Moisture for germination and growth is critical to crop performance. Many different strategies exist to conserve soil moisture pre and post sowing, including spraying and tillage.
Online Farm Trials contains 150 trials covering issues that include: managing moisture variability within paddock; crop rotations that optimise moisture availability in the sequence; impacts of break crops and summer crops for production; and, future crop gains and interactions between soil moisture and nitrogen conservation, including timing of fertiliser application. There are 65 published trials for wheat, 16 for canola and 16 for barley linked to soil moisture conservation and use. There are also trials for lupins (6) and vetch (4).
For further information on soil moisture strategies, refer to the following case studies on low rainfall environments that consider summer weed control options to managing soil moisture:
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The GRDC project ‘Maintaining profitable farming systems with retained stubble - upper Eyre Peninsula’ aims to produce sustainable management guidelines to control pests, weeds and diseases while retaining stubble to maintain or improve soil health, and reduce exposure to wind erosion. The major outcome to be achieved is increased knowledge … read more
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The GRDC project ‘Maintaining profitable farming systems with retained stubble - upper Eyre Peninsula’ aims to produce sustainable management guidelines to control pests, weeds and diseases while retaining stubble to maintain or improve soil health, and reduce exposure to wind erosion. The major outcome to be achieved is increased knowledge … read more
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The GRDC project ‘Maintaining profitable farming systems with retained stubble - upper Eyre Peninsula’ aims to produce sustainable management guidelines to control pests, weeds and diseases while retaining stubble to maintain or improve soil health, and reduce exposure to wind erosion. The major outcome to be achieved is increased knowledge … read more
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To investigate rotary spading and other soil amelioration techniques on yellow sandplain soils west of Moora.
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To evaluate the impact of soil disturbance on soil water capture and subsequent crop production.
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To investigate the impact of summer cropping on subsequent winter crop (wheat yield). To dtermine nitrogen (N) response of wheat following summer crops.
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To compare soil moisture, soil nitrogen and profitability of five different vetch end-use treatments from 2012, sown to wheat in 2013.
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To determine how mouldboard ploughing (soil inversion), rotary spading and banded wetting agent affect the availability of soil nutrients.
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To examine the effect of two sowing dates on final Pt populations in a range of durum, bread wheat and barley varieties near Tulloona in north-western NSW in 2015.
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To investigate two management strategies applicable to the Mid-North region that could influence nutrient stratification.
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To assess the impact of different seeding systems on crop establishment in water repellent soil.
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To promote the sowing of persistent perennial grasses on Kangaroo Island properties to:
• improve ground cover in late summer, autumn and winter, and to
• increase pasture water use to minimize soil acidification and salinisation.
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To provide grain growers across the south east (SE) region with access to real-time soil moisture data through a website that pulls together information from the existing MacKillop Farm Management Group (MFMG) network and the South East Natural Resource Management (SENRM) weather station network.
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To investigate water repellence mitigation options at seeding. The trial aims to identify the driving chemistries (surfactants vs humectants) and application techniques (furrow surface, vs seed zone) that are better able to lift crop responses under local sowing conditions. This article reports on the Year 1 data, with more work being planned f… read more
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To discuss how to improve ecological function in vegetation remnants.
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To evaluate adaptive farm systems using a case study farm and then to develop simple approaches which farmers can use to help their decision making, especially in the fact of continuing uncertain seasons and profit margins.
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This paper reports 2019 results from a subsoil amelioration experiment aimed at minimising the yield gap on sodic subsoils by treating them with various organic and inorganic amendments in pelletised form
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To investigate the impact of grazing, soil nutrition and rhizobial inoculants on dry matter production, nodulation and N2-fixation of a regenerating medic pasture under field conditions.
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To discuss alternative options to increase organic matter; improve soil properties and provide additional non-chemical control options for weed management, whilst providing a break crop effect.
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To investigate improvements for pre-emergent herbicide spray coverage in stubble retention systems.
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This trial is conducted to investigate the value of nitrogen on the profitability of new wheat varieties in early and late sowings in fallow/wheat system at Wongan Hills
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To look at the effectiveness of placing lime at depth.
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With larger seeding programs, increased summer weed control to conserve soil moisture and more variable autumn rainfall patterns, many growers Australia wide are continuing to dry-sow. More traditionally, growers may have previously ‘dabbled a little’ in dry-sowing and are observing with interest the successes and failures of dry-sowing syst… read more
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Aimed at identifying factors limiting the production and nitrogen fixation of pulse crops grown on acidic soils in the high rainfall zone (HRZ) grain production regions of south eastern Australia with a long-term average annual rainfall above 500 mm.
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To develop productive and sustainable cropping systems for the alkaline sodic soils in the Wimmera and southern Mallee.
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To investigate the reasons for these differences in WUE by continuing with trials established at 4 sites in 2008 on different soil types and rainfall zones in selected grower paddocks.
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To investigate the reasons for these differences in WUE by continuing with trials established at 4 sites in 2008 on different soil types and rainfall zones in selected grower paddocks.
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To use a thick layer of cereal straw maintained within the growing season to focus on reducing the amount of moisture lost to soil evaporation.
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To use a thick layer of cereal straw maintained within the growing season to focus on reducing the amount of moisture lost to soil evaporation.
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To investigate the reasons for these differences in WUE by continuing with trials established at 4 sites in 2008 on different soil types and rainfall zones in selected grower paddocks.
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To investigate the reasons for these differences in WUE by establishing four sites on different soil types and rainfall zones in selected grower paddocks.
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To investigate the reasons for these differences in WUE by establishing four sites on different soil types and rainfall zones in selected grower paddocks.
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To investigate the reasons for these differences in WUE by establishing four sites on different soil types and rainfall zones in selected grower paddocks.
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To investigate the reasons for these differences in WUE by establishing four sites on different soil types and rainfall zones in selected grower paddocks.
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To investigate the reasons for these differences in WUE by continuing with trials established at 4 sites in 2008 on different soil types and rainfall zones in selected grower paddocks.
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To investigate second adaptive traits (their yield, how to measure them and how to implement them into the breeding program) for grain legume drought tolerance.
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Evaluate Lokomotive as an in season foliar potassium source for correcting potassium deficiency and compare to muriate of potash (MOP).
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To investigate in-crop nitrogen timing and product choice for wheat.
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The aims of the PA component of the GRDC Stubble project were to:
• deliver a pilot project to understand how soil parameters, including PAW, vary across a paddock and understand
whether current PA datasets can correlate with PAW
• connect variations in soil moisture with nitrogen supply
• demonstrate t… read more
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To evaluate the response of wheat (yield and protein) in different paddock management zones to in-season application of nitrogen fertiliser, using the Yield Prophet system as a guide.
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To evaluate the response of wheat (yield and protein) in different paddock management zones to in-season application of nitrogen fertiliser, using the Yield Prophet system as a guide.
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To improve the adoption of liming practices in the medium to high rainfall zone of Western Australia by demonstrating the economic and environmental benefits of lime application and incorporation.
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To improve the adoption of liming practices in the medium to high rainfall zone of Western Australia by demonstrating the economic and environmental benefits of lime application and incorporation.
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The aim of this trial was to determine potential grain yield loss from a late grazing (cutting) relative to the increased grazing production.
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To determine which soil tests and tissue tests could be used to increase the likelihood of profitable responses from the application of nitrogen to wheat.
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To comment on increasing economic returns of agronomic management using precision agriculture.
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To investigate the use of Gamma Radiometrics in SA.
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To report on investigations on increasing economic returns of agronomic management using
precision agriculture.
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This project assists farmers in adopting improved stubble management practices by comparing the performance of two stubble
systems – full incorporation and a no-till approach – to demonstrate the impacts of each system on soil health, water penetration and crop performance.
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To test the hypothesis that incorporation of the carbon rich stubble into the soil will not necessarily increase the humus content of the soil and compare it with other stubble management systems and in particular examining the impact these systems have on the soils organic matter levels over a period of time.
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The aim of the project was to increase the understanding and awareness of how spatial measurement tools (EM38 mapping, Imagery data, RTK Elevation Data & Yield Mapping) can be utilised to identify variations in soil capabilities & to then demonstrate how management can potentially be changed over these areas & the economics of implementing these… read more
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To (i) ground truth through statistical analysis of small plot trials current practices of leading farmers in regards to the use of Variable Rate Technology (VRT), predictive yield modelling and nutrition modelling in improving water use efficiency and hence profitability; (ii) address the hypothesis that greater return on investment can be achi… read more
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The purpose of this laboratory-based incubation experiment was to determine if an upper limit to Organic Carbon accumulation in soil was approached with increasing C input in basalt- and granite-derived soils.
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To assess the influence of additional Potassium fertiliser (Potassium Sulphate) used in crop on grain yield, tissue and grain concentration on soil with adequate K indices.
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To assess the influence of additional Potassium fertiliser (Potassium Sulphate) used in crop on grain yield, tissue and grain concentration on soil with adequate K indices.
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The aim of this experiment was to investigate the effect of two commonly used PGRs on root growth. It was hypothesised that if root growth modification occurred due to PGR application it would be a result of either the PGR altering the allometric balance between roots and shoots; a modification of the allocation of photoassimilates between th… read more
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To establish the interaction between nitrogen and timing and the need for fungicide management.
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This trial is part of larger GRDC funded project, which examines whether lower plant populations and later timed nitrogen approaches are suited to the HRZ in Australia, it also examines whether these techniques which were principally established for wheat can be used in malting barley, where high protein can be undesirable.
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To evaluate the effect of crop stubble management and seeding system on pre-emergent herbicide behaviour and crop safety.
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Research on the mainland has shown that sowing lentils in the inter-row in wheat stubble encourages the plant to grow taller in pursuit of sunlight, enabling easier harvest for what is normally a short crop. Although broad beans can be a tall crop, the bottom pods contain the largest beans as these set the earliest and thus have the longest time… read more
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To examine the influence of temperature on readily extractable copper in soils.
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A new project being conducted by the Irrigated Cropping Council, NSW DPI, Deakin University, Murray Local Land Service and Precision Agriculture, with financial support from GRDC, started in July 2014. The long-term objective is to ‘increase grain
production and profitability from surface irrigated soils in the GRDC Southern Region by… read more
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The expected outcome of the project is that by 2021, growers in the MRZ of the South East and their advisors will have access to new relevant information on diverse crop rotations and integrated farming systems, particularity the incorporation of a pasture phase.
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To examine whether integrating row placement, stubble management, chickpea row spacing and a ground engaging tool would affect Fp incidence and grain yield in wheat in a chickpea–wheat sequence grown under a zero-tillage system.
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To test the viability of establishing lucerne pastures in areas where they have not been traditionally grown.
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To determine how soil inversion and banded surfactants change the availability of soil nutrients.
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To test the hypothesis that altered Mn nutrition of barley affects the development of cereal cyst nematode and damage to the host.
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To report on interactions between management practices and soil biota in northern farming systems.
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This experiment has attempted to use rainfall timing (imitated by overhead irrigation) to mitigate the negative weather impacts on
dry matter production both before and after flowering in an early and late summer TOS. A wide gap between TOS was deliberately
used to create the largest contrast in weather conditions that the cro… read more
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In Western Australia, break crop options are currently limited and there is a high proportion of wheat and barley grown in rotation. Cereal crops account for 60-70% of paddocks sown in any one year, with the remaining area sown to a range of crop and pasture types including canola, lupin, clover, volunteer pasture, or left as fallow. In addition… read more
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To improve knowledge around the ability of sorghum to efficiently use applied irrigation water.
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The key aims of this project have been to develop agronomic guidelines and seeding technology solutions which can allow for increased stubble retention practices, thereby reducing the dependence on burning.
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To understand the impact of soil carbon and nitrogen cycling on disease suppression.
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To understand the impact of soil carbon and nitrogen cycling on disease suppression.
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To see if there is a relationship between the surface texture of 60 known soil pits in the South-East and the Gamma Emmisions from a Gamma Ray Spectrometer.
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To determine the canola establishment success of four different seeding bars at three different seeding depths in the Northern WA wheatbelt using farmer scale machinery.
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To test the concept of variations in crop nitrogen dynamics in relation to soil compaction during the 2014 season.
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To test the concept of variations in crop nitrogen dynamics in relation to soil compaction during the 2014 season.
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To test the concept of variations in crop nitrogen dynamics in relation to soil compaction during the 2014 season.
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To investigate the benefits of speciality phosphorus products and liquid phosphorus options in cereals.
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To assess a range of application methods for zinc including seed dressing, soil and foliar sprays and zinc with super fertiliser.
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To investigate the benefits of specialty phosphorus products and liquid phosphorus
options in cereals
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The objective of the project is to support the introduction and scale up of commercial cultivation of Linseed in the Great Southern region of Western Australia and will support a larger initiative developed by Southern Dirt to develop a localised Linseed supply chain to take the crop from paddock to consumer on the back of renewed demand for Lin… read more
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Examine effect of applying chelated iron to leaves, and chalted iron, zinc, N and P to soils growing irrigated soybean and pigeon pea.
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To test the target population for irrigated Durack Oats
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To evaluate the yields anf profitability of irrigated chickpeas and lentils grown on subsurface irrigation
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To evaluate specially formulated biodegradable soil wetters ability to improve crop establishment and yields in hydrophobic (non-wetting) soils.