Soil Science Commons^™

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.

Landscapes And Soils Of The Narrogin District, D N. Sawkins

Bulletins 4000 -

The publication aims to provide readers with the principles underlying the formation of local landscapes and soils, and the ability to identify landscapes and their associated soils.

Factors Influencing Perennial Pasture Adoption In The Medium Rainfall Zone Of The South West Natural Resource Management Region Of Western Australia, Ned Crossley, Stephen Tunbridge, Kathi Mcdonald

Resource management technical reports

No abstract provided.

Bringing Us Together : Presentations From The Natural Resource Management Division Meeting, May 2008, Georgina Wilson, Don Bennett, Richard J. George, Sandra Van Vreeswyk, Rebecca Heath, Jamie Bowyer, T M. Lacey, Dennis Van Gool, Peter J. Tille, John P. Collins, Justin L.M Hardy, Derk Bakker, Arjen Ryder, Bindi Isbister, Bill H. Verboom, Luke Bayley, Karen Roberts, Kaz Johnson, Richard Glover

Resource management technical reports

No abstract provided.

Wilson Inlet Catchment Appraisal 2007, Ron Master

Resource management technical reports

No abstract provided.

Farming For The Future : Industry Practice Baselines, Danielle England, Susan Murphy-White, John Noonan, Marie Shanks, Jon Warren

Resource management technical reports

No abstract provided.

Soil Acidity : A Guide For Wa Farmers And Consultants, Chris Gazey, Stephen Davies

Bulletins 4000 -

Soil acidity: a guide for WA farmers and consultants provides all the necessary information for effective management and understanding of soil acidity in a user-friendly handbook including many examples, diagrams and photographs.

Benchmarking Biodiversity: Land Resource Mapping In The Ord River Catchment., Tricia Handasyde, Peter J. Tille, Noel R. Schoknecht, Karen Carnes

All other publications

This 2009 report describes the mapping of landform, vegetation and soils undertaken in the Ord River Catchment in the East Kimberley of Western Australia in order to provide a basis for biodiversity benchmarking. The project: • brought together and standardised existing Ord River catchment land resource mapping held by the Department of Agriculture and Food (DAFWA) and Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC) in a format compatible with adjoining mapping in the Northern Territory • mapped to land unit level an additional 4400 sq km of the Ord River catchment. • re-digitised 2200 sq km of vegetation mapping previously not …

Landscapes And Soils Of The Merredin District, D N. Sawkins, Department Of Agriculture And Food

Bulletins 4000 -

The publication aims to provide readers with the principles underlying the formation of local landscapes and soils, and the ability to identify landscapes and their associated soils.

Lime For High Rainfall Pastures: Above 800mm Average Annual Rainfall, Mike Bolland, Bill Russell

Bulletins 4000 -

Conventional agriculture acidifies soil. As your soil becomes more acid, productive pasture species disappear and are replaced by species of low agricultural value. It is a waste of money to apply expensive fertiliser to pastures which are inherently poorly productive because they are growing in an acid soil.

The paper examines the types of lime available, how to select lime for quality and when and how much lime to apply. Maganese toxity and aluminum toxicity are examine, how to test your soil, and affect of soil acidity on bacteria and other microorgansims.

Western Australian Rangeland Monitoring System For Grasslands: Field Manual, Andrew Craig, Philip Thomas

Bulletins 4000 -

Western Australian Rangeland Monitoring System (WARMS) sites are designed to provide defined areas for repeated photography and collection of vegetation composition, shrub/tree cover and landscape function (soil surface assessment) data. This manual defines the procedures for installing and monitoring WARMS sites in the grasslands of northern Western Australia. It provides a documented reference of site stratification at regional scale, and site allocation at station (property) scale. Different procedures apply for sites in the shrublands of the southern pastoral zone. WARMS is designed to be interpreted at the vegetation type or regional scale, rather than lease (station) scale. Information gathered is …

Oyster Harbour Catchment Appraisal 2007, Ron Master, South Coast Agricultural Rca Team

Resource management technical reports

No abstract provided.

Landscapes And Soils Of The Katanning District, D N. Sawkins, Department Of Agriculture And Food

Bulletins 4000 -

The publication aims to provide readers with the principles underlying the formation of local landscapes and soils, and the ability to identify landscapes and their associated soils.

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 …

The Land Is In Your Hands : A Practical Guide For Owners Of Small Rural Landholdings In Western Australia, Department Of Agriculture And Food, Wa

Bulletins 4000 -

This Bulletin discusses various aspects of managing a small farm or property in Western Australia, including soil and land care, vegetation and plant control on farm holdings, water resource management, biosecurity, plant, animal and insect pest control and livestock management.

Natural Resource Management Issues In The Avon River Basin, Paul Galloway

Resource management technical reports

Analyses the risk of soil, land and water degradation within the Avon River Basin of Western Australia. Information is based on the interpretation of the characteristics of soils and landscapes within the Avon River basin. This report deals with 15 natural resource management issues and describes the extent of each issue, the impacts that each issue will have, management options that can be used to deal with each issue, and the effectiveness of each management option in dealing with the issues.

Diagnosing And Ameliorating Problem Soils : Decision Tree On How To Diagnose And Ameliorate Problem Soils, Department Of Agriculture And Food, Western Australia

Agriculture reports

Most cropping paddocks in Western Australia have lower yielding areas within paddocks that perform poorly in most years. If the agronomy and management are good, the poor yields are usually due to soil-related problems. Some of these problems can be corrected or reduced by adopting certain proven practices. However, it is important to identify and quantify the problem so that decisions can be made on whether amelioration is possible and economically feasible. The objective is to provide a simploe decision tool for farmers and advisers to use in identifying and quantifying soil problems in agricultural soils in Western Australia. It …

Roaded Catchments To Improve Reliability Of Farm Dams, David Stanton

Bulletins 4000 -

Maintaining reliable on-farm water supplies is an on-going challenge for landholders throughout Western Australia. Improving reliability of dams by constructing a roaded catchment is one of the most cost-effective methods of improving the performance and reliability of a farm water supply.

A roaded catchment is a water-harvesting structure designed to increase the amount of run-off from the catchment above a dam. The 'roads' of a roaded catchment are parallel ridges of earth with batters (or side slopes) that cause run-off to be directed into troughs or channels. The surface is lined with clay and compacted to make it smooth and …

Agricultural Resource Priorities And Recommendations For The Avon River Basin Natural Resource Management Strategy, Paul D. Galloway, C E. Mcconnell, D W. Cummins, K Ohlsen

Resource management technical reports

This report for the Avon Natural Resource Management Strategy provides an assessment of the current status of land resources throughout the Avon River Basin in Western Australia. It identifies the sub-regions and landscape components of the area and the land resource assets. The greatest threats are salinity, soil acidification, subsurface compaction, waterlogging, water and wind erosion, and biosecurity.

Managing Grey Clays : To Maximise Production And Sustainability, Greg Hamilton, Peter Fisher, Matt Baimbridge, Jennifer Bignell, Jessica Sheppard, Rod Bowey

Bulletins 4000 -

This bulletin discusses the identification, understanding and management of grey clay soils in the south-west of Western Australia.

Mole Drainage For Increased Productivity In The South West Irrigation Area, D L. Bennett, Richard George, Bill Russell

Bulletins 4000 -

Heavy soils, with low rates of soil-water movement, such as those found in the South-West Irrigation Area (SWIA), require closely spaced (2-6 m apart) subsoil drainage systems to provide sufficient water movement to control the effects of salt-waterlogging on pastures. Such close spacing using traditional buried pipe or tile drainage systems is impractical. As a result, mole drainage systems, used in other parts of the world for over 50 years, have gained popularity in the SWIA in recent years.

This Bulletin Farmnote reports the current ‘best-bet’ mole draining technique for SWIA conditions gathered from observations over a number of years …

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.

Technical Assessment Of Natural Resource Management Threats And Options In The Northern Agricultural Region Of Western Australia, Lorinda Hunt, G Patterson, Northern Agricultural Catchments Council (Wa)

Resource management technical reports

Analysis of the risk of soil, land and water degradation within the Northern Agricultural Region of Western Australia. Natural resource issues discussed include: acid groundwater, acid sulfate soils, climate change, dryland salinity, flooding, herbicide resistance, non-wetting (water repellence), nutrient loss and eutrophication, remnant vegetation decline, soil acidity, soil fertility decline, soil structure decline, subsurface compaction, waterlogging, wind erosion and soil contamination.

An Inventory And Condition Survey Of The Pilbara Region, Western Australia, A M E Van Vreeswyk, K A. Leighton, A L. Payne, P Hennig

Technical Bulletins

The inventory and condition survey of the Pilbara region, undertaken by the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia between 1995 and 1999, describes and maps the natural resources of the region’s pastoral leasehold land. This survey report provides a baseline record of the existence and condition of the natural area’s resources, to assist with the planning and implementation of land management practices. The report identified and described the condition of soils, landforms, vegetation, habitat, ecosystems, and declared plants and animals. It also assessed the impact of pastoralism and made land management recommendations. The area surveyed covers about 181 723 km². Seven …

Wheatbelt Waterwise = Saltwise : Gardening Guide, John Colwill, Juana Roe

Bulletins 4000 -

As a result of agricultural clearing, many country towns are now feeling the effects of rising groundwater and the salt that it carries. Salinity has been identified as Australia’s number one environmental problem. While most people think that salinity means land lost to agriculture, it also poses a serious threat to many country towns. A report for the Department of Agriculture in 2001 highlighted the need for simple and cost-effective salinity management strategies to be adopted in wheatbelt towns. These included water recycling, revegetation and more efficient water use.

Spectacular Recovery In The Ord River Catchment, A L. Payne, I W. Watson, P E. Novelly

Agriculture reports

Regeneration work on severely damaged country in what is now known as the Ord River Regeneration Reserve (ORRR) commenced in 1960. The ORRR is in the East Kimberley area of Western Australia with an associated small area in the Northern Territory. The work included strip contour cultivation and seeding (which proceeded at various levels of intensity during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s), fencing and destocking of cattle by mustering over many years, and the eradication of donkeys.

Pastoral Resources And Their Management In The Pilbara Region Of Western Australia, A M E Van Vreeswyk, Alan Payne, K A. Leighton

Agriculture reports

This report is a product of the rangeland survey of the Pilbara area of Western Australia which was conducted jointly by the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Land Administration ... in 1995-1999. This report is primarily intended to be used to assist pastoralists in station management and to assist others involved with the pastoral industry. The survey area includes all of the De Grey, East Pilbara and Roebourne/Port Hedland Land Conservation Districts, part of the Ashburton Land Conservation District.

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.

Natural Resource Management Issues In The Agricultural Zone Of Western Australia : South West Region, B Nicholas, Paul Galloway, Peter J. Tille, Angela Stuart-Street, Heather M. Percy

Resource management technical reports

Provides and analysis of current pressures on agricultural resources of the South West region of Western Australia. Differing ranges of risks are shown for different degradation issues because of various impacts. Each natural resource management issues covers nature and extent of susceptibility, impacts on agriculture and the environment, management options and effectiveness of management options.

Phillips Brook Catchment Appraisal, Paul D. Galloway

Resource management technical reports

This report describes the soils, hydrology and natural vegetation of the Phillips Brook catchment near Toodyay, Western Australia and provides information on the threats to agriculture, infrastructure and natural resources from salinity, waterlogging, erosion and other land degradation processes.