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Understanding the impact of strategic tillage practices on crop performance and soil properties for a deep yellow sand at Goomalling

2017 - 2019
CC BY 4.0

Research organisation
Funding source
agVivo
<abbr title='Grains Research and Development Corporation'>GRDC</abbr>

Trial details

Researcher(s) Joel Andrew (Map IQ)
Tim Boyes (AgVivo)
Stephen Davies (DPIRD)
Daniel Dempster (DPIRD)
Year(s) 2017 - 2019
Contributor agVivo
Trial location(s) Goomalling, WA
Understanding the impact of strategic tillage practices on crop performance and soil properties for a deep yellow sand at Goomalling locations
Aims

To compare and showcase the broad range of strategic tillage options for amelioration of yellow sandplain soils and to assess their effectiveness at overcoming a range of soil constraints including non-wetting soil surface, compaction and subsoil acidity and increasing crop productivity.

Key messages
  • Removing subsoil compaction is critical and for some soil types can dramatically improve access to deep soil moisture.
  • Correctly ground-truthing the depth of the compaction layer can drive the success or failure of ripping outcomes.
  • Yield increases at the Goomalling site were largely driven by very deep ripping, with either the very deep ripper or delver, with yield increases of 0.55-0.74 t/ha, an increase of 74-93%. The only other treatment to increase yield was mouldboard ploughing on its own with a 0.44 t/ha, 55% yield increase.
Lead research organisation agVivo
Host research organisation N/A
Trial funding source GRDC AVP00003-A
Related program N/A
Acknowledgments

The research undertaken as part of this project is made possible by the significant contributions of growers through both trial cooperation and GRDC investment, the author would like to thank them for their continued support. The authors acknowledge the Demspter family for hosting, implementing and assisting with the management of the research site.
Other trial partners Map IQ
Download the trial report to view additional trial information

Method

Crop type Cereal (Grain): Wheat
Treatment type(s)
  • Management systems : Soil engineering
  • Soil Preparation : Tillage
Trial type Experimental
Trial design Blocked

Goomalling 2017

Sow date Not specified
Harvest date Not specified
Plot size Not specified
Plot replication Not specified

Goomalling 2018

Sow date Not specified
Harvest date Not specified
Plot size Not specified
Plot replication Not specified

Goomalling 2019

Sow date 25 May 2019
Harvest date Not specified
Plot size Not specified
Plot replication Not specified
Download the trial report to view additional method/treatment information

Download results

Trial results Table 1: Molarity of ethanol droplet (MED) for soil water repellence rating

# Treatment 1
Water droplet penetration time (seconds)
1 █ Control 1.5
2 █ Deep Rip 1.7
3 █ Deep Rip Inclusion 1.85
4 █ Deep Rip + Spade 0.3
5 █ One Way Plough 0.25
6 █ Mouldboard Plough 0.18

Water droplet penetration time seconds

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Trial results Table 2: 2017 Average yield for treatments

# Treatment 1
Grain yield (t/ha)
1 █ Deep Rip 0.81
2 █ Deep Rip Inclusion 0.86
3 █ Deep Rip + Spade 0.89
4 █ Heliripper 1.54
5 █ Heliripper Inclusion 1.35
6 █ Heliripper + Spade 1.39
7 █ Heliripper + One Way Plough 1.47
8 █ Heliripper Inclusion + Spade 1.47
9 █ One Way Plough 0.92
10 █ Mouldboard Plough 1.24
11 █ Mouldboard Plough + Heliripper 1.4
12 █ Control 0.8
13 █ Delve + Spade 1.52

Grain yield t/ha

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Trial results Table 3: Average soil strength for each treatment

# Treatment 1
Soil strength (kPa) Soil loosening depth (cm)
1 █ Barrier 2500 -5
2 █ Barrier 2500 -10
3 █ Barrier 2500 -15
4 █ Barrier 2500 -20
5 █ Barrier 2500 -25
6 █ Barrier 2500 -30
7 █ Barrier 2500 -35
8 █ Barrier 2500 -40
9 █ Barrier 2500 -45
10 █ Barrier 2500 -50
11 █ Barrier 2500 -55
12 █ Barrier 2500 -60
13 █ Barrier 2500 -65
14 █ Barrier 2500 -70
15 █ Deep Rip 275 -5
16 █ Deep Rip 509 -10
17 █ Deep Rip 821 -15
18 █ Deep Rip 1020 -20
19 █ Deep Rip 1292 -25
20 █ Deep Rip 1952 -30
21 █ Deep Rip 3142 -35
22 █ Deep Rip 3876 -40
23 █ Deep Rip 4240 -45
24 █ Deep Rip 4287 -50
25 █ Deep Rip 4111 -55
26 █ Deep Rip 3906 -60
27 █ Deep Rip 3773 -65
28 █ Deep Rip 3699 -70
29 █ Control 676 -5
30 █ Control 1203 -10
31 █ Control 1936 -15
32 █ Control 2572 -20
33 █ Control 3053 -25
34 █ Control 3516 -30
35 █ Control 3886 -35
36 █ Control 4136 -40
37 █ Control 4208 -45
38 █ Control 4201 -50
39 █ Control 4020 -55
40 █ Control 3804 -60
41 █ Control 3583 -65
42 █ Control 3403 -70
43 █ Mouldboard Plough 176 -5
44 █ Mouldboard Plough 361 -10
45 █ Mouldboard Plough 489 -15
46 █ Mouldboard Plough 659 -20
47 █ Mouldboard Plough 1003 -25
48 █ Mouldboard Plough 1897 -30
49 █ Mouldboard Plough 2700 -35
50 █ Mouldboard Plough 3629 -40
51 █ Mouldboard Plough 4121 -45
52 █ Mouldboard Plough 4219 -50
53 █ Mouldboard Plough 3973 -55
54 █ Mouldboard Plough 3896 -60
55 █ Mouldboard Plough 3630 -65
56 █ Mouldboard Plough 3533 -70
57 █ Hellirpper 265 -5
58 █ Hellirpper 407 -10
59 █ Hellirpper 468 -15
60 █ Hellirpper 507 -20
61 █ Hellirpper 523 -25
62 █ Hellirpper 500 -30
63 █ Hellirpper 502 -35
64 █ Hellirpper 500 -40
65 █ Hellirpper 613 -45
66 █ Hellirpper 791 -50
67 █ Hellirpper 1135 -55
68 █ Hellirpper 1606 -60
69 █ Hellirpper 2164 -65
70 █ Hellirpper 2733 -70

Trial results Table 4: Average treatment yield for 2018 Wheat.

# Treatment 1
Grain yield (t/ha)
1 █ Deep Rip 1.04
2 █ Deep Rip Inclusion 1.02
3 █ Deep Rip + Spade 1.15
4 █ Heliripper 1.58
5 █ Heliripper Inclusion 1.5
6 █ Heliripper + Spade 1.63
7 █ Heliripper + One Way Plough 1.4
8 █ Heliripper Inclusion + Spade 1.66
9 █ One Way Plough 1.03
10 █ Mouldboard Plough 1.25
11 █ Mouldboard Plough + Heliripper 1.32
12 █ Control 0.89

Grain yield t/ha

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Trial results Table 5: Average treatment yield for 2019 Wheat

# Treatment 1
Grain yield (t/ha)
1 █ Deep Rip 0.39
2 █ Deep Rip Inclusion 0.41
3 █ Deep Rip + Spade 0.5
4 █ Heliripper 0.59
5 █ Heliripper Inclusion 0.57
6 █ Heliripper + Spade 0.6
7 █ Heliripper + One Way Plough 0.57
8 █ Heliripper Inclusion + Spade 0.63
9 █ One Way Plough 0.48
10 █ Mouldboard Plough 0.55
11 █ Mouldboard Plough + Heliripper 0.56
12 █ Control 0.39

Grain yield t/ha

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Observed trial site soil information
Trial site soil testing
Site Depth Type pH EC P K N A OC CAT
Goomalling, WA 0 - 10cm 5.40 16.00 67.00 1.00
Goomalling, WA 0 - 10cm 5.80 0.80
Goomalling, WA 10 - 20cm 4.80
Goomalling, WA 10 - 20cm 4.80 0.20
Goomalling, WA 20 - 30cm 4.50
Goomalling, WA 20 - 30cm 4.30 0.20
Goomalling, WA 30 - 40cm 4.40
Goomalling, WA 30 - 40cm 4.30 0.10
Goomalling, WA 40 - 50cm 4.30 0.10
Soil conditions
Trial site Soil texture
Goomalling, WA Not specified
Derived trial site soil information
Australian Soil Classification Source: ASRIS
Trial site Soil order
Goomalling, WA Kandosol
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 Goomalling WA
2019
2018
2017
2016
2015
2014
2013
2012
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2010
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
2001
2000

Climate

Derived climate information

No observed climate data available for this trial.
Derived climate data is determined from trial site location and national weather sources.

Goomalling WA

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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

Project Final Report

2017 trial report

2017 trial report

2017 trial report



Trial last modified: 15-12-2022 10:51am AEST