All posts by LandWISE Admin

Plant Health, Projects, Research

Understanding Biology and Biofertilisers

Leave a comment

Smart Biology – Trial on your own Farm

MerfieldCharles Merfield

Future Farming Centre

There has been a phenomenal growth of biostimulants and biological fertilisers. A wide range of claims are made for these products and it can be hard for farmers and growers to tell fact from fiction.  Unfortunately, there is no rule of thumb or other simple way to separate good from bogus products: the only way is to do experimental trials.

The good news is that you don’t need lots of expensive research equipment for such experiments – the best place to do them is on your crops, your pasture and your stock.  This is because in many cases, the effects of the products are highly climate, soil, plant and animal specific – what works on one farm may not work on others.

The answers you get will also have the highest level of applicability to your business.  This is also why you should be wary of experimental results that weren’t done on a production system similar to your own property – they may be meaningless to your property.

Conducting your own experiments is also not that difficult.  There are some key things to get right including: treatments; a null control; the right duration; make sure it’s randomised and replicated, and measure what matters.

While there is a bit to learn to get such experiments right, it is not rocket science, and when you do your own experiments you can also discover a lot more about your farming and growing systems which can help you run your business better plus it puts more power in your hands.

For more information, see the on-line FFC Bulletin article or download as a pdf.

Agronomy, AgTech, Nutrients, Plant Health, Precision Agriculture, Projects, Research

On-Farm Fertiliser Applicator Calibration

Leave a comment

Guidance for farmers – check performance of fertiliser spreading

DanBloomer200

Dan Bloomer
LandWISE

Fertiliser application calibration procedures suitable for farmers applying nutrients with their own equipment have been developed.  Guidelines and a web-based calculator (see www.fertspread.nz) support on-farm checks to ensure and demonstrate application equipment is performing to expectations.

Farmers and agronomists had noticed striping in crops, especially when spreading bout widths increased to match wide sprayer bouts. Visible striping is indicative of very significant non-uniform distribution and yield loss.

A calibration check includes assessment and correcting of both application rate (kg/ha) and uniformity (CV). Farmers indicate determining the rate is reasonably easy and commonly done. Very few report completing any form of uniformity assessment.

FertSpread calculates uniformity from data from a single pass and mathematically applies overlap using both to and fro and round and round driving patterns. Test spread-pattern checks performed to date show there is a need for wider testing by farmers. Unacceptable CVs and incorrect application rates are the norm.

Fertiliser applicator manufacturers provide guidelines to calibrate equipment and some newer machines automatically adjust to correct distribution pattern based on product properties and comparing a test catch with “factory” test data.

The efficiency of catch trays is called into question. While we believe the collection tray data is acceptable to assess evenness of application, the application rate should be determined by direct measurement of weight applied to determined area.  Weighing samples involves very small quantities so scales weighing to 0.01g are required. Satisfactory options are readily available at reasonable price.

An alternative approach uses small measuring cylinders or syringe bodies to compare applied volumes. While not able to assess alternative driving patterns, this can give a direct and very visual immediate view of performance.

The Sustainable Farming Fund “On-Farm Fertiliser Applicator Calibration” project arose from repeated requests by farmers for a quick and simple way to check performance of fertiliser spreading by themselves or contractors. It was co-funded by the Foundation for Arable Research and the Fertiliser Association.

Drainage, Irrigation, Nutrients, Water

Rootzone reality – measuring nutrient losses

Leave a comment

Drainage fluxmeters in commercial fields across the regions

P Johnstone, M Norris, S Green, G Clemens, C van den Dijssel, P Wright, G Clark & S Thomas
Plant & Food Research

Minimising nutrient losses from cropping systems makes good financial sense. It also minimises any adverse impacts on our waterways, which is increasingly important in many regions as new national water policy requirements are implemented.

A common theme in many regions is the requirement that growers should, as a minimum, be managing nutrients according to agreed good management practices. However, there is relatively little long-term measurement of how good management practices throughout New Zealand impact losses of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) from cropping paddocks.

To help fill this gap a network of permanent drainage fluxmeters has been established in commercial fields in the Canterbury, Manawatu, Hawke’s Bay, Waikato and Auckland regions over the last 18 months. There are a total of 12 sites in the network, covering a broad range of cropping systems, soil types, climatic conditions and management practices.

At each site fluxmeters have been installed at a depth of 1 m.  Any water from rainfall or irrigation events that drains to 1 m is captured by the fluxmeters. It is then pumped to the surface and analysed for nutrient concentrations. Net losses can be estimated by combining these measured concentrations and measured drainage volumes.

Preliminary results from the network have highlighted a wide range in N and P losses in drainage water. Many of the losses have been comparatively low to date, evidence that economic and environmental risks can be successfully balanced through the integration of good management practices.

Where high losses have been observed this has resulted from large drainage losses and high nutrient concentrations in the drainage water.

Importantly, this is a long-term initiative and the value of the information from the network will increase over time as growers and regional authorities consider long-term trends.

Agronomy, AgTech, Irrigation, Precision Agriculture, Sensing, Soil

Farmers getting value from soil EM maps

Leave a comment

Chris SmithChris Smith
AgriOptics NZ Ltd

An electromagnetic (EM) soil conductivity Survey maps the variability in soils characteristics; these values are strongly influenced by many factors but mainly soil texture, soil moisture at the time of the survey as well as bulk density and salinity.

Combining this data with topography data collected at the time of the survey gives the farmer a powerful management tool for creating management zones for various aspects of his business, including amongst other things; managing water, zonal soil sampling, improving yield and pasture performance where soil characteristics are the limiting factors, managing inputs to targeted placement, highlighting and reducing the environmental impacts or risks.

AgriOptics has been conducting EM surveys since 2011, with various clients and in many differing scenarios and enterprises, covering over 20,000ha in that time.

This presentation explained what an EM survey is and what information the farmer receives from the service and how the different layers of data from that survey are being utilised by farmers in the South Island with both its direct and indirect uses, and how that translates into a dollar value to those clients.  Examples of both dairy and arable farmers each with not only common goals but their own specific issues and requirements were given.

Plant Health, Precision Agriculture

Increasing on-farm productivity and sustainability through Precision Agriculture

Leave a comment

John McPhee
Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture, Burnie

A project involving an industry representative group, the private sector, Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture and collaborating growers aims to facilitate uptake of PA technologies, with a focus on the vegetable industry.  Through the use of six commercial farm case study sites spread across a range of soil types and cropping enterprises, the project aims to:

  • raise awareness and increase knowledge of PA to aid adoption
  • identify and raise awareness of on-farm variability of soils and crops
  • provide advice regarding variable crop management and application of inputs
  • share experiences and develop networks

Project activities in the first year have focused on:

  • accumulating pre-existing data layers (primarily EM38 and elevation derived layers) and mapping case study sites for soil pH
  • collecting NDVI imagery for use as a scouting tool to aid crop management
  • sample harvests to determine the variability of crop yield and quality in a range of crops
  • planning and holding a PA Expo, allowing service providers and technology dealers to promote their products to the agricultural community

A major limitation at this stage is the relative lack of access to yield monitoring equipment for most vegetable harvesters.

In the first season of field work, harvest samples have been collected from accurately surveyed points in crops at densities ranging from 1 – 5 per ha.  Data from these harvest samples show that the variation in crop yields ranged from 2.2 fold in the best case (poppies) to nine fold in the worst case (processing potatoes).  Data will be analysed to determine correlations between crop yield and quality and underlying characteristics derived from map layers (e.g. EM38).

All sample points are located with RTK accuracy to allow inter-season sampling from the same locations (either manually or with yield monitors as they become more available) to determine if yield responses are consistent between seasons and crops.

Plant Health, Planting

Investigating variability in potatoes

Leave a comment

Sarah SintonSarah Sinton
Plant and Food Research

Final potato crop yield is a sum of its parts; each individual plant contributes to it. Should some of these individuals perform below potential, overall yield will be reduced accordingly. Yield variation within a crop is caused by biotic and abiotic factors, which could range from the wholesale effect of soil compaction restricting root growth across the entire field or be an outbreak of patches of disease causing the early death of individual stems or plants.

Nationally, potato yields average 55- 60 t/ha, which are not economically sustaining for many growers, and well below the 80-90 t/ha potential yields predicted by crop models. This was confirmed in a Canterbury survey of 11 process crops in the 2012-13 season where the crops had different histories, management and cultivars. All crops had a similar overall rate of yield reduction, largely caused by soil borne disease and soil physical constraints.

The survey showed that individual groups of healthy plants in a crop did achieve up to 90 t/ha (Fig. 1).   However some groups of plants yielded as little as 30 t/ha, due to Spongospora and Rhizoctonia infection, soil compaction and/or inferior seed quality.

Figure 1 Final yields from groups of individual plants that were: both healthy and growing in compaction-free soils (yellow bar); had soil compaction together with Spongospora (root galls); had severe Rhizoctonia stem canker; had both diseases and were growing in compacted soils
Figure 1 Final yields from groups of individual plants that were: both healthy and growing in compaction-free soils (yellow bar); had soil compaction together with Spongospora (root galls); had severe Rhizoctonia stem canker; had both diseases and were growing in compacted soils

Last year, an intensive study of three Canterbury crops showed that some areas of the crops reached potential and that others were limited by soil borne disease infection and water supply.

A field experiment at Lincoln is currently investigating how bed shape, subsoiling and irrigation regime are affecting crop production, and future work will look at how improvements to seed tuber production could reduce yield variability.

Drainage, Irrigation, Precision Agriculture, Soil

Precision Agriculture in Tasmania

Leave a comment

Where are we getting value?

RobbieToleRob Tole, Farmer
Greenvale Pastoral, Tasmania

Rob and his wife, Eliza, are now the fourth generation farming Greenvale, which was traditionally, a 100% dryland, prime lamb operation. It is now a diversified farming business with an extensive cropping program and a small breeding flock of crossbred ewes which are run alongside a lamb trading operation.

The farm has a long term average rainfall of 680mm and is now 60% covered with fixed pivot irrigators, reducing the risks of dry seasons. Soil types range from very heavy black canola running up to lighter sandy loams.

Over recent years, extensive development work has been put into practice.  Technology has been implemented into the farming system to gain efficiencies in production and labour, such as livestock handling equipment, variable rate irrigation, Fieldnet, RTK guidance NDVI images underground drainage and grid soil mapping.

The introduction of PA has been implemented over a decade but in recent years the adoption of VRI and NDVI has taken this to a new level. It dramatically altered the way we view our crop management and has opened up many opportunities to increase production but at the same time reduce inputs

The operation now has a well-balanced irrigation system complementing the cropping and lamb production, allowing turn off lambs all year round.

Precision Agriculture

Variable rate technology – a collective approach

Leave a comment

Variable rate technology in vegetables – a collective approach

Ben Moore

DJM Farming, Fassifern Valley, Kalbar, Queensland

Ben Moore is part of a small family mixed cropping operation (vegetables, grains and fodder) situated in the Fassifern Valley, approximately 90km south west of Brisbane, Queensland.

Ben is a member of a small local vegetable grower group that has been working towards the implementation of precision technologies, in particular variable rate technology for the past 2 years. This group has been involved in a larger project exploring the value that precision agriculture technologies provide to vegetable systems.

The group has been able to purchase a range of technologies that are shared by group members.  This includes crop biomass sensors, yield monitors and variable rate equipment.  Through the application of these technologies DJM Farming has gained more detailed understanding of the variability within their farming operation.

The range of precision technologies they now have access to has provided them with multiple data layers to assess spatial variability, develop strategies to manage it and obtain cost benefit data to assess the value of any intervention.

The presentation provided some background on the members of the vegetable grower group as well as some detail about DJM Farming’s journey to implement precision and variable rate technologies.

Agronomy, AgTech

Precision in Queensland Vegetables

Leave a comment

Lessons in frustration, improvisation and unexpected outcomes

Ian LaydenIan Layden
Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, Queensland

It’s widely promoted that precision agriculture (PA) has the potential to offer producers a myriad of exciting opportunities for improving crop performance and ideally profits. However, the reality seems to suggest that in order to unlock any significant benefits a lot of work and importantly knowledge generation will be required.

Arguably, progressing PA in vegetable systems will require producers, consultants and R&D providers to accept technology and systems that aren’t fit-for-purpose and the numerous obstacles that exist in terms of equipment compatibility, data processing and management, service and support and whether the return-on-investment (ROI) outweighs the costs.

Despite the numerous reasons not to invest and adopt PA practices, vegetable producers and agronomists have achieved a number of essential adoption milestones, though typically this hasn’t been easy or straightforward.

Recent work in Queensland suggests that the adoption of advanced PA technologies and practices (e.g. crop sensing, yield monitoring, soil mapping and variable rate applications) is occurring, though often the process and outcomes are either unintended or unexpected. This work also indicates that diverse relationships and delivery methodologies may be required if industry wide adoption of PA is to occur.

This presentation used examples from the process of optimisation and validation of PA in vegetable systems in Queensland including producer and consultant survey data. The presentation also used examples from outside agriculture to illustrate that through experiencing difficulties and failures actually may improve the adoption process. This has implications for producers, consultants, investors, program managers and policy developers.

AgTech, Precision Agriculture, Research, Sensing

Turning precision data into knowledge for vegetable systems

Leave a comment

JulieOHalloran1Julie O’Halloran

 Senior Development Horticulturist, Horticulture and Forestry Science Agri-Science Queensland, Department of Agriculture and Fisheries

Queensland vegetable growers and the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries have been collaborating to adapt precision agriculture technologies into vegetable systems for the last two years.  This work has focused on 3 key areas: assessing spatial variability, implementing variable rate technologies and yield monitoring.  Significant spatial variability has been successfully identified in Queensland vegetable systems using a range of crop sensing technologies (e.g Satellite, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and tractor mounted Greenseeker®).

Ground truthing the underlying causal factors of this variability has proven critical to enable informed decision making to manage block uniformity. These ground truthing activities have focused on EM38 soil mapping to understand any inherent soil variability, mapping of cut and fill areas, crop sensing imagery, strategic soil sampling programs and monitoring pest, diseases, irrigation and drainage.

While within block biomass and yield variability can be inferred from crop sensing data, it is ideal to measure yield itself.  The measurement of yield variability is currently being trialed in carrot, sweet potato and potato production in Queensland using retrofitted load-cell based, geo-referenced yield monitors.  Primarily, this provides growers with a quantitative data set of the spatial and temporal nature of yield variances and the cost of lost yield potential.

Additionally, it allows growers to cost benefit analyses of potential management interventions to improve under performing areas and make decisions as to whether these are likely to be cost effective.  This presentation will highlight the undertake outcomes from a range of variable rate applications and how multiple data layers can be used to manage crops to address spatial variability.