Mixed species trials

The trial has 6 treatments with 4 replications and compares various BioAg products and rates against an annual application of single super.

• To determine whether sheep graze on matricaria (palatability of the weed) in a mixed species pasture and if so at which growth stages is the weed palatable.
• Estimate the feed value of matricaria at various growth stages compared to other available feed.
• Evaluate the use of MCPA to increase matricaria palatability.
• Evaluate the efficacy of late flowering mowing or weed wiping to control matricaria compared to district practice of spray topping.

Failure to control annual weed species that persist through cropping phases facilitates replenishment/establishment of weed seedbanks. Consequently, this maintains weed interference in subsequent years of crop production. Harvest weed seed control (HWSC) has been widely adopted in Australia since its inception over three decades ago to prevent redistribution of weed seeds across cropping fields during commercial harvesting operations (Walsh et al. 2017). Implementation of HWSC obstructs fresh seedbank inputs by subjecting the weed seed bearing chaff fraction to a treatment, such as combustion (narrow windrow burning), mechanical pulverisation (impact mills), decomposition (chaff-lining) and removal (chaff cart). Chaff-lining has been readily adopted by growers because of the low cost of modifying a harvester to confine the chaff fraction into a narrow row between stubble, or onto dedicated wheel tracks in controlled traffic farming systems (chaff-tramlining). There is a paucity of literature examining seedbank decline of important Australian weed species in chaff-lines, however a common conjecture is that a mulching effect is created by a combination of physical and chemical influences (Walsh et al. 2018). Field observations suggest that in the absence of seed decay, control failures of annual weed species and volunteer crop plants may be exacerbated. Therefore, growers urgently need information that substantiates the implications of chaff-lining to weed seedbanks.

Barley grass is becoming an increasingly problematic weed in Western Australia. A GRDC funded project sought to increase the adoption of integrated weed management tactics for barley grass, by working with grower groups to develop regionally appropriate rotations for optimal control.

A survey indicated that in the central-eastern wheatbelt, barley grass is mainly an issue in pasture. While barley grass also grows in crops, it is rarely the most prominent cropping weed. The KDG group aimed to investigate grass selective herbicides and late-season control in pasture, and pre-emergent herbicides in-crop, to find the best combination of practices that would control barley grass while also removing other grass weed species in a three-year rotation.

The trial aimed to investigate Group 1 herbicides and spray topping in 2019, pre-emergent herbicides and knockdowns in 2020 and Group 2 herbicides and spray topping in 2021.

The aim of better grazing systems in the low rainfall wheat/sheep zone should be to increase pasture returns without negative effects on the cropping phase.

Although cereal-intensive cropping has been demonstrated to be productive in the Mallee, there are situations where grass weeds, disease and high fertiliser costs may necessitate a break crop option. This trial was designed to evaluate the effect of a range of break crops and pasture over a range of mallee soils over 3 years of subsequent wheat. In replicated field trials at the Karoonda (Lowaldie) site, break crops including legume, rye, brassica and pasture were grown in 2009 and 2010 and followed by consecutive wheat crops until 2013. Wheat yield following these breaks were compared with a continuous wheat treatment. All treatments were applied at four positions in the landscape: hill (deep sand), mid-top, mid-slope and swale (heavy flat).

To gain insights from some of the top performing farm businesses in the zone about their management, agronomy practices and the triggers for key decision-making.

To investigate whether plant growth affected by sodic subsoils.

To compare the performance of first year pasture against regenerated pasture varieties.

This research aimed to determine the external critical phosphorus (P) requirement (i.e. the soil extractable-P concentration required to achieve 90% of maximum yield) of a range of pasture legume species under field conditions. This information can be used as a benchmark for soil testing and soil P fertility management on farms.

To quantify the agronomic benefits that break crops can provide in Mallee cropping rotations so that farmers can be confident of the long term benefits of more diverse crop sequences.

To quantify the effects of deep ripping, gypsum application and a new cultivation implement known as a Spader. 

In southern Australian mixed farming systems, there are many opportunities for pasture improvement. The Dryland Legume Pasture Systems (DLPS) project aims to boost profit and reduce risk in medium and low rainfall areas by developing pasture legumes that benefit animal and crop production systems. A component of the DLPS project aims to quantify the impacts of different pasture
legume species on livestock production and health. Included are widely grown legumes (strand medics and vetch) and legumes
with reasonable prospects of commercialisation (trigonella).
A five-year grazing system trial was established at the Minnipa Agricultural Centre (MAC) in 2018. It is the main livestock field site
for the DLPS program in southern Australia.

Legume pastures have been pivotal to sustainable agricultural development in southern Australia. They provide highly nutritious feed for livestock, act as a disease break for many cereal root pathogens, and improve soil fertility through nitrogen (N) fixation. Despite these benefits, pasture renovation rates remain low and there are opportunities to improve the pasture base on many low to medium rainfall mixed farms across southern Australia. There are also reports of poor protein levels in wheat following medic pastures and many reports of poor medic nodulation. Previous work has shown that substantial responses to inoculation are possible in the Victorian Mallee, which is possibly linked to the poor N fixation capacity of some populations of soil rhizobia. The extent to which inoculation can still improve medic nodulation on Eyre Peninsula requires clarification.

The Dryland Legume Pasture Systems (DLPS) project aims to develop recently discovered pasture legumes together with innovative management techniques that benefit animal and crop production and promote their adoption on mixed farms in the low and medium rainfall areas of WA, SA, Vic and southern NSW.  One objective within this work program is to increase the amount of fixed N provided by the pasture.

This is a component of a new five year Rural Research and Development for Profit funded project supported by GRDC, MLA and AWI; and involving Murdoch University, CSIRO, SARDI, Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development; Charles Sturt University and grower groups.

Legume pastures have been pivotal to sustainable agricultural development in southern Australia. They provide highly nutritious feed for livestock, act as a disease break for many cereal root pathogens, and improve fertility through nitrogen (N) fixation. Despite these benefits pasture renovation rates remain low and there is opportunity to improve the quality of the pasture base on many low to medium rainfall mixed farms across southern Australia. A diverse range of pasture legume cultivars are currently available to growers and new material is being developed. Some of these legumes, such as the annual medics, are well adapted to alkaline soils and have high levels of hard seed, which allow them to self-regenerate from soil seed reserves after cropping (ley farming system). Other legume cultivars and species are available and being developed that offer improved seed harvestability, are claimed to be better suited to establishment when dry sown and/or provide better nutrition for livestock. Regional evaluation is needed to determine if they are productive and able to persist in drier areas (<400 mm annual rainfall) and on Mallee soil types common to the mixed farming zone of southern Australia.

The Dryland Legume Pasture Systems project will both develop and evaluate a range of pasture legumes together with innovative establishment techniques, measure their downstream benefits to animal and crop production and promote their adoption on mixed farms.

In southern Australian mixed farming systems, there are many opportunities for pasture improvement, providing positive impacts to both cropping and livestock systems. Dryland legume pastures are necessary in low to medium rainfall zones to support productive and healthy livestock, along with optimal production in crops following these pastures. The majority of pasture species used in these mixed farming systems are short-lived annuals that complete their lifecycle from winter to early summer, with dry seasonal conditions resulting in a shorter growth window between germination and senescence. This is a major issue for livestock producers in these regions due to unreliable rainfall patterns leading to fluctuating legume growth, and the subsequent impact on feed supply and quality for grazing animals.

Innovative and improved legume species and pasture systems have the potential to fill existing nutrient gaps, thus reducing supplementary feed required for optimum ruminant performance, and maintain or improve livestock productivity through growth rates, fertility or product quality.

The Dryland Legume Pasture Systems (DLPS) project aims to boost profit and reduce risk in medium and low rainfall areas by developing recently discovered pasture legumes together with innovative management techniques that benefit animal and crop production and farm logistics. A theme of the DLPS project involves ‘Quantifying the benefits of novel legume pastures to livestock production systems’ and aims to maximise the advantages that pastures provide to livestock through increased animal growth and reproduction by extending the period of quality feed and reduced supplementary feeding. The animal systems research within the project will also assess areas of understanding anti-nutritional factors and ‘duty of care’ for new pasture species, providing opportunities for improved weed management and evaluate the main benefits of novel self-regenerating pasture legumes in crop rotations on animal production, health and welfare.

This theme is a component of a five year Rural R&D for Profit funded project supported by GRDC, MLA and AWI; and involving Murdoch University, CSIRO, SARDI, Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development; Charles Sturt University and grower groups.

A five-year grazing system trial was established at the Minnipa Agricultural Centre (MAC) in 2018 to examine this theme and is the main livestock field site for the DLPS trial in the southern region of Australia.

Investigating the dry matter accumulation and timing of a range of pasture species and mixes and comparing them to the dry matter produced by crops that are grown to be grazed before being shut up for grain production or cut for hay from silage.

Looking at different strategies to try and improve water use efficiency in mixed cropping and livestock enterprises across the South East region

This project aimed to provide support to landholders in the north­eastern area of the EP to address bare areas with repeated soil erosion events. This was done by providing funding to trial a range of practices to increase soil cover and providing technical support to deliver and evaluate these practices. 

To quantify the level and effects of sub-clover root disease in pastures across the south-east region of South Australia. It aims to understand the production and economic impact of root disease and, through the evaluation of chemical and cultural control methods, establish cost-effective solutions to manage these diseases.

To investigate whether higher fertiliser rates profitably produced greater amounts of better quality pasture than when district average fertiliser rates are used.

To investigate the different responses on pasture growth to triple, single and gold phosphorus fertiliser application.

• To investigate the different responses on pasture growth to triple, single and gold phosphorus fertiliser application.

• To investigate the potential use of ProGibb SG as a growth promoting agent.

To understand how a range of pasture types combine to form a whole farm feed supply.

To understand how a range of pasture types combine to form a whole farm feed supply.

To understand how a range of pasture types combine to form a whole farm feed supply.

To understand how a range of pasture types combine to form a whole farm feed supply

To understand how a range of pasture types combine to form a whole farm feed supply.

To understand how a range of pasture types combine to form a whole farm feed supply.

To understand how a range of pasture types combine to form a whole farm feed supply.

To report on the combined use of sophisticated biophysical models such as Grass Gro with localised rainfall, temperature and carbon dioxide levels predicted from various climate models out to 2030. 

To help farmers wanting help in managing the ups and downs, the dry and the wet.

To develop high water-use farming systems that integrate crops with perennial pastures.

To promote the sowing of persistent perennial grasses on Kangaroo Island properties to:
• improve ground cover in late summer, autumn and winter, and to
• increase pasture water use to minimize soil acidification and salinisation.

• To conduct pasture trials and assess for plant density, plant size/vigor and basal cover.

• To investigate perennial pasture for Kangaroo Island.

To evaluate adaptive farm systems using a case study farm and then to develop simple approaches which farmers can use to help their decision making, especially in the fact of continuing uncertain seasons and profit margins.

• To look at the effectiveness of placing lime at depth.

To report on outcomes of the Upper North Water Use Efficiency Project.

To explore whether the nitrogen (N) benefits to subsequent cereals from the break crops, and savings from weed control, could offset the loss of income from break crops in the longer term. 

To compare high, nedium and low seeding rates, species selection and paddock preparation and tehir effect on longer term productivity of the pasture stand.  

To compare the tolerance of legume and canola varieties to a range of herbicides and timings.

To compare the tolerance of legume and canola varieties to a range of herbicides and timings.

To compare the tolerance of legume and canola varieties to a range of herbicides and timings.

To compare the tolerance of legume and canola varieties to a range of herbicides and timings.

To compare the tolerance of legume and canola varieties to a range of herbicides and timings.

To compare the tolerance of legume and canola varieties to a range of herbicides and timings.

To compare the tolerance of legume and canola varieties to a range of herbicides and timings.

To compare the tolerance of legumes and canola varieties to a range of herbicides and timings.