Mallee Matters Promoting agriculture in the SA Mallee September 2015 New trials compare broadleaf crop options in SA Mallee Contributed by Michael Moodie Mallee Sustainable Farming (MSF) with SARDI have established replicated trials at Waikerie and Loxton to compare broadleaf grain crop performance across a range of soil types. The trials are located south of Waikerie at the Lowbank Ag Bureau trial site and south of Loxton at the new MSF research site near Pata. At each location, nine different broadleaf crop options are being compared side by side on two contrasting soil types. The trials which are funded by the South Australian Grain Industry Trust (SAGIT) will run for three years. Table 1 on the right shows the crop type, variety, target plant population and seeding rate used for each treatment. Page 2&3 Loxton Field Day New farm Board Program Page 4&5 An important feature of the trials is that each crop is being managed independently to ensure that it can reach its potential. Agronomic management differences include herbicide choice, fertiliser rates and fungicide and pesticide applications. Crop performance is Treatment Crop Variety Target plant m2 Seeding rate Kg/ha 1 Field pea PBA Wharton 45 90 2 Vetch Rasina 60 40 3 Narrow lupin PBA Barlock 50 90 4 Albus lupin Luxor 35 120 5 Faba bean PBA Samira 20 140 6 Lentil PBA Hurricane 120 50 7 Chickpea PBA Striker 45 100 8 Chickpea Genesis 090 35 120 9 Canola Stingray 40 2.5 Spading Chicken Manure – Doubling yield potential Continued page 2... Page 6&7 Rabbit control planning for success Don’t balls up your flock with Brucellosis Page 8&9 Brome Grass harvest control Page 10&11 Field Days Wild dogs Farmers inspected the Waikerie trial site in July ...continued from page 1 being assessed throughout the year with measurements including establishment, NDVI, crop biomass and grain yield being completed. Farmers will have the opportunity to inspect these trials at upcoming field days. The field day at the Loxton site will be held on the 7th of October from 9.00 am. The trials will also be visited as part of the Low Bank Bureau bus trip on the 14th of October. Broadleaf grain crops growing side by side on a deep sand at the Loxton site For further information on the trials or upcoming events please contact Michael Moodie on 0488612892 or email [email protected]. MSF Loxton Field Day – Wednesday October 7thBy Jen Bond This year MSF will be running a field day at our Loxton site, hosted by Bulla Burra, on Wednesday October 7th. Our trials at the site include MSF’s SAGIT-funded project investigating the management of break crops in Mallee systems (this project has a second site at Waikerie) and CSIRO’s trials focussed on closing yield gaps in Mallee soils by investigating the role for nutritional packages and the potential benefits of onrow sowing. Following a diagnostic year in 2014, CSIRO have implemented two trials at the site testing two strategies for closing the yield gaps on Mallee sands. The role for nutritional packages and the potential benefits of on-row sowing are being tested at our site near Loxton in 2015. The Controlled Traffic Farming Systems trial site at Loxton is one of 4 research sites across Southeastern Australia which have been developed as part of the GRDC funded project 'Controlled Traffic Farming in the Low Rainfall Zone'. This project is a collaboration between DEDJTR, SARDI, ACTFA and the regional farming system groups including MSF, SPAA, BCG, UNFS and CWFS. Lewellyn (CSIRO), Nigel Wilhelm (SARDI), Peter Fisher (DEDJTR) and special guest Ross Ballard (SARDI), who will discuss inoculation in pulse crops. The day will run from 9:00am2:00pm, starting at ‘Stirlings’ paddock (Alawoona-Loxton Rd) and ending at the Bulla Burra office site (Paruna Main Rd). Free registration includes morning tea and lunch! Sign up online at: http://msfp.org.au/ At these sites a range of soil comevents/loxton-field-day/ or by email to paction treatments have been [email protected] or by phone to posed using grower machinery. The (03) 50245835. results will be used to evaluate the economic benefits of controlled traffic under different soil and climatic conditions. This site visit will be an opportunity to view any differences in crop development as a consequence of the comThe day will also include an inspec- paction treatments and to talk to scition of the GRDC/Vic DEDJTR Con- entist from the project team who will trolled Traffic site and a presentation be on site to answer questions Presenters include Michael Moodie of results from SARDI’s harvested (MSF), Stuart Nagel (SARDI), Rick vetch trial. Group of farmers at MSF Karoonda Field Day 2015. Page 2 New Farm Board program aims to improve profitability Contributed by Tony Randall Fifteen local farming families are participating in a new Farm Board pilot program aimed at improving profitability and sustainability. ‘Participants have commented that taking part in the new program has led them to sit down as a family and talk through key business, production, finance and family issues in a constructive manner and develop a Natural Resources SAMDB Principal better approach to managing their Project Officer Tony Randall, said the businesses’, John said. new program developed by Rural Business Support (RBS) was aimed Key outcomes include formalising at encouraging wider adoption of forwho does what on the farm and mal management processes within recognition that short formal monthly farming businesses. meetings can quickly improve business performance. There has been an excellent response with over 40 people participating in monthly meetings held in the Approximately half the participants have indicated they will introduce an Mallee and Riverland. independent person in the role of ‘The project is hands-on with chairperson and all participants see participants learning about the roles the and responsibilities necessary to set benefit of regular involvement of up their own farm board’, Tony said. external specialists at meetings to At each monthly meeting the key improve production, finance and success factors are being investigated business performance. and the families have the opportunity to learn from farmers, consultants and The project will be completed in 2016 bankers who have contributed their and has been commissioned by the Natural Resources SAMDB, delivered experience at no charge. by Rural Business Support (RBS) and The use of case studies and role-plays funded by the Australian allows everybody a chance to practise Government’s National Landcare key steps and the use this on-farm to program and the SAMDB NRM Board. immediately apply to their own businesses and set up their own Farm With sufficient interest from farming families there could be another Board. program run in the future. RBS Farm Business Consultant John Christensen, said, it is all about changing the way farming families think about their businesses and building on their family strengths. It’s a simple, powerful, low cost change that will have great impact on their farming businesses. For more information John Christensen, Farm Business Consultant, Rural Business Support P 0448 063 189 E j.christensen@ ruralbusinesssupport.org.au Tony Randall, Principal Project Officer Sustainable Farming, Natural Resources SAMDB P 0427 824 396 E [email protected] www.naturalresources.sa.gov.au/ Page 3 Spading chicken manure produces double the yield potential on Mallee sands In 2014 the New Horizon Trial Site at Karoonda showed fantastic yield results for spading in highly nutritious organic matter to 40cm. This year 2 Mallee Natural Resources SAMDB and National Landcare Program funded projects at Karoonda and Waikerie has taken the concept to farmer scale demonstrations using chicken manure, which is both affordable and available due to the increase in local chicken farms. Spaded chicken manure areas are presently looking at 2 to 3 times the crop potential of the untreated control areas and could yield up to 2-3t/ha this year. The evidence is suggesting that it is Is it the spading or the nutrition and organic matter benefit that is making the difference? a combination of both. This soil appears to need to break compaction, build fertility, retain more moisture and improve cation exchange capacity to depth. Sites at Lowbank Ag Bureau trial show some improvement where Page 4 By Chris McDonough chicken manure is spread on the surface, but nowhere near the increase in growth and heads compared to where the manure was spaded in to 40cm. The other significant finding is that the crop roots at Waikerie are accessing the soil moisture at 30cm, then 50cm, 70cm and even 90cm depth much sooner and to a higher level on the spaded chicken manure Both sites have areas that are sites. spaded without the chicken manure, which again are slightly better than This suggests that the crop roots are the control, but are no comparison growing much stronger and accessto the combination plots, as can be ing moisture well below the spaded in the Karoonda Soak site photos of depth, and is my assessment that the barley from Stuart Popes’ on there is still adequate plant available September 10. water at depth to sustain the higher growth and yield through to harvest. Soil moisture monitoring probes have been placed in the control and Control areas are showing much lower moisture extraction at depth, and areas they may never access Can the increased crop due to subsoil compaction. It is ofgrowth be sustained through ten very frustrating to dig and find Spring? Surely the sand will wet sand at 30-40cm after harvest in run out of moisture? these soils. treatment areas at each site, with Similar trends are evident at sensors ranging from 10cm to 90cm Karoonda, although some lateral subsoil moisture movement was in depth. recorded at the 90cm sensor on the These probes have clearly indicatcontrol plot across the top of the ed that even 10mm rainfall events clay layer that was likely heading are penetrating deeper to 30cm and toward the soak area. The aim of being maintained within the root this trial is to use up moisture zone in the spaded chicken manure through growing better crops on the zones, while the control areas have sand that will lead to reducing in and a sharp spike in moisture at 10cm reclamation of these soak areas. but no lift in moisture at 30cm. Right—Moisture flowing out of cropped sand area into soak after just 10mm rainfall. Control area, light green, uneven, low growth, average 148 tillers/ m row Spaded only, improved growth but still light colour, average 159 tillers/ m row Are these treatments likely to be cost effective for farmers? This is one of the key questions being asked at each trial, and most treatments were designed to be able to be paid for within 1, 2 or 3 years given a 0.5t/ha yield increase each year. The cost of chicken manure has been $25-30/t landed at these sites, and once on site the spading is approx. $100/ha. This means that spading 6t/ ha chicken manure could be achieved for close to $250/ha. Indications so far suggest that yield increases could pay for this in the first 6 t/ha chicken manure spaded, deep green, even head emergence, ave 297 tillers/ m row year, but we better wait for harvest. It is intended that these trials will be yield mapped over to next 5 years to assess the long term benefits of the various treatments across the various soil types. What about the wind erosion risk of spading sand hills? There were 2 bad wind events around seeding time at Waikerie, that lead to some soil movement from the spaded strips at the Waikerie site this year. While the risk can be minimised by spading as close to seeding as possible, and rolling the sand after treat- ment, this is still an issue that will need to be addressed in the future. See these sites at upcoming Field Days Both the New Horizons Trial site and the Pope Soak site will be visited on the Combined Southern Mallee and Karoonda Ag Bureau Field Day on Sept 22nd. The Lowbank Ag Bureau Field Day is on Wednesday 14th October. Contact Brenton Kroehn for details on 0427414494. Everyone is welcome to attend these events. Chris McDonough shares his ‘Insight’ After 26 years with PIRSA working in Landcare, soils, agronomy, farming systems and extension, Chris McDonough has moved in to private practice. His new business, ‘Insight Extension for Agriculture’ , still sees him working amongst farmer groups with various Natural Resources SAMDB, Mallee Sustainable Farming and other funded projects. Chris aims to continue to help Mallee farmers implement practical and profitable sustainable farming practices. To contact Chris call 0408 085 393 (his mobile has not changed), but his new e-mail address is [email protected] Page 5 ‘Rabbit grazing can be measured as DSE…’ ‘...it is considered that about 12 rabbits are equivalent to one sheep..’ Rabbit Control—planning for success As the weather warms up and time is spent in the paddock heading towards harvest you may start to see the impact of rabbits on your property. Contributed by Paul Gillen However, in terms of changing The main conclusions were: pasture composition by preferential- Poisoning of rabbits cost less ly grazing out clovers, this may be than previously estimated at as low as eight rabbits. $36/ha compared with $52/ha. Previous trials have shown rabbits The cost of destroying warrens severely deplete improved legume using a Bobcat or backhoe avMethods for removing rabbits are pastures, and that grass cover eraged about $69/ha, ranging generally well researched and, if increases in line with rabbit density. from $35 to $117/ha. This was used together at the right time of higher than the estimate of $40/ year (summer), can effectively This effect is cumulative. Pasture in the area where no rabbits were ha but reflects the difficulty in control rabbits. present included 31% legumes and accessing warrens in scrub on New tools are also available, 25% grasses, but the highest rabbit steep sand drifts on roadsides. including a wide assortment of density area had just 6% legumes Fumigation costs were $56/ha, machines, such as backhoes and and 47% grasses. of which $40 was spent on Bobcats, which can be used for Where rabbits live on roadsides but searching for re-opened warwarren and rabbit harbour rens. destruction while minimising dam- seek food in adjoining paddocks, crop damage is often obvious as On the Lameroo site, poisoning, age to native vegetation. grazing ’halos’ in the immediate warren ripping and fumigation were An integrated program of vicinity of rabbit warrens. This is baiting, ripping and follow up often most noticeable when dam- effective in combination giving a fumigation is the most age to emerging crops promotes 90% reduction in total warren entrances per hectare. This initial effective way to control weeds and again just before hartreatment decreased rabbits from rabbits and limit their damage. vesting when rabbits nip off stalks an estimated 10/ha to 1 rabbit/ ha. This is best timed during sum- to reach grain. For assistance with planning a rabmer when rabbits are not In these areas, the area in which bit control program or help with lobreeding. the crop has been impacted can be cal coordination please contact Rabbits compete directly with visually be estimated along a pad- your local District Officer from Natulivestock, encourage weeds and eat dock edge and tallied up to esti- ral Resources SAMDB via crops. Rabbit grazing can be mate the hectares of crop lost. 8532 9100. measured as ’dry sheep equiva- Costs of control For more info visit lents’, and in general it is A recent demo trial at Lameroo has Www.pestsmart.org.au/wp-content/ considered that about 12 rabbits been used to calculate the costs of uploads/2013/01/ are equivalent to one sheep. control in roadside vegetation. Cooke_lscape_rabbit_control.pdf Page 6 Don’t balls up your flock with brucellosis Contributed by Emma Rooke A survey carried out by Primary Industries Research South Australia in 2010 found that in the high rainfall area of SA’s south east around 22% of commercial flocks were infected with ovine brucellosis (OB). If that wasn’t shocking enough, all the affected producers were blissfully unaware that their flocks were infected. Similar studies found that 13% of the Mallee flocks were also affected with OB. Ovine Brucellosis, caused by Brucella ovis, is a bacterial disease of sheep that causes infertility in rams, an increase of abortion in ewes and lamb mortalities – it is a costly problem you definitely don’t want to have. While it is absolutely imperative to always buy rams from OB accredited flocks, this good practice will amount to nothing if you already have the disease. So first things first: examine all flock rams every year. Testicles especially should be palpated for tone and lumps. Brucellosis causes lumps usually in the lower part of the testicle and they are often asymmetrical – that is, one testicle will have a distinct lump when compared to its partner, although sometimes both sides are affected and some rams infected with Brucellosis will appear perfectly normal. The key is to get used to what feels normal so that you can pick up anything unusual and if there is any suspicion, ask a vet to do a blood test to rule out brucellosis. Producers often make up for the reduced fertility by extending the joining period when they observe rams still working after six weeks. Other tell-tale signs include lethargy in rams, lower conception rates in ewes, extended lambing periods and reduced marking percentages. Second, prevent OB from entering your property: OB is spread through strays, buying in rams from non-accredited flocks, borrowing rams or buying rams at clearance sales. There is definitely a higher prevalence of OB in British breed rams compared with Merinos, but all breeds should be considered infected unless proven otherwise. Page 7 Ram buyers should examine all rams before purchase and if anything has unusual conformation of the testicles it should be rejected. A ram is an expensive life support system for a pair of testicles – if the testicles aren’t any good then there is no point in buying the expensive animal that goes along with them. Buyers should also insist on a National Sheep Health Statement (SHS) from the vendor to confirm that the ram in question is from an OB accredited flock. The SHS also has valuable information on lice, footrot and OJD. Once you return home, ensure that new stock are quarantined for an appropriate length of time after arriving on your property. For more information on brucellosis see this Leading Sheep webinar on ovine brucellosis – http://www.leadingsheep.com.au/2015/07/diseases -ovine-brucellosis/ For more information on protecting your farm from pests, diseases and weeds contact Emma Rooke, Livestock Biosecurity Network, 0488 400 878, [email protected], or visit www.farmbiosecurity.com.au Article by Michael Moodie and Todd McDonald (MSF) and Mick Brady and Chris Davies (DEDJTR) Can harvest weed seed management help to win the fight against brome grass? Harvest Weed seed Control (HWSC) methods such as windrow burning, and chaff carts which collect weed seeds for them to be destroyed during or after the harvest process, are gaining popularity with Mallee farmers. The research involved measuring brome grass seed retention on three occasions, when barley was ready for harvest and 14 and 28 days later (7 November, 21 November, 5 December 2014). On each harvest date the number of brome grass seeds above 15 cm from the soil surface (above harvest height), 0-15 cm from the soil surface In 2014, Mallee Sustainable Farming (MSF) and (below harvest height), and seed on the soil surface the Department of Economic Development, Jobs, (on ground) was measured. Transport and Resources (DEDJTR) with funding from the Mallee Catchment Management The average number of brome plants at the trial 2 Authority and GRDC investigated the potential site was 12 plants per m . These generated over 2 for HWSC tactics to be used to manage brome 1000 brome grass seeds per m which equated to 88 seeds per brome plant. grass. At the earliest harvest date (7th November) only Brome grass seed retention 59% of the weed seeds were still attached to the For any HWSC method to be successful, first you brome plant at a height where they could be collectmust be able to collect the weed seed during the ed by the harvester. harvest operation. Ryegrass for example is known to have good seed retention and therefore HWSC Over the following month, the amount of brome methods have proven to be very successful. grass seed that could have stbeen collected by a harvester fell to 38% by the 21 of November and 30% However, brome grass matures earlier than by the 5th of December. ryegrass and is thought to more rapidly shed its seed which potentially minimises the effectiveness Therefore, harvesting the crop on these dates, combined with HWSC, would potentially result in 30 of HWSC to control this weed. -60% control of brome grass weed seeds (Fig 1). During the 2014 harvest we measured the seed retention of brome grass (Bromus diandrus) popuContinued page 9... lation in a Hindmarsh barley crop near Ouyen. Page 8 ...continued from page 8. Fig 1—The percentage of brome grass seed retained above harvest height (15cm) over the harvest period at Ouyen 2014. Is HWSC worth the effort? level. These measurements indicate insufficient brome grass seed is retained above harvest height, especially with later harvests, to expect HWSC techniques such as windrow burning to be effective on their own. This analysis shows that HWSC tactics have the potential to be an effective management tool to manage brome grass when used in conjunction with other effective control methods such as break crops and Clearfield herbicides. However, when used as part of an integrated weed management program, these techniques will undoubtedly assist in achieving brome grass control. For example, in a moderate brome grass population of 12 plants/m2, 60% control depletes the weed seed bank by 600 seeds/m2. That is a large number of weed seeds that herbicides do not need to deal with in future years and can delay the onset of herbicide resistance. Fig 2—Comparison in weed seed bank population over a Lupin – Wheat – Clearfield Wheat - Barley rotation where Harvest Weed Seed Control is either not em- To assess the long term benefit of HWSC, we used the Land Use Sequence Optimiser (LUSO) to model the change in a brome grass weed seed bank over an 8 year period (Fig 2). The model compared two scenarios: A Lupin – Wheat – Clearfield Wheat – Barley rotation with no HWSC implemented The same rotation as above but with HWSC used in the Wheat and Barley phases of the rotation. HWSC destroyed 60% of the weed seeds at harvest. The starting weed population was set at 10 plants/m2. In the nil HWSC scenario, the weed seed bank was never eliminated and weed numbers increased over time. However when the same rotation was employed with the addition of HWSC every second year of the rotation (wheat and barley phase), the weed seed bank declined over time and after 8 years the weed seed bank was constantly maintained at a low ployed (Without HWSC) or employed every second year in the wheat and barley phase of the rotation (With HWSC). For further information visit http://msfp.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/ Korte_Bromegrass-seed-retention.pdf. Contact Michael Moodie at [email protected] or 0448612892 Page 9 MSF Karoonda Field Day Contributed by Jen Bond Over 100 people attended the Karoonda field day this year, hearing from a range of presenters regarding topics as varied as seeder setup to phosphate alternatives. Dr Jack Desbiolles and James Barr from the University of South Australia presented their work on seeder set up and chatted to farmers who were keen to view their custom machinery. This tied in nicely with the ProTrakker demo that MSF farmer Robert Pocock undertook to trial guidance systems at the farm level, through a MSF project funded by the SAMDB NRM Board. Uni of SA’s Dr Jack Desbiolles and James Barr chatting with farmers by their custom machinery Attendees also heard from CSIRO scientists Therese McBeath, Gupta Vadakattu and Margaret Roper (WA) in a combined session discussing non-wetting soils, sowing strategies and nutrient cycling. CSIRO’s Rick Llewellyn joined Dodgshun Medlin’s Richard Saunders and Matt Elliott, presenting on weed and herbicide management, while CSIRO’s Andrew Smith presented with MSF’s contract agronomist Michael Moodie regarding pasture systems for Mallee farms. SANTFA’s Andrew Bird discussed alternative phosphate opportunities while University of Adelaide’s Sean Mason shared insights into new technologies for plant and soil sensing ‘on the go’. MSF’s contract agronomy team, Michael Moodie and Todd McDonald on the lunch shift Dr. John Kirkegaard, CSIRO Canberra, provided an overview of his ongoing farming systems research and it was great to bring John to the Millewa the following day to show him his work in action with the incorporation of break crops into Mallee farming systems. MSF would like to thank all of the presenters, our project partners and our sponsors for the Karoonda field day; Production Wise and APAL Agricultural Laboratory. A very special thanks to Peter and Hannah Loller for their continued hosting of the trials and field day and to CSIRO’s Bill Davoren for preparing and maintaining the Karoonda site. The field day booklet from Karoonda is freely available from the MSF website: http://msfp.org.au/wpcontent/uploads/2015/09/Karoonda-FD-booklet2015.pdf GRDC Southern Panel Member, Rob Sonogan, providing an update on GRDC activities. For further information about MSF projects and sponsorship opportunities, please contact Stuart Putland (03) 5024 5835. Page 10 Wild dog sightings and attacks reported Contributed by Paul Gillen Wild dog sightings and attacks on livestock have recently been reported by land managers from properties bordering Ngarkat Conservation Park in the Pinnaroo and Bordertown regions. Natural Resources SAMDB District Officer Steve Vigar says collective action is the most effective method to reduce the impact of these pest animals on livestock industries. Land managers are encouraged to be proactive in “Wild dog management programs have been conducted monitoring for signs of wild dog activity on their properin Ngarkat Conservation Park for over a decade to ties and seek information on effective control methods. protect surrounding properties, however more effort For more information, assistance or to report a sighting may be required”, Steve said. please contact the Natural Resources Office in Lameroo Natural Resources SAMDB and the Box Flat Dingo 8576 3400 or Leon Gregory from the Box Flat Dingo Control Committee are working with impacted neigh- Control Committee on 0427 632 922. bours to deliver a coordinated baiting program in the priority areas. Page 11 Important Dates 22nd September— Southern Mallee & Karoonda Ag Bureau Combined Spring Crop Walk, see page 11 for more info 7th October—MSF Loxton Field Day, see page 2 for more info. 14th October—Lowbank Ag Bureau Field Day. Contact Brenton Kroehn 0427 414 494. 15th October—GRDC Farm Business Update, Adelaide. Visit www.orm.com.au 16th October—Partners in Grain Crop Walk, Copies on the web location TBA, contact Hannah Loller or Tanja Morgan 0429 395 918 www.msfp.org.au Mallee Matters is proudly sponsored by IMPORTANT NOTICE Although all reasonable care has been taken in compiling this publication neither the funding body or contractor accept any liability resulting from the interpretation or use of the information set out in this document. Information contained in this document is subject to change without notice. Mallee Matters is edited and compiled by Tanja Morgan Project Services P: 0429 395 918 E: [email protected]
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