Viterra 12th Annual SANTFA No-till Conference 2010
John Baker, the New Zealander who developed the "Baker boot" and more recently the Cross Slot! opener, headlined the line up of speakers at this year's no-till conference.
The theme for this year's event, SANTFAs 12th annual conference, was "No-Till: what lies beneath".
Topics on the diverse agenda included discs,nitrogen management, residue retention in mixed farming systems, handling heavy stubbles, spatial control and VRT, risk management, no-till on rock, "weed warfare" and carbon cropping.
Speakers ranged from overseas,interstate and local researchers and consultants to farmer members who recounted their practical experience and insights for other members to use or build on.
Keynote presentations by John Baker, Hugh Ball and Greg Butler addressed the importance and management of surface residues, even light ones, the business of farming and soil carbon.
Dr Baker, who received his PhD for a study of the causes of no-till failures and has been involved in no-till all his professional life, discussed stubble micro-management, the term given to management of residues over and close to the seeding slot, and the latest research which has identifed the characteristics of superior no-till seeder openers.
He sees residue retention as the number one goal of no-till and believes re-focusing on this objective and capitalising on the latest opener research to ensure the best possible management of residue along the plant row could point to the way forward for no-till in South Australia.
Hugh Ball
, who is based in Moree, in central NSW, is one of Australia"s leading farmer businessmen and leaves those he encounters with no doubt that farming is a business and management is the driver.His farming system is based on a zero till controlled traffc system he has been using since 1992 when he converted his home property from grazing to continuous cropping. He currently crops 35,000 ha a year, more than half of which is managed for other landholders through Ball Farm Management, which he runs with his brother.
Mr Ball is also a director and shareholder in MAX Grains, a grain marketing business based in Brisbane.
The scale of the cropping operation, the diversity of production environments and the demands of his clients mean he has had to focus on the factors that maximise production effciency and proftability and he has identifed $/kg/ha/mm of soil moisture as the key performance indictor.
All his machinery is on three-metre wheel centres and travels on permanent wheel tracks.
He uses 12-metre seeders and 36 and 48-metre boom sprays and finds machinery and labour effciency two of his biggest challenges.
SANTFA R&D Manager Greg Butler
focused on the soil carbon conundrum.He is convinced there will be a trade in carbon that will infuence food production in Australia, but in order to trade a commodity it has be possible to produce, measure and verify it.
Trading of Soil Organic Carbon (SOC) has been touted as an economic bonus for primary producers who, it has been suggested, should become "carbon farmers", but it may not be that simple.
Growers thinking of trading SOC at some stage in the future need to take account of issues as diverse as production and price risks, potential impact on farm operations and the infuence trading SOC, and the associated commitment to maintain specifed levels of carbon in the soil, may have on future farm property prices, he will suggest.
Mr Butler outlined results from SANTFA trails of biochar in neutral and alkaline soils and other carbon-related initiatives and projects including the use of biomass gasifcation technology with the potential to power the harvester, save fuel, capture carbon and sterilise weeds seeds in the same action.
The forum sessions
were be delivered by farmers, researchers and industry personnel who are all highly regarded within their given field.Each one hour session was an opportunity to learn from others, to ask questions and to express your own opinions.
There where three timeslots for the forum sessions (Forum 1, Forum 2 & Forum 3) with each timeslot offering one choice of three available sessions (A, B or C).
The topics offered ranged from identifying your no-till methods, mixed enterprise solutions, business management and technical management of soil, stubble, moisture and weeds.
Forum Topics Were
Forum One- Handling Heavy Stubbles with Pat Connell from Riverton SA and Vic High Rainfall Farmer (TBC)
- Nitrogen Management in 2010 with Mick Faulkner and Peter Hooper both from the Mid North of SA
- Spatial Control & VRT with Sam Trengove and Tim Davis
- Disc Adoption with Mike Ashworth of WANTFA and Trevor Polkinghorne of Maitland SA who has used discs and tines
- Weed Warfare with Sam Kleemann and Ed Cay and Hugh Ball who both have experience with infrared technology weed finders
- Risk Management and Spread with Andrew Polinkhorne and Dr John Baker
- BAttling the Boulders with Michael Bennet and Max Young of Maitland SA
- Carbon Cropping with Dr Clive Kirkby who told more about why and how carbon is in fact farmed
- Mixed Farming & Residue Retention with Nick Correll and Daniel Schuppan of Rural Solutions Jamestown
Forum Two
Forum Three