Mulched rip lines stop soil erosion under annual cropping on steep slopes in northwest tasmania

A new soil erosion control technique has been developed for use on steep slopes used for annual cropping. A purpose-built implement has been designed for installing the mulched rip lines. Immediately after sowing of the crop a 2-tined implement is used with a wheeled tractor to install rip lines on the level across the slope. Cereal straw is laid at the same time by the implement on top of the rip lines at the rate of approximately 5 tonnes/hectare. The rip lines are spaced from 25 to 80 metres apart depending on the slope of the paddock. This methods of erosion control is designed to keep runoff water on the paddock by slowing water movement down slope with the straw and getting the water to infiltrate into the soil via the rip lines. As an added bonus, any soil moving down slope is trapped by the straw and so prevented from leaving the paddock

Soil microbial indicator tests in northern and north west Tasmania

Soil microbial indicator tests were carried out on 265 paddocks in the Cradle Coast region and Northern Midlands from September 2006 until April 2008. These tests were undertaken as part of the project ‘What are we going to do about it?’ Monitoring and implementing farmer based decisions for productive agriculture and sustainable land management’ managed by Serve-Ag Pty Ltd and funded by the Australian Government National Landcare Program. The soil microbial data provided information on some general trends and comparisons between soil types and crops

Soil health for farming in Tasmania

Soil Health for Farming in Tasmania is a practical reference for those who are interested in identifying readily observable soil attributes that impact on farm management. The book describes soil properties important for farming in Tasmania and the distribution of the major soil orders around the State. The book has an emphasis on what you can see and feel that will indicate a soil’s health with some guidance on what can be done about managing in a practical on-the-paddock way. Soil properties important in determining soil health are covered including structure, texture, organic matter, pH and compaction. Guidance is given on a range of soil management issues including tillage, drainage, irrigation, rotations and erosion control. Soil health is identified as an important key to sustainable land management in order to protect and improve long-term agricultural productivity, surface water quality, and habitats of all organisms, including people

Biosolids reuse in agriculture fact sheet Benefits of biosolids reuse on soils

Beneficial re-use of biosolids aims to use the value in this resource. Land application of biosolids for beneficial reuse is not waste disposal. Biosolids are a valuable organic fertiliser and soil conditioner that supply major and micro nutrients to promote crop health

Assessment and management of inherent and dynamic soil properties for intensive agriculture in the North Island, New Zealand and Tasmania, Australia

The primary aim of the research reviewed in this thesis has been to provide information required by land managers on inherent and dynamic soil properties for sustainable intensive agriculture. A soil survey in the Te Puke district, New Zealand, found the soils to be young with the majority having a layer of tephra in their profiles which gives rise to low overall nutrient status and free draining properties. Soils in north west Tasmania were found to be predominantly Red Ferrosols formed on basalt. The Ferrosols are characteristically strongly structured, strongly acid and have high organic carbon contents. The Ferrosols surveyed were being managed at their optimum land capability or better, with little evidence of soil degradation. The importance of taking a morphological approach to the studies of soil health is illustrated by comparing data from similar paddock histories across the soil orders studied. The differences in physical properties and soil carbon contents between soil orders were pronounced. The measured effects of cropping on soils varied depending on inherent differences between the soils studied. Soil carbon levels were found to be falling with increased years of cropping on all soils studied. Strong correlations were found between soil carbon and a range of soil physical, chemical and biological properties. Target levels of soil carbon are suggested for cropping systems, which can be used as an indicator of sustainability. The soil properties and paddock variables found to be significantly correlated with crop yield varied, depending on crop and soil type. Two easily applied measures of soil structure were correlated to crop production on heavier textured soils. Research into the off-site effects of agriculture in north west Tasmania found that there were high levels of water turbidity caused by soil erosion from cropped paddocks and high levels of nutrients emanating from dairy pastures on drained lowland areas. There has been a positive change in farmer perceptions and soil management practices over a ten-year period in north west Tasmania. Several information brochures have been published for farmers to assess and manage their soils for sustainable production. The research undertaken and reviewed here has produced information on inherent and dynamic soil properties required by farmers for sustainable intensive agriculture. The work has played a major role in the understanding of how soil management has an impact both on and off site and in influencing soil management on farms in both Tasmania and the Bay of Plenty, New Zealand

Soil health report cards for Cradle Coast, Northern and Southern Regions of Tasmania

Soil quality information has been collected at 272 sites across Tasmania. Soil target values were developed for six key soil quality indicators, with values dependent on soil order and land use. The selected indicators were: pH (H2O), organic carbon, extractable Phosphorus, Exchangeable Sodium Percent, bulk density and aggregate stability. Soil quality monitoring sites were biased to agricultural land uses, which was justified due to these land uses being more likely to result in soil degradation than conservation or native forestry. Cropping and perennial horticulture land uses had a greater proportion of sites outside targets for organic carbon and bulk density than grazing pasture and forestry. Most intensively used soils were within pH targets. Aggregate stabilities at many sites were outside targets under cropping and irrigated pasture indicating that cropping sites had an increased risk of erosion. Extractable Phosphorus levels were below target for most dryland pasture sites and above target for most irrigated pasture sites. Soil order explained more variability in organic carbon, aggregate stability, bulk density and ESP than land use but land use explained more of the variability in pH and Olsen P than soil order

Organic matter in the agricultural soils of Tasmania, Australia - a review

A review of both the living and non-living components of soil organic matter (SOM) in the agricultural soils ofTasmania, Australia, and the relationship of SOM to the functions of soil has been undertaken. The relationshipsbetween soil organic carbon (SOC) and other inherent and dynamic soil properties of Tasmanian soils, SOCstocks, the components and the controlling factors are reviewed. The dynamic nature of SOM is reviewed astargets, rates of change and trends on different soil orders and under different management as well as thecorrelation to soil physical, chemical and biological properties. Information on macro fauna, meso fauna, fungiand bacteria is considered to acknowledge that SOM is a dynamic, changing resource that reflects the balancebetween the living components that add new organic matter and the loss of organic matter from the deadcomponent

Assessment of the influence of soil structure on soil strength/soil wetness relationships on Red Ferrosols in north-west Tasmania

The relationship of soil wetness to soil strength in Red Ferrosols was compared between fields of well structured to degraded soil structure. Soil structure was assessed using a visual rating. Soil resistance measurements were taken over a range of soil wetness, using a recording penetrometer. Readings were taken as the soil dried by evapotranspiration after both irrigation and rainfall events. The influence of soil wetness on penetration resistance was greater on fields with degraded structure than on well-structured fields. In fields with degraded structure, the wetter the soil, the smaller were the penetration resistance values. Field soil structure score was negatively correlated with the slope of the line relating soil wetness and penetration resistance at 150–300mm depth. The structurally degraded fields had a highly significant relationship between penetration resistance and soil wetness at 150–300mm depth. In well-structured fields, variations in soil wetness had less effect on penetration resistance. These results indicate that visual assessment can be used with confidence to assess Ferrosol structure. The implications for soil management are that fields with degraded soil structure have greater resistance to root growth at drier moisture contents than well-structured fields. Consequently, farmers need to keep degraded soils wetter with more frequent irrigation than well-structured soils, to ensure optimum plant growth