Farming systems and production management

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A literature review of harvesting operations and their implication on soil compaction and yield in sugar cane : Final report PR02012
(BSES, 2002) Blatch, T
A significant effort has been applied to the investigation of soil compaction in the sugar cane industry. Most recently research performed by Dr Mike Braunack at Tully in the wet tropics of Queensland, Australia, has attempted to quantify the relationships that exist between harvesting of sugar cane, soil compaction and yield. Harvesting has the greatest impact on soil physical properties as the cane harvester and haul-out machines, the heaviest machinery used in the production of sugar cane, traffic the interspace at least two times for each implement and are required to harvest at soil moisture contents that range from field capacity to wilting point to ensure continuity of supply to their respective sugar cane mill.
Sugar farming systems development and demonstration on the wet tropical coast : Final report DPI014
(SRDC, 2002) Sing, NC; Sparkes, DR; Charleston, C
The QDPI Sugar Solutions Project was an extension project focussing on group activities and on-farm demonstrations. Objectives of the project included the development and testing of alternative farming practices to improve the viability of cane production on the Wet Tropical coast from Ingham to Mossman. The alternative farming practices included the use of legume fallows and minimum tillage.
Evaluating alternative irrigation for a greener future
(2011) Hesp, C
The potential agronomic and environmental benefits of green cane harvesting and trash blanketing, the ongoing issues of nutrients and pesticides threatening the Great Barrier Reef, the rising ground water levels in the area, and water use efficiency issues, prompted the progressive MAFIA grower group to conceptualise a project to trial alternative irrigation systems and compare them with the conventional furrow irrigation system. A lateral move irrigation system was established on the Hesp property, in the Mulgrave farming area in the Burdekin, to irrigate sugarcane throughout a full 4 year crop cycle. This system was compared to conventional furrow and, on a nearby property, a drip irrigation system. The sites were extensively instrumented to measure parameters that would enable the water and nutrient balance to be monitored on the furrow and lateral move irrigated fields. Importantly, an intensive economic analysis was conducted to provide a guide to the economic evaluation of the three systems. Overall the results of the trial indicated that it was indeed possible to grow large sugarcane crops under the lateral move and drip irrigation systems, and that these crops could be subsequently harvested green. It was shown that the lateral move and drip systems also provided opportunity for improved water use efficiency over the furrow irrigation system and that the subsequent flow on benefits from this was reduced loss of nutrients via deep drainage and irrigation runoff. The economic evaluation, using actual inputs costs from the trial sites, show that the furrow and lateral move had similar operating costs which were significantly less than the drip system. However, it should be pointed out that this economic study looked at the adoption of a new irrigation system versus an existing furrow irrigation system. If the analysis was to examine a greenfield investment comparison, then the economic results could significantly change because of the extra capital investment required to establish a furrow irrigation system. In this analysis, environmental benefits resulting from improved water, nutrient and pesticide use are not accounted for in dollar terms, but if included would recognise the value of more efficient farming systems. While every effort was made to provide reliable information from this study, constraints associated with conducting the trial, within an existing “whole of farm” operation, meant that it should be considered more as a pilot study rather than a rigorous scientific trial. For this reason care should be taken in extrapolating the data from this study to other properties or areas where different circumstances and constraints could alter the perspective significantly.
Identifying management zones within cane paddocks: an essential foundation for precision sugarcane agriculture : SRDC Final report BPS001
(2011) Coventry, RJ; Hughes, JR
Variability in plant growth across spatial zones within sugarcane crops arises from the complex interactions of soil nutritional status, soil physical properties (especially soil texture), surface and subsurface drainage, seasonal conditions, soil health, pests and diseases, cane variety adaptability to soil type, and paddock management practices. BPS001 research has shown that no single GIS spatial layer is sufficient to identify and manage the variability inherent in sugarcane production systems. However, by comparing patterns within three key GIS layers, we have found a way to simplify the complexity among the factors controlling crop yields, and have found answers to the two basic questions driving the research: • How do satellite imagery and EM map patterns relate to variations in space and time in soils, soil properties, and sugarcane yield? • Are there general relationships between image analysis, EM signals, yield, and soil properties that are widely applicable within and between regions?

Farming systems and production management

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