Zone management in precision agriculture by matching fertiliser input to crop demand

Growers in Western Australia who have been yield mapping since the mid 1990s have come to realise that grain yield varies across different zones of their paddocks in any given year, as well as between years depending on the seasonal conditions and crop type. This within paddock variation can be as much as tenfold. Higher yielding areas can be due to better growing conditions (which increases the demand for nutrients) and/or better nutrient supply (which reduces the need for some fertiliser inputs). Hence, it is essential to determine the cause of the variation before optimum fertilising strategies can be developed.https://researchlibrary.agric.wa.gov.au/bulletins/1190/thumbnail.jp

Managing spatial and seasonal variability within field can improve the profitability of WA grain production

Abstract Sensing, interpreting and acting upon within-field spatial variation in crop performance through precision agriculture (PA) techniques stands to benefit farmers economically and environmentally. The increases in crop gross margin required to offset the cost of purchasing and operating PA technology can be calculated to help growers make PA investment decisions. Economic modelling shows potential benefits of <$5/ha to$40/ha for variable rate management. This is supported by on-farm trials showing benefits of $29-$63/ha for zone management in the northern sandplain of WA. The full benefits of zone management can only be realised by developing methods for defining management zones that are consistent in performance, and accounting for crop nutrient requirements within zones by allowing for seasonal effects on yield potential. Various methods can be used to define zones of consistent performance in fields that can be targeted for variable rate fertiliser inputs. In many situations yield variation can be related to variation in soil plant-available water capacity. Predictive systems using geophysical information will enable inexpensive extrapolation of valuable point-based soil characterisation. Constraints to adoption by farmers include lack of training and technical support, equipment incompatibility, perceived riskiness of economic returns, and barriers to use of "hi tech" elements. Future R, D and E should target a wider farmer audience who are aware of spatial variability but are not currently using PA technologies

Crop Updates 2006 - Cadoux and Calingiri

This session covers nine papers from different authors Performance of oaten hay varieties in Western Australian environments, Raj Malik and Kellie Winfield, Department of Agriculture Performance of dwarf potential milling varieties in Western Australian environments, Raj Malik and Kellie Winfield, Department of Agriculture 2006 Seasonal outlook, David Stephens, Michael Meuleners and Kari-Lee Falconer, Department of Agriculture Matching nitrogen supply to crop demand in high rainfall cropping, Bill Bowden, Narelle Simpson Department of Agriculture An overview of the potential for a Biofuels Industry in Western Australia, Anne Wilkins and Nathan Hancock, Department of Agriculture IWM performs over 5 years in 33 focus paddocks, Peter Newman and Glen Adam, Department of Agriculture Analysis of a wheat-pasture rotation in the 330mm annual rainfall zone using the STEP model, Andrew Blake and Caroline Peak Department of Agriculture What lies beneath? – Understanding constraints to productivity below the soil surface, Stephen Davies and Chris Gazey Department of agriculture, Bob Gilkes, Dan Evans and Tania Liaghati, University of Western Australia Managing the Unmanageable, Bill Bowden, Department of Agricultur

Crop Updates 1999 - Oilseeds

This article contains eighteen papers INTRODUCTION, Paul Carmody, Agriculture Western Australia PLENARY SESSION Transgenic canola in Western Australia: Outlook and challenges, Phil Salisbury, University of Melbourne Farming system issues for herbicide tolerant canola, Rick Madin, Rick Madin and Associates, David Bowran, Agriculture Western Australia Beating blackleg in 1999, Martin Barbetti, Ravjit Khangura, Paul Carmody, Graham Walton, Agriculture Western Australia The Mustard Industry in Australia – Opportunities for a new oilseed, Phil Parker, NSW Agriculture Management of blackleg with fungicides, Ravjit Khangura and Martin Barbetti, Agriculture Western Australia Effect of aphid feeding damage on canola yields in 1998, Francoise Berlandier and Linnet Cartwright, Agriculture Western Australia Post-anthesis duration and rainfall affect oil content of canola, Ping Si, University of West Australia, Graham Walton, Agriculture Western Australia, Nick Galwey and David Turner, University of West Australia Canola responded to high rates of fertiliser in 1998, Wayne Pluske, CSBP Impact of agronomic practices on canola quality, Graham Walton, Agriculture Western Australia Survey reveals widespread infection with two virus diseases in Western Australian canola crops, Roger Jones and Brenda Coutts, Agriculture Western Australia Calculating canola yields and oil contents as a function of soil and fertiliser nitrogen supply, Bill Bowden and Isabel Arevalo-Vigne, Agriculture Western Australia Canola benchmarks 1997/98 – Central Eastern District, Jeff Russell, Agriculture Western Australia Seeding rate affects the yield and some architectural features of canola, Syed H. Zaheer, Nick W. Galwey and David Turner, University of Western Australia Foliar applied fungicides for blackleg, Andrew Simon and Art Diggle, Agriculture Western Australia Farm based demonstration 1998 canola N – Wheel evaluation, Jeff Russell, Agriculture Western Australia Effect of sowing date on seed yield of canola, Dave Eksteen, Agriculture Western Australia Investigating water use of summer crops on the South Coast of Western Australia, Arjen Ryder, Agriculture Western Australia, Bill Crabtree, Western Australia No Till Farming Association, Serena Wyatt, Catchment Landcare Coordinator, Wellstead, Jim Baily, Subasio Downs, Wellstead INTRODUCTION, Paul Carmody, Agriculture Western Australia PLENARY SESSION Transgenic canola in Western Australia: Outlook and challenges, Phil Salisbury, University of Melbourne Farming system issues for herbicide tolerant canola, Rick Madin, Rick Madin and Associates, David Bowran, Agriculture Western Australia Beating blackleg in 1999, Martin Barbetti, Ravjit Khangura, Paul Carmody, Graham Walton, Agriculture Western Australia The Mustard Industry in Australia – Opportunities for a new oilseed, Phil Parker, NSW Agriculture Management of blackleg with fungicides, Ravjit Khangura and Martin Barbetti, Agriculture Western Australia Effect of aphid feeding damage on canola yields in 1998, Francoise Berlandier and Linnet Cartwright, Agriculture Western Australia Post-anthesis duration and rainfall affect oil content of canola, Ping Si, University of West Australia, Graham Walton, Agriculture Western Australia, Nick Galwey and David Turner, University of West Australia Canola responded to high rates of fertiliser in 1998, Wayne Pluske, CSBP Impact of agronomic practices on canola quality, Graham Walton, Agriculture Western Australia Survey reveals widespread infection with two virus diseases in Western Australian canola crops, Roger Jones and Brenda Coutts, Agriculture Western Australia Calculating canola yields and oil contents as a function of soil and fertiliser nitrogen supply, Bill Bowden and Isabel Arevalo-Vigne, Agriculture Western Australia Canola benchmarks 1997/98 – Central Eastern District, Jeff Russell, Agriculture Western Australi

Crop Updates 1999 - Lupins

This article contains twenty three papers 1998 LUPIN HIGHLIGHTS LUPIN ANTHRACNOSE 1. Anthracnose overview, Greg Shea, Geoff Thomas and Mark Sweetingham, Agriculture Western Australia 2. Anthracnose – Critical seed infection levels for resistant and susceptible varieties, Geoff Thomas, Mark Sweetingham, Bill O\u27Neill and Greg Shea, Agriculture Western Australia 3. Fungicide seed treatment for anthracnose and brown spot control in lupin, G. Thomas and M. Sweetingham, Agriculture Western Australia LUPIN BREEDING AND AGRONOMY 4. Anthracnose resistance in lupins – an innovative Australian research effort 1996-1998, Wallace Cowling1\u272, Bevan Buirchell1,2 Mark Sweetinqham1,2, Hua\u27an Yang2, Geoff Thomas 1, David Luckett3, Allan Brown4 and John Hamblin2, 1 Agriculture Western Australia, 2 Centre for Legumes in Mediterranean Agriculture, University of Western Australia, 3 NSW Agriculture, Agricultural Institute, Wagga Wagga, NSW, 4 Consultant, 16 Rochester Way, Dianella, WA 5. Gene transfer to pulses: Challenges through 1989-99. Joanne E. Barton, Centre for Legumes in Mediterranean Agriculture, University of Western Australia 6. Can we select for restricted branching in narrow-leafed lupin (Lupinus angustifolius) Kedar Adhikari1, Nick Galwey1and Miles Dracup2, 1Plant Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, The University of Western Australia,2 Agriculture Western Australia 7. Getting the beat out of new lupin varieties, Dr Bob French, Grain Legume Agronomist, Agriculture Western Australia 8. Starter nitrogen on lupins, Dr Bob French, Grain Legume Agronomist, Agriculture Western Australia APHIDS AND VIRUS CONTROL 9. Forecasting aphid and virus risk in lupins, Debbie Thackray and Roger Jones, CRC for Legumes in Mediterranean Agriculture and Agriculture Western Australia 10. Screening for resistance to cucumber mosaic virus in lupins, Roger Jones, Brenda Coutts, Narelle Reeve, Wallace Cowling and Bevan Buirchell, Agriculture Western Australia and CRC for Legumes in Mediterranean Agriculture 11. The non-necrotic strain of bean yellow mosaic virus spreads faster than the necrotic strain in lupins, Y. Cheng 1 and R.A.C. Jones 1•2, 1 Cooperative Research Centre for Legumes in Mediterranean Agriculture, 2 Agriculture Western Australia 12. Spraying to control aphid feeding damage increases yields of some lupin varieties and faba bean, Francoise Berlandier and Linnet Cartwright, Entomology, Agriculture Western Australia LUPIN NUTRITION 13. Calculated lime requirements for rotations, James Fisher1, Art Diggle 1•2 and Bill Bowden 1•2, 1 Centre for Legumes in Mediterranean Agriculture, 2 Agriculture Western Australia 14. What does lime do to acidic soils – lupin nutrition, Chris Gazey, Research Officer, Agriculture Western Australia 15. Effect of application method of manganese fertiliser and manganese concentration of seed source on seed yield of lupins grown in the West Midlands, Luigi Moreschi, CSBP Area Manager HERBICIDE TOLERANCE AND WEED CONTROL 16. Herbicide tolerance of lupins, Terry Piper, Weed Science Group, Agriculture Western Australia 17. Weed control in Wodjil yellow lupins, Terry Piper, Weed Science Group, Agriculture Western Australia 18. Herbicide tolerance of new lupin varieties, Peter Newman, Agronomist, Elders Mingenew 19. Control of volunteer canola in lupins, Terry Piper and Dave Nicholson, Weed Science Group, Agriculture Western Australia LUPIN ESTABLISHMENT 20. A new seed pressing system for healthy lupin establishment and productivity, Mohammad Amjad, Glen Riethmuller and Ron Jarvis, Agriculture Western Australia 21. Encouragement for controlled traffic farming in the Northern Wheatbelt, Paul Blackwell, Agriculture Western Australia LUPIN HARVESTING 22. Improved lupin harvesting efficiency with different knife guard extensions, Glen Riethmuller, Agriculture Western Australia LUPIN AND PULSE UTILISATION 23. The value of pulse grains for sheep, C.L. White, CSIRO Division of Animal Productio

Crop Updates 2010 - Genetically Modified Crops, Nutrition and Soils

GENETICALLY MODIFIED CROPS 1. Evaluation of the environmental and economic impact of Roundup Ready® canola in the Western Australian crop production system, James Fisher and Désirée Futures, York, Western Australia, Peter Tozer, PRT Consulting, Armidale NSW 2. Controlling wild radish (Raphanus raphanistrum) in Roundup Ready®1 Canola: Outcomes from the Nufarm 2009 Roundup Ready small plot trial Program, Mike Jackson, Nufarm Australia Limited 3. Weed strategies for glyphosate tolerant crops, John Moore, Department of Agriculture and Food 4. Results of the 2009 Western Australia Roundup Ready® canola trials, Dr James Neilsen, Canola Systems Specialist, Monsanto Australia NUTRITION 5. Modelling P runoff losses from agricultural systems, Geoff Anderson1, Wen Chen1, 2, Richard Bell2 and Ross Brennan1, 1Department of Agriculture and Food, 2School of Environmental Science, Murdoch University 6. Evaluation of deep banded biochars or biochar-mineral complex for increasing wheat yield or replacing fertiliser, Paul Blackwell, Allan Herbert and Stephen Davies, Department of Agriculture and Food 7. Improving fertiliser management: Redefining soil test-crop response relationships for canola in Western Australia, Wen Chen1, 2, Ross Brennan2, Richard Bell1, Mike Bolland2 and Geoff Anderson2, 1School of Environmental Science, Murdoch University, 2Department of Agriculture and Food 8. Phosphorus placement for wheat and lupins in WA cropping systems, 1School of Environmental Science, Murdoch University, 2Department of Agriculture and Food 9. The benefits of fertilising pastures for following crops, James Easton, Ryan Guthrie and Rowan Maddern, CSBP 10. Good nutrition produces high quality wheat in the high rainfall zone of Western Australia, Darren Hughes, Adveco Fertilisers; Wagga Wagga, Robert Belford, Curtin University of Technology, Wal Anderson, Department of Agriculture and Food, and Ian Edwards, Edstar Genetics, Perth 11. Lime to get maximum benefit from soil phosphorus, Reg Lunt and Bill Bowden, Department of Agriculture and Food 12. Variable rate top up N – Is it worth the trouble? Nigel Metz, South East Premium Wheat Growers Association (SEPWA) SOILS 13. Impact of soil inversion, soil dilution and claying on non-wetting sandplain soils, Stephen Davies, Peter Newman and Breanne Best, Department of Agriculture and Food 14. Long term effects of lime application on soil p, crop yields and annual ryegrass competition, Chris Gazey, Department of Agriculture and Food, Joel Andrew, Precision SoilTech, Belmont, Western Australi

Crop Updates - 2009 Katanning

This session covers seventeen papers from different authors GM canola – How will it affect the way I farm? Murray Scholz, 2008 Nuffield scholar, Southern NSW Eight years of IWM smashes tyegrass seed banks by 98% over 31 focus paddocks, Peter Newman, Glenn Adam & Trevor Bell, Department of Agriculture and Food The global economic climate and impacts on agriculture, profile on Michael Whitehead Rabobank New York Lessons from five years of cropping systems research, W.K. Anderson, Department of Agriculture and Food Case study of a 17year old agricultural lime trial, C. Gazey, Department of Agriculture and Food, J. Andrew, Precision SoilTech and R. Pearce, ConsultAg Fertilising in a changing price environment, Bill Bowden, Wayne Pluske and Jeremy Lemon, Department of Agriculture and Food Fact or Fiction: Who is telling the truth and how to tell the difference? D.C. Edmeades, agKnowledge Ltd, Hamilton Forecast disease resistance profile for the Western Australian barley crop over the next three years, JJ Russell, Department of Agriculture and Food Malting barley varieties differ in their flowering date and their response to change in sowing date, BH Paynter and JJ Russell, Department of Agriculture and Food Decimating weed seed banks within non-crop phases for the benefit of subsequent crops, Dr Davis Ferris, Department of Agriculture and Food Autumn cleaning yellow serradella pastures with broad spectrum herbicides – a novel weed control strategy that exploits delayed germination, Dr Davis Ferris, Department of Agriculture and Food Emerging weeds in changing farming systems, Dr Abul Hashen, Department of Agriculture and Food More glyphosate-resistant annual ryegrass populations within Western Australia, Dr Abul Hashem and Dr Catherine Borger, Department of Agriculture and Food Reasons to use only the full label herbicide rate, Stephen B. Powels, Qin Yu, Mechelle Owen, Roberto Busi, Sudheesh Manalil, University of Western Australia Flaxleaf fleabane – coming to a property near you! Sally Peltzer, Department of Agriculture and Food Glyphosate – the consequences of cutting rates! Sally Peltzer and David Minkey, Department of Agriculture and Food Benefits of crop rotations/break crops in managing soil moisture, soil health, weeds and disease – an overview, Raj Malik, Department of Agriculture and Foo

Crop Updates 2001 - Grower Booklet

1. Strategies for leaf disease management in wheat, Jatinderpal Bhathal1, Cameron Weeks2, Kith Jayasena1 and Robert Loughman1, 1Agriculture Western Australia. 2Mingenew-Irwin Group Inc. 2. Burn stubble windrows: to diagnose soil fertility problems, Bill Bowden, Chris Gazey and Ross Brennan, Agriculture Western Australia 3. Rainfall – what happened in 2000 and the prospects for 2001, Ian Foster, Agriculture Western Australia 4. Strategies for leaf disease management in malting barley, K. Jayasena1, Q. Knight2 and R. Loughman1, 1Agriculture Western Australia, 2IAMA Agribusiness 5. Planning your cropping program in season 2001, Dr Ross Kingwell, Agriculture Western Australia and University of Western Australia 6. Rotational crops and varieties for management of root lesion nematodes in Western Australia, S.B. Sharma, S. Kelly and R. Loughman, Crop Improvement Institute, Agriculture Western Australia 7. When and where to grow oats, Glenn McDonald, Agriculture Western Australia 8. Managing Gairdner barley for quality, Kevin Young and Blakely Paynter, Agriculture Western Australia FARMING SYSTEMS, PASTURES AND WEEDS 9.Evaluation of pasture species for phase pasture systems, Keith Devenish, Agriculture Western Australia 10. Competitiveness of wild radish in a wheat – lupin rotation, Abul Hashem, Nerys Wilkins, and Terry Piper, Agriculture Western Australia 11. Can we eradicate barley grass? Sally Peltzer, Agriculture Western Australia 12. Short term pasture phase for weed control, Clinton Revell and Candy Hudson, Agriculture Western Australia 13. Herbicide tolerance of some annual pasture legumes adapted to coarse textured sandy soils, Clinton Revell and Ian Rose, Agriculture Western Australia 14. Integrated weed management: Cadoux, Alexandra Wallace, Agriculture Western Australia LUPINS 15. Inter-row knockdowns for profitable lupins, Paul Blackwell, Agriculture Western Australia and Miles Obst, farmer, Mingenew 16.. Wild radish – the implications for our rotations, Dr David Bowran, Centre for Cropping Systems 17. Lupin variety performance: Are you making the most of it? Bevan J. Buirchell, Senior Plant Breeder, Agriculture Western Australia 18. Anthracnose in lupins – understanding the risk, Moin Salam, Art Diggle, Geoff Thomas, Mark Sweetingham and Bill O’Neill, Agriculture Western Australia OILSEEDS 19. Effect of stubble, seeding technique and seed size on crop establishment and yield of canola, Rafiul Alam, Glen Riethmuller and Greg Hamilton, Agriculture Western Australia 20. Canola – More responses to lime, Chris Gazey and Paul Carmody,Agriculture Western Australia 22. Performance of new canola varieties in AGWEST variety trials in 2000, G. Walton, Crop Improvement Institute, Agriculture Western Australia PULSES 23. The ascochyta management package for 2001, B. MacLeod, Agriculture Western Australia 24. Herbicide tolerance of new field pea varieties and lines, M. Seymour, H. Dhammu, T. Piper, D. Nicholson, M. D\u27Antuono, Agriculture Western Australi

Crop updates 2006 - Farming Systems

This session covers nineteen papers from different authors: SOIL AND NUTRIENT MANAGEMENT 1. Inve$tigating fertili$er inve$tment, Wayne Pluske, Nutrient Management Systems 2. KASM, the potassium in Agricultural System Model,Bill Bowden and Craig Scanlan, DAWA Northam and UWA, School of Earth and Geographical Sciences 3. Long term productivity and economic benefits of subsurface acidity management from surface and subsurface liming, Stephen Davies, Chris Gazey and Peter Tozer, Department of Agriculture 4. Furrow and ridges to prevent waterlogging, Dr Derk Bakker, Department of Agriculture 5. Nitrous oxide emissions from a cropped soil in Western Australia, Louise Barton1, David Gatter2, Renee Buck1, Daniel Murphy1, Christoph Hinz1and Bill Porter2 1School of Earth and Geographical Sciences, The University of Western Australia, 2Department of Agriculture GROWER DECISIONS 6. Managing the unmanageable, Bill Bowden Department of Agriculture 7. Review of climate model summaries reported in Department of Agriculture’s Season Outlook, Meredith Fairbanks, Department of Agriculture 8. Mapping the frost risk in Western Australia, Nicolyn Short and Ian Foster, Department of Agriculture 9. .35 kg/ha.day and other myths, James Fisher, Doug Abrecht and Mario D’Antuono, Department of Agriculture 10. Gaining with growers – Lessons from a successful alliance of WA Grower Groups, Tracey M. Gianatti, Grower Group Alliance 11. WA Agribusiness Trial Network Roundup – 2005, Paul Carmody, Local Farmer Group Network, UWA 12. Drivers of no-till adoption, Frank D’Emdenabc, Rick Llewellynabdand Michael Burtonb,aCRC Australian Weed Management; bSchool of Agricultural and Resource Economics, UWA. cDepartment of Agriculture, dCSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems, Adelaide PRODUCTION SYSTEMS, PRECISION AGRICULTURE AND SUSTAINABILITY 13. Maintaining wheat and lupin yields using phase pastures and shielded sprayers to manage increasing herbicide resistance, Caroline Peek, Nadine Eva, Chris Carter and Megan Abrahams, Department of Agriculture 14. Analaysis of a wheat-pasture rotation in the 330mm annual rainfall zone using the STEP model, Andrew Blake and Caroline Peek, Department of Agriculture 15. Response to winter drought by wheat on shallow soil with low seeding rate and wide row spacing, Paul Blackwell1, Sylvain Pottier2and Bill Bowden1 1 Department of Agriculture; 2Esitpa (France) 16. How much yield variation do you need to justify zoning inputs? Michael Robertson and Greg Lyle, CSIRO Floreat, Bill Bowden, Department of Agriculture; Lisa Brennan, CSIRO Brisbane 17. Automatic guidance and wheat row position: On-row versus between-row seeding at various rates of banded P fertilisers, Tony J. Vyn1, Simon Teakle2, Peter Norris3and Paul Blackwell4,1Purdue University, USA; 2Landmark; 3Agronomy for Profit; 4 Department of Agriculture 18. Assessing the sustainability of high production systems (Avon Agricultural Systems Project), Jeff Russell and James Fisher, Department of Agriculture, Roy Murray-Prior and Deb Pritchard, Muresk Institute; Mike Collins, ex WANTFA, 19. The application of precision agriculture techniques to assess the effectiveness of raised beds on saline land in WA, Derk Bakker, Greg Hamilton, Rob Hetherington, Andrew Van Burgel and Cliff Spann, Department of Agricultur