2016 trials

To provide growers and advisers with a better understanding of the benefits of deep ripping and in particular depth of deep ripping required to optimise crop yield and profit.

To report on the 2016/17 Agriculture Kangaroo Island (AgKI) funding supported through Natural Resources Kangaroo Island and PIRSA to assist landholders to undertake soil testing on their properties and provide interpretation of soil test results.

To assess the effect of sulphur on tiller numbers, grain yield and quality when combined with in-crop nitrogen.

This was the second year of a three-year trial, funded by the South Australian Grains Industry Trust (SAGIT), to evaluate the nitrogen fixation capabilities of various legume species commonly grown on Kangaroo Island.

In this second year, the trial was set up to answer the following questions:

• Which of the four legume species had fixed the most nitrogen (N) in the 2016 season?
• How much N did these legume crops fix?
• How much of the N fixed by the legume was utilised by the following crop? Concurrently, how much N was lost through leaching or denitrification?

The aim of this trial was to to compare commercial faba bean rhizobia inoculant with new acid tolerant strains from SARDI and the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD), WA.

To assess the impact of deep ripping on crop yield in a gravelly loam soil type near Muradup, WA.

To assess the impact of deep ripping on barley and canola yield on sand over gravel and deep sand soil types in the South Stirling area of WA.

To assess the yield response in barley, canola and lupins to deep ripping over a three year period (2015 – 2017) near Broomehill, WA.

To assess the yield response in barley, canola and lupins to deep ripping over a three year period (2015 – 2017) near Broomehill, WA.

To assess the yield response to deep ripping depth on a productive sand plain near Kojaneerup, WA.

Soil compaction affects soil aeration and gas diffusivity, and thus has a major impact on the release of greenhouse gases (GHGs) from fertilised soils. Controlled traffic farming (CTF) systems reduce the area of compacted soil by confining all field traffic to permanent traffic lanes, and a pilot trial at one long-term CTF site provided evidence of reduced soil emissions. We investigated the effect of CTF on soil emissions of nitrous oxide (N2O) and methane (CH4) using replicate manual chamber measurements in 3 traffic treatments;namely:non-trafficked CTF beds, permanent CTF lanes,and a single traffic pass on CTF beds to simulate the random traffic tracks of non-controlled traffic farming. Emissions of N2O and CH 4 were monitored from these treatments in 15 crops over 3 years on 6 grain farms in Queensland, Victoria and Western Australia.

Thus, the major objective was to determine the emissions of N2O and CH4 from random trafficked and permanent traffic lane soil, relative to those from non-trafficked CTF beds. These emission ratios are referred to here as traffic impact factors.
 

To determine the amount and availability of N from wheat stubble under varying stubble management practices over three cropping seasons.

To assess the response of six barley varieties treated with five different N rates at sowing.

To compare the performance of new and existing barley varieties and the influence of sowing time
on crop performance.

To evaluate how new and existing wheat and barley varieties respond to grazing and post-grazing nitrogen (N) application rates.

To compare the yield and grain quality of barley varieties when harvest is delayed.

To measure effect of gibberellic acid application and grazing timings on the biomass production and feed quality of oats.

• To compare the competitiveness of new and existing barley varieties in the presence and absence of weeds.
• To increase the competitiveness of a non-competitive variety through sowing time and nitrogen applications in the presence of weeds.

To determine the effect that nitrogen applied to a barley crop that ‘hayed off’ has on wheat sown in the subsequent season.

To determine if sowing direction and row spacing can be used to reduce grass weed populations, growth and seed set, and their impact on crop performance in the Mallee.

To determine how long statice persists in the seedbank and to investigate the effect of crop and fallow rotations on statice control.

To investigate the influence of stubble management and rate on the duration, severity and frost damage in frost prone parts of the landscape in the Mallee and Wimmera regions.

To determine the effect of stubble type (wheat, peas and canola) and load (from Decile 2, 5 and 8
seasons) on subsequent soil and crop nutrition.

To evaluate the early biomass production, hay and grain yield of oat varieties, as well as their response to a herbicide strategy, in the southern Mallee and Wimmera.

To evaluate the early biomass production, hay and grain yield of oat varieties, as well as their response to a herbicide strategy, in the southern Mallee and Wimmera.

To compare the performance on new and current wheat cultivars in the Wimmera and Mallee, managed to maximise yield and to investigate performance at different sowing times.

To inform members about airborne imagery: the taking of photographs of the ground and crops from a direct-down position. Platforms for airborne imagery for agriculture include satellites, fixed-wing aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs or “drones”).

To study the interaction of cereal type and variety and seeding rate on crop yield and grass suppression on a known weedy site.

To investigate the impact that stubble treatments (burning, cultivation, harrowed/flattened or standing stubble) imposed towards the end of the fallow have on the yield of winter crops.

To evaluate the influence of the seed treatment Rancona.

To identify any possible impacts on crop growth in controlled traffic systems where the header residue maybe inconsistently spread back across the tram track width over a number of seasons.

To evaluate the productivity and profitability of no-till farming techniques against conventional farming
methods under various cropping rotations.

To examine two main management options to deal with high stubble loads (≥5t/ha) in 2017, and incorporates many of the main findings from the stubble initiative to date.

To describe a method for resolving fPV, fNPV and fBS across the ~2 million km2 Australian tropical savanna
zonewith hyperspectral and multispectral imagery.

To identify and retest historic pH monitoring sites from previous publicly funded projects.

To determine if sowing direction and row spacing can be used to reduce grass weed populations, growth and seed set, and their impact on crop performance in the Mallee.

To provide information about understanding maps.

To investigate the impact that two different harvest weed seed control (HWSC) methods – narrow windrowing of header trash and the Esperance Mobile Ag Repairs (EMAR) chaff deck – have on reducing the weed burden in the following crop.

To inform readers about weed sensing: the use of a machine or instrument to detect a weed; a plant that shouldn’t be there

To compare the performance of potential wheat and barley varieties with existing varieties commonly
grown in SNSW under local conditions.

• Investigate the best practice foliar fungicide management for barley on barley rotations and STNB control in barley cv. Scope.
• Better understand the interactions of STNB, stubble and fungicides on the impact of disease, yield and profitability of barley on barley rotations.
• Investigate if higher levels of STNB are associated with head loss pre-harvest.

This project aims to evaluate if there is any difference in deriving management zones from soil or production spatial information and in what situations each of these layers may be useful to help maximise grower investment in PA technologies.

The aim of this project is for the Corrigin Farm Improvement Group (CFIG) to identify the best method to increase soil and crop performance in non-wetting soils in the Corrigin area.

This project was funded through the Wheatbelt NRM Sustainable Agriculture Trials and Demonstrations Project during the 2016 season.

This demonstration compared how differing tillage practices, soil wetter applications and seeding depths affected the yield on non-wetting soils.

The aim of this project is for the Corrigin Farm Improvement Group (CFIG) to compare the profitability of a range of crop rotations, including chemical fallowing, on a medium textured, loamy soil type east of Corrigin. Gross returns are assessed both on an annual basis and on an accumulative multi-year basis.

This project was designed to test the relative benefit of chemical fallow with a range of different crop types. The trial compared different crop types on chemical fallow with the aim to identify which crop is likely to produce the highest return. The project also aims to investigate the profitability of different rotations over multiple years which include both chemical fallows and continuous crop.

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 evaluate options to manage risk in canola crops without yield penalty, such as:

• Delaying nitrogen inputs
• Optimising nitrogen inputs according to soil type and management history
• Optimising sowing date (while keeping canola at the very beginning of the sowing program)

To test the effect of DAP with wheat seed on establishment and to measure whether a difference in establishment was yield limiting.