This is a summary of the SANTFA Journals, to view the FULL content please click the 
icon for each Journal Article.
SANTFA 2007 Journal |
Autumn Edition Month: April Vol: 4 No: 2 |
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 No-till scholarships | |||||||||
| Title: Farmers helping farmers reach sustainability | Author: Greg Butler, SANTFA R&D | ||||||||
| Effective conservation agriculture requires expertise, and several experienced farmers have gained signigicant insight to what is required from more than a decade of sustainable production. | |||||||||
| In terms of total dryland – rain fed - production, about half of Australia’s grains area is managed under some form of reduced tillage, stubble retention or controlled traffic. We all accept that there are challenges with conservation agriculture and this is particularly true through the adoption phase. Operators new to conservation farming often demonstrate their committment t... | |||||||||
| Leasing to learn | |||||||||
| Title: Getting into no-till | Author: Mike Roberts CRC | ||||||||
| So you’ve been looking over fences for a few years weighing up the pros and cons of no-till farming for your situation. Now you’re wondering how to test the water, tackle the learning curve and tag onto the peloton before they get too far ahead, right? Exploring different pathways to best-practice farming suggests ‘horses for courses’ as the basic ground rule. Some farmers opt to modify existing machines; others purchase new machinery and some syndicate with other farmers. We’ll look at the finer points of these and other ways of ‘opting in’ to no-till a bit further down the track. In this edition we explore why some farmers are ‘Leasing to Learn’. Farmers consider leasing for a variety of reasons usually involving finances or changing family circumstances. It can also be a low-risk way of learning more about best-practice farming and no-till, as the following case studies show. There are at least two options for growers looking to lease out their land. One is to lease to a neighbour. The other is to lease to a large corporate farming entity. If the objective is to learn more about no-till or other aspects of sustainable farming it pays to ensure the lessee has the required skill set and expertise. | |||||||||
| Leasing Option A: The Neighbour Model | |||||||||
| When Kym and Deb Baum made the decision to lease out their farm it was not with the intention of learning how to become no-till farmers. That outcome, and the way it came about, makes an interesting story which may hold lessons for farmers considering future options. | |||||||||
| Leasing to Learn | |||||||||
| Title: Corporate Lessee 'managing the gene pool' | Author: Mike Roberts CRC | ||||||||
| The second option to Leasing, the corporate model, gives opportunity to retain the asset, use effecient farming methods, and keep abreast of technology without the burden of re-financing equipment and essentially remaining on the farm and in the community. | |||||||||
| Leasing Option B: The Corporate Model | |||||||||
| Mention corporate farming in some circles and it quickly conjures up images of uncaring investors acquiring and ‘mining’ large tracts of land, often in extenuating circumstances for their displaced former owners. Not a good time to check out the video of Grapes of Wrath! So it was with great interest that I read Brad Collis’ recent article in Ground Cover on Moree-based farm management ... | |||||||||