• Airborne map images available are generally full colour, four band CIR (Colour Infrared), or manipulations of the CIR spectrums such as NDVI (Normalised Difference Vegetative Index) or SVI (Standard Vegetation Index), and can provide good information about crop growth and health.
• All these images are available in digital format from an increasing range of suppliers of precision agriculture services.

• The 2016 trial results looking at cultural control techniques on barley grass largely confirmed the 2015 findings.
• Increasing the seeding rate of barley in the presence of barley grass can provide substantial benefits to both yield and reduced weed seed carry-over. This applies particularly to competitive varieties such as Fathom, but also to less competitive varieties such as Hindmarsh.
• In contrast, doubling the seeding rate of wheat had no beneficial effect on yield or weed carry-over.
• Doubling the district practice seeding rate in barley substantially reduced the competitive effect of barley grass to the stage where crop yields were similar to those check plots where herbicide was appliedD.
• uring the trials, barley has consistently outperformed wheat in its ability to compete with barley grass, particularly when sown at high seeding rates.

Key Points from 2016
 Burning or cultivating 2015 stubbles tended to produce higher yields, however this was only significant at Ungarie.
 High rainfall and a soft finish removed the benefit of stored soil moisture that stubble retained systems may have provided.
 Nitrogen was the limiting factor for both yield and protein for 2016.

Key Points from the Stubble Initiative
 Growers cannot let stubble negatively impact on weed control and timely sowing.
 Growers should use crop rotation to their advantage by aiming to sow the right crop into the least antagonistic stubble.
 Stubble retained systems can require more nitrogen due to increased nitrogen tie-up.

Key Points from 2016
 Burning or cultivating 2015 stubbles tended to produce higher yields, however this was only significant at Ungarie.
 High rainfall and a soft finish removed the benefit of stored soil moisture that stubble retained systems may have provided.
 Nitrogen was the limiting factor for both yield and protein for 2016.

Key Points from the Stubble Initiative
 Growers cannot let stubble negatively impact on weed control and timely sowing.
 Growers should use crop rotation to their advantage by aiming to sow the right crop into the least antagonistic stubble.
 Stubble retained systems can require more nitrogen due to increased nitrogen tie-up.

Key Points from 2016
 Burning or cultivating 2015 stubbles tended to produce higher yields, however this was only significant at Ungarie.
 High rainfall and a soft finish removed the benefit of stored soil moisture that stubble retained systems may have provided.
 Nitrogen was the limiting factor for both yield and protein for 2016.

Key Points from the Stubble Initiative
 Growers cannot let stubble negatively impact on weed control and timely sowing.
 Growers should use crop rotation to their advantage by aiming to sow the right crop into the least antagonistic stubble.
 Stubble retained systems can require more nitrogen due to increased nitrogen tie-up.

Key Points from 2016
 Burning or cultivating 2015 stubbles tended to produce higher yields, however this was only significant at Ungarie.
 High rainfall and a soft finish removed the benefit of stored soil moisture that stubble retained systems may have provided.
 Nitrogen was the limiting factor for both yield and protein for 2016.

Key Points from the Stubble Initiative
 Growers cannot let stubble negatively impact on weed control and timely sowing.
 Growers should use crop rotation to their advantage by aiming to sow the right crop into the least antagonistic stubble.
 Stubble retained systems can require more nitrogen due to increased nitrogen tie-up.

Key Points from 2016
 Burning or cultivating 2015 stubbles tended to produce higher yields, however this was only significant at Ungarie.
 High rainfall and a soft finish removed the benefit of stored soil moisture that stubble retained systems may have provided.
 Nitrogen was the limiting factor for both yield and protein for 2016.

Key Points from the Stubble Initiative
 Growers cannot let stubble negatively impact on weed control and timely sowing.
 Growers should use crop rotation to their advantage by aiming to sow the right crop into the least antagonistic stubble.
 Stubble retained systems can require more nitrogen due to increased nitrogen tie-up.

Key Points from 2016
 Burning or cultivating 2015 stubbles tended to produce higher yields, however this was only significant at Ungarie.
 High rainfall and a soft finish removed the benefit of stored soil moisture that stubble retained systems may have provided.
 Nitrogen was the limiting factor for both yield and protein for 2016.

Key Points from the Stubble Initiative
 Growers cannot let stubble negatively impact on weed control and timely sowing.
 Growers should use crop rotation to their advantage by aiming to sow the right crop into the least antagonistic stubble.
 Stubble retained systems can require more nitrogen due to increased nitrogen tie-up.

Key Points from 2016
 Burning or cultivating 2015 stubbles tended to produce higher yields, however this was only significant at Ungarie.
 High rainfall and a soft finish removed the benefit of stored soil moisture that stubble retained systems may have provided.
 Nitrogen was the limiting factor for both yield and protein for 2016.

Key Points from the Stubble Initiative
 Growers cannot let stubble negatively impact on weed control and timely sowing.
 Growers should use crop rotation to their advantage by aiming to sow the right crop into the least antagonistic stubble.
 Stubble retained systems can require more nitrogen due to increased nitrogen tie-up.

Key Points from 2016
 Burning or cultivating 2015 stubbles tended to produce higher yields, however this was only significant at Ungarie.
 High rainfall and a soft finish removed the benefit of stored soil moisture that stubble retained systems may have provided.
 Nitrogen was the limiting factor for both yield and protein for 2016.

Key Points from the Stubble Initiative
 Growers cannot let stubble negatively impact on weed control and timely sowing.
 Growers should use crop rotation to their advantage by aiming to sow the right crop into the least antagonistic stubble.
 Stubble retained systems can require more nitrogen due to increased nitrogen tie-up.

• Growing conditions in 2016 were very wet and mild, with rainfall from May to September one of the wettest on record. Growing season rainfall was well above average with 491mm recorded at
  the site.
• The conditions in 2016 did not favour the expression of crown rot, with only minimal disease observed. As a result there were no significant interactions between any of the seed treatments in this trial.
• Durum wheat is more susceptible to crown rot than barley. The durum wheat variety Aurora was
  used in this trial and was out-performed by the barley variety LaTrobe, yielding significantly lower.
• At tillering, the NDVI of treatments not infected by crown rot were significantly higher than those infected by crown rot. At flowering there was no significant difference in NDVI between any treatment

• Although not statistically validated a trend of either higher or lower NDVI’s in the centre of the tram tracks was observed on 7 of the 14 farms investigated.
• The trend to wider header fronts makes the practicalities of redistributing residue evenly back across the width of the header all the more difficult and may accelerate any rate of change in crop performance.
• In the short term CTF producers should target even redistribution of crop residue across header
  widths
• Further work is needed and the author would welcome collaboration from others in helping to design a future experiment and statistical analysis.

• Although not statistically validated a trend of either higher or lower NDVI’s in the centre of the tram tracks was observed on 7 of the 14 farms investigated.
• The trend to wider header fronts makes the practicalities of redistributing residue evenly back across the width of the header all the more difficult and may accelerate any rate of change in crop performance.
• In the short term CTF producers should target even redistribution of crop residue across header
  widths
• Further work is needed and the author would welcome collaboration from others in helping to design a future experiment and statistical analysis.

• Although not statistically validated a trend of either higher or lower NDVI’s in the centre of the tram tracks was observed on 7 of the 14 farms investigated.
• The trend to wider header fronts makes the practicalities of redistributing residue evenly back across the width of the header all the more difficult and may accelerate any rate of change in crop performance.
• In the short term CTF producers should target even redistribution of crop residue across header
  widths
• Further work is needed and the author would welcome collaboration from others in helping to design a future experiment and statistical analysis.

• Although not statistically validated a trend of either higher or lower NDVI’s in the centre of the tram tracks was observed on 7 of the 14 farms investigated.
• The trend to wider header fronts makes the practicalities of redistributing residue evenly back across the width of the header all the more difficult and may accelerate any rate of change in crop performance.
• In the short term CTF producers should target even redistribution of crop residue across header
  widths
• Further work is needed and the author would welcome collaboration from others in helping to design a future experiment and statistical analysis.

• Although not statistically validated a trend of either higher or lower NDVI’s in the centre of the tram tracks was observed on 7 of the 14 farms investigated.
• The trend to wider header fronts makes the practicalities of redistributing residue evenly back across the width of the header all the more difficult and may accelerate any rate of change in crop performance.
• In the short term CTF producers should target even redistribution of crop residue across header
  widths
• Further work is needed and the author would welcome collaboration from others in helping to design a future experiment and statistical analysis.

• Although not statistically validated a trend of either higher or lower NDVI’s in the centre of the tram tracks was observed on 7 of the 14 farms investigated.
• The trend to wider header fronts makes the practicalities of redistributing residue evenly back across the width of the header all the more difficult and may accelerate any rate of change in crop performance.
• In the short term CTF producers should target even redistribution of crop residue across header
  widths
• Further work is needed and the author would welcome collaboration from others in helping to design a future experiment and statistical analysis.

• Although not statistically validated a trend of either higher or lower NDVI’s in the centre of the tram tracks was observed on 7 of the 14 farms investigated.
• The trend to wider header fronts makes the practicalities of redistributing residue evenly back across the width of the header all the more difficult and may accelerate any rate of change in crop performance.
• In the short term CTF producers should target even redistribution of crop residue across header
  widths
• Further work is needed and the author would welcome collaboration from others in helping to design a future experiment and statistical analysis.

• Although not statistically validated a trend of either higher or lower NDVI’s in the centre of the tram tracks was observed on 7 of the 14 farms investigated.
• The trend to wider header fronts makes the practicalities of redistributing residue evenly back across the width of the header all the more difficult and may accelerate any rate of change in crop performance.
• In the short term CTF producers should target even redistribution of crop residue across header
  widths
• Further work is needed and the author would welcome collaboration from others in helping to design a future experiment and statistical analysis.

• Although not statistically validated a trend of either higher or lower NDVI’s in the centre of the tram tracks was observed on 7 of the 14 farms investigated.
• The trend to wider header fronts makes the practicalities of redistributing residue evenly back across the width of the header all the more difficult and may accelerate any rate of change in crop performance.
• In the short term CTF producers should target even redistribution of crop residue across header
  widths
• Further work is needed and the author would welcome collaboration from others in helping to design a future experiment and statistical analysis.

• After 18 years there was no standout rotation, in terms of profitability, in any given season. All  rotations had their pros and cons in both wet and dry years. Therefore having a mix
  of rotations and doing things on time is a recipe for a resilient business.
• The most profitable rotation for the duration of the trial was the continuous cropping rotation, which included two wheat crops followed by a pulse crop in a no-till system. The addition of the pulse crop every third year was beneficial, especially for adding extra nitrogen, however added issues such as broadleaf weed blowouts with weeds like fumitory.

• In 2017, don’t let stubble compromise the big things (weeds, disease, timeliness)

In this paper, a simple, robust method for quantitatively mapping fPV, fNPV and fBS across the Australian tropical savanna region was deveoped.

• Soil acidification is a natural process accelerated by high crop yields and fertilizer use. It is an unseen cost of doing business.
• To maintain a good soil pH profile, producers should aim for a pHCa above 5.0 in the 0-10cm of topsoil or 5.5 if subsoil acidity issues are present. The target in the 10-30cm zone is greater than
  pHCa 4.8.
• Correct pH is paramount when growing legumes, especially if the decision to grow them is to increase soil nitrogen levels.
• Liming needs to be thought of as a farm input, like checking and changing the oil in the tractor (maintaining capital), rather than buying urea (dollars returned per dollar invested).

• Soil acidification is a natural process accelerated by high crop yields and fertilizer use. It is an unseen cost of doing business.
• To maintain a good soil pH profile, producers should aim for a pHCa above 5.0 in the 0-10cm of topsoil or 5.5 if subsoil acidity issues are present. The target in the 10-30cm zone is greater than
  pHCa 4.8.
• Correct pH is paramount when growing legumes, especially if the decision to grow them is to increase soil nitrogen levels.
• Liming needs to be thought of as a farm input, like checking and changing the oil in the tractor (maintaining capital), rather than buying urea (dollars returned per dollar invested).

• Soil acidification is a natural process accelerated by high crop yields and fertilizer use. It is an unseen cost of doing business.
• To maintain a good soil pH profile, producers should aim for a pHCa above 5.0 in the 0-10cm of topsoil or 5.5 if subsoil acidity issues are present. The target in the 10-30cm zone is greater than
  pHCa 4.8.
• Correct pH is paramount when growing legumes, especially if the decision to grow them is to increase soil nitrogen levels.
• Liming needs to be thought of as a farm input, like checking and changing the oil in the tractor (maintaining capital), rather than buying urea (dollars returned per dollar invested).

• Soil acidification is a natural process accelerated by high crop yields and fertilizer use. It is an unseen cost of doing business.
• To maintain a good soil pH profile, producers should aim for a pHCa above 5.0 in the 0-10cm of topsoil or 5.5 if subsoil acidity issues are present. The target in the 10-30cm zone is greater than
  pHCa 4.8.
• Correct pH is paramount when growing legumes, especially if the decision to grow them is to increase soil nitrogen levels.
• Liming needs to be thought of as a farm input, like checking and changing the oil in the tractor (maintaining capital), rather than buying urea (dollars returned per dollar invested).

• Soil acidification is a natural process accelerated by high crop yields and fertilizer use. It is an unseen cost of doing business.
• To maintain a good soil pH profile, producers should aim for a pHCa above 5.0 in the 0-10cm of topsoil or 5.5 if subsoil acidity issues are present. The target in the 10-30cm zone is greater than
  pHCa 4.8.
• Correct pH is paramount when growing legumes, especially if the decision to grow them is to increase soil nitrogen levels.
• Liming needs to be thought of as a farm input, like checking and changing the oil in the tractor (maintaining capital), rather than buying urea (dollars returned per dollar invested).

• Soil acidification is a natural process accelerated by high crop yields and fertilizer use. It is an unseen cost of doing business.
• To maintain a good soil pH profile, producers should aim for a pHCa above 5.0 in the 0-10cm of topsoil or 5.5 if subsoil acidity issues are present. The target in the 10-30cm zone is greater than
  pHCa 4.8.
• Correct pH is paramount when growing legumes, especially if the decision to grow them is to increase soil nitrogen levels.
• Liming needs to be thought of as a farm input, like checking and changing the oil in the tractor (maintaining capital), rather than buying urea (dollars returned per dollar invested).

• Light interception at midday was significantly higher under east-west sowing compared with north-south.
• It is plausible that sowing direction may influence weed seed set.
• To establish a competitive crop against weeds and maximise yields, growers should aim for the
  narrowest row spacing to suit their system.

Problems potentially identified by maps include:

• nutrient deficiencies,
• in crop weeds, and 
• root disease.

At a basic level, simply overlaying in season aerial photography with yield data can provide some insight into
potential problems:

• If yield deficiencies correlate with high growth areas, then weeds could be the issue.
• Root diseases can show patterns of growth that are particular to that problem.
• With aerial photography or  a NDVI, it may be possible to see colour differences that may indicate areas of nutrient deficiency and ground truth work is crucial to confirm suspicions.

• Concentrating the header trash into rows prevents spreading of weed seeds across the paddock. Additionally, it allows for site specific weed management and weed seed destruction through strategic burning.
• A low cutting height (10cm) can allow greater than 95% weed seed capture and placement
  into rows. However this harvest height can impact harvest cost, speed and efficiency.

• Optical Spray Technology (OST) systems are used for broad spectrum weed control for summer weed and fallow weed control. This type of sprayer is widely accepted in broad-acre cropping situations.
• In-Crop weed detection is the sensing and identification of non-crop plants within the growing crop.
• his technology is not as advanced, nor as widely used as the optical sprayer technology.

• Growing conditions in 2016 were very wet and mild, with rainfall from May to September one of
  the wettest on record.
• Growing season rainfall was well above average with 525mm recorded for Rankins Springs and
  532mm for Hillston. There was some waterlogging at the Rankins Springs site due to flooding, which impacted on yield.
• Durum wheat varieties did not perform as well in 2016 at both Rankins Springs and Hillston. 
• Lodging was observed at the dryland site at Rankins Springs, with barley varieties the worst for
  lodging. Compared to 2015, lodging at the irrigated site at Hillston was not as widespread with only a few varieties having lodging scores greater than 5.
• Given the 2016 season, which strongly favoured the performance of longer season varieties, it is important to look at variety performance of this trial, alongside long term NVT results.

• Growing conditions in 2016 were very wet and mild, with rainfall from May to September one of
  the wettest on record.
• Growing season rainfall was well above average with 525mm recorded for Rankins Springs and
  532mm for Hillston. There was some waterlogging at the Rankins Springs site due to flooding, which impacted on yield.
• Durum wheat varieties did not perform as well in 2016 at both Rankins Springs and Hillston. 
• Lodging was observed at the dryland site at Rankins Springs, with barley varieties the worst for
  lodging. Compared to 2015, lodging at the irrigated site at Hillston was not as widespread with only a few varieties having lodging scores greater than 5.
• Given the 2016 season, which strongly favoured the performance of longer season varieties, it is important to look at variety performance of this trial, alongside long term NVT results.

• Break crops faced a range of tough environmental conditions in the Mallee in 2015 including multiple frost and heat shock events.
• Timely rainfall in April and hence early sowing resulted in excellent biomass production with most crop options producing on average more than 2 t DM/ha and several break crop options producing greater than 2.5 t DM/ha.
• The highest grain yields tended to be crops with the quickest maturity such as lentils (0.73 t/ha), vetch (0.64 t/ha) and field peas (0.63 t/ha).
• High value crops such as lentils and vetch were highly profitable due to both excellent prices and reasonable grain yields.

• Break crops faced a range of tough environmental conditions in the Mallee in 2015 including multiple frost and heat shock events.
• Timely rainfall in April and hence early sowing resulted in excellent biomass production with most crop options producing on average more than 2 t DM/ha and several break crop options producing greater than 2.5 t DM/ha.
• The highest grain yields tended to be crops with the quickest maturity such as lentils (0.73 t/ha), vetch (0.64 t/ha) and field peas (0.63 t/ha).
• High value crops such as lentils and vetch were highly profitable due to both excellent prices and reasonable grain yields.

• Stubble height did not affect fallow efficiency at Weethallee following the 2013 or 2014 harvests.
• Stubble height during the 2014 fallow did not impact on 2015 crop yields.
• Leaving higher stubbles may reduce harvest cost but may also cause issues during fallow sprays and sowing. Individual producers need to target a stubble height that best suits their equipment and techniquies.

• CWFS regional site trials during 2013 and 2014 suggest stubble loads greater than 3 t/ha can limit yield.
• “No till with no stubble is no good” on hard setting red brown soil types. The delimma is that the annual incorporation of stubble just prior to sowing by cultivation or removal by burning would result in the loss of signifigant long term benefits to soil health.
• “If you do not measure it you cannot manage it!” Field measurements of stubble are the starting point for deciding what to do.
• Options to manage stubble loads above 3t/ha need to be made seasonally. Good planning may allow other agronomic and farm efficiency outcomes to be achieved at the same time.

• From reports received it appears that the area of cultivated fallow has generally increased by 20 to 30% this summer. Specific district increases are reported below.
• Different motivations for cultivating fallow are reported from different districts but generally relate to either; weed management, physical soil condition issues or ending or starting a pasture phase. Producers ability to sow into current stubble loadings was not a major driver of cultivation.
• Cheaper diesel was not a major driver for cultivation but it appears to have made the decision to cultivate easier.
• Producers will burn to reduce stubble loads for sowing if needed.
• Farmers generally reported higher cultivation activity than crop consultants.

• Although not statistically validated a trend of either higher or lower NDVI’s in the centre of the tram tracks was observed on 7 of the 14 farms investigated.
• The trend to wider header fronts makes the practicalities of redistributing residue evenly back across the width of the header all the more difficult and may accelerate any rate of change in crop performance.
• In the short term CTF producers should target even redistribution of crop residue across header widths
• Further work is needed and the author would welcome collaboration from others in helping to design a future experiment and statistical analysis.

• Although not statistically validated a trend of either higher or lower NDVI’s in the centre of the tram tracks was observed on 7 of the 14 farms investigated.
• The trend to wider header fronts makes the practicalities of redistributing residue evenly back across the width of the header all the more difficult and may accelerate any rate of change in crop performance.
• In the short term CTF producers should target even redistribution of crop residue across header widths
• Further work is needed and the author would welcome collaboration from others in helping to design a future experiment and statistical analysis.

• Although not statistically validated a trend of either higher or lower NDVI’s in the centre of the tram tracks was observed on 7 of the 14 farms investigated.
• The trend to wider header fronts makes the practicalities of redistributing residue evenly back across the width of the header all the more difficult and may accelerate any rate of change in crop performance.
• In the short term CTF producers should target even redistribution of crop residue across header widths
• Further work is needed and the author would welcome collaboration from others in helping to design a future experiment and statistical analysis.

• Although not statistically validated a trend of either higher or lower NDVI’s in the centre of the tram tracks was observed on 7 of the 14 farms investigated.
• The trend to wider header fronts makes the practicalities of redistributing residue evenly back across the width of the header all the more difficult and may accelerate any rate of change in crop performance.
• In the short term CTF producers should target even redistribution of crop residue across header widths
• Further work is needed and the author would welcome collaboration from others in helping to design a future experiment and statistical analysis.

• Although not statistically validated a trend of either higher or lower NDVI’s in the centre of the tram tracks was observed on 7 of the 14 farms investigated.
• The trend to wider header fronts makes the practicalities of redistributing residue evenly back across the width of the header all the more difficult and may accelerate any rate of change in crop performance.
• In the short term CTF producers should target even redistribution of crop residue across header widths
• Further work is needed and the author would welcome collaboration from others in helping to design a future experiment and statistical analysis.

• Although not statistically validated a trend of either higher or lower NDVI’s in the centre of the tram tracks was observed on 7 of the 14 farms investigated.
• The trend to wider header fronts makes the practicalities of redistributing residue evenly back across the width of the header all the more difficult and may accelerate any rate of change in crop performance.
• In the short term CTF producers should target even redistribution of crop residue across header widths
• Further work is needed and the author would welcome collaboration from others in helping to design a future experiment and statistical analysis.

• Although not statistically validated a trend of either higher or lower NDVI’s in the centre of the tram tracks was observed on 7 of the 14 farms investigated.
• The trend to wider header fronts makes the practicalities of redistributing residue evenly back across the width of the header all the more difficult and may accelerate any rate of change in crop performance.
• In the short term CTF producers should target even redistribution of crop residue across header widths
• Further work is needed and the author would welcome collaboration from others in helping to design a future experiment and statistical analysis.

• Although not statistically validated a trend of either higher or lower NDVI’s in the centre of the tram tracks was observed on 7 of the 14 farms investigated.
• The trend to wider header fronts makes the practicalities of redistributing residue evenly back across the width of the header all the more difficult and may accelerate any rate of change in crop performance.
• In the short term CTF producers should target even redistribution of crop residue across header widths
• Further work is needed and the author would welcome collaboration from others in helping to design a future experiment and statistical analysis.

• Although not statistically validated a trend of either higher or lower NDVI’s in the centre of the tram tracks was observed on 7 of the 14 farms investigated.
• The trend to wider header fronts makes the practicalities of redistributing residue evenly back across the width of the header all the more difficult and may accelerate any rate of change in crop performance.
• In the short term CTF producers should target even redistribution of crop residue across header widths
• Further work is needed and the author would welcome collaboration from others in helping to design a future experiment and statistical analysis.