Browsing by Author "Telford, D"

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Best management practice for sugarcane varieties : SRDC Final report BSS 234
(2002) Telford, D; Wallis, D
This has been both a challenging and rewarding project within the northern sugar industry. Increasing economic pressure in the wet tropics has seen a need to develop and adopt better short- and long-term strategies to increase industry profitability. ?What variety do I plant?? This is probably the single most important issue given the least attention by growers. This decision remains in place for a number of crop cycles and subsequent management of these varieties will directly affect farm profitability. Better management of varieties in both a short- and long-term strategy will enable growers to increase their ccs and improve their farm profitability.Selection and management of varieties is a complex process, which involves more than the yield and ccs of varieties. It involves suitability to soil type, ratoonability, pest and disease issues, ease of planting, herbicide tolerance, ability to withstand harvest under difficult conditions, nutrient requirements, harvesting rosters and many other factors that may override planned decisions such as rainfall.A grower group process was used to facilitate greater debate of these issues by growers and testing variety best practice on their farms using an on-farm participatory trial program. The full costing of the benefits and consequences of different management options has enhanced growers decisions of ?what variety do I plant?? as well as other farming practices.The strength of this project was that it allowed growers to fully implement and evaluate a range of real variety management options that they have chosen as being best for their situation.The results from this project have made growers more aware of the consequences when choosing varieties to plant. The presentation of trial results in dollars per hectare has proved very beneficial. A lot of discussion has been generated at group meetings as a result of this information. Growers have appreciated the opportunity to discuss these results with their peers. Growers are more aware now of how important it is to calculate net returns and determine what variety or farm practice is more profitable on their farm.Information delivered to grower groups as part of this project has provided growers with the skills and knowledge to conduct reliable trials on their farms. Growers should now be able to compare different variety performance and farm management practices on their own farms to meet their individual situations and determine the most profitable practice.With the ability of growers to better test varieties for their individual situations, varieties released to the industry will have a fairer assessment based on individual needs and profitability rather than broad area recommendations.Conducting market research into what the industry wanted in the form of variety information through focus groups proved extremely useful. The original project intention was to devise a Variety Best Management Practice (BMP) Manual. However, it was quite clear from these focus groups that a complex manual was not wanted, but information in a simple and concise format was requested.This project has seen the successful use of group extension to target a large number of growers in the sugar industry. Since the commencement of this program, most northern mills, in conjunction with BSES, have established productivity groups similar to the participatory BMP process. The formation of these groups within mill areas provides an avenue to meet with larger numbers of growers more regularly than could be achieved on a one-to-one basis. This also provides an excellent opportunity for multi-agency input to discuss timely research and farming issues. One-to-one extension is still an important part of extension in the northern sugar industry. However, group extension is fostering greater discussion and exchange of ideas between growers and mill areas. This is extremely important in times of increased economic pressure.This program has been the starting point of many increases in productivity and profitability in the northern sugar industry, through better management of current varieties and the availability of more information to make variety decisions on individual farms.
Implementation of management strategies for control of sugarcane weevil borer in far north Queensland : SRDC final report BSS224
(BSES, 2002) Telford, D; McAvoy, K
Sugarcane weevil borers are an introduced pest of sugarcane from New Guinea. They cause significant losses to ccs and may contribute to production of poor quality sugar crystals. The adoption of pre-harvest burning of cane in the 1940s saw a reduction of borer damage to low levels. This remained until the widespread adoption of green cane harvesting and trash blanketing in the 1980s.Early studies have shown ways to reduce borer damage through the use of resistant varieties, improved farm hygiene (reduced cane loss and improved rat control), and chemical control. A reduction in borer damage will enhance viability of the northern sugar industry.This project was designed to have a participatory approach with stakeholders affected by borers in the Queensland sugar industry and to demonstrate the effectiveness of implementing borer management strategies.
Spatial distribution of potential soil constraints affecting nitrogen management in the Wet Tropics : ASSCT peer-reviewed paper
(ASSCT, 2019) Skocaj, DM; Schroeder, BL; Hurney, AP; Rigby, A; Telford, D
Position in the landscape and climatic conditions experienced during the growing season, especially following the application of nitrogen (N) fertiliser, has important implications for crop growth, N uptake and N losses. Understanding the spatial distribution of soils where crop growth and responsiveness to applied N may be constrained in wet or dry years will allow growers and advisors to refine N-management strategies. To identify soils where crop growth and responsiveness to applied N may be restricted, a system of grouping soils that better reflected agronomic performance under different climatic conditions was required. The categorisation system considered position in the landscape, N-mineralisation potential, soil water-holding capacity in both wet and dry years, propensity to waterlog in wet years and presence of a water table in wet years. In dry years, waterlogging and the presence of a water table do not impact crop growth to the same extent as moisture availability, and, hence, in dry years, it is more important to categorise soils based on water-holding capacity. The major sugarcane-growing soils in the Tully and South Johnstone mill areas were categorised using this system. This resulted in five soil groups to describe the impact on crop growth and N responsiveness in wet and dry years. Given the application of N fertiliser to ratoon crops predominately occurs around spring, wet years were defined as receiving high spring-summer rainfall, whereas dry years were defined as receiving low spring-summer rainfall. Classifying wet and dry years according to spring-summer rainfall also allows growers and advisors to refer to seasonal climate forecasting indices for guidance on the likelihood of experiencing a wet or dry year. In wet years, the impact on crop growth, responsiveness to applied N and potential for lower N uptake is greatest for soil group five. These soils tend to occur in the lowest positions in the landscape, experience severe waterlogging and a persistent water table. They are also subject to frequent water inundation following extreme rainfall events. The spatial identification of soil constraints will complement the development of whole-of-farm nutrient-management plans in the Wet Tropics region. Knowledge of soil constraints influencing sugarcane growth and responsiveness to N will allow growers and advisors to better identify areas where nutrient-management strategies may require further fine-tuning. This information may also be of value in improving other management decisions including varietal selection and harvest scheduling