P.
No
Vetch produces the
most N continued
Next Generation
Property Planning
Narrow windrow burning
– A Mallee farmers
perspective
Branched broomrape
emergence in 2014
Weed competitiveness
of barley varieties
New Horizons project
update
PIRSA Animal Health
news
Vetch produces the most N
I
n the last 3 seasons over 7 Mallee
properties across the 38 sites the
nitrogen carry over has been measured from farmers paddocks from a
range of legume and canola sites, compared to neighboring intensive cereal
paddock. Vetch has consistently resulted
in highest soil N, often contributing over
$100/ha when compared to the equivalent urea application cost.
By Chris McDonough
Above: Wunkar legume trial
This MSF Mallee Challenge Project, funded by Caring for our Country and SA MDB
NRM community grants, aim to help farmers place a value on their break crop
options in terms of nitrogen input. While legume crops are often risky to grow and
may not always break even due to drought, frost and hot north winds, their
rotational value increases when N contribution as well as grass and disease control
is taken into account.
While these results are not from replicated trial plots, and are therefore subject to
various paddock variations, they are real from real farming experience, and are
mostly comparing crops from the same or neighboring paddocks. So while
numbers may vary between seasons, soil types and situations, there appears to be
some consistent trends and interesting outcomes that are worth paying attention
to. I have just presented soil N results from the top 50cm on loamy soils, as many
of these have high subsoil constraints that tend to distort the result with historically accumulated unavailable N. On the sandy soils, however, 0-80cm comparisons
have been made.
Since there is always natural N mineralization each year from the soil organic
matter, the value of the extra legume N has been estimated by measuring the soil
N in the following Autumn, and then subtracting the N level produced from a
neighboring area with a history of multiple cereal crops.
(Continued on page 2)
(Continued from page 1)
Which break crops produced the highest N?
Was Nitrogen Lost?
Vetch consistently produced between 57-85kg/ha
more N than cereal paddocks over 6 sites and 2 seasons, with an average N value of $88/ha. Peas has
been the next best producing an average of 37kg/ha
more N with a value of $48 contribution over 2 sites.
Lentils, lupins and chickpeas each showed very low
levels of extra soil N contribution at a site each last
season.
With the large rains in February across the northern
Mallee this year, it is possible that some of the N
produce may have leached beyond the root zones of
crops. Numerous heavy soils this year were measured to have very high N levels in zones of high
subsoil constraints, where N appears to have
accumulated over many seasons.
Brown manuring vetch reduced N fixation.
At 2 different farms last season, vetch left growing to
maturity produced an average of 31kg/ha more N than
vetch brown manured. It would appear from all the
sites that even where vetch was reapt, heavily stocked
or cut for hay, it still produced far more nitrogen by
actively growing through Spring, than was taken out
the gate in produce. While brown manuring vetch can
be an important tool for stopping grass seed set, if
good control has already been achieved through an
early grass selective spray, it may be far more
beneficial to let your vetch grow though to maturity.
Was there any N carryover to the second year?
At one Pinnaroo farm, nitrogen levels were measured
after both a cereal/canola sequence, and a vetch/
canola sequence. The paddock where the vetch preceded the canola had 28kg/ha more N than the canola
after cereal, even after yielding 0.6t/ha higher. This is
certainly consistent with the rule of thumb that
20-30% of the N contribution of a legume crop will
become available in the second year.
Other break crops options
Over 3 sites last season, nitrogen after canola was very
similar to that after cereal, however, another site
resulted in 28kg/ha less N. At Pinnaroo a 4.75t/ha
oaten hay crop resulted in 30kg/ha less N than after a
nearby cereal crop.
Did soil type make a difference?
On many paddocks the nitrogen was tested on both
the flats and the sands. The nitrogen levels on
sandhills were consistently only 25% to 40% of the nitrogen that was produced on the flats whether following legumes, canola or cereal. It is no wonder that our
less fertile sands require more N fertilizer to reach
their yield potential.
Page 2
At one site near Alawoona the N levels after cereal
appeared unusually high, and similar to that of some
legumes. On further investigation it was found that
this farmer had used 2 post N applications totaling
36kg/ha N, which had resulted in no yield benefit
due to the very dry Spring conditions that followed.
However, it would appear that this N was not lost,
but did mainly carry through to be available this
season.
Concluding remarks
While it should be stressed that the level N mineralization can vary greatly between seasons, paddock
histories and management practices, this project is
aiming to collect enough data from multiple sites
over a number of years to be able to make generally
observations and recommendations based on real
farm data analysis.
Another MSF legume trial at Wunkar contains lupins,
peas, lentils, chickpeas, vetch and vetch brown manured has been sown with farmer machinery across
multiple soil types. This site will be N tested next
year, along with other sites to continue to build our
knowledge of the value of nitrogen contributed by
pulses in Mallee environments.
Below: Chickpea nodulation at Wunkar legume trial
Next Generation Property Planning
T
Planning to increase production in the future
he Next Generation Property Planning program is designed to assist primary producers
to evaluate current performance of their
property and make informed decisions about productivity for a sustainable farming business. The program
will help producers identify and implement opportunities for improving their agricultural production. Next
Generation Property Planning is supported by subject
experts, field trials and demonstrations sites, field
days and workshops.
Why Get Involved?
Businesses undertaking Next Generation Property
Planning will develop a strategic plan that identifies
the productivity of individual areas within in the farm
landscape, and the needs, solutions and opportunities
for the ongoing development, and sustainability of
the farm business. This will be dovetailed with economic and decision making presentations to assist
farming businesses make informed decisions.
Participants will achieve this by:

Identifying the most profitable areas of the farm
for the enterprise mix, eg cereals, livestock, horticulture production, to boost farm production into
the future

Developing an action plan to address the risks to
increasing production

learning from leading researchers to build understanding of the emerging risks and opportunities

Identifying knowledge gaps

Being mentored through the process of developing a property plan based on improving production and minimizing the risks.

Recognising and using decision making tools to
achieve the property goals.
Workshop Overview
Next Generation Property Planning Workshops will include
two one day sessions with specialist speakers on soils,
water security, climate variability, financial planning,
decision making and natural resource management. Guest
speakers will tailor their presentation to audience interests.
Farm Businesses participating in the workshops will record
farm productivity, production limitations, business risks, and
assets on a laminated aerial photo. Remnant vegetation and
asset protection will be considered and assessed within the
context of the farm landscape. Each farming business will
develop a strategic property plan to identify the different
areas of agricultural productivity across the property, the
risks and limitations to these areas and the options available
to address the risks and limitations. Additional field trials,
expert speakers, and demonstrations will be employed
where there are information and knowledge gaps that limit
agricultural productivity improvements, or where there is a
requirement to better understand a risk or limitation.
Workshops will be undertaken in groups of between five and
ten properties with all family members from each property
encouraged to attend.
Further Information and project contacts
The Next Generation Property Planning workshops are available to farmers, horticulturalists, viticulturists, graziers, and
pastoralists and will take place in locations across the region.
For further information on the Next Generation Property
Planning Project and to register your interest please contact:
Tony Randall -Principal Project Officer Sustainable Farming
Mobile: 0427 834396 or [email protected]
Mark May -Project Officer Sustainable Farming
Mobile: 0400 889 023 or [email protected]
Above: An example of production and risk mapping.
Page 3
Narrow windrow burningA Mallee farmer’s experience
N
arrow windrow burning has been increasing in
popularity over the last few years and is another
tool in the tool kit for managing weeds and
resistance. It is a strategy that can be set up simply and
cheaply and works best on wild radish, annual ryegrass and
to a lesser extent brome grass.
Where to start?
There is a lot of good information available and the Weed
Smart and GRDC websites have some great YouTube clips.
However, nothing beats talking to other farmers that have
already tried the technique for tips on what works and what
doesn’t, so ask around.
An important tip is to be careful to avoid blocking the
header. Avoid stopping dead and keep driving forward or
reverse back to avoid a block. Some farmers have mounted
cameras at the back of the machine to keep an eye on
what’s happening with the flow of material.
Harvesting low is necessary to pick up many of the weed
seeds, particularly brome grass but can also be problematic
in paddocks with a high weed burden. Picking up too many
weed seeds can affect the quality of the grain sample and
can be hard to clean out down the track.
For this reason it may be better to harvest low and narrow
windrow burn when there is a lower weed burden, for
Robert Pocock runs a mixed farm at Smithville, north west of example after a Clearfield® or break crop where the aim is to
Lameroo, and is planning his second year of narrow windrow mop up escapes.
burning, after successfully trying 400 ha in 2013. Each year is Crop choice for narrow windrow burning
likely to be different based on seasonal conditions but the
The recommendation is to start narrow windrow burning in a
following points are a summary of his experience.
legume or oilseed crop first, however Robert found cereals
equally successful with the following considerations. Start
The recommendation is to form a narrow windrow between with a good fire-break and start burning cereals later in the
500-600mm in width but Robert found this to be too narrow day, on dusk, otherwise it can be too dry and a fire can take
off. However, harvesting low does remove a lot of stubble
and recommends building a chute to suit the header. The
and fuel load from the paddock and even header wheel
width of his chute is 660mm and this ensures there is
enough material to get a hot burn. Simplicity is the key and tracks can act as a fire-break so there can be some margin
for error.
Robert has made a chute (pictured below) he can attach or
detach in 5 mins with on his own. This gives him flexibility at Fine cereal chaff can smoulder so the burn needs to be as
harvest to change set up depending on the paddock without hot as possible in conditions cool enough to be safe.
losing time.
Legumes and canola can be patchy and require an intense
Setting up the chute
burn so best to start in the afternoon when its warmer and
then move on to cereals. Robert found vetch difficult to burn
as the row was too tight and smouldered instead. Peas and
lupins are likely to work well.
The firelighter
Robert made his own firelighter simply and cheaply and
mounted it to the side of his ute. He made sure it had a wind
shroud so the flame wasn’t extinguished as well as a break
away and retract mechanism for when driving across
windrows. A light cross wind is important to make sure the
fire keeps moving.
Robert found many chute measurements and photos on the
Internet and used Twitter to reach out to other farmers to
discuss design refinements. Other useful sites are YouTube
where you can search video clips on ‘narrow windrow
burning’ and the Accu-fire website (www.accufire.com.au).
Harvesting and creating rows
Robert aimed to harvest at the recommended beer can
height of 120mm but quite often reaped between 100200mm with good results. Harvesting low didn’t slow the
header much but did use a lot of horse power.
Page 4
Page 4
John Stewart, a farmer from WA has also invented and
commercialised the Accu-fire unit, which has worked well for
other farmers in the district. The cost of a unit is $2145 incl
plus freight or units can be picked up from warehouse in
Netley for $40.
Survivors of narrow windrow burning
Robert found survivors of burning where the fire was not hot
enough and also where the seeds had fallen into the press
wheel furrow and escaped the heat of the burn.
(Continued on page 5)
Where to from here?
However, in the following year pre-emergent herbicides gave It’s important to remember that narrow windrow burning is
much better control in the absence of stubble and tie up.
not the be all and end all of weed seed management but will
Another issue was the dust generated from the wheel tracks have some control of the seeds that go through the header.
when spraying knockdown herbicides in the following year
Seasons will vary and so too will the level of control that can
and this is something to be mindful off.
be achieved.
(Continued from page 4)
Grazing paddocks with windrows
If you are interested in narrow windrow burning this year do
your homework. There is a lot of information that is now
readily available and ready to be adapted to your situation.
For more advice on equipment setup and technique check
out the following websites:
The recommendation has been to avoid grazing paddocks
that have windrows but Robert still grazed last season and
the burning still worked well. He found the sheep had
disturbed a few spots around a water trough but had
generally left the rows untouched. Admittedly there was little
grain in the rows and Robert admits in a year like this one
www.weedsmart.org.au/?s=narrow+windrow+burning
where there may be more frosted or moisture stressed grains
left in the paddock,
www.grdc.com.au/Resources/IWMhub/~/
sheep damage to rows could be worse. For this reason Robert media/427F15A49F414C6283BA3BBE5D5942F6.ashx#pa
is investigating the option of a chaff cart down the track.
ge=125
Branched broomrape
emergence in 2014
E
arly rainfall this season has triggered emergence
and flowering of branched broomrape as early as
June this year and this corresponds with the growing
degree calculations extracted from the local weather station
data across the Mallee.
The SA Murray-Darling Basin Natural Resources Management Board asks landholders to keep a look out for this
plant and report any suspect plants. If branched broomrape
is found growing in or adjacent to pastures or cereals please
implement management strategies to effectively prevent
the spread of the pest species. It can be spread through the
movement of contaminated machinery, livestock or produce.
If you think that you have found this pest plant then please
contact the Natural Resources Centre at Murray Bridge on
8532 9100 to report your find.
BEST PRACTICE MANUALS
Broomrape Best Practice manuals, fact sheets and free biosecurity gate signs are still available from the Natural Resources SA Murray Darling Basin centre.
Fact sheets available include

Branched Broomrape Early Intervention- a quick guide
for people who have never found broomrape on their
property and landholders new to the area impacted by
branched broomrape.
Managing Broomrape - covers

In Native Vegetation, Roadsides & Fence lines.

Using Growing Degree Days.

On a Lifestyle property.

In Horticulture.

In Crops.

In Pastures.
The branched broomrape transition to management program finished on 30 June 2014. Branched broomrape will
continue to be managed as a declared plant, with program
information being handed over to Natural Resources SA
Murray-Darling Basin.
The past decade of broomrape management has resulted in
many farmers in the region being involved in research and
control programs. As a result many have developed local
practical methods for dealing with this pest. Local Natural
Resource Officers, along with industry leaders, will continue
to provide advice and support to landholders about farm
biosecurity, branched broomrape and best practice management options.
Page 5
Weed competitiveness of barley varieties
W
By Simon Goss & Rob Wheeler, SARDI
ith farmers continually increasing their
heavy reliance on herbicides, using competitive varieties is a way of pro-longing
herbicide life and reducing weed seed set. Selecting good
competitive varieties is another tool along with break
crops and the use of Clearfield varieties.
Barley is usually placed at the end of a rotation where
nutrient levels are lower and when weed seed banks are
higher. With weed pressure often being higher during
the barley phase of the rotation there is a need for varieties to have good levels of weed competitiveness.
As all varieties differ in their growing patterns, biomass
production and early vigour, it is necessary for us to assess how these traits affect their grain yield and the ability to reduce the seed set of weeds.
The trial
Plot Size: 1.75 m x 10m
Fertiliser: 70kg of DAP
Seeding date: 19th of May 2014
Varieties: Scope, Grange, Compass, Maritime, Navigator, Hindmarsh, Commander, Skipper, Fathom, Wimmera, Moby and Mace wheat.
Extra comments from the trial:




Moby may not be the best forage barley as
feed value low.
Maritime and Fathom may be better feed
crops as good early growth.
Grab seed of Compass and LaTrobe if you can
get it, they are promising new varieties.
LaTrobe is similar to Hindmarsh but with
better disease control, weed competitiveness
and malt quality.
Figure 1. Yield of oats (as a percentage of the site
mean) collected from each barley treatment. Oats
were sown prior to barley to simulate weeds.
Figure 1 shows the amount of oat seed that was collected from the weedy plots. The varieties’ ability to
reduce the seed set of weeds varied markedly with
Compass, Maritime and Fathom being the best in the
2013 trial. Weed seed set was much higher in the
Hindmarsh, GrangeR and Gairdner plots. This is partly due to a variety of factors including a more erect
growing pattern style and a reduced early vigour.
This trial has 12 different commercial barley varieties
including Moby which is a forage variety and Mace
wheat. All varieties have six replications with three of
these planted with oats to resemble weeds. These were
planted before the barley with some being below the
ground and others being above to resemble a normal
seed bed.
A trial almost identical to this year was completed at this
site last year. This showed a similar result to other trials
which were completed at Turretfield near Gawler.
Results from last year’s trial can be seen in Fig. 1 and 2.
Figure 2
Figure 2. The percentage yield difference between
the weed free plots and the plots with weeds. Oats
were sown prior to barley to simulate weeds.
Figure 2 illustrates the difference in yield between
varieties when placed under weed pressure compared to no weed pressure. These results show a
similar trend to those in Figure 1 where varieties
with a higher early vigour and denser canopy competed better with the weeds.
Figure 1
Page 6
For further information please contact Simon Goss,
Research Agronomist, [email protected] or
0408 464 795.
T
New Horizons project update
he increasing global demand for food and premium grade products creates real opportunities
for South Australian grain growers if they can
increase production in a sustainable manner. Through
the New Horizons Program, the South Australian government will grow the capability of our dryland farmers to
significantly increase crop and pasture production on
poorly performing soils.
New Horizons for Mallee Soils
There is nearly a million hectares of land in the South
Australian Murray-Darling Basin region with soils that
could be modified to overcome limitations to current
crop and pasture production. Primary Industries and Regions SA (PIRSA) is delivering “New Horizons” a statewide program aimed at realising this potential and initial
trials comparing treatments on sandy soils in Karoonda,
Brimpton Lake on Eyre Peninsula and Cadgee in the
South East.
The treatments are designed to address the four major
constraints thought to affect these soils:

Non-wetting - adding clay to the topsoil improves
water infiltration

Low nutrient and water holding capacity - mixing
clay and incorporating organic matter improves the
soil’s ability to hold onto moisture and nutrients

Subsoil infertility - adding and storing nutrients in
the subsoil provides more food for plants

Compaction - spading to a depth of 30 cm will break
up physical barriers to root growth.
Treatments have been applied individually and in various combinations to determine which package will deliver the greatest benefits. The major components being
tested on wheat this year in the Mallee site are :

Addition of clay material added using a land plane
various

Additional nutrients including nitrogen, phosphorus,
potassium and trace elements Organic matter added in the form of Lucerne pellets

Shallow incorporation used discs to mix the clay to
10cm while deep incorporation used the spader to
mix clay to 30cms.

All plots received nitrogen and phosphorus at
‘district practice’ rates at seeding

The control is a well-managed crop using standard
agronomic practices for the area.
in rotation with legume based pastures. The soil is a grey
shallow sand over a bleached white sandy layer overlying
a clay 30-60cms below the soil surface.
The latest from the trial sites
Trials are being monitored including plant emergence
counts and dry matter production. Trials will be harvest-
ed for grain yield and quality this year and, subject to
future funding, aim to be continued for a further 4
years to monitor changes over time.
The program involves scientists and soils consultants from
PIRSA’s Rural Solutions SA and SARDI, University of Ade-
Above: early results from Karoonda Site, control on the left
and best treatment on the right
laide, University of South Australia and Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources (DEWNR) working
with local farming system groups, departments and farmers in each region.
Left: Soil profile at
Karoonda
The Karoonda site is a typical sandy soil found in the district, on flat to gently undulating land used for cropping
Page 7
PIRSA Animal Health news
P
IRSA is always interested in reports of unusual diseases, sicknesses or deaths in livestock,
including poultry and wildlife. One day this could be the early signs of a new or emerging disease. PIRSA Animal Health staff Dr Jeremy Rogers (0427 608 133) or Amelia Gillen ( 0408
897 583) can be contacted or ring the emergency hotline 1800 675 888. PIRSA will respond or may
be able to subsidise the investigation by your private veterinarian, but we need to hear from you.
In August we contacted a number of producers requesting if we could test their sheep for exposure
to Kunjin virus. This is the virus that in 2011 caused a lot of sickness in horses (and possibly some
people) and is spread by mosquitoes. We are interested to see if there is any evidence that the virus
may still be circulating, and there has been some research in NSW that indicates that the virus may
have contributed to lower lambing percentages that year. So far the results from our area have been
negative, but a benefit of going to farms is the opportunity to talk to farmers about animal health &
discuss some issues like lice control, worms and trace elements.
We have been able to investigate some interesting cases for farmers recently and come up with
some answers for deaths or illness their livestock have suffered. Although often the causes are
common culprits like plant poisonings or infections, there are some really unusual ones that may be
related to trace element deficiencies – copper & cobalt. One producer lost 25 lambs at shearing and
did not know who to talk to!
Mystery Crop Tour for Women
Karoonda Partners in Grain welcome all Mallee women
to come on a crop tour.
Tanja Morgan and Lou Flohr will provide insights and agronomic expertise to make the day informative and fun.
When: Friday 10th October 9.30 am – 3pm including lunch.
Where: Meet at the Big Ram Karoonda (transport will be devised based on numbers attending)
RSVP: Essential for catering and finalising transport
Hannah Loller 0885783432 E:[email protected] or Tanja Morgan 0429395918 E: [email protected]
IMPORTANT NOTICE
Although PIRSA has taken all reasonable
care in compiling this publication neither
PIRSA nor its officers 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.
Page 8
COPIES ON THE WEB!
www.msfp.org.au
Mallee Matters Volume 3, Issue 4
Mallee Matters is edited and compiled by
Tanja Morgan Project Services
P : 0429 395 918
E: [email protected]
2014