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Roaded Catchments In Wa, Department Of Primary Industries And Regional Development, Western Australia

Natural resources factsheets

Roaded catchments are earthwork structures designed to increase the amount of run-off from the catchment above a receiving farm dam.

Roaded catchments are lined with clay and compacted to make a smooth surface that reduces infiltration and increases run-off. Roaded catchments should discharge into a silt trap and then into a dam (excavated earth tank). This combined structure should be fenced to exclude livestock.

The Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development recommends that roaded catchments are part of an integrated water and salinity management program.

The information in this page is only a guide – seek expert advice before …

Managing Frost Risk, Department Of Primary Industries And Regional Development, Western Australia

Grains and other field crops factsheets

Frost occurs on clear nights in early spring when the air temperature drops to 2°C or less. Crop damage from frost may occur at any stage of development but is most damaging at or around flowering.

Frost is difficult to manage, and damage will be unavoidable in some seasons. Risk management options proven to reduce frost risk include paddock zoning, crop and variety selection, time of sowing, stubble management and managing inputs. The greatest gains result from in paddock choice/zoning, crop and variety choice, and manipulating the canopy.

Growing Oaten Hay On Frost Prone Paddocks, Department Of Primary Industries And Regional Development, Western Australia

Grains and other field crops factsheets

Growing oaten hay on frost-prone paddocks minimises the frost risk because it is cut soon after flowering, avoiding the frost sensitive period. If severe frost damage occurs to other crops, baling them for hay may reduce economic loss.

Oats are much more tolerant than other cereals to frost events that occur during vegetative growth and flowering.

Identifying High-Value Tactical Livestock Decisions On A Mixed Enterprise Farm In A Variable Environment, Michael Young, John Young, Ross S. Kingwell, Philip E. Vercoe

Animal production and livestock research articles

Context

Australia is renowned for its climate variation, featuring years with drought and years with floods, which result in significant production and profit variability. Accordingly, to maximise profitability, dryland farming systems need to be dynamically managed in response to unfolding weather conditions.

Aims

The aim of this study is to identify and quantify optimal tactical livestock management for different weather-years.

Methods

This study employed a whole-farm optimisation model to analyse a representative mixed enterprise farm located in the Great Southern region of Western Australia. Using this model, we investigated the economic significance of five key livestock management tactics. These included …

Crop Updates 2011 - Nutrition, Precision Agriculture & Climate And Forecasting, Deb Archdeacon, Andrew Gulliver, David Cullen, Qifu Ma, Richard Bell, Ross Brennan, Craig Scanlan, Wen Chen, Geoff Anderson, Mike Bolland, Peter Rees, Sandy Alexander, Frank D'Emden, Stephen Davies, Breanne Best, Louise Barton, Klaus Butterbach-Bahl, Ralph Kiese, Daniel Murphy, Peter Newman, Roger Mandel, Roger Lawes, Michael Robertson, Derk Bakker, Jeremy Lemon, Alison Lacey, John Paul Collins, Glen Riethmuller, Fiona H. Evans, David Stephens, Caroline Peek, Tim Scanlon

Crop Updates

This session covers sixteen papers from different authors:

Nutrition

1. Balance® used in conventional cropping practice with half of the upfront fertiliser rate can sustain crop yield and build soil biological fertility, Deb Archdeacon1, Andrew Gulliver2 and David Cullen2, 1Agronomica, Wellington Mill, WA, 2Custom Composts, Nambeelup, WA

2. Effects of potassium (K) supply on plant growth, potassium uptake and grain Yield in wheat grown in grey sand, Qifu Ma1, Richard Bell1, Ross Brennan2 and Craig Scanlan2, 1School of Environmental Science, Murdoch University, 2Department of Agriculture and Food

3. Improving fertiliser management: redefining the …

Sheep Updates 2007 - Part 3, Andrew Ritchie, Edward Riggall, James Hall, Gus Rose, Johan Greeff, John Young, M. Alchin, M. Young, T. Johnson, John Lucy, Martin Staines, Tim Wiley, Rob Grima, Sandra Prosser, Matt Ryan, Geoff Moore, Tony Albertsen, Phil Barrett-Lennard, George Woolston, John Titerington, Sarah Knight, Brianna Peake

Sheep Updates

This session covers seven papers from different authors:

PROFITABILITY

1. Benchmarking demonstrates both the potential and realised productivity gains in the sheep and wool industry, Andrew Ritchie, Edward Riggall and James Hall, ICON Agriculture, Darkan

2. Improving sheep genetics will increase farm profitability, Gus Rose, Johan Greeff Department of Agriculture and Food Western Australia, John Young Farming Systems Analysis Service, WA

3. Meat, Merinos and making money in WA Pastoral Zone, M. Alchin, M. Young and T. Johnson, Department of Agriculture and Food Western Australia,

GRAZING

4. Nitrogen - farmers' friend or foe? John Lucy and Martin Staines, Department …

What Brings The First Rains Of The Season?, Ian Foster

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

There are two major sources of rainfall over south-western Australia.

An Economic Model For Evaluating Strategies On The South Coast Of W.A. Which Reduce Wind Erosion : Documentation, A D. Bathgate

Resource management technical reports

The sandplain region on the south coast has predominately sandy soils which are subject to erosive winds when ground cover is likely to be scarce. This can often result in production losses of crop and pasture. There is concern that wind erosion will lead to the depletion of the soil resource in the long term. The model is multi-period linear programming with a planning horizon of 10 years. Effects of wind erosion on production can be imposed on the model for the first five years after the erosion event.

Soil Factors Affecting Flood Runoff On Agricultural Catchments In Western Australia, D J. Mcfarlane, J R. Davies

Resource management technical reports

Reviews methods of including soil properties in flood runoff-predicting equations. Concentrates on practical methods that can be routinely used by soil conservation technicians for flood prediction rather than complex research models. A case is made for collecting soil data from the gauged catchments which are relevant to a perceived runoff mechanism and are capable of being routinely applied in simple flood prediction methodologies.

Industries Assistance Commission Inquiry Into Drought Assistance, Department Of Agriculture And Food, Western Australia, Australia. Industries Assistance Commission, J. Ripley

All other publications

This submission outlines the extent of drought in Western Australia in 1982/83, examines the adequacy of drought assistance measures and, after canvassing alternative assistance measures, proposes a preferred package of drought assistance measures.

The issue of whether or not the non-farm sector in rural areas should receive drought assistance, and if so what type, is not addressed in this submission. Rather the framework of discussion is restricted to the farm sector.

Cereal Foliage Disease Survey, T N. Khan, A. G. P. Brown

Experimental Summaries - Plant Research

Cereal Foliage Disease Survey A dry season reduced disease to insignificant levels (as measured by this survey) in all areas except the south west. Late rains may have produced some damage to wheat by S. nodorum however but this was probably confined to southern areas. In barley net blotch which has been declining re appeared a major disease in 1977 excepting high rainfall areas, where scald continued to be severe. The level of scald infection was considerably lower which may be associated with relatively higher temperatures and low rainfall. Variety Clipper continued to show high degree of tolerance to net …

Long Term Rotation Trials 1977, I Rowland

Experimental Summaries - Plant Research

W56H, 66M29, 67C13, 67N4, 68E5, 68SG5,73SG16.

Lupins, Barley, Clover.

1976 Pasture Species Investigations - Wheatbelt, N. R. Mckeown

Experimental Summaries - Plant Research

Trials in Progress. Only four grazing trials were continued in 1976. The pasture species and management trial at Moora (68M023) required a disproportionate amount of available work time. About 6 man-months were spent in completing the fencing, repairing and modifying the water system and increasing the working efficiency of the experiment. Sheep were reintroduced to the trial early in June. This report summarizes the results from the trials under the following headings:- Seasonal Conditions; Grazing Trials;, Legume Grazing Management Trial, West Moora - 68M023; Comparison of Production from Cyprus Medic and Volunteer Pasture - 71LG17; Tornafield Medic, Serradella and Subterranean …

Frost Injury To Cereals In W.A, M W. Perry, A. G. P. Brown

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

Late spring frosts commonly reduce yields and affect the quality of grain in wheat crops, especially in the southern, eastern and north-eastern districts. The damage is usually localised on individual farms, but is sometimes widespread.

Barley, and oats to a lesser extent, are also affected. Average losses of wheat in Western Australia have been estimated at 3 to 5 per cent, per year, or about 2 million bushels on current production figures.

The Growing Season, Department Of Agriculture, Western Australia, Bureau Of Meteorology

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

IN AUSTRALIA the seasons of summer, autumn, winter and spring do not have the importance that they have in the Old World, and though summer and winter weather are quite different, there is not the obvious difference in autumn and spring conditions that there is in the colder countries.

This is largely due to the difference in vegetation and in its life cycle in the different places.

Likelihood Of Drought Years In South-Western Australia : How Often Can Droughts Such As That Of 1969 Be Expected In Western Australia's Farming Areas?, Eugene Adsil Fitzpatrick

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

Because of the serious consequences of drought to individual farmers and to Western Australia's economy, it is worth making an early appraisal of the 1969 rainfall conditions that led to the State's most recent drought in an attempt to estimate how often such seasons might be expected in the agricultural areas.

Dry Season In The Eastern And North-Eastern Wheatbelt, George Henry Burvill

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

The drought of 1969 ended an 11-year run of good seasons in the eastern and north-eastern wheatbelt. Good years usually have above average rainfall; wheat yields and pasture growth are greatly reduced if rains are well below average. Eighty years records show that half the years must be expected to be below average and about one-third could be well below. This area produces one-third of the State's wheat and has 9 per cent, of its sheep.

Summer And Autumn Rainfall In Relation To Epidemics Of Wheat Stem Rust In Western Australia, W A. Shipton

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

High summer and autumn rainfalls, followed by rust infection of volunteer plants and favourable conditions during late winter and spring, lead to rust epidemics.

WIDESPREAD outbreaks of wheat stem rust are rare in Western Australia.

Frost Injury Of Wheat, S C. Chambers

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

Late spring frosts commonly reduce yields and affect the quality of grain in many wheat crops- especially throughout the southern, eastern and north-eastern districts.

The damage is usually localised on individual farms, but occasionally widespread damage occurs in the south of the State.