Farming systems and production management
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Research outcomes: Growers and harvesters benefit from the ongoing research in productivity improvement, production management and agronomical techniques. Developed technologies and management practices that enhance productivity and demonstrate a high rate of return on investment.
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Item Investigate skip row configuration in sugar cane: Final report GGP046(Sugar Research Australia Limited, 2013) Blackburn, LThe aim of the project was to compare a double skip row sugarcane system with conventional solid plant on 1.8 m row spacing. Comparisons were made of productivity, profitability and water relationships. The skip row area was designated to grow crops which are usually cultivated over a traditional sugarcane fallow period. Ideally these skip area crops would provide break-crop soil health advantages but would also be harvested to contribute to income. One objective of this project was to evaluate different break crop alternatives to see which may be more suited to this situation. Results from this project show that the double skip row cane averaged about 70 % of the conventional cane yield, sugar yield and dollars returned per hectare. This excludes the data from the exceptionally wet 2010/11 summer which was in the wettest 5% of all years. Above-average rainfall years during the course of this trial negatively impacted on sugarcane and skip area crops. Only two skip row area crops were sown and that was to peanuts in August 2009 and November 2011. Again wet weather prevented harvest of these crops. The profitability of the double skip row system is under-estimated because costs were incurred to establish and manage the peanuts but no income was received. The group had hoped to evaluate soybean, sugar beet and possibly corn, but unfavourable seasons prevented this from happening.Item Overcoming barriers to controlled traffic adoption : SRDC Grower Group Innovation Project final report(2007) Aylward, CAt the commencement of this project, the available solutions for keeping harvesting traffic centred on wider row spacings while adequately filling cane bins are not effective. This was due to unsuitable harvester elevator design, which results in a larger proportion of the field area being compacted, defeating the purpose of controlled traffic farming. The issue of getting cane into bins in wider row spacings is more problematic than was currently recognised by those promoting the adoption of CTFS in the sugar industry. The existing harvester elevator suits 1.5m row spacings. Simply extending the whole elevator is too expensive and increases weight, as do bolt on elevator extensions, which reduces harvester stability on uneven fields, being a major safety issue. This problem has plagued several of our group members and visitors from other areas such as Maryborough, have nominated this safety issue as a major reason growers will not adopt wider row spacings. Several of our group members (in a harvesting Co-op) have spent $5000 repairing slews, bearings, pivot points etc due to the additional wear and tear caused by the weight of a bolt on conveyor. Other group members have reported reduced bin weights which have raised concerns for mill transport scheduling staff. In 2004, three of our group members trialled powered paddles on their harvesters. All successfully overcame the weight and stability issues, they were cheap to construct, they were effective in allowing machinery to remain centred in the interspace, thus minimising compacted area, and they were effective at maintaining suitable bin weights in both wide row spacings (CT) and narrow (1.5m) row spacings of farms in conversion to CTFS. However, because of different elevator designs on the different harvesters, only one paddle operated successfully, the other two increased cane losses through recirculation and also through the secondary extractor. Group members realised we need assistance from experienced harvester engineers to successfully over come these problems. SRDC funding was sought to assist with these costs. This project aimed to continue work commenced by group members in 2004 harvest season.Item Improved harvesting efficiency in farming systems : SRDC Grower Group Innovation Project final report(2007) Tabone, BThe aim of the project was to achieve more efficient harvesting within our group. We monitored the harvesting effort for each paddock to determine the levels of paddock efficiency and increase awareness of the results. The results from two seasons are as different as the weather conditions during the growing and the harvest. It can be noted the through put during both years in both crop configurations is less in the 2006 season. The 2006 season had a damp start and a very wet middle and a dry end (thank goodness) As a result, more engine hours per ton were required to harvest the crop. Wet field conditions and lower bin weights, equates to more trips for the haul outs realising a small increase in fuel consumption. The work efficiency is the relationship between total engine hours and total elevator hours expressed as a percentage. The elevator was running 5% longer while harvesting twin rows in 2006 which indicates a slower forward speed during cutting. To reward on farm efficiency, a new payment system needed to be formulated to achieve a harvester price differential. The payment system most widely accepted is the hourly rate as can be monitored easily and ratified by the growers. The growers would also get an instant benefit from any on farm improvements they made such as pipe crossings making hauls shorter and haul road improvements. Also, conditions change each year which makes it difficult to adopt any other formula which would be as indicative or relative to each situation.Item Incentive price harvesting signals versus traditional payment system : SRA Grower Group Innovation Project final report(2007) Girgenti, AIs to help farmers with the transition from the traditional way that they have paid for their cane to be harvested to an incentive pricing system that related to their farm layout and the management of the cane harvested on their farms. To promote the economic benefits to a farmer by offering an incentive payment system that would encourage them to improve conditions for the harvest as well as the hauling. To increase the awareness of the environmental benefits of how they manage their farm for harvesting. This also means a willingness to try innovative ideas that save both stakeholders money without sacrificing soil health. To improve the farmer/harvester relationship by making our business more transparent to the cost of harvesting. It was also allow farmers to have greater control on the cost of harvesting under an incentive pricing system.p farmers with the transition from the traditional way that they have paid for their cane to be harvested to an incentive pricing system that related to their farm layout and the management of the cane harvested on their farms. To promote the economic benefits to a farmer by offering an incentive payment system that would encourage them to improve conditions for the harvest as well as the hauling. To increase the awareness of the environmental benefits of how they manage their farm for harvesting. This also means a willingness to try innovative ideas that save both stakeholders money without sacrificing soil health. To improve the farmer/harvester relationship by making our business more transparent to the cost of harvesting. It was also allow farmers to have greater control on the cost of harvesting under an incentive pricing system.Item Implementing zero-till planting systems in the NSW sugar industry(2007) Munro, A; Ensbey, NThe project ‘Implementing Zero-Tillage Planting Systems in the NSW Sugar Industry’ aimed to introduce a direct drill billet planter to plant extensive areas of trial and commercial cane in the three mill areas of NSW. A group of NSW cane farmers called the NSW farming systems group wanted to evaluate the commercial viability of direct drill billet planters and a Hodge dual row double disc billet planter was purchased. Trial sites were established in the Condong, Broadwater and Harwood mill areas comparing zero-till planted cane with cane planted into conventionally tilled ground. These trials aimed to compare the economics of both systems and to demonstrate the robustness of a zero-tillage farming system. Nine months after planting, biomass sampling took place at the tillage trial that was established on Woodford Island. Yield results indicated no significant differences between the two systems. An economic analysis indicates that a net return of $2627/ha for a zerotillage farming system compared to $2506/ha for the conventional farming system. This equates to a $121/ha saving when adopting the reduced input system. These figures do not take into account labour savings and soil health benefits that are associated with the zero-tillage planting system. Over the past two years 23 growers across the three NSW mill areas have used the Hodge to plant a total of 210 hectares of both trial and commercial areas of cane. It is estimated that up to 200 hectares will be planted with the Hodge in 2007 demonstrating that the system is gaining momentum every year.Item Precision farming with controlled traffic and GPS guidance system : SRA Grower Group Innovation Project final report(2007) Vassallo, C; Vassallo, GAfter working with the Central Region new farming system grower group we decided to take the system to the next level and implement GPS guidance and precision. Our aim was to overcome the problems associated with converting from 1.5 metres conventional to 1.83 meters controlled traffic using GPS guidance, bed forming, minimum tillage, break crops and converting existing equipment to the new system. Some equipment needed to be invented as we proceeded with the new system. The learning from the project was that the 1.83m controlled traffic system needs to be established in a conventional way, rather than preformed beds. The cane needs to be planted deep into the soil, rather than on mounds to establish the stool deep in the soil, into the moisture zone. GPS guidance is of great assistance to establish true control traffic farming.Item Implementation of improved sugarcane farming systems in the Clare area, Burdekin District, North Queensland : SRDC Grower Group Innovation Project Final report(2007) Hatch, PThe MIG was interested to quantify the benefits of moving from their current 1.52m row configuration to a row configuration that better matches tractors, harvesters and haulage equipment using GPS technology. As a result of conducting this project, the MIG has confidence that preformed beds will improve their long term sustainability and profitability by reducing input costs compared to the current system, at least for the plant crop. In particular, significant opportunities to reduce: •land preparation costs, from $265/ha in the conventional practice down to $131/ha, •general growing costs, from $209/ha down to $108/ha, and •irrigation costs, from $394/ha down to approximately $305/ha, appear to exist. In total, differences of at least $300/ha saving can be made by moving from the conventional system to the preformed mound system (see Appendix 1 for more detail). As a result, all members of MIG have moved over to planting into preformed beds; however some members of MIG prefer 1.52m singles over duals on 2.0m centres. The group recognises that during the course of the project, several errors were made with the trial design; in particular there was no planting of the 1.52m conventional practice with the mound planted systems, no replication of treatments, and fertiliser rates were not the same in each treatment. This has been a great learning experience for the group, which is now better placed to conduct future on-farm research.Item Evaluating alternative irrigation for a greener future(2011) Hesp, CThe 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.Item Develop a whole-of-crop load levelling arm : SRA Grower Group Innovation Project final report(2008) North, M; Stainlay, BThis project aims to encourage involvement of representatives from all Condong harvesting groups to work together improving their skills to carry out R&D while building onto SRDC project. (HGP002 Design and build a moving wall on side tipping cane transporters.) This project run in conjunction with all Condong harvester groups, NSW Sugar and SRDC was aimed at delivering successfully the ability to level whole crop biomass in road transport containers once it had been delivered by side tipping transporters. This project if successful will level the load 100mm below the sides of road containers to achieve the 21tonne target for the successful operation of automated tarping system which secures load for safe road transportation. The initial amount of biomass needed to reach net load target, had to be loaded well above the road container sides. Then to compact and level below the container side making way for tarp proved un attainable. Therefore the focus has been directed towards increasing bulk density, trial choppers are being supplied by harvester manufacturer during 2008 off season. On going trials using various roller configurations were carried out, resulting in a design that rolled improving bulk density in one direction and levelled when reversed. However this needs far more development if bulk density is not increased, it would not be practical for this to be mounted on transporters.Item Bed forming utilising GPS guidance by the CAS (Calen and St Helen) Young Farmers Association : SRDC Grower Group Innovation Project final report(2008) Gordon, G; Mackenzie, CThis project aimed to enhance controlled traffic farming with GPS guidance in undulating conditions in the Calen and St Helen district of Mackay. The project focused on the use of preformed beds, as well as investigating different planting techniques (eg dual row and wide shute on preformed beds). The group also wanted to investigate the potential for a contracting facility to bed form under guidance. Key results from the project include: - Controlled traffic systems were enhanced through the use of GPS. Without GPS we had issues with maintaining even row spacings along the contours and side slopes, and holding a billet planter in position on slopes. Through the use of GPS, and the Alexander (flat top) bed former, we were able to overcome these issues. - We found that the flat top bed shape formed with the Alexander bed former was the most suitable for our region. While the trial results indicated there was no yield, NIR or financial difference between the flat top, round top bed and conventional planting, we found the flat top beds were much easier to manage in our undulating farming conditions as the tractor/planter can more easily stay on the wheel ruts and not stray from the desired position. With the flat top bed former we found we could mark out with a GPS tractor and then conduct other paddock operations without the GPS because the bed shapes kept the tractor and implement in the GPS wheel tracks. o The flat top beds provided the best wheel track for our planting equipment, as this profile seemed to form a “railway like track centre”, making it very easy to keep the planter in the correct position without the need for GPS guidance. The round beds seem to have a wider wheel space and we experienced some movement and uneven row spacing, however this could be eliminated with the use of guidance equipment on the planting gear (which we don’t have). -Different planting techniques on preformed beds had very similar yields. The dual rows on preformed beds performed the worst with a yield of 103.7 t/ha, compared to singles on beds and conventional planting with 108.63 and 107.81 t/ha respectively. o Based on the gross return per hectare, the single wide shute treatments planted on preformed beds performed the best with a return of $2,582.78 per hectare. However the conventional treatment was very close with a return of $2,539.34 per hectare. The dual rows had a return of $2,464.90 per hectare. Across the treatments there was only a difference of $117.88/ha. - A FEAT analysis conducted by a DPI economist showed that the group’s cur rent farming system (controlled traffic and tilled system) resulted in a Farm Operating Return of $20, 070 and a Return on Investment of 1.44%. While the improved farming system which involves controlled traffic, preformed beds, soybean fallow and reduced tillage resulted in a Farm Operating Return of $54, 947 and a Return on Investment of 3.94%. - There was very little difference in yield and NIR data between the conventional planting method, and the two different bed shapes. The CASH preformed beds, which have a flat shape, had the highest yield with 98.97 t/ha, however it also had the lowest PRS. Tonnes of sugar per hectare across the treatments were almost identical and as a result the Gross Return per hectare only had a difference of $29 between the treatments. o While there was no major difference in gross return between the treatments, we noticed that the flat bed shape was much easier to form, plant and harvest, compared to the round shape. F:\New folder\SRDC\SRDC USB\MRD\Projects - GGIP\Archive\GGP021\Final Report\100426 GGP021_final_report - final.doc - Preliminary results indicate that the flat top bed system has much greater water infiltration and plant extraction than the other systems. However more detailed, long term work needs to be conducted before final conclusions can be drawn. -In 2007 approximately 160 acres outside of the group members farms was contract bed formed, and an additional 100 acres was contract bed formed in 2008. The equipment will continue to be available for hire into the future. - The group members have determined that in this area, preformed beds are essential for a successful legume fallow. All group members will use the bed former prior to planting soybean.