Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Comparing Size In Lime, Mark Whitten

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Extensive research into the management of soil acidity in Western Australia is increasing farmer awareness that lime use can reduce soil acidity and improve crop yields. However, as lime use increases, the question of lime performance and particle size is becoming more critical. Chris Gazey from the Department of Agriculture is heading up the soil acidity project, with the team comprising members from the department, CSIRO and the University of Western Australia. Mark Whitten reports on project outcomes relating to lime particle size.

Soil Sampling Made Easier, Mike Bolland, Mike Baker

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

A new rotary blade soil sampler has taken the hard work out of collecting soil samples from Western Australia's hard-setting soils to test for soil phosphorus levels .

Conceived and developed by Department of Agriculture technical officer Mike Baker, it should enable soil testing to be more widely adopted. Fortunately, the soil calibration tests that were developed using pogo samples can also be used for the new sampler.

Stubble Handling Begins At Harvest, Ed Blanchard

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Long stubble left in the paddock after harvest causes major difficulties at seeding time. To demonstrate the benefits of having short stubble at seeding, the Trayning Land Conservation District Committee created four stubble treatments at harvest in 1988 and sowed into these stubble treatments in 1989.

Cost Effective Stubble Retention Practices, Andrew Green, Ed Blanchard

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

To increase the rate of adoption of stubble retention farming systems the Grains Research and Development Corporation is funding a three-year project with the Farm Machinery Unit to develop low cost, stubble handling systems from harvest to seeding

Stubble : Friend And Foe, Department Of Agriculture And Food, Western Australia

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Several articles in this issue of the Journal of Agriculture discuss some of the important issues of stubble management. The articles are condensed from some of the papers presented at a stubble workshop at Geraldton in 1991.

Whole-Farm Planning : Success At Wilgi Creek, Kevin Shanhun

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Ian and Bev Lynch own Wilgi Creek, a 376 ha mixed farming property at West Mount Barker in the 700 mm rainfall zone. In 1983, they started a whole-farm plan to overcome the problems of declining production caused by waterlogging (their biggest problem), salinity and deterioration of the remnant native vegetation. Today, their property is an example of a successful, wholefarm land conservation plan based on agroforestry, timber production, water harvesting and improved pastures.

Narrow-Winged Seeder Points Reduce Water Erosion And Maintain Crop Yields, Kevin Bligh

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Sowing crops without loosening the topsoil by tillage reduces water erosion. It can increase infiltration of rainfall into loamy soils, thereby reducing runoff and increasing potential crop yields. Crop yields were maintained after I1 seasons of seeding an Avon Valley loam near Beverley with minimum and no-tillage seeding operations. Infiltration increased significantly from 80 per cent of the 1983 growing-season rainfall under the traditional three tillage operations, to 87per cent under a single tillage operation using a combine seed drill. Infiltration increased further to 96 per cent under a no-tillage system using a triple^lisc drill. At Gnowangerup, 80 per cent …

Drainage Of Sandplain Seeps For Salinity Control And Stock Water Supplies, Richard George, Peter Frantom

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Sandplain seeps are derived from a shallow groundwater system which flows from the deep sandplain soils upslope. Seeps result in small areas of salinity and waterlogging, which can be the focus of soil erosion. Sandplain seeps may represent as much as 10 per cent of Western Australia's salt problem in the drier agricultural area. Several drainage experiments conducted between 1986 and 1989 determined the best methods of reclaiming sandplain seeps.

This article discusses the results of these drainage experiments. It comments on the most suitable method for reclaiming sandplain seeps and developing them for stock water supplies.

Economics Of Interceptor Drains : A Case Study, Andrew Bathgate, Ian Evans

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

This case study determines the most likely rate of return to capital invested in constructing seepage interceptor drains to reduce the effect of waterlogging on crop and pasture yields. The analysis of a farm in the Denbarker region, west of Albany, determined what increases were needed in pasture growth to justify the cost of constructing drains across four adjacent paddocks. The benefits of changing rotations to include lupins were also determined, as growing lupins was unprofitable before the construction of drains.

The Development Of An Efficient Lupin Harvesting Front, E D. Blanchard

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Harvest losses represent a significant reduction in lupin production and farm productivity.

Since 1984, the Department's Farm Machinery Research and Liaison Unit at the Dryland Research Institute has studied the lupin harvesting operation to improve its mechanical efficiency. An experimental and a prototype harvesting front were built and tested in the field. Guidlines for efficient lupin harvesting were produced, and commercial modifications developed.

Improved Fertilizing Practices On The Peel-Harvey Catchment, P T. Arkell

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Broad-acre farmers in the Peel-Harvey catchment have met a challange and achieved a great deal since the fertilizer extension programme started in 1983.

The main objective of the extension programme has been to ensure that every year three-quarters of the farmers make economically and technically sound fertilizer decisions, thus causing a minimum amount of phosphorus to enter the waterways of the Peel-Harvey estuarine system.

Seepage Interceptor Drains And Topsoil Salinity, T R. Negus

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

The Department of Agriculture established 121 trials in its Narrogin advisory district starting in 1972 to measure the effect of bulldozer and grader built seepage interceptor banks and drains on the topsoil salinity of the land downslope of them.

After 14 years of moniterin, there was no evidence that seepage interceptor drains and banks reduced the top soil salinity on 10 of the 11 sites in the Pingelly, Brookton and Wickepin Shires.

Mogumber Drainage Works Succeed, L K. Lenane

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

The loss of arable farmland from soil erosion, waterlogging and salinity is a severe problem on some Western Australian farms.

When the arable land comprises only 40 per cent of the total area within the Mogumber Soil Conservation District, this loss is a real cause for concern. So too is the resulting damage to roads, siltation of railway culverts, and deaths of roadside trees from rising saline watertables.

However, drainage, contour and other works undertaken by the Mogumber Soil Conservation District have halted this degredation. Badly eroded areas that were fenced off now have a satisfactory ground cover. A wheat …

Laser Levelling Land For Flood Irrigation, M D. Green, J. P. Middlemas

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Since the introduction of laser levelling to Western Australia's South-West irrigation area five years ago, many farmers have benefited from this new and precise method of land-forming.

The use of lasser controlled earthmoving equipment to redevelop irrigated paddocks has led to improved irrigation efficiency and drainage. Less water is used for each irrigation, water is applied more evenly and less labour is needed. many older, grass-dominated paddocks have been reseeded to improve pasture species.

Salinity Control In Northern China, G A. Robertson

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

China has vast areas of saline land, perhaps as much as six million hectares. Some of this saline land is a result of marine influence in coastal areas and some is the resultof soil formation in areas with saline geological deposits and inadequate rainfall to leach out the salts at that time.

However, most saline soils in China are as a result of secondary salinisation processess induced by a hydrological imbalance resulting from over-clearing of the land or irrigation. This imbalance has produced rising watertables bringing the salt closer to the soil surface.

In this article, G..A. Robertson, Commissioner …

Water Supplies : Dams And Roaded Catchments, W J. Burdass, T. R. Negus, A. L. Prout, I. A. F. Laing

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Western Australia's Upper and Lower Great Southern statistical areas include most of the broad-scale agricultural land south of a line from Perth to Hyden. Much of the area is well-developed and carries 13.4 million sheep, 203 00 cattle and 95 000 pigs, almost half the State's livestock.

There are few natural rivers and lakes to water livestock in summer and much of the bore water is salty. On-farm waterr conservation, therefore, consits mainly of excavated earth tanks (dams) which are filled by surface runoff or shallow seepage. In the drier areas and in the sandplain roaded catchments have neen built …

Dam Site Selection In The North-Eastern Wheatbelt, J L. Frith

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Western Australia's wheatbelt farm dams are dug three to eight metres deep and are generally sited in soils which either are inherently impermeable or can be made so during construction.

In the eastern and north-eastern wheatbelt, however, only a small proportion of the soils meets these criteria. Dam site selection in these areas therefore depends on a good knowledge ofwhich soils aresuitable and on our being able to locate them efficiently by using surface indications such as surface soil, natural vegetation or topographic features.

Improved Catchments For Farm Dams, I A F Laing

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

The amounts and frequency of runoff from unimproved farmland catchments in Western Australia's cereal and sheep districts are notoriously variable and unreliable. As a result many farmers have constructed improved catchments to ensure better reliability of farm dams for livestock and homestead water supplies.

Improved catchments which are used extensively on these farms are all of the compacted or bare-earth type. These include roaded catchments, flat batter dams and, to a lesser extent, scraped catchments. This article mainly discusses roaded catchments, the most common of the improved catchment types on farms.

Drought Proofing The Farm : Case Studies, J L. Frith

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

For many years, Western Australia's north-eastern wheatbelthas suffered chronic shortages of water for stock and domestic use. The area's averageannual rainfall is generally low - less than 300 millimetres - and droughts in the 1970s caused futher problems. manydams in the area leak or have inadequate catchmentsand groundwater is scarce ormofmpoor quality.

In March 982, the Western Australian Government provided $100 000 for the Department of agriculture to demonstrate the potential of establishing permanent, drought-proof water supplies on farms in the north-eastern wheatbelt. The methods were to use exixting techniques to build dams and catchments. In a year of low …

There's Little To Choose Between Scarifier Points, C R. Lester

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Tests on scarifier points showed that methods of treating them to prolong their life had little effect.

Deep Drainage As A Method Of Treating Saltland, Eric Bettenay

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

In some situations, deep drainage may be warranted to return salt-affected land to full production.

This method is being investigated at CSIRO's Yalanbee Experiment Station.

Effects Of Surface Drainage On Dryland Salinity, P R. George, T. R. Negus

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Areas which are salt-affected are often also flooded. Although flooding is not the basic cause of salinity, surface drainage may improve conditions for plant growth, and this article describes suitable methods

Test Sites For Farm Dams, Department Of Agriculture, Western Australia

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

A short article outlining procedures for testing potential dam sites.

Design Standards For Farm Surface Water Supplies, J L. Frith

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Design is usually concerned with getting adequate return from limited recources. Farm dams which dry up represent dam failure. Less seriously, so too do dams which, although not drying out, never fill; they waste a recource.

Efficiency Of Sprinkler Irrigation Systems, T C. Calder

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Shallow-rooted vegetable crops growing on sandy soils in hot, often windy summer weather, pose a difficult watering problem for most Western Australian vegetable growers.

Irregularities in wetting patterns are common. Wind effects are seldom taken into account in system design. The increasing popularity of knocker-type sprinklers makes these considerations particularily important.

Clay Cover For Roaded Catchments, J L. Frith, R. A. Nulsen

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

RECENT dry years have stimulated interest in improved catchments for farm dams. Although roaded catchments have been installed on many farm dams in Western Australia, most of them fall short of their potential for increasing run-off.

Farm Dams In High Rainfall Areas, G C. Brown

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

WATER storage is essential on most south-west farms to ensure adequate irrigation supplies in the dry summers. Government irrigation water supply schemes are limited and most farmers must supply their own water storage.

Land Levelling With Scrapers, K R. Southon

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

A VARIETY of earth-moving equipment can be used in preparing land for flood irrigation, but the best machine for extensive earth moving over some distance is a power-driven, carry-all scraper.

Water Conservation : The Storage Life Of Farm Dams, D J. Carder

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

HOW MANY stock can a dam of a certain size and depth be expected to carry and how long will the supply last?

What size of dam is needed in case the winter rains fail? How many stock can a dam support and still provide a drought supply?

The Long Term Effects Of Frequent Cropping, Stanley Thomas Smith

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

AGRICULTURALLY speaking, few Western Australian soils are more than 50 years old. We have the responsibility of preserving them for farming—not for one man's lifetime, but for centuries.

The aim of this article is to demonstrate that cropping and cultural practices do have some effects on the soil, and that these effects should be considered when choosing a farm rotation.