To answer the question, 'How much damage is done to soil by occasional tillage, strategically applied, in an otherwise direct drilled system?'.
Key messages
There is little to be concerned about from implementing a strategic tillage provided:
That it is not frequent, say less frequent than once every five years based on the above.
That we consider the well-known risks for erosion such as slope, groundcover, and current weather, and the soil moisture at the time of the proposed tillage. Hence, we suggest leaving the tillage as late as possible so as to avoid the chance of erosive rainfall between tillage and crop establishment.
Lead research organisation
FarmLink Research
Host research organisation
N/A
Trial funding source
GRDC DAN00152
Related program
N/A
Acknowledgments
FarmLink gratefully acknowledges the contributions of all project collaborators to this report and for the time and effort they have invested in ensuring the success of FarmLink.
The Advisory Committee (in alphabetical order by surname): Sandy Biddulph (Biddulph Rural Consulting), Greg Hunt (Rural Management Strategies), Peter McInerney (3D -Ag).
The Research team (in alphabetical order): CSIRO – John Graham, Clive Kirkby, John Kirkegaard, Tony Swan
FarmLink – Cindy Cassidy, Kylie Dunstan NSW DPI – Albert Oates, Graeme Poile, Vince van der Rijt. Kurt Lindbeck assisted with pathology.
The Co-operators (in alphabetical order): Byrne Bros (Geoff, John and Scott), Berthong near Cootamundra
Chris Holland, Thuddungra between Young and Grenfell O’Connor Bros, Harden Andrew Simpson, Daysdale near Corowa
Trial source data and summary not available Check the trial
report PDF for trial results.
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.
Harden NSW
NOTE: Exact trial site locality unknown - Climate data may not be accurate
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.
