Active stubble management to enhance residue breakdown and subsequent crop management

2016

Research organisaton
Funding source

Trial details

Researcher(s) Nick Poole (FAR Australia)
Michael Straight (FAR Australia)
Tracey Wylie (FAR Australia)
Year(s) 2016
Contributor Riverine Plains
Trial location(s) Corowa, NSW
Henty, NSW
Dookie, VIC
Yarrawonga, VIC
Active stubble management to enhance residue breakdown and subsequent crop management locations
Aims

The project seeks to:

  • investigate, demonstrate and extend cultural practices that will assist growers to adopt no-till stubble retention (NTSR) in medium and higher-rainfall environments;
  • build on findings from the previous Riverine Plains Inc. Water Use Efficiency (WUE) project; and
  • extend the frontier of agronomic knowledge for crops grown in NTSR systems.
Key messages

• There were significant increases in dry matter (DM) accumulation, nitrogen (N) uptake and crop canopy greenness where barley was established following cultivation with one pass of the multidisc, which was most evident where additional nitrogen was added at sowing.
• Although there was a trend for cultivated stubble with additional sowing nitrogen to yield more than burning, there were no significant yield differences in the trial.
• Growing a faba bean crop instead of a second wheat crop increased the yield of the following wheat by 0.34–0.47t/ha in 2016 compared with a 2t/ha advantage in the following wheat crop in 2015.
• Adequate nitrogen availability in the third wheat crop, combined with higher yield potential, and poor nodulation in the faba beans, appears to be partly the reason for the smaller yield benefit in 2016.
• Across three years of field trials, none of the different stubble management treatments have been superior to the no-till stubble retention (NTSR) control, despite differences in DM production.

Lead research organisation Riverine Plains
Host research organisation Riverine Plains
Trial funding source GRDC RPI00009
Related program Maintaining profitable farming systems with retained stubble
Acknowledgments

Thanks to the farmer co-operators at each of these sites:
• Corowa/Coreen: Tomlinson Ag
• Yarrawonga: Telewonga Pty Ltd
• Dookie: Ludeman Brothers
• Henty: Peter Campbell
This work was carried out as part of the Riverine Plains
Inc GRDC funded project Maintaining Profitable Farming
Systems with Retained Stubble in the Riverine Plains
Region (2013–18).


Other trial partners FAR Australia
Download the trial report to view additional trial information

Method

Crop types Cereal (Grain): Barley Oilseed: Canola Cereal (Grain): Wheat
Treatment type(s)
  • Crop: Rotation
  • Stubble: Management
Trial type Experimental
Trial design Blocked

Corowa 2016 Barley

Sowing machinery Not specified
Sow date 4 May 2016
Harvest date 9 December 2016
Plot size 40m x 15m
Plot replication 4
Herbicide

host farmer paddock management

Insecticide

host farmer paddock management

Fungicide

host farmer paddock management

Henty 2016 Canola

Sowing machinery

John Deere 1590 Disc seeder

Sow date 10 April 2016
Harvest date 6 December 2016
Plot size 40m x 15m
Plot replication 4
Herbicide

host farmer paddock management

Insecticide

host farmer paddock management

Fungicide

host farmer paddock management

Dookie 2016 Wheat

Sowing machinery

Simplicity seeder/knife point

Sow date 12 May 2016
Harvest date 13 December 2016
Plot size 40m x 18m
Plot replication 4
Herbicide

host farmer paddock management

Insecticide

host farmer paddock management

Fungicide

host farmer paddock management

Yarrawonga 2016 Wheat

Sowing machinery

Aus seeder DBS tine knife point

Sow date 28 April 2016
Harvest date 12 December 2016
Plot size 40m x 18m
Plot replication 4
Herbicide

host farmer paddock management

Insecticide

host farmer paddock management

Fungicide

host farmer paddock management

Download the trial report to view additional method/treatment information

Download results

Trial results Crop growth parameters at Corowa 2017

@T1: GS31 @T2: GS39 @T3: GS69 @T4: GS95-99
# Treatment 1
Establishment plants (plants/m2) Hectolitre weight (kg/hL) Screenings (%) 1000 grain weight (g) Head abundance (heads/m2) Cereal tillers (tillers/m2) Protein (%) Grain yield (t/ha) Dry matter (t/ha) Nitrogen uptake (kg N/ha) Dry matter (t/ha) Nitrogen uptake (kg N/ha) Nitrogen uptake (kg N/ha) Dry matter (t/ha) Nitrogen uptake (kg N/ha) Dry matter (t/ha)
1 NTSR 97 63.9 4.2 38 406 483 9.5 5.24 1.17 55 2.97 64 102 7.3 51 9.37
1 Cultivated (one pass) 108 59.8 4.3 35.4 429 568 8.5 4.82 1.49 69 3.4 64 132 8.92 51 9.27
1 Cultivated (one pass) + 40 kg N/ha 107 61.9 4.6 37.9 440 497 9.7 5.54 1.56 62 3.37 85 122 8.44 58 9.22
1 Burnt 103 63.7 4.5 37 387 406 9.5 4.81 1.06 42 2.89 77 118 8.42 46 8.41
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Trial results Wheat crop growth parameters at Yarrawonga 2017

@T1: @T2: @T3: @T4:
# Establishment plants (plants/m2) Head abundance (heads/m2) Cereal tillers (tillers/m2) Protein (%) Grain yield (t/ha) Harvest index (value) Hectolitre weight (kg/hL) Screenings (%) 1000 grain weight (g) Dry matter (t/ha) Nitrogen uptake (kg N/ha) Nitrogen uptake (kg N/ha) Dry matter (t/ha) Nitrogen uptake (kg N/ha) Dry matter (t/ha) Nitrogen uptake (kg N/ha) Dry matter (t/ha)
1 NTSR - long stubble 151 266 248 8.5 5.86 50.3 79.9 2.9 46.6 1.57 49 72 5.13 79 8.82 93 11.83
1 NTSR - long stubble + 40kg N/ha 153 225 271 9.7 6.19 57.1 80.1 2.5 47.3 1.53 51 75 5.74 87 9.65 95 10.85
1 NTSR - Short stubble 140 304 334 8.9 5.81 49.3 79.9 2.1 48.7 1.91 54 63 5.45 72 10.57 98 11.89
1 Straw Removed 159 300 371 8.6 5.6 48.3 79.8 2.5 49 2.1 55 84 6.72 105 10.55 105 11.68
1 Cultivate - one pass 146 304 335 9.1 5.9 49.7 80.4 2.2 49.3 2.02 61 66 5.63 105 11.1 124 11.94
2 Cultivate - one pass + 40 kgN/ha 152 327 354 10 6.69 52 80.4 2.5 49.9 2.12 65 86 6.49 101 12.31 122 12.93
2 Burnt 158 325 373 8.9 6.12 42.8 80.3 2.2 50 2.13 60 71 6.69 108 12.22 100 14.41
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Harvest index value


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Head abundance heads/m2


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Nitrogen uptake kg N/ha


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Protein %


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Screenings %


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Trial results Crop growth parameters at Dookie 2017

@T1: @T2: @T3: @T4:
# Establishment plants (plants/m2) Hectolitre weight (kg/hL) Screenings (%) 1000 grain weight (g) Head abundance (heads/m2) Cereal tillers (tillers/m2) Protein (%) Grain yield (t/ha) Dry matter (t/ha) Nitrogen uptake (kg N/ha) Dry matter (t/ha) Nitrogen uptake (kg N/ha) Nitrogen uptake (kg N/ha) Dry matter (t/ha) Nitrogen uptake (kg N/ha) Dry matter (t/ha)
1 NTSR - long stubble 135 76.5 0.7 53.9 356 296 10.7 5.8 0.76 32 6.6 139 116 10.3 71 14.1
1 NTSR - Short stubble 133 79.4 0.6 54.4 383 389 10.7 5.37 1.12 49 7.3 138 142 11.2 80 14
1 Culitvated (one pass) 136 79.4 0.7 53.2 391 363 11.3 5.6 1.04 45 6.6 116 106 11.1 73 12.5
1 Straw Removed 141 80.5 0.7 52.5 343 378 10.5 6 1.1 52 6.6 124 124 10.5 52 12.9
1 Burnt 152 79.7 0.6 52.8 378 445 11.1 6.23 1.17 50 7.1 149 112 11.5 79 12.6
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Head abundance heads/m2


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Nitrogen uptake kg N/ha


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Protein %


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Screenings %


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Trial results Crop growth parameters at Henty 2016

@T1: @T2: @T3: @T4:
# Establishment plants (plants/m2) Weeds (plants/m2) Grain yield (t/ha) Dry matter (t/ha) Nitrogen uptake (kg N/ha) Dry matter (t/ha) Nitrogen uptake (kg N/ha) Dry matter (t/ha) Nitrogen uptake (kg N/ha) Dry matter (t/ha) Nitrogen uptake (kg N/ha)
1 NTSR (Control) 31 0.4 2.4 1.64 86 3.7 117 6.9 141 9.76 151
1 NTSR + 40 kg N/ha 35 0.6 2.26 2.15 112 4.51 130 6.09 114 7.98 153
1 Mulched 31 0.4 2.48 1.69 96 3.91 94 7.58 161 8.31 91
1 Mulched + 40kg N/ha 25 0.4 2.53 1.58 82 4.19 167 9.11 227 9.59 130
1 Cultivate (one pass) 34 0 2.8 1.84 111 5.17 132 6.64 132 8.33 98
2 Cultivate (one pass) + 40kg/ha 28 1 2.72 1.75 94 5.12 201 7.49 164 8.87 165
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Grain yield t/ha


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Weeds plants/m2


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Observed trial site soil information
Trial site soil testing
Not specified
Soil conditions
Trial site Soil texture
Corowa, NSW Red brown earth
Henty, NSW none
Dookie, VIC Red loam over medium clay
Yarrawonga, VIC Loam over clay
Derived trial site soil information
Australian Soil Classification Source: ASRIS
Trial site Soil order
Corowa, NSW Sodosol
Henty, NSW Sodosol
Dookie, VIC Sodosol
Yarrawonga, VIC Sodosol
Soil Moisture Source: BOM/ANU
Average amount of water stored in the soil profile during the year, estimated by the OzWALD model-data fusion system.
Year Corowa NSW Henty NSW Dookie VIC Yarrawonga VIC
2016 568.1mm351.1mm195.6mm295.8mm
2015 546.3mm309.5mm153.8mm258.0mm
2014 519.0mm297.9mm168.0mm253.5mm
2013 513.2mm365.5mm169.5mm265.2mm
2012 557.9mm401.2mm202.6mm310.5mm
2011 570.1mm428.7mm236.0mm340.9mm
2010 579.8mm422.6mm251.3mm335.9mm
2009 512.0mm368.7mm194.9mm263.3mm
2008 523.2mm374.9mm248.4mm255.7mm
2007 545.2mm326.7mm238.2mm230.7mm
2006 553.9mm320.1mm267.3mm233.5mm
2005 569.2mm344.3mm304.7mm255.9mm
2004 534.8mm291.0mm298.6mm272.8mm
2003 535.3mm298.8mm350.4mm289.0mm
2002 511.4mm285.4mm334.5mm291.2mm
2001 533.6mm391.1mm388.8mm365.9mm
2000 532.4mm440.8mm413.1mm432.5mm
National soil grid Source: CSIRO/TERN
NOTE: National Soil Grid data is aggregated information for background information on the wider area
Actual soil values can vary significantly in a small area and the trial soil tests are the most relevant data where available

Soil properties

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Climate

Corowa NSW 2016


Observed climate information

Rainfall trial gsr (mm) 567mm

Henty NSW 2016


Observed climate information

Rainfall trial gsr (mm) 619mm

Dookie VIC 2016


Observed climate information

Rainfall trial gsr (mm) 509mm

Yarrawonga VIC 2016


Observed climate information

Rainfall trial gsr (mm) 604mm

Derived climate information

Corowa VIC

Henty VIC

Dookie VIC

Yarrawonga VIC

Corowa VIC

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Henty VIC

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Dookie VIC

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Yarrawonga VIC

NOTE: Exact trial site locality unknown - Climate data may not be accurate
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Some data on this site is sourced from the Bureau of Meteorology

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.

Trial report and links

2016 trial report



Trial last modified: 28-11-2019 10:34am AEST