trials

To improve soil health and nitrogen availability through soil amendments and deep ripping

• To investigate soil acidity in Kangaroo Island soils.

• To test a new product on the market - liquid lime - which is being advertised as being faster and more effective than bulk lime.

To look at grinding our local limesands to see if it made them more effective.

To demonstrate the effectiveness of liquid surfactants and related application methods at seeding on crop performance on non-wetting soils with differing stubble loads and types in the Albany, Esperance and Kwinana West port zones.

To test the impact of adding gypsum, lime or fertilisers to the subsoil.

The mapping of soil pH and nutrients across a paddock enables landholders to accurately determine application rates of lime and fertiliser. This can reduce the need for blanket applications, which are both time-consuming and expensive.

To determine the effectiveness and economics of gypsum in remediation of high Mg/Ca ratio soils.

 The aim of these experiments is to examine how tillage intensity influences allocation and stabilisation (storage) of newly assimilated C in canola crop-soil and wheat crop-soil systems at Wagga Wagga and Condobolin.
 

To investigate the effects of different soil ameliorants at different rates on sodic soils.

The aim of this study was to examine the impact of long-term farming practices on SOM decomposition and N, P and S net release in soil, thus evaluating the nutrient supply value of SOM in grain cropping systems.

1. Manage subsoil acidity through innovative amelioration methods that will increase productivity, profitability and sustainability

2. Study soil processes, such as the changes in soil chemical, physical and biological properties under vigorous soil amelioration techniques over the longer term.
 

To investigate the impact of deep ripping and soil amelioration on sodic subsoils

To report on the Forbes soil amelioration trials.

To report on a long-term soil amelioration trial established at the Gunning Gap CWFS regional site.

To demonstrate the long term production and associated economic benefits from ameliorating soil sodicity.

To demonstrate the production and associated economic benefits from ameliorating soil sodicity over the long term.

To demonstrate the production and associated economic benefits from ameliorating soil acidity over the long term.

A three year deep ripping experiment was conducted on a highly acidic soil to test how effective a range of inorganic soil amendments were to ameliorate subsoil acidity and improve crop growth and yield. A novel product, MgSi (a blend of 70% Doonba dunite and 30% F70 superfine lime), was tested in the field for the first time.

A range of organic amendments have been tested to assess their effectiveness on ameliorating soil acidity in the field. The crop yield was monitored over three years from 2018 to 2020.

To measure the impacts on wheat and canola of brown manure peas. Focus on N usage, moisture conservation, weed control and yield.

To measure the impacts of brown manure peas on nitrogen fixation, moisture conservation, weed control and yield compared to a traditional long fallow system.

This project explored the extent to which various crop and pasture management options effected changes in SOC, from sub-tropical to temperate environments. 

This paper reports 2019 results from a subsoil amelioration experiment aimed at minimising the yield gap on sodic subsoils by treating them with various organic and inorganic amendments in pelletised form

This current experiment investigated the potential of using farm grown crop residues as ameliorants for alkaline dispersive subsoils in the medium rainfall region of southern NSW.

This report presents the results of a national field survey of herbicide residues in 40 cropping soils before sowing and pre-emergent herbicide application in 2015. It looks at the relevance of these residues to soil biological processes and crop health with a focus on those herbicides most frequently detected. 

To investigate the impact of variable rate lime applications on dry matter production and yields after assessment with PA technologies.

To measure the variation in dry matter production, nitrogen fixation, moisture conservation and grain yield as a result of sowing date, legume species and variety.

To report on the nutritional status of wheat at three sites where lime was applied at a range of rates in either 1982 or 1983 and again in 1996.

To investigate the impact of long term controlled traffic.

To investigate the potential of using a modified delving operation, which rips the clay and allows topsoil/gravel to fall back into the clay slot, to create a subsurface drainage line through the clay and reduce waterlogging.

To investigate effects of soil amelioration methods on subsoil constraints and the benefots to grain yields in the Mid-North of SA.

To produce an Endnote-generated txt file database of research on trace elements in cropping systems of south eastern Australia.

To assess the effectiveness of a range of soil ameliorants.

To investigate amelioration options for sands that have low water holding capacity, low organic matter, low nutrient availability, compaction, non wetting and high risk for wind erosion.

This project aims to establish field sites which demonstrate amelioration techniques that growers can use to address the specific sandy soil constraints for their local landscape type and where in the landscape different tactics are best deployed.  

This project aims to establish field sites which demonstrate amelioration techniques that growers can use to address the specific sandy soil constraints for their local landscape type and where in the landscape different tactics are best deployed.  

There are a range of machinery options that can provide different levels of lime incorporation such as spading. However, research to date on rotary spaders has shown soil/amendment mixing is not uniform due to the cyclical process, and the mixing quality reduces significantly at faster speed (Ucgul et al. 2019). This trial aimed to understand how the uniformity of soil-lime mixing by spading affected crop response and soil pH. 

To assess changes in crop productivity as a result of overcoming the chemical, physical and biological constraints of a sandy soil at Cadgee.
 

• To monitor changes in soil pH under farmland on Kangaroo Island.

• To determine if precision ag tools can improve the efficiency of soil amelioration as well as assess the effectiveness of amelioration techniques.
• To compare delving, spading and gypsum to improve sodic and bleached soils.

To investigate potential long term negative effects on crop yield of interactions between clay spreading or delving with subsoil nutrition (micronutrients).

To investigate yield responses to subsoil amelioration treatments.

The Upper North Farming systems group is involved in several Carbon Farming projects, which are trying to identify areas which have the greatest potential for soil carbon sequestration or reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.

To answer the question: can you affod to lime?

To investigate a new product on the market - liquid lime- that is being advertised as being faster and more effective than bulk lime.

To test the concept of spreading sand on transient salinity “magnesia” patches to see if could be equally effective in improving the performance of heavy soils.

To test the impact of adding gypsum, lime or fertilisers to the subsoil of a profile typical for the Vivonne Bay environment but in a situation which usually gets very wet, and is designed to run for at least two years.

To see if disease suppression can be stimulated by increasing organic matter (i.e. carbon) inputs into farming systems under local conditions.