This is a summary of the SANTFA Journals, to view the FULL content please click the 
icon for each Journal Article.
SANTFA 2009 Journal |
Summer Edition Month: January Vol: 6 No: 1 |
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 Carbon | |||||||||
| Title: Carbon in the grain - sequestration of a different flavour | Author: Greg Butler | ||||||||
| Agriculture has been temporarily excluded from the Federal Government's new Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS). This means agriculturalists do not have the same economic or regulatory incentives that will drive innovative policies and competitive technologies in other industries such as mining and energy. In light of this, agriculture will need to be proactive to avoid the real risk of being left behind. However there is an up side. Not having to comply with the requirements of the CPRS gives agriculture time to formulate quality policies and develop new technologies that will actually make a differerence when agriculture is brought into the CPRS in 2015. | |||||||||
| Discussion of carbon sequestration in agriculture usually focuses on soil carbon or perennial vegetation such as trees and grasses, but what about the carbon tied up in grain and the food produced from it? Like other plants, crops extract carbon dioxide (CO₂)from the atmosphere through photosynthesis. Carbon from this CO₂ goes into building roots, vegetation and the ... | |||||||||
| Annual conference | |||||||||
| Title: Conference speakers probing deeper | Author: SANTFA | ||||||||
| 'Barely Scratched the Surface', the theme for this year's no-till conference, points to the fact that there is still a huge 'up side' for no-till systems in the SA environment. | |||||||||
| No-till farmers face a challenging but potential-rich future and the overseas and high-profle local and national speakers will lead members at the conference to a deeper understanding of the issues they could encounter as they come to terms with relatively new systems in a rapidly changing production environment. The conference, on Friday, March 6, in AAMI Stadium's Magare... | |||||||||
| Herbicides - Sulfonylureas | |||||||||
| Title: Sulfonylureas - Valuable tools, complex interactions | Author: Graeme Jennings | ||||||||
| An investigative report about the interaction between sulfonylureas (SU) herbicides and it's effect on R. solani (rhizoctonia). Is it a tool for management or damage? | |||||||||
| Sulfonylurea (SU) herbicides can be highly valuable management tools in many cropping situations. They can also increase damage and losses caused by Rhizoctonia solani, the fungus that causes rhizoctonia. R. solani is present in all cropping soils but whether or not it impacts on crop performance depends on a variety of factors including soil type, seasonal conditions, the suite and ac... | |||||||||
| Disc Seeding | |||||||||
| Title: Matching discs to farming systems | Author: Mike Ashworth, WANTFA | ||||||||
| According to Dr John Baker, designer of the Baker boot and the Bioblade disc drill, ‘the fundamental mistake no-till farmers make is to modify the soil to suit the openers, when in fact they should be modifying the openers to suit the soil’. This article explores some of the parameters that need to be considered when matching a disc seeder to a farming system. | |||||||||
| Weight | |||||||||
| Weight is one of the first issues when considering a disc seeder for a no-till, stubble retention system. A disc resists penetration when pulled forward because it applies a force equivalent to a thin knife point at a backward rake angle. Consequently, a disc seeder needs to be considerably heavier than a tine implement, particularly when operating in hard ground. When select... | |||||||||
| Farming on the Fringe | |||||||||
| Title: Farming on the fringe – the challenge of farming with neighbours | Author: Michael Bennet | ||||||||
| Callington farmer Trevor Paech discusses the challenges of farming in an area predominantly occupied by hobby farms. The article contains some good advice on how to work with smaller landholders rather than getting involved in conflict situations. | |||||||||
| Urban sprawl and a trend to sub-divide productive farm land into small holdings for ‘hobby farms’ are increasing the pressures on farmers, particularly those located near major towns. Trevor, Joy, Tyson and Steen Paech, who farm in the hilly country not far off the freeway linking Mt Barker and Murray Bridge, are experiencing the pressures of encroaching urbanisation first-hand and lea... | |||||||||
| SANTFA R&D | |||||||||
| Title: Seasonal soil moisture and screenings | Author: Greg Butler | ||||||||
| The high level of screenings in 2008 highlights the complexity of the interactions between crops and the soil environment. Total soil moisture is important, but so too is where it is in the profile and whether or not the crops can access it. | |||||||||
| In the last edition of the Journal I explored how soil moisture monitoring might be used to reduce grain-marketing risk. When the article was written there was approximately 25% more total soil moisture in the profile at the Yorke 2 site (202mm on 13/08/2008) than at the same time the previous year (156mm on 13/08/2007). Based on this information we predicted there was a good chance t... | |||||||||
SANTFA 2009 Journal |
Autumn Edition Month: April Vol: 6 No: 2 |
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| Wide-row beans | |||||||||
| Title: The buzz about beans 'n' bees | Author: Mike Roberts | ||||||||
| Trials using the concept of wide rows in beans have shown a variety of results dependant of soil types, seasonal conditions and pollination. | |||||||||
| Dan Wandel experienced a pretty spectacular result last season when a paddock of beans sown in rows spaced 500 mm apart instead of 250 mm yielded twice as much as the same variety sown on the closer spacing. That has prompted Dan to continue looking at wider row spacings, even though he is not totally sure of all the factors that may have influenced the results achieved. Bill Long... | |||||||||
| Wide Row Beans | |||||||||
| Title: Higher yield from wide-row beans | Author: Mike Roberts CRC | ||||||||
| On farm self initiated trials of wide row beans was prompted by reports of Victorian successes, has resulted in Dan Wandel of Kybunga in South Australia's Mid North producing twice the tonnage however, has recognised certain factors relative to the 2008/09 growing season may have contributed to his yeild benefits. | |||||||||
| Sowing faba beans in wide rows paid off for Kybunga farmer Dan Wandel last season, with a paddock sown on 500 mm row spacing producing twice the tonnage of a crop sown in almost identical conditions but on a row spacing of 250 mm. The trial was prompted by reports of Victorian farmers’ successes with wide-row beans. Dan and his family - wife Monica, father Trevor and brother Ben ... | |||||||||
| Research Report - Stony Soils | |||||||||
| Title: Answering the challenge - no-till on stones | Author: Michael Bennet | ||||||||
| Michael Bennet set up trials on stony soils situated at Pt Kenny near Venus Bay on western Eyre Peninsula, SA. 12 different seeding systems were trialled using points, discs and sweeps. Results of which are depicted in this article. | |||||||||
| Background | |||||||||
| No-tillage in stony soil, particularly when using knife points with spring tines, poses a variety of challenges, including how to maintain seed placement while minimising damage to machinery. The results in this is report are from the second year of trials investigating options for no-till sowing in stony soils. Previous results can be found in the 2nd edition of the ‘No-Till Essential... | |||||||||
| Research Report - Ryegrass Competition | |||||||||
| Title: Crop competition effective against ryegrass | Author: Michael Bennet | ||||||||
| A report by Michael Bennet who conducted these trials to compere the ability of commercial wheat varieties to compete with annual ryegrass. The location of the trials was in the lower Eyre Peninsula of South Australia near Cummins. | |||||||||
| Background | |||||||||
| Annual ryegrass (Lolium rigidium) is a weed of concern for most growers. It is a particular problem when a population develops resistance to residual soil-applied herbicides. This trial compared the ability of four commercial wheat varieties to compete with annual ryegrass at low, moderate and high seeding rates; an extension of research reported in the Autumn 2007 edition of the No-Ti... | |||||||||