Soil science is in the midst of a research renaissance, as scientists and farmers alike dig deeper into the depths of the precious resource.
The Soil Cooperative Research Centre has announced $7 million for 12 new projects, which all have potential on-farm applications.
The projects range from creating rapid-field based tests to evaluate soil carbon and resilience to developing an “eNose” to measure soil health via smell.
Senior research scientist at NSW Department of Primary Industries, Mick Rose, is leading a project to better measure soil microbes.
“For example, the level of root growth – do the microbes affect branch and root development of crops?” he said.
Federation University associate professor Peter Dahlhaus is working on ways to collect and use soil data.
“If data is the new oil, then it’s the fuel for artificial engines,” Professor Dahlhaus said.
“This project is a bit like being the refinery, taking the raw data and turning it into fuel that’s going to run the decision support systems of the future.
“We can build fantastic artificial intelligence systems, but without data to run them they’re useless. You can’t just stick in soil tests you’ve got on farm, you have to feed in quite a lot of data.”
Prof Dahlhaus said the uses of the data – particularly when paired with other streams of data – were limited only by a farmer’s imagination.
“Benchmarking is a common thing people like – ‘how do I compare to everyone else?’,” he said.
“But there are opportunities for real time monitoring or forecasting – ‘should I move the sheep off the pasture, is there enough moisture in the soil?’.”
There are some concerns around the ownership of soil data, however the model Prof Dahlhaus uses allows farmers to maintain control of the data.
“We provide a place where they can put data into a cloud-based system and they set the rules around who can see or buy the data,” he said.
“They can even set it so it’s only available to use for research after six months. A lot of people are happy to share the data with us, but they don’t want the banks or insurers to see it, so we’ve designed the system to allay those fears.”
Soil CRC has invested a total of $26m towards 41 active projects in the past years.
“These new projects help us to contribute to the implementation of the National Soil Strategy that was recently announced by the Australian Government.
“The research continues the Soil CRC’s commitment to working with farmers to increase the productivity of Australian agriculture through cutting-edge soil research.
“The new projects will run over the next two to three years. Some of the projects are completely new research while others will be following on from previous Soil CRC research projects.”
Visualising Australasia’s Soils: extending the soil data federation – Peter Dahlhaus, Federation University
Weeds by definition are undesirable, but Burdekin cane growers are using the unwanted plants to their benefit.
Working with the NQ Dry Tropics Waterways, Wetlands and Coasts team, five farmers are turning aquatic weeds sourced from local creeks into compostto improve soil health and crop
Soil Land Food agro-ecologist David Hardwick has been contracted to guide the growers through the composting process, and said the aim is to turn problem weeds into a valuable on-farm resource, through cost-effective means, while controlling weeds in waterways.
“My role is to show farmers how to make compost on-farm using low-cost, local resources that can be used in their soil for production benefits and soil health benefits,” Mr Hardwick said.
“Farmers are hesitant to use compost because of the price, and the cost of freight is an additional barrier.
“The approach being trialled is a fermentation compost, also known as a minimum or no-turn compost.
“Fermentation is where you mix your ingredients and add a bacterial inoculum to the compost heap, and then cover it to allow it to compost in a low-oxygen environment.”
The approach is different from a normal turned compost, in that it uses less resources, time, water and machinery to achieve a good-quality compost.
Growers are turning problem weeds into a valuable on-farm resource.
Third-generation farmer Gary Spotswood is participating in the trial. After experimenting with compost for a few years, he said he was keen to trial a static compost pile.
“The idea of utilising everything that you have in your backyard such as water hyacinth and other aquatic weeds, is not only practical in terms of producing your own compost, but potentially will also be cost effective,” Mr Spotswood said.
“Being organic farmers, traceability is critical. We need to justify what product we use, and how and when we use it.
“Using a locally-sourced natural resource to convert into a high-quality compost is appealing. It means potentially reducing our use of conventional organic fertilisers and also reducing costs.”
The composting process will take about five months, and will be trialled on a range of crops.
Minister for Agriculture, Drought and Emergency Management David Littleproud and QLD Minister for Agricultural Industry Development and Fisheries and Minister for Rural Communities Mark Furner said the Future Drought Fund programs will support farmers and regions to build resilience to future droughts.
“The $9.85 million Regional Drought Resilience Planning program supports partnerships of regional organisations, councils, communities and farmers to develop regional drought resilience plans,” Minister Littleproud said.
“The plans will identify how to manage through droughts by finding ways to build resilience across agricultural sectors and allied industries.
“Planning will be community-led and owned. It will bring regional knowledge and perspectives, along with the best available evidence and data.
“Australian farmers manage uncertainty daily and the business of farming is becoming more challenging,” Minister Littleproud said.
“The $16 million Farm Business Resilience program will give farmers access to subsidised learning and development opportunities to meet these challenges.
“The program will take farmers’ knowledge and skills to the next level in risk planning, natural resource management, and personal and social resilience.
“It will also support farm business planning and access to experts and one-on-one advice.
“The Australian Government welcomes Queensland’s partnership in these important Future Drought Fund initiatives.”
Queensland will benefit from $4.4 million in Future Drought Fund funding for Farm Business Resilience and $1.8 million for Regional Drought Resilience Planning. With Queensland’s contribution, total funding for the Farm Business Resilience Program will be $8.4 million, and for Regional Drought Resilience Planning $4.7 million.
Mr Furner said the Farm Business Resilience Program would benefit Queensland farm businesses in the grazing, cropping, mixed farming, sugar cane, dairy and tropical horticulture industries.
“The program has two elements; firstly, skills training will be offered for drought, climate preparedness and other business risks facing primary producers through an expansion of our Drought and Climate Adaptation Program,” Mr Furner said.
“Secondly, the Farm Management Grants Program will provide a rebate of 50 per cent to a maximum of $2,500 to primary producers towards the cost of developing a Farm Business Resilience Plan for their property.
“The Regional Drought Resilience Program will see plans developed in key drought prone regions that rely heavily on agriculture. The program will be integrated with the regional plans being developed through the $2.7 million Queensland Strategy for Disaster Resilience.
“We’ll assist local governments to develop regional drought plans which builds on their existing resilience plans, or those under development. This approach will bring consistency around drought and natural disaster plans,” Mr Furner said.
For more details visit the Australian Government Future Drought Fund webpage agriculture.gov.au/fdf
It’s a tiny caterpillar that’s difficult to detect, but for more than a year it’s been having a massive impact on crops in Australia, especially corn.
Fall armyworm (FAW) has infiltrated six states and territories and is so hard to control farmers are whispering about a method that’s been off the table for almost two decades — genetically modified (GM) corn.
Maize Association of Australia chairman Stephen Wilson said questions were being raised about whether GM corn could manage the armyworm incursion.
“Anecdotally, I am hearing from the field farmers saying we need GM to help us control the insect,” he said.
“It’s a major discussion point for the industry as a whole because for the last three decades we, as an industry, as the Maize Association, have been working uniformly to say we do not need GM in Australia.”
Lessons from the US
Since arriving in Australia in February 2020, fall armyworm has been detected in Queensland, the Northern Territory, Western Australia, New South Wales, Victoria and, most recently, in Tasmania.
Fall armyworm is native to the United States, where it has devastated multiple agricultural crops, but growers there have different tools to fight it.
North Carolina State University professor and extension specialist Dr Dominic Reisig said in their industry, corn was genetically modified to produce insecticidal proteins that naturally occured in a bacteria found in soil. It is known as BT corn.
Dr Reisig said while it was not specifically designed to treat FAW it had had an impact.
“It was first commercially planted in 1996 but that particular crop that was planted did not control fall armyworm,” he said.
“So it wasn’t until different BT toxins were introduced that we really started to see fall armyworm control.
“But because it’s a sporadic outbreak pest throughout the US it wasn’t like a huge, earth-shattering moment when we were able to control fall armyworm.”
Are GMO crops the silver bullet?
According to Dr Reisig, treating FAW across ag industries was a multi-pronged approach with insecticides and a GM crop.
He said in corn the pest could infest a crop in different stages of its development.
“Once it gets into the whirl it’s very difficult to control,” he said.
“But the good thing is when it attacks in those (earlier) stages it’s not that damaging to yield — so the corn looks really bad but it usually pops out of it and it’s not a problem.
“If fall armyworm attacks later in the season when maize has an ear, then it’s a problem.
“Once it’s inside that ear you can’t control it and then it’s a really damaging pest in terms of yield and it’s really difficult to control with insecticides so BT (corn) is the way to go.”
He said insecticides were able to control the pest in other crops like soya beans or vegetables because the plants were structured differently.
Weighing up the losses
Australia only grows three GM crops — cotton, safflower and canola.
Corn has remained GM-free and, as a consequence, the industry has been able to access different markets including Japan and Korea.
“End users such as snack food and cornflake breakfast cereal manufacturers have told us the whole time they do not want GM in their raw materials,” Mr Wilson said.
“It would impact on both the export market and also on all the domestic markets — everything from dairy cows utlising the maize as grain or silage right through to beef cattle and right through to human consumption.
“It’s a major, major, major impact that would need to be agreed to by all sectors of the industry.”
Australia has been able to access multiple international markets as the corn grown here is GM free.(Pexels: Frank Meriño)
He said any trial would be complicated.
“You have all the regulatory issues of actually bringing germplasm into the country, you have the quarantine issues of having the facilities that could handle the GM product, then you’ve got the issues of field testing,” he said.
“It would be a long, drawn-out process and we’d have to consider the impact on the industry as a whole because it’s very hard, if not impossible, to have part-GM, part-non-GM.
“It’s a very expensive process and it makes the non-GM corn being in the minority a very expensive product that people have to pay a premium for.”
In a statement, a spokesperson from the Federal Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment said genetically modified maize seeds may only be imported into Australia under an import permit issued by the department, but that no applications had been made.
Bundaberg irrigators have gone from having one of the most secure water sources in the country to one of the most unreliable, sparking mental health concerns.
Cane farmer Judy Plath said growers in the Burnett River Scheme were struggling because of decisions about Paradise Dam and water allocations.
“Sadly, in the last couple of months, I’ve had four different farmers talk to me about suicide, which has been quite confronting,” she said.
“Basically they’re grappling with so much uncertainty, so much unknown.”
Sunwater released 100,000 megalitres of water from Paradise Dam in September 2019 and has since reduced the spillway by almost six metres to address structural and stability issues.
A decision on the dam’s future is yet to be made, with the report by Building Queensland due to be handed to the state government by the end of the year.
“There’s been all this talk about the safety of people in Bundaberg … and very little talk about the safety of farmers in terms of their futures — their emotional safety and emotional health,” Mrs Plath said.
Judy Plath (center) says reduced water allocations are putting extra stress on irrigators.(ABC Rural: Megan Hughes)
Reduced allocations loom
Many growers invested in tree crops – including macadamias and avocados – because of the security provided by Paradise Dam.
Mrs Plath said growers had gone from averaging 90 per cent of the announced allocations every year since 2010 to perhaps 16 per cent in the next financial year.
“A lot of growers won’t be able to plant crops,” she said.
“For others, like macadamias and avocados, they’re incredibly vulnerable to losing those trees, because they won’t have enough water to see them through.”
Wallaville citrus grower Will Thompson, lived in the Riverina, in New South Wales in 2015, said 15 farmers took their lives over a six month period because of their water allocations and the lack of security in the Murray-Darling Basin.
He fears growers in the Bundaberg region will face added pressure to pay back debts despite having a reduced yield.
“People need to talk to their agronomists and talk with their water retailers to come up with a plan now, before July 1, when new allocations kick in,” Mr Thompson said.
“Be on the front foot to come up with a game plan so they can actually manage their trees or their small crops as best they can.
“Don’t be afraid to actually put your hand out for help.”
Training for industry
OzHelp will hold wellbeing and suicide prevention workshops in the Wide Bay Burnett later this month.
Mrs Plath said it would help to educate people within the agriculture industry on how to identify someone with mental health issues, including depression.
“Those four people who have openly talked about suicide with me, I’ve been caught off guard,” she said.
“This workshop is designed to up-skill people to recognise the signs, then to know what to do for the next step.
“I’m really keen on this workshop to learn how to handle these difficult situations.”
When it comes to soil, the O’Kane brothers like theirs as soft and crumbly as cottage cheese.
It’s a strictly gorgonzola-free zone at Chris and Michael O’Kane’s sugar cane farm in Tully, where they are changing the soil’s structure and its crop-growing potential.
For four years, the brothers have implemented new practices – from mixed species fallow crops to biofertiliser, minimum tillage and mound planting.
Cheese references have become technical terms these days for an ever-increasing number of farmers who are just as focused on what’s happening underneath the earth as what’s growing up above it.
A visual representation of the O’Kane’s soil structure.
The O’Kanes have reduced their artificial fertiliser rates by more than 30 per cent as a result – dropping from 156kg to 108kg of nitrogen per hectare with minimal impacts on their crops or production levels.
Chris O’Kane said they have done their homework and are not scared to try new things.
“Traditionally at planting time we would cultivate the whole paddock by dicing, ripping and rotary-hoeing,” Mr O’Kane said.
“This year we will be moving to zonal cultivation using one implement, a bed renovator, to prepare the bed only where the cane set is to go.
“With the help and guidance of farmers in the Ingham district, we are modifying our billet planter into a mound planter.”
Mr O’Kane said learning from growers in other districts had removed any concerns about potential issues like reduced cane strike rates, stool tippage and loss in production.
“Once you’ve been shown, it’s pretty easy to catch on – we’ve been brewing for four years now,” he said.
“We apply bioferts to each paddock twice a year, spraying nine rows at a time with a mixture of effective micro-organisms and trace elements.
“We’re aiming to increase our organic matter and improve our soil structure more than anything.
“We saw the results almost straight away with soil structure – the soil crumbles in your hand – and we’re noticing that maybe ratoons are lasting longer so we’ll keep watching that to see if it’s related.
“Hopefully, at the end of the day we’re reducing our inputs even further, saving time and money and leaving the land in a better condition.”
They are also fine-tuning their fallow crops.
The O’Kanes were among 39 Wet Tropics growers to take advantage of the Australian government’s Reef Trust IV tender program, delivered through natural resource management organisation Terrain NRM.
The program is helping to finance changes reducing fertiliser use on these farms, and potentially on other farms in the future.
