Presentation by Mark Branson 2004 Nuffield Scholar. Using Precision and Conservation Agriculture to Improve Farm Profits and the Environment.

Transcription

1 Presentation by Mark Branson 2004 Nuffield Scholar Using Precision and Conservation Agriculture to Improve Farm Profits and the Environment.

2 Sponsored By:

3 My Family Farm Area: 1000 ha Lower North of South Australia Rainfall: 425mm to 500mm

4 Crops Grown (80%) - Durum and Bread Wheat - Malting Barley - Canola - Faba Beans - Field Peas

5 Sheep Clover Pastures (20%) Self Replacing Merino Flock And a Prime Lamb Flock

6 Undulating Land

7 My Farming System

8 Precision Agriculture Northing (metres) CANOLA YIELD Easting (metres) Canola Yield (t/ha)

9 No-Till

10 Controlled Traffic

11 Autosteer - RTK 2cm Guidance

12 An association focusing on improving agricultural technologies

13 Study topic Precision Agriculture High Input Farming Conservation Agriculture No-Till Controlled Traffic

14 What Did I Learn?

15 What Did I Learn? 1. Agricultural land is variable

16 What Did I Learn? 1. Agricultural land is variable 2. Environmental issues caused by agriculture needs addressing.

17 Pollution of waterways from leaching of nutrients A major problem in Europe and USA

18 Water Erosion Saskatchewan, Canada

19 Soil Erosion Redistribution of soil within the landscape by: wind water tillage Rolling terrain with Eroded Landscape A horizon B (AC) horizon C horizon Accumulated Soil Original Surface } A B C

20 Erosion From Hill Tops - Canada

21 Tillage Translocation or Tillage Erosion = Soil Degradation!

22 What Did I Learn? 1. Agricultural land is variable 2. Environmental issues caused by agriculture needs addressing. 3. We need to become farmers of carbon.

23 Jim Halford s No-Till Trial in Canada 25 years No-Till 4 years No-Till

24 Jim Halford s No-Till Trial in Canada

25 Jim Halford s No-Till Trial Nitrogen Rate Yield Protein (kg/ha) LT ST LT ST LT = 22 years no-till ST = 1 year no-till

26 Intensive Tillage destroys the biological and ecological integrity of the soil system. Before Primary Tillage After Primary Tillage After Secondary Tillage

27 ** Soil Biology Team ** The living soil Earthworms, insects and rodents are the most visible components of the living soil team. They work in tandem either soil microorganisms and fungi to contribute to aeration and nutrient cycling as part of a soil factory team effort.

28 Many environmental benefits point to carbon! -increased water holding capacity and use efficiency -reduced soil erosion -improved infiltration, less runoff -decreased soil compaction - improved soil tilth and structure C -reduced fertilizer inputs -increased nutrient cycling and storage -increased adsorption of pesticides - increased capacity to handle manure and other wastes

29 Solution No-Till, Growing High Carbon Crops, and Stubble Retention

30 What Did I Learn? 1. Agricultural land is variable 2. Environmental issues caused by agriculture needs addressing. 3. We need to become farmers of carbon. 4. We need to remove compaction from our soils

31 Compaction Decreases yield by 5 to 15% depending on soil type Decreases water infiltration. Decreases nutrient uptake by the roots. Decreases water uptake by the roots. Decreased carbon cycling in the soil Increases soil erosion. Increases the chance for nutrient loss from the land. Increases the chance of waterlogging.

32 Compaction - Solution Controlled Traffic

33 What Did I Learn? 1. Agricultural land is variable 2. Environmental issues caused by agriculture needs addressing. 3. We need to become farmers of carbon. 4. We need to remove compaction from our soils. 5. Precision Agriculture is a reality.

34 Nutrient Budgeting Europe, USA farmers are being forced to do them. Canada and NZ farmers are volunteering to do them Matching supply of nutrients to the Potential Yield Involves working out what is coming out of the soil and topping up with fertilizers.

35 Nutrient Budgeting Phosphorus

36 Nutrient Budgeting Phosphorus if adequate, place in the soil at replacement rates derived from the previous years yield maps Northing (metres) CANOLA YIELD Easting (metres) Canola Yield (t/ha)

37 Nutrient Budgeting Nitrogen

38 Nutrient Budgeting Nitrogen Use management zones to determine yield expectations within the paddock, and in season sensors to variable rate according to how the canopy is looking at the time of application Northing (metres) MANAGEMENT CLASSES Easting (metres) Potential Management Classes

39 Nutrient Budgeting Management Zones areas in the paddock that are different. Australia is a world leader in this work Northing (metres) MANAGEMENT CLASSES Easting (metres) Potential Management Classes

40 Nutrient Budgeting Nitrogen Budgeting Major problem in working out how much is coming from the soil through mineralization.

41 Canopy Management Yield gains are real Delay Nitrogen inputs until the crop needs it. We need to learn how to save our water for grain fill, not grow plant structures

42 This crop is a 10T/Ha + crop from England. Why do we produce more biomass than this for a 4T/ha crop?

43 Balancing the Supply of Nitrogen to Available Moisture The ideal solution is to post apply N, when you know plant health and moisture availability.

44 Nutrient Budgeting

45 Precision Agriculture - Remote Sensing You can see a lot from the sky!

46 Nitrogen Sensors Satelite EADS Astrium s Farmstar from France

47 Farmstar Product Concept Satellite Image Remote sensing Technique Leaf Area Index & Chlorophyll Content Agronomic Models Plant Population Biomass Nitrogen Status Recommendations & Information Map Tillers Tillers Density Density Map Map Lodging Lodging Risk Risk Map Map Nitrogen Nitrogen Application Application Map Map A powerful combination of remote sensing and agronomy

48 2004 Wheat Package in Europe LAI LAI LAI

49 Nitrogen Sensors Aerial Imagery NVDI,

50 Nitrogen Sensors Yarra N-Sensor meeting the N demand on every part of the field

51 Nitrogen Sensors RT200 Variable Rate Application and Mapping System- Wheat Greenseeker

52 Nitrogen Sensors Crop Circle New Technology - Chl Fluorescence Sensor Crop Circle ACS-310

53 Other Precision Ag. Sensors On the go ph sensors for liming Verris Australian Centre for Precision Ag. On the go protein sensor for N budgeting. Zeltex AccuHarvest sensor. Electronic Conductivity sensors for measuring root zone soil mapping. Soil texture maps for variable rate sowing. EM38 Verris GEOCARTA

54 The Economics Zonal Management up to A$50/ha Farmstar UK A$55/ha in GM 1/3 rd reduction in leached Nitrogen Farmstar France A$50/ha to A$100/ha Yarra N-Sensor, UK A 3% increase in GM Yarra N-Sensor, S.A. A 3% increase in Yield

55 Discussion Australia, are we going to sit on our hands and let the environmental movement dictate terms, or are we going to get on the front foot and adopt new technologies for extra profit and to help the environment?

56 Recommendations to the grains industry Congratulations Australia, we are world leaders in most aspects of Precision Agriculture. BUT!!! We need more work done on working out the mineralization rate of our soils We need more work done on evaluating and developing algorithms on the new N sensors for the Australian conditions.

57 Thanks to GRDC Nuffield Australia My wife Nola My Parents Nuffield Scholars Worldwide The 2004 Australian Nuffield Scholars All the people who I visited for giving me the time of my life.

58 Cheers

59 Australian Nuffield Farming Scholarships A World Experience Scholarships exclusively for Australian primary producers The mission of the Australian Nuffield Farming Scholars Association is to promote excellence in all aspects of Australian agricultural production, distribution and management through the adoption of local and international best practice and continuous development of a unique network of industry leaders and innovators

60 Further information Phone: Fax: enquiries@nuffield.com.au Further details on Nuffield may be downloaded from the Nuffield website: