Soil health and nutrient management
Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://elibrary2.sugarresearch.com.au/handle/11079/13842
Research outcomes: Soil health is improved with a resulting positive impact on the environment and yield growth. Improved reputation and relationship between industry and environmental groups.
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Item Improvement of internal soil drainage and yield on heavy clay soils in the Herbert.(2015) Russo, VThe Herbert consists of large areas of clay soils being approximately 60% of soils being sugarcane farmed within the region. These soils are usually nutritionally fertile; however yield potential is limited due to waterlogging. Surface drainage has been improved through laser levelling throughout the district, however yield potential is not fully realised due to limitations associated with internal soil drainage. The soils are prone to significant nitrogen losses associated with denitrification and anaerobic conditions which limit crop growth when waterlogging does occur. The project investigated biological, mechanical and cultural practices which may increase the productivity of these soils. The project has clearly shown that yields can be increased on heavy clay soils in the Herbert through the use of mill ash as a soil amendment. The use of mill ash has also clearly shown that the product will enhance germination, crop establishment and increase stalk density leading to increases in cane yield on heavy clay soils in the Herbert. Qureshi et.al (2000) highlighted that there was significant environmental benefits for transporting and applying mill by-products further from the mill site, to manage environmental hazards. This project has highlighted both the economic and environmental benefits of using mill by-products more effectively in a farming system. During the duration of the project SnE Plant Hire constructed a GPS zonal mill mud and ash applicator and has modified its fleet of trucks to allow for zonal application of mill by-products; this has been a very positive step in the handling and distribution of mill by-products in the Herbert.Item Assessing the impact of biochar in the Herbert cane industry.(2015) Morley, GBiochar is the charred by-product of biomass pyrolysis, the heating of plant-derived material in the absence of oxygen in order to capture combustible gases. It is generally accepted that biochar is a highly stable form of carbon and as such has the potential to form an effective C sink, therefore sequestering atmospheric CO2. The objective of this report was to report on the findings of a SRDC/SRA funded Grower Group project that was undertaken in the Herbert cane growing region between 2012 and 2014 to assess the impact of biochar and compost in a sugarcane farming system. The trial was conducted on a low cation exchange capacity soil in the Lannercost farming area west of Ingham. A large number of studies (on numerous crops) have been conducted where biochar application has shown significant agronomic benefits, with a minor number of studies showing no significant effects on crop productivity and some studies reporting adverse effects (Sohi et. al., 2009). These results clearly suggests that crop productivity is variable due to a multiple number of reasons which are not fully understood. The mitigation potential of biochar with regard to other greenhouse gases, such as N2O and CH4, through its application to soil is less well established and requires further research (Sohi et. al., 2009). In this particular trial there were no significant difference in levels of greenhouse gases measured for the various treatments accessed. In the trial conducted for this project, there was no significant cane productivity (being measured as cane and sugar yield) or economic advantage from applying biochar. The only way biochar may become viable is if a carbon market is established. The economic value of sequestered carbon is still being researched and debated in scientific and political arenas, so while this is occurring it will be challenging for biochar to be economically viable based upon the results from this trial. If biochar is to be considered as a part of a carbon sequestration program, a whole of carbon life cycle analysis will be required to better understand the carbon pathways and potential loss mechanisms. In this trial the use of biochar in a sugarcane farming system is uneconomical based upon the results obtained. The only way that biochar may be economically viable in a sugarcane farming systems is through a government or community carbon credit program whereby a grower may be paid for the amount of carbon sequestered. Composts can be a useful source of nutrients, however the nutrient content of parent materials will need to be considered. This trial has shown that sugarcane can be produced using compost as a nutrient source. If composts are to provide the nutrients for cane growth, an assessment of total nutrients present and their availability and speed of release will be required. Because the nutrients are in organic forms in compost, the availability of nutrients may be variable. Composts should only be applied when they are “stabilised” and are not being acted upon by microbial activity. In this trial it is suspected that the composting process was still active when the product was applied and the compost was not yet “stabilised”. Germination and establishment of the plant cane were negatively impacted upon, with the crop showing nitrogen deficiencies in early stages of growth due to the compost not releasing sufficient nitrogen for crop growth. Composts could be a useful source of nutrients to grow a crop, however the economics associated with purchase and application will need to be considered.Item Developing prescription compost to suit specific soils in Maryborough(2014) Grohn, G; Dougall, AOne issue with organic based fertilisers is the variability of the nutrient content, often the amount of nutrients is not enough or too much for the crop. This project sought to solve this problem by producing and trialling compost that has been fortified with mineral fertiliser (soil specific compost) so that it more accurately matches the needs of the crop. To achieve this goal the project had three main components; construct a compost mixer that is capable of achieving mixing mineral fertiliser into the compost, produce soil specific compost and establish a trial to test the conceptItem Effective use of lower mill mud rates in the nutrition program(2014) Fox, JIn 2011 Mackay Sugar changed its mud truck fleet to enable low rates of banded mill mud and mud/ash application on farm. The aim of this was to: make mill by-products available to more growers, lessen the impact of Reef Regulations by introducing an applicator capable of applying mud at rates < 100 t/ha and increase the distance mud is transported away from the mill. MT Catherine Cooperative (a farmer group in the Wagoora district of Mackay Sugar) set about answering some of the agronomic unknowns associated with this new practice. Replicated trials (fallow plant and first ratoon) were established in 2011 to determine if one application per crop cycle of mill mud banded on the row: would provide enough phosphorus for the crop cycle, needed to be incorporated to ensure early phosphorus access by plant cane and could improve runoff water quality in ratoons relative to traditional application.Item SRDC Research Project final report Improved methods of compost generation(2012) Walker, BThis report explores different techniques and management principles and the results of compost production specifically for sugar-cane in tropical agriculture. Our earlier research using the Lubke Methodology developed in Austria for temperate and cold climates and reported on in GGP034 provides a background of basic compost production principles using community and sugar industry organic wastes, tractor drawn turning equipment and Lubke monitoring tools and principles. The Lubke system turns compost once weekly, more often in the first month, when CO2 content of the pile reaches 16%, but many composters claim loss of carbon and nitrogen as high as 50%, with constant turning. Some major USA composters use Static Pile composting principles to reduce turning costs and conserve nutrient losses from turning. The Ecology Action Group in the USA use 40% fresh green feed stocks to improve nutrient content because plants remobilise nutrients before foliage dies and weather continues to reduce minerals in organic mater materials. Dr Fiona Robertson in a CRC research found cane trash left on the surface looses much of its nutrition to the atmosphere as it decomposes. Hawaiian research found losses, through plant nutrient remobilisation of 30 – 50% of N, P, K and B in sugar cane leaf blade before its death. GGP062 reports on our experiences with static pile composting, our first experience of composting sugar-cane bagasse, using selected green feed stocks and a change in brix levels, i.e. greater nutritional content of vegetables grown with compost and liquid calcium, also, trials with producing the nitrogen component on-farm. A brief overview of world population trends at the end of this report implies a need for a change in agricultural practices and results, if we are to feed our population by 2100 AD.Item Final report SRDC project GGIP050 Improving soybean and nitrogen management in subtropical NSW cane systems(2012) Moore, NY; Munro, AJ; McGuire, PJ; Aitken, R; Beattie, R; Herridge, DF; Young, AThis project aimed to document nitrogen inputs from soybean crops grown in NSW cane lands, promote soil-specific fertiliser recommendations following soybean to achieve more efficient use of nitrogen fertiliser and to assess different methods for dealing with soybean crop residue. The project was a Grower Group Innovation Project undertaken from April 2009 to March 2012 by the NSW Farming Systems Group Inc. in association with staff from the NSW Department of Primary Industries, BSES Limited, NSW Sugar Milling Cooperative and the University of New England. Whilst many sugar cane growers have adopted soybean rotations, the potential benefits of soybean are not being fully realised, particularly making use of residual nitrogen (N) in the following cane crop. Some growers continue to over-fertilise cane following a soybean crop, while on some soil types in NSW cane crops have shown nitrogen stress after a well grown soybean crop. Local data was required to fine-tune N fertiliser recommendations in sugar cane following soybean. Previous research on soybean as a rotation crop in cane-production systems was conducted in the tropical Qld environment through the Sugar Cane Yield Decline Joint Venture. However, the different rainfall, temperature and soil conditions in this subtropical region of NSW are likely to impact differently on N cycling.Item SRDC Grower Group innovation project final report Profits through Recycling: Pilot processing of sugar industry and community by-products to improve on-farm sustainability(2010) Ross, NJGGP034 set out to establish if cane farmers could produce on farm a percentage of their farm’s nutrient requirement from sugar industry and community wastes at a competitive cost and thus reduce off farm inputs. It was hoped that the development of an appropriate formula for a quality compost might reverse negative aspects of current agricultural practices, especially leaching of nitrates and phosphorus into underground acquifers as established by analysis in the Mackay and Burdekin districts, and assist in the reduction of compaction of soils whilst improving nutrient, oxygen and water retention. If a practical compost formula result could be developed, this practice could prove of significant benefit in protecting the natural pureness of water acquifers with possible follow-on benefits to the Great Barrier Reef and Global Climate Change. The experiment conducted within this project compared compost, compost plus granular and granular treatments as a nutrient source which determined that the plant cane yield and quality was not influenced by the type and rate of applied nutrients. If there has been a real difference in productivity between these treatments, the trial design has not been able to capture it.Item SRDC Grower Group Innovation Project final report SECMAPPER (Soil Electrical Conductivity Mapper): mapping soil electrical conductivity patterns below trash blankets and stubble(2011) Di Bella, LP; McDonnell, P; Pace, AThe SRDC funded Grower Group SECMAPPER (Soil Electrical Conductivity Mapper) project has modified an existing VERIS 3100 soil mapping system to map bare soil blocks through to blocks with thick trash and stubble residue layers. As a part of the project the Grower Group also investigated the following: Opportunities to map soil differences with a cane block; Compare the modified VERIS 3100 (SECMAPPER) electrical conductivity readings with the standard VERIS 3100 unit; Identifying potential saline and sodic soils within a cane block through the use of the VERIS 3100 unit; Compare two soil mapping systems being the VERIS 3100 and EM38 systems. The EMMIT (Electro-Magnetic Mapping in Trash) Grower Group consisted of growers from the Herbert and Burdekin cane growing regions. The Grower Group gave the growers the opportunity to network and work together on the advancement of electrical conductivity (EC) mapping and precision agricultural activities in each district. The grower group was supported by technical support personnel from the following agencies: Herbert Cane Productivity Services Limited (HCPSL), Ag Data Solutions, Farmacist, BSES Limited, Terrain NRM and Soil Horizons. The Grower Group would also like to thank SRDC and Rabobank for providing financial assistance to the project. The SRDC funded BPS001 project and this project have progressed the development and use of soil mapping systems like the VERIS 3100 system in the Australian cane industry. There are now significant areas in the Central, Burdekin and Herbert cane growing regions now being mapped utilising these systems; as a part of precision agricultural systems being adopted in the Australian industry.