Category Archives: Tillage

Agronomy, Controlled Traffic Systems, Precision Agriculture, Tillage

Where on Earth are we?

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2106-1 DSC_1332webTractors steer themselves. Self-positioning implements place seed, nutrients and cultivators exactly where they are wanted. Wheels stay on defined tracks leaving most of the paddock in optimum condition for plants to grow.

Detailed maps show soil varying within paddocks. Yield maps show different production in different parts of a paddock. Application maps record and prove where inputs were applied.

Animals are tracked and their movement patterns alert farmers to new births. Your stolen four-wheeler is recovered, the thieves tracked and location displayed on GoogleMaps.

Geo-location is the identification of the real-world geographic location of an object. Guided by GPS, we know where on earth we are. We become “spatially aware” and that is the basis of a revolution in agriculture.

Smart farmers depend on the precision of GPS and smart software, and are constantly find new ways to benefit. It leads to changed practice that captures efficiencies and optimises efforts. In the end, it makes things easier.

Self-steering tractors are far more accurate than any driver. They run exactly the same lines every time and free the operator to focus on more important tasks. “The money is made at the back of the tractor, so why spend all day looking out the front?”

As well as providing physical guidance, spatial awareness allows smart farmers to understand their farm in a new way, thinking about points not paddocks, aware of the differences. It lets farmers see how different things relate to one another. Where crop yields are above and below average and how that relates to soil variation. They can tune management to fit.

How accurate can we be, and what accuracy do we need? That depends on what you are trying to do.

Being a few metres out may be okay for some jobs: recording where you take soil nutrient samples, where a water trough is, a rough farm boundary. But for many farm applications, it isn’t good enough.

A good hand held GPS unit will get you within a few metres or so. This simple test demonstrates this:

· Put the GPS unit on a strainer post and record its position or way point

· Use the GPS to steer you back to the same way point later in the day or tomorrow

· See how close you are to the strainer post

You may a few metres out. And if you try again the next day, you’ll possibly be put somewhere different again.

For mechanical weeding, getting close to, but not into, a plant row is important. This requires GPS which reliably gets within centimetres. That entails a very good GPS receiver, and a correction signal using either RTK or CORS to fine-tune the accuracy of the position while the machine is moving.

This level of accuracy is only possible with automatic guidance. Most drivers using GPS for guidance steer within about one foot either side of the line. They can’t make use of a more accurate system because it is actually too hard to follow a guidance system any closer.

Two centimetre accuracy isn’t needed for broad-acre spraying or fertiliser spreading. But some opportunities are missed if a less accurate system is settled for.

When we are unsure of accuracy, we create deliberate overlap to ensure coverage, or create buffers to avoid causing damage.

When spraying, overlap represents overdose of chemical and can result in poor growth in current and following crops. Poor coverage represents under-application giving poor control or the possibility of increased herbicide resistance.

When cultivating, overlap wastes time and fuel, and means more damage to soil for no gain. The ability to return to exactly the same wheel tracks allows considerable energy savings too.

In the end, most cropping farmers want more accuracy and precision as they develop new ways of working with GPS. They all say – buy the most accurate system you can justify.

Agronomy, Controlled Traffic Systems, Precision Agriculture, Soil, Tillage

International Controlled Traffic Farming Conference – Queensland

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Very few farmers globally have converted fully to controlled traffic farming. So why did over 100 people from 13 countries gather in Toowoomba to talk about it?

“It offers huge benefits,” say farmers who are doing it.  “It offers huge benefits,” say researchers assessing its merits.

Who’s doing it? What benefits?

Few New Zealand farmers consider themselves to be CTF farmers. The system David Clark developed for maize in Gisborne is as pure CTF as any seen in Australia or reported in conference sessions. The system Chris Butler developed for salads and one being refined for onions and potatoes by Wilcox staff are also as advanced as any described at the conference.

PermBedsWeb

Permanent beds that leave wheel tracks unworked are a form of CTF for intensive vegetable production. They offer better access in wet conditions.

Many New Zealand arable and vegetable farmers are tramlining on a crop by crop or seasonal basis.

Controlled traffic farming (CTF) is any farming system built on keeping all wheel tracks to closely defined paths. This must take into account the interactions between farmers and their farms, soils, topography, crops, climate, equipment and technology.

Many studies have monitored a wide range of economic, biological and physical factors and seen positive gains. Numerous examples show very significant economic advantages from reduced costs and increased returns.

Significant savings in energy, labour and equipment operating costs were reported by all conference speakers. The relative spread and importance of savings varied. Labour savings are often more important in horticulture than in arable. Fuel saving in broadacre is relatively more beneficial than in intensive horticulture.

Soil quality improvements are well documented. CTF gives improved field access, higher soil strength and stability, deeper root exploration, increased water infiltration rates, increased water holding and nutrient access and elevated biological activity.

The farmers and researchers spoke of CTF as a system of farming, and noted that once traffic is managed, other benefits are found. They include enhanced irrigation, ability to establish crops more quickly and exploit smaller windows of opportunity and the ability to grow new crops.

Better field access allows more timely planting, field operations and harvest. These generally translate to better yields and crop quality and less frequent losses from adverse climatic events. No one reported significant yield depression.

The cost of conversion to CTF depends on the inventory of equipment on-farm. At first glance, the cost of transition can look prohibitive. But it need not be problematic if considered over a longer time period.

JD Axle extension Toowoomba Web

Axle extension for wide track CTF

Customising tractors and harvesters can be very expensive, but working with common standard widths is not. And under controlled traffic systems, a lot of equipment may become redundant.

Once optimum track and bout widths have been determined, a plan can be created. Few farmers will go out and replace all their equipment at once. But they can ensure new equipment purchased will fit the system that has been planned.

As several farmers stated, “Just get started, and think when you buy new gear. One day you’ll wake up and find it all just fits.”

Dan Bloomer was a presenter at the CTF Conference, on behalf of LandWISE members and New Zealand CTF farmers.

Agronomy, Soil, Tillage, Uncategorized

Learning Lessons Again

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This article first appeared in The GROWER magazine in 2012. We were getting more reports of cropping paddocks disappearing in the wind, something I regard as a disaster. With a comprehensive flood protection system in place stopping alluvial deposition, no ice age looming to create more loess and hopefully no more major volcanic eruptions donating ash, our local Heretaunga Plains soils are no longer replenished. Once gone, they are gone.

Learning Lessons Again

Do we really forget strong winds are a regular feature in Spring?

Clouds of soil need not be part of this picture. Why do we not plan, or plan not, to account for these winds? I admit to frustration – wind is normal!

Many New Zealand cropping soils are loess covered gravels. Loess is wind-blown silt, ground out of the ranges during the ice age, and exposed by retreated glaciers. Unless we have another ice age, we are not going to get much re‑nourishment.

Many others are volcanic ash – such as from Taupo. Unless we have another (really, really) major eruption, we’ll not get more of that either. So we need to look after what we have.

The very simple message on light soils is that is if you open them up, they can blow away. And blow away they have.

When first developed, horses were used to till land for pasture and cereals. The late soil scientist, Elwyn Griffiths, said that in some parts of the Ruataniwha Plains “about three feet” of soil was lost within a few decades.

Mechanisation replaced horses, powered implements created fine seed beds and wind erosion continued. In the mid-1990s severe erosion events were reported.

A local field rep said, “We lost over 50mm of soil this Spring. I know we did; we planted peas an inch deep, the wind blew and the pea seed bounced across the highway. We replanted and that lot blew away too. Then it was too late to grow peas so we planted sweetcorn instead. Even that got damage.”

In 1999 LandWISE set out to stop wind erosion.  Valuable knowledge about how to keep soil from drifting across the plains and out to sea was gained and disseminated.

Direct drilling or no-till stops wind erosion completely. So long as there is effective ground cover, the particles are retained.  No-till was good for grass and cereals, but less promising for process crops and squash.

LandWISE developed and proved strip-till techniques that allow for seed bed creation yet keep soil intact. With half to two-thirds of the ground still covered with thatch or residues, the soil avalanche can’t get started: strip-till stops wind erosion too.

The additional benefits are numerous: Better water holding capacity, better drainage, reduced fuel consumption, no sand-blasted young crops, less grit in your eye, a soil resource to pass on through the generations, time and energy savings, reducing costs and carbon footprint into the bargain.

Minimising tillage consistently proved viable and cost effective on light soils. It rapidly showed benefits on heavy soils too. The soils were stronger, better draining and generally in better condition. Machinery cost and fuel use were halved.

“It’s a no-brainer,” we said, and devoted several years to demonstrating the techniques, pitfalls and benefits.

Labour weekend 2012, thirteen years later, and across Hawke’s Bay we see clouds of topsoil leaving fully cultivated paddocks. The wind is taking away the richest part of the soil, removing nutrients and water holding capacity and damaging developing crops.

My frustration is amplified. One of these disappearing paddocks is the very one where all our work started. Others are paddocks where strip-till or no-till has been used very successfully in the past.

Why do we have to learn these lessons again and again?

Dan Bloomer, LandWISE

Agronomy, Soil, Tillage, Uncategorized, Water

Risk Management for Good Practice

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The future hasn’t happened yet. Today we make educated guesses and do something. Later, we’ll discover if our choices were good.

We use “good agricultural practice” even though it is no guarantee. What seems right today turns out not to be. Hindsight is easy. Its value is in building knowledge for foresight the next time around. Foresight is part gamble, but greatly enhanced with local knowledge, historical context and good advice.

Growers need to make a profit. And they are expected to keep people, property and the environment safe. This is central to good agricultural practice. With so much uncertainty about so many factors, and so many things to consider, getting it “right” is a big ask.

Good agricultural practice applies deliberate choices based on good information, acknowledging and accounting for unknowns. It weighs the likelihood and implications of possible events against potential costs and rewards. Much attention has been placed on the financial side, but increasingly the environmental aspects must be taken into account.

Implementing a formal risk management approach enhances good agricultural practice. Risk management involves identifying hazards, assessing associated risks and implementing interventions. Things will go wrong, but the frequency and consequence are reduced.

Hazards are things that can cause or lead to events with undesirable consequences. Heavy rain, frost, pests and market collapse are hazards.

Risk combines the likelihood of the event happening with the severity of consequence. There will be heavy rain events, but how often? They can destroy crops, leach nutrients, wash away soil and damage infrastructure. What are the immediate and on-going severe consequences? How much will they cost? What effect on waterways?

Interventions are actions that avoid, minimise or mitigate the event or consequence. The size of risk and effectiveness of intervention help determine the investment that is justified.

Good practice has always had an element of risk management. Making it explicit helps demonstrate that the potential impacts of adverse events have been considered and appropriate management applied.

Who should decide what good practice is? Should it be prescribed, or should farmers have choice?

We prefer to have choice. Every site on every farm is unique – yes, your soils are different! By assessing our own situation and making our own justified plans, we can get the best fit for site, fit for purpose good practice.

Creating a full risk management plan for every aspect of farming is a daunting task. The same process can be followed to manage any risk. But it will be harder if we are dealing with unfamiliar topics or are not sure of the possible problems and solutions. We want to make it easier.

As part of the “Holding it Together” project, we scoped a risk management process to address soil quality and loss. We saw resources to help farmers work efficiently through a robust process, identifying and quantifying hazards and risks, and sifting through potential interventions would be useful.

A book or website with checklists and supporting information would make things much easier. Imagine clicking on a “hazard” and seeing a list of risks and image sets showing relative severity and ideas on avoiding the impact. Follow the cues relating things to your farm. Click “Print” and your Good Practice Risk Management Plan is complete.

Dan Bloomer and Phillipa Page, LandWISE

Precision Agriculture, Soil, Tillage

My Soil is Different

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This article first appeared in The Grower in March 2012

 

“It won’t work here; our soils are different.” A common response to a new idea.

Two excellent events in Australia had me thinking, “Wow, their soils really are different!” But as to “It won’t work here,” that’s like saying you can’t cook carrot cake in a casserole dish. You can, if you are a bit adaptable. It is principles and processes we need to focus on.

The SPAA Precision Agriculture Expo was held in Port Lincoln in South Australia. The PrecisionAgriculture.com.au conference was in Maroochydore, Queensland. Both were characterised by excellent speakers, strong farmer representation, varied topics, and good industry support.

Speakers discussed nutrient tests we don’t use, plants we seldom grow, pests, diseases and weeds that remain thankfully foreign, and yields most New Zealand farmers would consider disastrous. They talked of soil electromagnetic sensors, pH sensors, biomass sensors, protein sensors, animal trackers and robots.  Of precision farming in Canada, Scotland, England, New Zealand, Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia.

At both events, the farm was the focus, the technologies merely tools to help manage better. Much, much better.

Some of their Australian soils must be among the most inhospitable places on earth for a plant: three inches of sand on a deep, highly saline and toxic sub-soil; heavy compacting clay on compacted clay with horrid pH levels. In our young landscape the soils are quite different indeed.

But for all that, the messages were strikingly familiar. In essence; know and look after your soil, monitor your crop, and apply inputs where they give the best returns.

After decades working their land, farmers know their soils very well.  From cultivating and observing patterns in crops they learn about areas that perform differently. Most can draw a pretty good “mud map” if asked. They know where their soil changes physically and use nutrient and pH tests to monitor fertility.

There are new tools to help understand variation, such as the EM38 soil electromagnetic sensor and Thorium sensors. Light sensors can pick up organic matter variation. With GPS the variability can be mapped accurately and we can make more detailed maps. But be cautious.

Sensors almost always measure something other than the thing you are interested in. They have been shown to “correlate well” – under certain conditions. But remember, your soils ARE different! The numbers a sensor provides are not necessarily true for you; the sensor needs to be calibrated to your site. And that goes for practically every sensor I know.

Sensors can be very good at identifying differences, and directing our attention to areas worthy of further investigation. EM maps certainly provide evidence of electrical difference. The numbers the sensor generates vary enormously depending on soil moisture, clay content, density and salinity. So the same number in two different parts of a field may be due to different combinations of any of these.

The maps tell us where to investigate further. The most important tool of all is a spade. Decide on a small number of management zones, sample them separately to understand the causes of variability.

Dan Bloomer, LandWISE

Drainage, Soil, Tillage, Water

Coping with Extreme Weather Events

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This article first appeared in The GROWER in February 2012

 

Growers suffered significant losses during recent heavy rain. We cannot handle the most extreme events without suffering losses. But we can do a lot to reduce impact and avoid damage from minor events.

Building resilience will help with adverse events and returning to normal operation once the event is over. Focus on soil and its ability to absorb, drain and hold together when large rain events occur. Soil must be protected and enhanced and suitable drainage designed and installed. Managing traffic, reducing cultivation and managing water movement are critical.

Water needs to be absorbed into the soil and allowed to drain through it. The amount absorbed depends on the soil’s infiltration rate and the time that water stays in one place. Well-structured soil has good porosity, which maximises infiltration and drainage.

Compaction means soil damage: soil is deformed forming solid layers with little or no porosity. Water cannot get through these layers fast enough, so builds up in the soil above, drowning plants and weakening soil aggregates.

The common solution is cultivation; ripping soil to break up wheel track compaction. This is expensive and self-defeating as cultivation further weakens the soil and makes future traffic even more damaging.

About 80% of all compaction happens with the first pass, so keep traffic off paddocks in the first place or keep it to defined “roads” as much as possible. Then there is little if any need to cultivate.

While we need to drive on paddocks to plant and harvest crops, we can control essential traffic and keep the rest away. LandWISE farmers have shown clearly that controlled traffic and permanent bed systems reduce equipment needs, save fuel and labour, reduce time to next crop and enhance soil quality. Win, win, win, win and win.

Water runs downhill. Even seemingly flat paddocks have high and low points. If the infiltration rate is too low, water runs to low spots where it ponds. Slowing water down with surface residues or by ground shaping keeps it in place long enough to soak in and avoid ponding and erosion.  Lots of micro-dams hold rain where it falls, and slow any rivulets that may form.

HortNZ’s SFF Holding it Together project showed the benefits of furrow dyking that slows water in wheel tracks, giving it time to soak in rather than pond in low areas. This reduces soil erosion and protects crops against flooding and drowning. To sport nuts: “stop, trap, control the ball”!

Once controlled, pass it in a timely fashion. Consider artificial drainage if the soil cannot drain fast enough. Mole and tile drains provide extra flow capacity through the soil. Open drains provide a controlled way to take water to a safe disposal point.

A number of innovative drainage options are available. Old ideas linked to new GPS and computer mapping have revolutionised tile laying, surface drainage planning and ground contouring. Each has its place.

Precision tile-laying maps paddocks with GPS. It automatically surveys elevations while the tractor drives along the next tile line, calculates the depths and grades required, and precisely controls tile laying depth. It is fast and cheap compared to old practices.

Surface drainage planning controls water movement across the surface. It aims to remove excess water safely before it waterlogs the soil, by ensuring a path without ponding areas. New technology allows very detailed surveys and planning, and results in minimal soil movement for optimum drainage.

In extreme cases, surface levelling changes the whole paddock contour, directing water to safe boundaries. Because it typically moves a large volume of soil it is expensive and can have a significant soil impact. But it has other advantages such as avoiding high, dry spots and ensuring even depth to water table.

We often think of water management as irrigation, especially in summer. But we must have our soils and drainage in good order at all times of the year.

Dan Bloomer – LandWISE

Drainage, Irrigation, Precision Agriculture, Soil, Tillage, Water

LandWISE NEWS June 2012

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Conference 2012

The 10th Annual Conference was our biggest gathering with over 160 attendees. We extend our thanks to the speakers, sponsors, trade supporters and delegates that made the event such a success. There were some important issues up for discussion by excellent speakers and we have received very positive feedback.

2012 saw our first Focus on Viticulture, an extra day dedicated to wine growing technologies. Keynote Rob Bramley started the conference and was well supported by the remaining speakers. Rob and Tim Neale both made a number of presentations over the three days, and we are very grateful for their high quality inputs.

The second day investigated implications of the National Policy Statement for Fresh Water Management. Thanks to Land and Water Forum Chair Alistair Bisley, HBRC CE Andrew Newman, LandWISE Chair Hugh Ritchie and the others who presented clear outlines of the concepts, process and possible future.

The field event at Hugh Ritchie’s farm was also extremely well received and we thank Hugh and the other presenters for their work setting everything up – a significant undertaking. The Anderson Road block was transformed into a precision farmer’s perfect sandpit for the day.

Live demonstrations of Trimble surface levelling and Keith Nicole’s GPS tile laying were of much interest. These drainage options were supported by Precision Irrigation’s variable rate irrigation fitted to the towable pivot on-site. and Hydro-Services showing soil moisture monitoring options including neutron probes and electronic sensors and telemetry from WaterForce.

New Board Members

Long term Board members, David Clark and Chris Butler, retired this year.

We have two new Board members, both from Pukekohe. Paul Munro from Peracto and Brent Wilcox from AS Wilcox were elected at the AGM.

Agronomy, Controlled Traffic Systems, Drainage, Irrigation, Precision Agriculture, Soil, Tillage, Uncategorized, Water

LandWISE News March 2012

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LandWISE 2012 – 10th Annual Conference May 2012

Put the 22, 23 and 24 May 2012 in your diary for the 10th Annual LandWISE Conference.

The title is Site Specific Management: growing within limits. We are looking at the changing requirements for farming, in particular the increasing need to demonstrate that farming has minimal environmental impact. Look for a focus on soil water management, irrigation, monitoring and drainage.

For the first time we also have a day focused on Smart Viticulture. This builds on current LandWISE work with local viticulturists investigating the benefits, costs and logistics of applying zonal management using precsion viticulture techniques.

  • People with viticulture interests will find Day 1 extremely useful. They will also see there are great presentations on the other days.
  • LandWISE traditionalists be assured; Days 2 and 3 follow the usual pattern. But do have a look at the Day 1 programme – you’ll find a lot there that can give you completely new ideas.

The draft programme and more details are available here http://www.landwise.org.nz/events/landwise2012/. This page will be updated as conference draws nearer, and you’ll receive direct messages too.

Conference registration is available on-line. As usual, discounted rates for members.

Conference Platinum Sponsor

We are very pleased to announce Eastern Institute of Technology as a new Platinum Sponsor for Conference 2012. There are strong cross-overs between an institute such as this and LandWISE with our focus on upskilling for the primary industry sectors.

EIT has a very strong viticulture and wine programme, and is also active in agriculture and horticulture in Hawke’s Bay and the East Coast/Tairawhiti.

Key Speakers

We are also delighted that Rob Bramley from CSIRO in Adelaide will be one of our key presenters. Rob is well known for his precision viticulture work, but is also very experienced in broadacre crops.

Tom Botterill from the Geospatial Research Centre at the University of Canterbury will talk about machine vision and robot pruning. More announcements coming soon . . .

 

Driverless Tractor

LandWISE Member Matt Flowerday from GPS-It sent a link to this site for a new driverless tractor.

A few of you have expressed interest in autonomous tractors – so with a favourable exchange rate and a $US 150,000 price tag, here’s your chance.

It’s interesting for a few reasons:

  • The 225 kW tractor can be controlled in real-time from a base station with a remote control device that can be up to 40 km away. The master base station can handle up to 16 operating tractors at one time.
  • Hew can couple units together for more power, like train locomotives
  • It uses twin laser unit called LIPS (Laser Imaging Position System) rather than GPS (we need to learn more about LIPS)
  • Power is diesel electric with a 15 to 25% better fuel economy than conventional systems

Australian Conferences

Dan attended the SPAA Precision Agriculture Australia Expo in Port Lincoln, South Australia and the precisionagriculture.com.au Conference in Maroochydor, Queensland in February.
Speakers discussed nutrient tests we don’t use, plants we seldom grow, pests, diseases and weeds that remain thankfully foreign, and yields most New Zealand farmers would consider disastrous. They talked of soil electromagnetic sensors, pH sensors, biomass sensors, protein sensors, animal trackers and robots. Of precision farming in Canada, Scotland, England, New Zealand, Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia.

The messages were strikingly familiar. In essence; know and look after your soil, monitor your crop, and apply inputs where they give the best returns.
At both events, the farm was the focus; the technologies merely tools to help manage better. Much, much better.

A couple of areas to watch:

  • UAV proliferation. There are more and more self-flying ‘toy’ planes and helicopters suited to crop inspection tasks. With increasingly light and quality cameras, and return to base GPS guidance they have great potential. There are a few issues yet with processing the data, and like all sensor things, ground trothing is still needed.
  • RFID Tags. The advances in electronic tagging have been very fast, and new applications are only now being realised. With new technologies, the range of some devices has become quite extraordinary, offering ability to track items or animals at increasing distances. Cheaply.

A Guide to Smart Farming

Our Guide to Smart Farming book has been the subject of tremendous acclaim from farmers, industry, researchers and teaching staff in New Zealand and overseas. Thanks for the feedback!

About 7,000 copies were printed, and we’ve only 300 left in stock, so that’s a lot that are out there and, from what we hear, being read.

Purchasing copies:

A Guide to Smart Farming was distributed free to people in the LandWISE Community. Extra copies are available through TradeMe at $29.90 plus post including GST. Search TradeMe guide smart farming and it will pop up.

See the Table of Contents here>

Agronomy, Controlled Traffic Systems, Drainage, Irrigation, Precision Agriculture, Soil, Tillage, Uncategorized, Water

Smart Farming the Game to be in

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This article first appeared in The GROWER magazine in December 2011

Dan Bloomer, LandWISE

A Guide to Smart Farming

“New Zealand has a unique ability to supply quality produce to a rapidly increasing global market,” says Hew Dalrymple. “But to do so sustainably requires new approaches to farming and new skills for those on the land.”

A book published in December contains a wealth of information that will help. A Guide to Smart Farming has case studies of farmers using new technologies, and expert articles explaining how the technologies work.

The book encapsulates learning which is the result of many years’ collaboration, especially between LandWISE, the Foundation for Arable Research, Horticulture New Zealand, and Plant & Food Research. At its core are Sustainable Farming fund projects, Advanced Cropping Systems and Holding it Together.

View the Table of Contents here>

Advanced Cropping Systems

Advanced Cropping Systems followed twelve farmers assessing precision farming technology. Perhaps not surprisingly, the focus for some shifted in the three years of the project.

FAR’s Tracey Wylie worked with Tim Macfarlane mapping weed infestations with a canopy sensor. Their weed map did not correlate very well with the weed problem, but a soil map did.  As Tracey and Tim say, “We need to take all the information we have into account, we can’t assume a single tool will tell us what we want to know.”

Travis and Nigel Sue fitted RTK-GPS and autosteer for their fresh vegetable operation. Now the rows are dead straight and perfectly spaced every time. They have labour and input savings, and no land is wasted. “We should have had it years ago,” they say.

A half-paddock trial of permanent beds for onions, potatoes and cereals at A.S Wilcox and Sons controlled traffic on the paddock and saved soil, oil and toil. Already expanded to 40ha, they are now focused on rolling the new system out across the business.

Hugh Ritchie wants easy data transfer between GPS devices and computer programmes to avoid double and triple data entry, avoid errors, and increase efficiency. Unfortunately a solution does not look imminent! Sjaak Wolfert is leading a major EU project on this topic. “This is a global problem. There is no single standard for data exchange in agriculture, and manufacturers are slow to use those that are available,” Sjaak says.

In partnership with Keith Nicoll, Hugh has made major advances with precision drainage installing plastic pipe with a gravel envelope. The equipment maps the paddock using RTK-GPS, calculates the drain gradients, and controls the laying machinery automatically, removing costs from the operation.

Holding it Together

Holding it Together focused on retaining soil and soil quality. Plant & Food scientist Paul Johnstone led the Fresh Vegetable Product Group, Potatoes New Zealand, LandWISE project. “There are many practical things we can do to look after this key resource,” he says.

Scott Lawson is one of several crop farmers using furrow dyking in their wheel tracks. “It is normal practice for us now,” he says. “We were getting crop loss after rain or irrigation when water ran along wheel tracks and drowned out crop. The furrow dyker keeps the water where it lands while it soaks in.”

Antonia Glaria worked with Paul on a range of cover crop options for fresh vegetable growers. They found maize could recapture lost nutrients including nitrogen. “We’ve studied maize in a number of situations,” says Paul. “It is a very deep rooted crop, and a great scavenger of nutrients. In some cases, all the nutrients needed can be obtained from deep in the soil – nutrients that would otherwise leach and cause problems down the track.”

“A Guide to Smart Farming is a great publication,” says Hew Dalrymple. “Every cropping farmer should get a copy and read it. It will help them maximise opportunities and make sure our land and water is in the best condition for the next generation.”

Orders

Copies of the book A Guide to Smart Farming are available from LandWISE for $NZ 29-95 plus postage: Click here or contact us via info@landwise.org.nz

New Zealand and Australian residents can order copies and pay on-line by credit card via TradeMe. Search for Guide to Smart Farming

Feedback

Please feel free to post feedback – does the book give good information? What could be added or updated?

 

Controlled Traffic Systems, Tillage

Assess impact of cropping systems: a simple calculator

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To help you consider the impact of alternative cropping systems, we’ve put together a simple spreadsheet calculator. You are welcome to download it here> LandWISE Cropping Impact Estimator.

The calculator flows from our work on precision farming and the benefits achievable from controlled traffic farming or permanent bed cropping systems. Up to threee scenarios can be compared. The calculator is intended to help you consider the savings possible from alternative cropping system strategies, especially changing cultivation practices.

Farmers we work with are saving as much as half their fuel, machinery and labour costs. By not driving on the “garden”, and not ripping up the “tracks”, their cultivation is drastically reduced – the heavy work is just not needed.

The calculator is prefilled with some suggested values for fuel and labour use of different farming operations. You can choose your own operations and use your own fuel use values. Just put in the best numbers you can! It determines CO2 emissions from fuel consumption using a standard CO2-e value for New Zealand diesel.

We put in a sheet to calculate carbon equivalent emissions from fertilisers. We’ve suggested some New Zealand CO2-e values for main fertilisers. These are based on a paper by Stewart Ledgard and colleagues, “Life Cycle Assessment of Local and Imported Fertilisers Used on New Zealand Farms”.

Changing your cultivation might not indicate a change in fertiliser use. But when farmers move to GPS guidance, and especially to controlled traffic or permanent beds, they save about 10% or so of inputs such as fertiliser and agrichemicals. This is achieved just by avoiding overlaps.

A summary sheet draws the results from your scenarios together and shows how much fuel, fertiliser, labour and money can be saved by changing your practices.

Download the calculator, have a play, and post a comment!