Browsing by Author "Everingham, Y"

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Defeating the Autumn predictability barrier : SRDC Final report JCU027
(SRDC, 2009) Everingham, Y
The success of an Australian sugarcane cropping season depends on rainfall and the ability to forecast it. The benefits associated with long range rainfall forecasts to reduce the risk and uncertainty associated with decisions impacted by rainfall variability has become increasingly recognized by industry. There are several crucial decisions that must be finalised by March and are severely effected by climate conditions during September to November. These types of decisions had to be made without the aid of climate forecasting technologies owing to the autumn predictability barrier, or, more formally, the austral autumn persistence barrier. Around March, April and May traditional rainfall indicators like the southern oscillation index (SOI) and the Niño 3.4 index are unable to reliably forecast across the autumn time zone. To help industry improve preparation for the season ahead, a forecasting system that could provide reliable forecasts about end of season rainfall, early in the year, was needed.
How much nitrogen will that crop need? Incorporating climate forecasting to improve nitrogen management in the Wet Tropics : Final project 2015/075
(Sugar Research Australia Limited, 2018) Everingham, Y; Biggs, J; Schroeder, B; Skocaj, D; Thorburn, P; Sexton, J
Determining the optimum amount of nitrogen that is required by the crop to maximise production, profitability and environmental outcomes is a challenging problem. The modelling approach taken in this project has balanced each of these complex elements to produce, and demonstrate, a novel and grower-friendly solution for the Tully canegrowing region. Optim-N Gets a Thumbs Up “How much nitrogen does my crop need?” depends on many interacting factors such as soil type, harvest management, position in the landscape and climate variability! This project took a unique and innovative approach to solving this problem and neatly embedded this process in a prototype tool called “Optim-N”. Instead of applying the same rate of nitrogen every year, Optim-N formulates nitrogen guidelines based on climate forecasts, for eight important soils in two climate zones in the Tully region, and three harvest dates. The processes behind Optim-N were tested against all available data, both from experiments and, where these were not available, expert opinion. When fully developed and operational, this tool will save farmers money by tailoring season- and site-specific recommendations for individual cane paddocks; improve water quality leaving farms and entering waterways to the Great Barrier Reef, and skill-up extension officers, allowing them to provide more targeted advice for farmers that factors in seasonal climate forecasts from the world’s best climate models. Two major activities are needed to take Optim-N from a prototype, to a widely used tool: Optim-N would need to be trialled with farmers in an action learning context so they could understand how it helps their decision making. This experience would also drive refinements of the Optim-N tool. It would also provide more empirical data for testing the science behind the tool, reducing the reliance on expert opinion and simultaneously increase trust and end-user confidence in the tool, which would accelerate adoption. The Optim-N prototype also needs input from professional software experts to take it to commercial levels of robustness and usability. When presented at a variety of forums, the Optim-N prototype receives a big “thumbs-up”.
How will climate change impact climate variability in sugarcane growing regions? : SRDC Final report JCU032
(SRDC, 2012) Everingham, Y
Sugarcane is the fastest growing, largest biomass and highest sucrose accumulated agricultural crop today that offers a valuable contribution to delivering a sustainable future (Skocaj, 2013). Aside from cereal crops, sugarcane is the largest contributor of carbohydrates for human consumption and the conversion of sugarcane to raw sugar produces a wide variety of important by-products such as bioenergy, biofuels, bioplastics, paper, animal feed and synthetic fertilizers. Climate is a key driver of sugarcane production and its by-products. Given the significant contribution sugarcane production systems make to economic growth and development, especially in poor countries where sugarcane contributes to the economy, it is critical to understand how this production system will be impacted by climate change.
Implementing methods for wider industry adoption : SRDC final report CSE009
(2007) Jakku, E; Everingham, Y; Inman-Bamber, G; Thorburn, P
Many of the challenges that the sugarcane industry faces are complex systems issues and R&D addressing these issues requires the active participation of industry stakeholders. A deeper understanding of processes that contribute to effective engagement between researchers and end-users is therefore essential to deal with the ongoing and evolving complexities of sugarcane systems. Without this knowledge, millions of dollars of R&D investment will be wasted and immeasurable environmental, social and economic benefits will be lost. The framework developed in this project has the potential to improve the way in which participatory research and technology development are conducted. However, in order to realise these impacts, the framework needs to be further developed to more clearly guide interactions between scientists, extension officers and farmers. Building capacity within the industry to implement learnings from this framework could help maximise the impact of complex technologies in the Australian sugarcane industry. This will assist the industry to profit rather than suffer from the complex challenges that it faces.
Modelling extreme yields in the Wet Tropics to improve nitrogen use efficiency : Final report 2014/024
(Sugar Research Australia Limited, 2015) Everingham, Y
The Wet Tropics experiences one of the highest levels of climate variability in the world. These enormous swings in inter-annual climate patterns cause large fluctuations in crop size, and hence, how much nitrogen should be applied to the crop. Consequently, it is good to know the size of the crop before farmers apply fertiliser. Foreknowledge of the size of the crop can also help marketers and millers. Marketers armed with early and reliable information about crop size can better plan the sale and storage of the crop and millers can better plan mill labour requirements and mill maintenance scheduling activities. Given the close proximity of the Great Barrier Reef to sugarcane growing regions in the Wet Tropics, estimating yield potential accurately promises significant environmental benefits achieved by improved nitrogen management.