Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

The Effect Of Soil Ph On Phosphorus Content Of Clover Pasture, David Weaver, Robert Summers, David Rogers, Peta Richards

Resource management technical reports

Testing of pasture soils from 2009 to 2018, as part of DPIRD’s Whole Farm Nutrient Mapping (WFNM) project in the coastal catchments of south-west Western Australia (WA), indicated that soil pH was so low it could be limiting plant access to nutrients. Observations by some farmers who had been involved in the soil testing were that lime application had not increased pasture production, even when pH_Ca (pH measured in calcium chloride) tests indicated that phosphorus (P) should become more available by increasing soil pH. Farmers also wanted to know if they needed to apply more P than soil testing …

Soil Amendment And Soil Testing As Nutrient Reduction Strategies For The Peel Integrated Water Initiative, Robert Summers, Peta Richards, David Weaver, David Rowe

Resource management technical reports

The Transform Peel program focuses on 42 000 hectares (ha) due east of Mandurah called the Peel Food Zone, 75 kilometres (km) south of Perth in the shires of Murray and Serpentine Jarrahdale and includes an assessment of intensified and enclosed agriculture and a business park. The Peel Integrated Water Initiative was developed through Transform Peel to identify water sources and minimise the effect of these projects on water quality by reducing the nutrient loads discharged into the Peel–Harvey Estuarine System, which has been suffering from poor water quality for this reason.

The mineral sand miner MZI Resources Pty Ltd …

Report Card On Sustainable Natural Resource Use In Agriculture, Robert Summers, David Weaver

All other publications

Condition and trend Nutrients, such as phosphorus (P), are essential for profitable agriculture in the south-west of WA; however, excess P – more than is required for optimal production – is stored in many agricultural soils. On average, pasture soils and arable soils contain 1.3 times and 1.6 times respectively, as much P as is required for optimal production. Production in P-enriched soils is more likely to be constrained by soil acidity (50–60% of pasture and arable soils), potassium (K) (50% of pasture soils and less than 10% of arable soils), and sulphur (S) (30% of pasture soils). Management implications …

Soil Test And Phosphorus Rate For High Rainfall Clover Pastures, Robert Summers, David Weaver

Bulletins 4000 -

Essential information for soil testing to determine the phosphorus fertiliser requirements for clover pastures in high rainfall coastal areas of Western Australia. Includes procedures for soil sampling, tissue testing, liming, when to apply fertiliser, how to decide on the target production level, how much fertiliser is required and type of fertiliser.

Crop Updates 2011 - Cereals, David Bowran, Bill Crabtree, Peter Carberry, Peter Burges, Bevan Buirchell, Ben Curtis, Sarah Ellis, Brenda Shackley, Christine Zaicou, Siva Sivapalan, Penny Goldsmith, Gae Plunkett, Darshan Sharma, Mario D'Antuono, Art Diggle, Peter Mangano, Sally Peltzer, Michael Renton, Bill Macleod, Fumie Horiuchi, George Wyatt, Geoff Anderson, Richard Bell, Ross Brennan, Wen Chen, Penny Riffkin

Crop Updates

This session covers eleven papers from different authors:

OPENING, NEW CROP VARIETIES & DECISION SUPPORT

Opening

1. Overview of the 2010 season, David Bowran, Director, Practice and Systems Innovation, Department of Agriculture and Food,

2. My experience in a drought as a farmer and consultant, Bill Crabtree, Morawa, Western Australia

3. Meeting the productivity and sustainability challenges to Australian agriculture until 2030, Peter Carberry, CSIRO Sustainable Agriculture Flagship

New Crop Varieties

4. National Variety Trials (NTV) wheat variety performance – captivity vs broadacre, Peter Burgess, Kalyx Agriculture

5. WALAN2289 – a new lupin variety to replace …

Crop Updates 2010 - Genetically Modified Crops, Nutrition And Soils, James Fisher, Désirée Futures, Peter Tozer, Mike Jackson, John Moore, Jamees Neilsen, Geoff Anderson, Wen Chen, Richard Bell, Paul Blackwell, Allan Herbert, Stephen Davies, Ross Brennan, Mike Bolland, James Easton, Ryan Guthrie, Rowan Madderm, Robert Belford, Wal Anderson, Ian Edwards, Reg Lunt, Bill Bowden, Nigel Metz, Peter Newman, Breanne Best, Chris Gazey, Joel Andrew

Crop Updates

GENETICALLY MODIFIED CROPS

1. Evaluation of the environmental and economic impact of Roundup Ready® canola in the Western Australian crop production system, James Fisher and Désirée Futures, York, Western Australia, Peter Tozer, PRT Consulting, Armidale NSW

2. Controlling wild radish (Raphanus raphanistrum) in Roundup Ready®¹ Canola: Outcomes from the Nufarm 2009 Roundup Ready small plot trial Program, Mike Jackson, Nufarm Australia Limited

3. Weed strategies for glyphosate tolerant crops, John Moore, Department of Agriculture and Food

4. Results of the 2009 Western Australia Roundup Ready® canola trials, Dr James Neilsen, Canola Systems …

Phosphorus For High Rainfall Pastures, Mike Bolland, Bill Russell, David Weaver

Bulletins 4000 -

Soil testing for phosphorus provides a reliable indication of when the level of phosphorus in a soil is likely to be adequate for pasture production in the next growing season. It is a waste of money to apply phosphorus fertiliser when soil testing indicates none is required, or to acidified soils, or to undergrazed pastures, or to pastures dominated by poorly productive species.

Legumes have higher phosphorus requirement than grasses.

Critical soil test phosphorus values do not change when nitrogen fertiliser is applied.

Riparian Conundra, David Weaver

Conference papers and presentations

Riparian vegetation is established or restored on the basis that it physically filters and traps hillslope derived particulate nutrients in surface runoff. Whilst many studies support this conventional model of riparian function, few test this models embedded assumptions. The assumptions are that catchments are surface runoff dominated, that most surface derived nutrients are transported in particulate form, and that riparian management targets locations that will result in the greatest change in water quality. This paper reviews studies in south west Western Australia that challenge these assumptions. Plots measuring leaching and runoff of nutrients showed that 20 times more water and …

Crop Updates 2009 - Genetically Modified Crops, Nutrition, Soils, & Others, Wallace Cowling, Art Diggle, Caroline Peek, Frank D'Emden, Fiona Evans, Bob French, Rob Grima, Sam Harburg, Abul Hashem, John Holmes, Jeromy Lemon, Peter Newman, Janet Paterson, Steve Penny, Peter Portman, Mark Slatter, Angus Maclennan, Andrew Wells, Bill Bowden, Wayne Pluske, Wen Chen, Geoff Anderson, Ross Brennan, Richard Bell, Hannah Rigby, Deborah Pritchard, David Collins, Katrina Walton, David Allen, Nancy Penney, Michael Robertson, Roger Lawes, Stephen Davies, Chris Gazey, Breanne Best, David Gartner, Quenten Knight, Joel Andrew, Ryan Pearce, F. C. Hoyle, A. Bennett, Rick Llewellyn, Ken Flower, Julian Krieg, Owen Catto, Cindy Parsons

Crop Updates

This session covers fifteen papers from different authors:

1. Performance of Canola Breeders Roundup Ready^® canola hybrid CHYB-166 in 2008, Wallace Cowling, Canola Breeders Western Australia Pty Ltd

2. The implications of GM glyphosate resistant lupin, Art Diggle, Caroline Peek, Frank D’Emden, Fiona Evans, Bob French, Rob Grima, Sam Harburg, Abul Hashem,, John Holmes, Jeremy Lemon, Peter Newman, Janet Paterson, Steve Penny,Department of Agriculture and Food, Peter Portmann, Agriconnect

3. Nufarm Roundup Ready® Canola Systems Trials— 2008 Mark Slatter, Research and Development …

The Balancing Act, David Weaver

Conference papers and presentations

Nutrient management is as much a global issue as a local one with a balance required between economics and environment, inherent biological limitations and expectations of nutrient use efficiency, and traditional fertiliser practices and actual enterprise nutrient requirements. The concept of nutrient balance depends on context and scale. Nutrient balance can be considered at a global scale, where issues of nutrient stocks, cycles, depletion and transfer of a particular element are important. For a single farm enterprise, nutrient balance might be considered in terms of phosphorus (P) inputs into and outputs from the enterprise. This is commonly known as a …

Impact Of More Intensive Grazing On Nitrogen And Phosphorus In Shallow Aquifers Of The Southern Perth Basin, D L. Bennett, Patrick Donnelly, Peter J. Tille

Resource management technical reports

This study reports on the nutrient content, pH and salinity of groundwater samples collected from the watertable and within the Superficial and the upper Leederville Aquifers from the Southern Perth Basin, south of Pinjarra, Western Australia. Sampling was undertaken to determine the impact of intensification of broadscale grazing on groundwater nutrients in the area.

Current Status And 25 Year Trends For Soil Acidity, Fertility And Salinity In The Coastal Catchments Of The Peel-Harvey, Robert Summers, David Weaver

All other publications

The current status and trends of soil analyses in the coastal catchment of the Peel Harvey estuary were developed from historical soil data (1982 to 1991) combined with a renewed sampling to greater depth (1 m). This report encompasses the data collected from the first year of the project. Soil phosphorus content was found to be high but has dropped slightly since 1991. Soil pH is very low and is likely to be limiting production but have risen slightly since 1991. Soil potassium content is generally so low that it may be limiting production especially to the west of the …

Natural Resource Management Issues For The South Coast Regional Strategy, B Nicholas

Resource management technical reports

This report has been prepared by the Agricultural Resource Management Program of the Department of Agriculture to assist SCRIPT (South Coast Regional Initiative Planning Team) in preparing the regional strategy. It records the key natural resource management issues threatening agricultural land on the south coast of Western Australia. Managing agricultural land effectively should be a priority in reducing the risks of land degradation on all assets-productive agricultural land, biodiversity and waterways.

The Use Of Bauxite Residue To Control Diffuse Phosphorus Pollution In Western Australia – A Win-Win-Win Outcome, Robert Summers, Mark Rivers, Martin Clarke

Conference papers and presentations

The Department of Agriculture, Western Australia has been working with Alcoa World Alumina Australia Ltd for more than ten years investigating the potential to use bauxite refining residues as soil amendments for the poor, acidic, sandy soils of the Swan Coastal Plain in south west Australia. Regional waterways, especially the Peel Inlet and Harvey Estuary, have historically been susceptible to nuisance algal blooms fed by phosphorus in run-off from farmland and urban areas. Extensive laboratory, field and catchment-scale trials have shown the ability of soil amendment with fine bauxite refining residue (now trademarked in this context as Alkaloam™) to reduce …

Grass Or Trees? Performance Of Riparian Buffers Under Natural Rainfall Conditions, Australia, Lucy Mckergow, I Prosser, R Grayson, David Weaver, D Heiner

Journal articles

Riparian vegetation can trap sediment and nutrients derived from hillslopes. Most research into the effectiveness of riparian buffers has been experimental and little quantitative data exists on performance under natural field conditions. This study reports on grass and tree buffer performance under natural rainfall conditions in two contrasting Australian environments. Buffers receiving runoff from hillslopes cropped with bananas were monitored over a 4-year period in the wet topics of Far North Queensland (FNQ). Runoff, bedload and suspended loads were measured leaving the crop and leaving 15 m wide dense grass and remnant rainforest riparian buffers. The grass buffer was able …

Sorption Of Phosphorus By Soils : How It Is Measured In Western Australia, Michael D A Bolland, D G. Allen, N J. Barrow

Bulletins 4000 -

Most soils used for agriculture in Western Australia had insufficient indigenous native phosphorus P for the introduced agricultural plant species used in the region so fertiliser P had to be applied. This bulletin covers how water-soluble P WSP fertilisers are made, and how the P in the fertilisers dissolves and reacts with soil in the year of application and in the years after application, how soils sorb P and procedures and soil tests used to estimate the capacity of soils to sorb P.

Fertigation Of Vegetables In Western Australia, J Burt

Bulletins 4000 -

Fertigation is the technique of using soluble fertilisers to supply essential nutrients to vegetables through sprinkler or trickle irrigation systems, or by means of a boom spray. It is ideally suited to most horticultural areas in Western Australia, especially the sandy soils of the Swan Coastal Plain that have a poor capacity to retain nutrients.

Before and after planting, nutrients are often applied to vegetables on soils of the Swan Coastal Plain by applications of poultry manure* or solid fertilisers. After planting, fertigation is a safe and effective method of applying top-dressings of nutrients to crops, especially after the rows …

Before And After Riparian Management: Sediment And Nutrient Exports From A Small Agricultural Catchment, Western Australia, Lucy Mckergow, David Weaver, I Prosser, R Grayson, A. E.G. Reed

Conference papers and presentations

Riparian vegetation can trap sediment and nutrients coming from hillslopes and reduce stream bank erosion. This study presents results from a 10 year stream monitoring program in a small agricultural catchment near Albany, Western Australia. In 1996, a 1.6 km stream reach was fenced, planted with eucalyptus species and managed separately from the adjacent paddocks. Stream flow, nutrient and sediment concentration data were collected at the downstream end of the fenced riparian area between 1991 and 2000, so there are data for the “before” and “after” riparian management periods. Suspended sediment concentrations fell dramatically following riparian management; the average event …

Relationships Between Stream Order And Management Priority: A Water Quality Case Study, David Weaver, Adrian Reed, John Grant

Conference papers and presentations

Seagrass, which once dominated the habitat of Oyster Harbour on the south coast of Western Australia has been replaced by macroalgae because of increased nutrient and sediment discharge from the rural dominated catchment. Total Phosphorus (TP), Total Nitrogen (TN), Suspended Sediment (SS) and Electrical Conductivity (EC) concentrations from a catchment – wide (168 sites), event-driven snapshot, water quality monitoring program conducted from 1994 to 1996, were analysed in relation to stream order and published survey data on riparian zone condition. This analysis was performed to examine relationships between stream order, riparian zone condition and water quality, and implications for the …

Phosphorus In The Landscape: Diffuse Sources To Surface Waters. Land And Water Resources Research And Development Corporation. Occasional Paper 16/98, Richard Davis, Anne Hamblin, E O'Loughlin, Nic Austin, R Banens, P Cornish, P Hairsin, M Mcculloch, Phil Moody, J Olley, B Prove, I Smalls, David Weaver

All other publications

The National Eutrophication Management Program (NEMP) and Environment Australia convened a workshop to develop a coherent overview of the sources and transport of diffuse phosphorus in Australian catchments based on the latest knowledge. The Land and Water Resources Research and Development Corporation (LWRRDC) and the Murray–Darling Basin Commission (MDBC) jointly fund NEMP. A select group of scientists attended the workshop and developed a coherent statement about phosphorus sources and transport in Australian catchments. The group did not extend this statement to include recommended management practices. This paper reports the findings from the workshop. State governments have developed algal and nutrient …

The Soil Phosphorus Store, G S P Ritchie, D. M. Weaver

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

The management of the soil phosphorus store, or 'super bank' to minimise phosphorus leaching losses is a vital part of any strategy to reduce algal pollution of the Peel-Harvey estuary.

Phosphorus can exist in the soil in four main 'pools'. it may occur in the soil solution or in one of the three pools that contain phosphorus in solid forms. This phosphorus can be in compounds (fertilisers, dead plant material); adsorbed (attached) to soil particles such as organic matter, clay and iron oxide; or as constituents of micro-organisms.

The Distribution And Properties Of Lateritic Gravels At Yalanbee And Their Interactions With Soil Phosphorus, David Weaver

All other publications

This study aimed at investigating the distributive patterns and properties of lateritic gravels at "Yalanbee" (C.S.I.R.O. research station) and how these properties and patterns e ffect the adsorption of phosphorus onto the lateritic gravels. It also aimed partly at investigating the effect of the presence of lateritic gravels on the adsorption of phosphate by "whole soils". Gravels in the Yalanbee soil had migrated since their formation as was shown by their abundance and large size at the top of a slope which graded to less abundant, smaller and more rounded gravels further down the s lope. The distribution of gravels …