Cereal-canola or cereal-canola-legume rotations have advantages in terms of yield stability and profitability in southern Australia, and there is little incentive for grain growers to include other cash crops (a crop that returns a monetary value rather than for use by the grower) in their rotations. This project aims to identify other options for increasing plant diversity in cropping systems without upsetting the use of crops with the highest earning potential. This will be achieved by testing the impact of summer cover cropping, intercropping, or temporary intercropping (sowing multiple species and spraying out all but the cash crop species during the season) on soil water balance and mineral N at sowing, crop performance, and soil function over time.
Key messages
Cover crops produced < 1 t biomass in the 2020/21 summer. Cover crop water use did not significantly affect 2021 wheat yields, likely due to the relatively wet season.
Growing vetch as a temporary intercrop with wheat did not significantly (P < 0.05) lower grain yield, however, evidence suggests that a greater understanding on impacts to yield be completed. The effect of temporary intercropping on the 2022 canola yields will be assessed this season.
Few changes in soil functional properties were observed due to cover cropping, likely due to the small amounts of biomass produced each season.
The current summer cover crop (2021/2022) appears larger than previous seasons due to the wet conditions, so any impacts on soil biology may be more detectable this season.
Lead research organisation
N/A
Host research organisation
N/A
Trial funding source
Soil CRC PJA4.1.002
Related program
N/A
Acknowledgments
This trial is part of the Plant-based solutions to improve soil performance through rhizosphere modification project, led by Southern Cross University. The project is supported by the Cooperative Research Centre for High Performance Soils whose activities are funded by the Australian Government’s Cooperative Research Centre Program. The project is also supported by the Goulburn Broken Catchment Management Authority’s ‘From the Ground Up’ program through funding from the Australian Government’s National Landcare Program.
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.
Burramine VIC
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.
