Kwinana East (KE6)

APPLICABLE WESTERN REGION PORT ZONE: Kwinana East

The Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) is a statutory corporation established under the Primary Industries Research and Development Act 1989. It is subject to accountability and reporting obligations set out in the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013. It is responsible for planning, investing in and overseeing research and development, and delivering improvements in production, sustainability and profitability across the Australian grains industry.

BACKGROUND Soil acidity continues to be a major constraint to production for Western Australian grain growers. At the recent Kwinana East port zone RCSN meeting in August 2017, members identified that the cost of amelioration for soil acidity in the Kwinana East zone is very high (are the benefits there for the cost?), and identified that they wanted growers to be able to identify if they had a potential source of lime/or lime alternatives on their own properties. Soil surveys since 2005 have shown that 70% of soils in South West Western Australia are below recommended pH at the surface (0-10cm) and continued monitoring has shown that the majority of the affected area is at best remaining static or becoming worse. Although rates of lime application appear to be increasing, they still fall far short of what is needed to ameliorate existing, and counter ongoing, soil acidification. Western Australia, where more than 70 per cent of surface soils are below appropriate pH levels, has one of the best programs in Australia for combating acidification, but the rates of lime application are still much lower than what is needed to avoid irreparable damage (Gazey et al, 2013). Growers in the Kwinana East port zone agree that costs of getting lime delivered and spread range from $42-$50/tonne which is a considerable cost to their farm business (pers comm Kwinana East RCSN August 2017). Recent use of on-farm high pH Morrell soils as a lime source by Kalannie grower has generated interest from growers who can see the potential of the practice. The product may be lower neutralising value (NV) but can be applied at higher rates and the overall cost per hectare is less than imported lime due to the saving in freight. Dolomite is also a source of lime that is located further inland and should be compared to on-farm sources when calculating the economics of using these sources for amelioration of acid soils. This project scope has been developed through ideas from the Kwinana East port zone RCSN and growers at Local Open Forums held in the Kwinana East port zone in August, to give enough information to growers to help them identify on-farm lime sources, and determining whether these sources can provide the cost/benefit of more traditional coastal sources.

INVESTMENT DESCRIPTION Kwinana East port zone RCSN members developed further ideas to enable growers to be able to identify if they had a potential source of lime/or lime alternatives on their own properties. The main focus for this project scope is to provide an information package on locating and assessing alternatives to lime on your own property/assessing potential source of lime/or lime alternatives on-farm.

The successful tenderer will be provided with GRDC’s Brand Styleguide to ensure appropriate branding and formatting of the publication. An example of a previous booklet produced is located here: https://grdc.com.au/RCSN-BreakCropsRotations

GRAINS RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION ABN 55 611 223 291 OUTCOME

All growers within the Kwinana East port zone will be able to identify on-farm opportunities for assessing and extracting alternatives to lime on their own property, including conducting a quality assessment of the product; and assessing if the product found on their property will provide an economically viable alternative to other lime products.

OUTPUTS: 1. Factsheet By February 2019, a factsheet will be produced (electronic) titled “Locating and assessing alternatives to lime on your own property” that will include all of the points that need to be considered if a grower wants to find, assess and use on-farm products to help alleviate acidity on their property. Included (but not limited to) within the factsheet will be information on: • What soil types to look for as well as how to identify those that are unsuitable as a potential lime source, including interpretation of any topographical, geological or aerial images with radiometrics or other layers to help identify potential sources. • Surface soil test indicators • How to do some on-farm testing and assessment prior to sending away for laboratory testing • Details of testing laboratories – who, cost, addresses • An economic rule of thumb to assess if the on-farm option is economically a better option such as a Spread sheet to do individual costings with neutralising value of on farm and freight v lime-sand • What government approvals need to be sought if going ahead • Interviews of growers who do use product from their own properties (total of 3) • How to mine - stockpiling and screening • And any other information that would be pertinent to a grower using product from their own property to alleviate soil acidity. 2. Annual Report • Delivered to GRDC by 28th February 2019.

PROPOSED INVESTMENT

The proposed budget for this project is $25,000 over a 12 month period, beginning in February 2018 and being completed by February 2019. Costs involve but are not limited to travel, desktop assessments, and 3 case studies. Application Period The application end date for this investment is 5pm ACT local time on Friday 12 January 2017 as advised on the Grains Investment Portal and all applications must be submitted via the portal prior to this closing date for consideration. All requests for further information or clarification in relation to these investments should be made in writing to [email protected] prior to 5pm ACT local time on Tuesday 19 December 2017. All requests and responses to requests will be published on the GRDC website.

GRAINS RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION ABN 55 611 223 291 Selection Criteria

Criteria 1 A sound understanding of the nature and importance of the tender in addressing the investment proposal.

Criteria 2 Presentation of a clear plan on how the project will address the issue or activity, including a detailed budget. For proposals that include trial work, the project proposal should also include:

 a detailed preliminary trial protocol including arrangements for statistical design and analysis of trial results;  a draft communications and extension plan outlining who will be involved in the delivery of the project;  a plan for financial analysis of the results.

Criteria 3 Soundness of project structure and management arrangements, including;

 demonstrated technical knowledge and experience of key personnel;  where applicable, details of any subcontracting arrangements for services such as statistical design and analysis, planting, management and/or harvesting of trials.

Criteria 4 Demonstrated ability to form productive networks and linkages to ensure coverage across the Port Zone(s) and build on research already undertaken in related areas.

Criteria 5 A clearly defined pathway for the extension of results to the Port Zone(s).

Criteria 6 Demonstrate cost effectiveness and value for money in the tender response, including cash and/or in-kind commitments from the applicants and leverage in the form of domestic linkages that are useful, if not essential, to progress the project.

Eligibility Criteria

1. The Applicant must be a single legal entity or recognised firm of partners.

2. The Applicant must be financially viable. For the purposes of this condition, “financially viable” means that the Tenderer has not had any of the following events occur in respect of it: a. a meeting of creditors being called or held within the past five years; b. the appointment of a liquidator, provisional liquidator or administrator within the past five years; c. the appointment of a controller (as defined in section 9 of the Corporations Act (2001)), or analogous person appointed, including in respect of any of its property within the past five years; d. a failure to comply with a statutory demand in respect of the payment of any debt; e. an inability to pay debts as they fall due or otherwise becoming insolvent; f. becoming incapable of managing its own affairs for any reason; g. taking any step resulting in insolvency under administration (as defined in section 9 of the Corporations Act 2001); and

GRAINS RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION ABN 55 611 223 291 h. entering into a compromise or arrangement with, or assignment for the benefit of, any of its creditors, or any analogous event.

3. The Applicant and any proposed subcontractor must be compliant with the Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012.

4. The Applicant must include in its application details of any known circumstances that may give rise to an actual or potential Conflict of Interest with GRDC in responding to this procurement. The Applicant's response will be taken into account in the evaluation. Applying Applying for GRDC investments is now done using the GRDC Grains Investment Portal. Once registered, users can visit the Portal anytime.

To register as a user, please visit https://access.grdc.com.au/

 Click on the register button at the top right hand side.  Complete the Registration Form. Fill in all the fields: your email address, a password and the captcha. Your password must be alphanumeric with at least one special character (i.e. not a letter or number). Click register to continue the process.  Registration is confirmed by the system sending an email to you, with details to complete the registration process.  Once the registration process is complete, you can sign in and review all investments open for tender Once you have located this investment, you can commence the application process by completing the details for each field available, until you reach “Submit Application” on the last page.

If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to contact the Contracts Administrator via email [email protected] or use the online support function available. Application Evaluation Applications will be considered by a selection committee and the successful applicant will be informed within four weeks of the application closing date. Questions and Answers: No questions have been submitted yet.

GRAINS RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION ABN 55 611 223 291