Riverine Plains Blog

Key messages:

• Four consecutive good seasons, along with stubble retention and tight cereal rotations have favoured a build-up of Fusarium crown rot in the Riverine Plains region
• High levels of Fusarium crown rot can cause significant yield loss, so assess the risk now by sampling last years’ cereal stubble or by using Predicta®B DNA soil testing
• Integrated management options will reduce the risk of yield loss from Fusarium crown rot and other root diseases

Key messages:

• always have a clear purpose for collecting on-farm data and understand how it can be used to make decisions, for example informing fertiliser strategies, livestock breeding programs and soil amelioration
• good quality data is critical to making informed decisions
• ensure that you will be able to access your data, even when changing consultants or machinery suppliers

Key messages

• Understanding the scale and depth of soil constraints is key to an effective amelioration program
• Incremental sampling to depth provides more information than traditional 0-10 cm tests
• Seek advice before beginning an amelioration program

Summer and early autumn provides an opportunity for Riverine Plains farmers to treat soil constraints, such as acidity and sodicity, between winter crops.

So, what are the issues to consider?

Key Messages:

• Carbon is present in the soil in many different forms.
• Including a pasture phase and pulses/legumes in the cropping rotation is essential to improve soil organic matter and nitrogen levels, promote microbial activity and ultimately increase soil organic carbon. 
• Evaluating management practices to increase soil carbon is necessary to ensure they are economically viable for a farming business.
• Several environmental factors (rainfall, evaporation, solar radiation, and temperature), as well as soil type, nutrient availability and land management influence maximum soil organic carbon storage capacity 

 

What Is Soil Carbon?

Soil carbon can occur in organic and inorganic forms.

Riverine Plains recently hosted a soil health webinar as part of a project supported by the Foundation for Rural and Regional Renewal (FRRR), through funding from the Australian Government’s Future Drought Fund.