| Researcher(s) |
Hellene McTaggart (West Midlands Group) |
|---|---|
| Year(s) | 2011 |
| Contributor | West Midlands Group |
| Trial location(s) |
Badgingarra, WA
Badgingarra, WA West Moora, WA |
The demonstration undertaken at four on-farm sites seeks to test the Yield Prophet tool to determine its relevance and usefulness to growers of the West Midlands region in determining the most efficient and effective nitrogen strategy.
FARMER COMMENTS
Usability of Yield Prophet
· High input requirement to get detailed data out, but once it is setup the online format is easy to use and generates good reports.
· Easy to use once you are familiar with the program.
Usefulness of Yield Prophet set-up process
· Farmers commented that the exercise of opening up a deep soil pit was on one the most informative and useful aspects of the Yield Prophet process.
· Good training with a consultant on how to use the tool was vital as well.
Yield Prophet reports
· Farmers had mixed comments about the reports with each having their favorite report- one farmer chose to use only the crop report to make his decisions.
· One farmer found the profit comparison report the most useful where as another found it the least useful report commenting ‘it is pretty obvious through the comparison report if the is likely to be a financial response, the seasonal risk is too great to compare nitrogen profitability to the last dollar.’
· Farmers found the climate and weather aspects to the crop report of interest, specifically the breakdown of chances of certain weather characteristics influencing yield, however in reality this didn’t really clarify decision making.
· The reports reference the Southern Oscillation Index (SOI) which is generally considered irrelevant to the Western Australia.
· Growth stages of crops were very accurate for all sites.
Other aspects that limited yield
· Three of the four sites experienced a three week dry spell that was accompanied by warm, weather at the beginning of September. The yield prophet crop reports at all three sites did not indicate that crop was experiencing moisture stress or heat shock. The three farmers commented separately that this dry spell had impacted the crop yield.
· One of the potential issues is the assumption of root growth and rooting depth. If there is low soil nutrition at depth it is likely that the roots are "lazy" during the growing season and don't go as deep as the model suggests. This would then affect the modeling of water use down the profile and water stress on the plant.
· One farmer generated a report on 26 September which indicated the crop was under moisture stress, however this did not convert to yield penalty in the crop report.
Future of Yield Prophet in West Midlands region
The low water holding capacity of sands in the West Midlands region means that the effect of short term dry spells has greater significance than total rainfall on production- this seems to be difficult to simulate in Yield Prophet.
Simulated yield on two out of the four sites was far from what would be considered an acceptable level of variation (1 t/ha for yellow sand and 1.85 t/ha for shallow loamy duplex). However the other two sites simulated yield very well.
Typical farm paddock of 60-70ha within the West Midlands region has multiple soil types present. At this stage Yield Prophet only allows the user to simulate one soil type per paddock. There is the ability to separately log each soil type however this requires a great deal of information input and the user has to pay a ‘paddock’ subscription for each soil type.
Unfortunately, there are very few soils classified in the West Midlands region, to WMG’s knowledge the five soils classified as part of this project are the only fully characterized soils in the West Midlands region. This project has estimated that the cost of fully classifying a soil is $3,000. When there is so few soil types classified in the West Midlands region coupled with farmers having multiple soil types (sometimes more than a dozen) on their farm this cost is the key barrier to adoption of this tool in the West Midlands region.
| Lead research organisation |
West Midlands Group |
|---|---|
| Host research organisation |
West Midlands Group |
| Trial funding source | GRDC BWD00019 |
| Related program | N/A |
| Acknowledgments |
Sincere thanks to Dave Gartner (SoilTech) and Breanne Best, Angela Stuart-Street and Dirranie Kirby from DAFWA for the soil characterization. Thanks to the Andrew Kenny, Peter Negus, Jeff Fordham and Ben McTaggart for being such willing and committed participants in this demonstration. |
| Other trial partners | Not specified |
| Crop type | Cereal (Grain): Wheat |
|---|---|
| Treatment type(s) |
|
| Trial type | |
| Trial design |
| Sow rate or Target density | 95kg/ha |
|---|---|
| Sow date | 31 May 2011 |
| Harvest date | Not specified |
| Plot size | Not specified |
| Plot replication | Not specified |
| Sow rate or Target density | Not specified |
|---|---|
| Sow date | Not specified |
| Harvest date | Not specified |
| Plot size | Not specified |
| Plot replication | Not specified |
| Sow rate or Target density | Not specified |
|---|---|
| Sow date | Not specified |
| Harvest date | Not specified |
| Plot size | Not specified |
| Plot replication | Not specified |
| Rainfall trial gsr (mm) | 497mm |
|---|
SILO weather estimates sourced from https://www.longpaddock.qld.gov.au/silo/
Jeffrey, S.J., Carter, J.O., Moodie, K.B. and Beswick, A.R. (2001). Using spatial interpolation to construct a comprehensive archive of Australian climate data , Environmental Modelling and Software, Vol 16/4, pp 309-330. DOI: 10.1016/S1364-8152(01)00008-1.
Plant Breeders’ Rights (PBR)
Some crop varieties used in research trials may be covered by Plant Breeders' Rights (PBR). Users should confirm PBR status of relevant varieties by searching the IP Australia PBR database, http://pericles.ipaustralia.gov.au/pbr_db/ or Variety Central (http://varietycentral.com.au/) and contacting variety owners for further information if required. Where possible, varieties have been listed according to their registered PBR name, although OFT cannot and does not guarantee that the information is accurate or complete.
Note that PBR cover is administered through the Plant Breeders’ Right Act 1994 (