Completed projects and reports

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Sugar Research Australia, Sugar Research Development Corporation and BSES reports from completed research projects and papers.

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Subject: search.filters.subject.Farm management practices

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    Final report SRDC Project CG013 Growers working together to improve water quality in the Herbert Sugar Industry
    (2008) Wood, A; Wrigley, T; Phillips, K; Sheedy, P
    The sugarcane area of the Herbert River district is located adjacent to the Great Barrier Reef (GBR). The quality of water entering the GBR lagoon from the Herbert district is one of the most important environmental issues facing the Herbert sugar industry. However, little data on water quality are available from catchments consisting entirely of sugarcane. This project was conducted to establish a number of water quality monitoring sites in relatively small catchments where the land use is solely sugarcane and where individual growers or groups of growers could measure the quality of water in farm drains using simple tools and relate it to their farming practices. Eleven growers volunteered to participate in the programme. They were keen to participate because they felt that sugarcane growers’ reputation of being good custodians of the land had been tarnished by various external studies of water quality and they were eager to demonstrate that their activities were not polluting drainage water. A series of suitable sites for taking and testing water samples were established and V notch weirs were inserted in the drains for the purpose of measuring rates of water flow. A series of simple tools were developed for measuring sediment and nutrients drainage water leaving the farms. An experienced water engineer who had worked in the district for many years agreed to coordinate the project and proceeded to train the growers involved. He also set up and equipped a water analysis laboratory so that the measurements taken by the growers could be validated. Occasional samples were also sent to a NATA accredited laboratory for further validation of the nutrient determinations but also for measurements of pesticide residues. The growers involved in the project have recorded water quality measurements for three years and have also maintained records of on-farm practices that may impact on water quality such as tillage, fertilising, land levelling and herbicide applications and other activities that may impact on water quality. The growers were provided with information on desirable water quality levels. If their measurements exceeded these levels, growers reacted quickly to seek possible explanations for the elevated readings. The project was evaluated at the commencement, mid-term and just before its conclusion. The growers involved developed a list of the critical factors that needed to be achieved in order for the project to be successful. The mid-term evaluation was conducted with members of the Project Consultative Group and the final evaluation was again conducted with the growers involved in the project. Feedback was generally positive but there were a few areas where things could have been improved. The project outcomes consisted largely of improved knowledge, particularly amongst the growers, of what simple techniques are available for measuring nutrients, pH, dissolved oxygen and turbidity of farm drainage water. Growers learnt what constituted high, medium and low levels for the different water quality parameters and developed a better understanding of the relationship between rainfall and discharge characteristics of drains on their farms. They improved their understanding 4 of the relationship between on-farm management practices and water quality and of the accuracy and reliability of the different tools used to measure water quality. An important outcome has been the continued engagement and support of growers involved with the project, and the engagement and support of regulatory and other government support agencies through the project consultative group. This is important for the next phase of the project which aims to expand from 11 growers to around 100 growers conducting water quality monitoring. The existence of a committed nucleus of growers will be essential for helping to inspire others to participate. Likely economic benefits of the project will be increased farm profitability arising from improved farm practices associated with better management of farm inputs such as fertilisers and herbicides. Reduced input costs arising from reductions in soil tillage and more targeted applications of nutrients and herbicides will also contribute. Environmental benefits will arise from improved water quality on farm and in the downstream ecosystem, and improved soil health arising from changes in farming practices. Social benefits will include the empowerment of growers, who are now armed with better information about their farm practices and the likely impacts on water quality; greater confidence amongst growers when interacting with government and environmental groups; and improved attitudes and engagement by growers in sustainable land management.
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    SRDC Research Project Harnessing soil biology to improve the productivity of the new sugarcane farming system
    (2010) Schmidt, S; Schenk, P; Lakshmanan, P
    This project addresses the knowledge gap of how management affects soil biological processes. This is important because management has to maximise soil health and nutrient relations. Knowledge of soil biology in context of management strategies will allow optimising economic and environmental outcomes for the sugar industry. The project assessed how management options of the ‘new sugarcane farming system’ (reduced tillage, legume break crop, trash blanketing, and reduced nitrogen (N) fertiliser application), impact soil biology. We examined the functional groups and activity of soil microbes in context of soil N availability and gaseous emissions. Sugarcane soils in North and Southern Queensland, including the Yield Decline Joint Venture site in Ingham and two commercial farms with contrasting management practices in Bundaberg, were used for this research. A suite of well established and new methods were applied to analyse soil biological processes. A focus on soil microbiological processes is justified because microbes are the main drivers of N turnover in soil. Microbes supply N to crops by breaking down complex organic matter and soil-bound N, but also compete with plants for more easily-accessible N. Microbes convert N into easily leachable nitrate and gaseous N forms and are drivers of carbon (C) turnover in the soil. These microbial processes have not been comprehensively studied in sugarcane soils with different management. A special focus of this study was the development and application of novel molecular techniques to monitor soil microbial gene expression. This approach allows microbial functional analysis by treating soil as a “super organism” rather than deducing function from the presence of particular microbial taxa which is biased towards known microbial taxa.
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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.
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    Raising awareness and adoption of sustainable cane growing practices : SRDC Final report BSS238
    (2002) Azzopardi, M
    This project aimed to raise awareness and adoption of sustainable canegrowing practices in the Queensland and New South Wales sugar industries by providing canegrowers with the capacity to critically assess their farming systems, identify areas for improvement, and develop action plans.The project built on the development of the Queensland sugar industry?s Code of Practice for Sustainable Cane Growing (CANEGROWERS, 1998) and the New South Wales sugar industry?s Best Practice Guidelines for Acid Sulfate Soils (Sunshine Sugar, 2000). Both of these documents provide growers with clear advice on their obligations in relation to legislation like the Queensland Environmental Protection Act 1994. However, they do not provide a mechanism for growers to check their compliance with best practice recommendations, nor develop plans to implement changes required. This project aimed to fill this identified gap in the process of improving cane farming practices and sugar industry sustainability.The project was initially expected to be conducted between 1 July 1999 and 1 July 2001. However, much of the work on the project did not commence until November 1999 (with the appointment of a project officer). The project?s finishing date was also delayed (with SRDC approval) until 1 May 2002 to ensure all milestones could be successfully met.