Central Queensland grain grower and cattle producer Kurt Mayne expanded his approach to deep banding nutrients when on-farm trials showed an “unbelievable response”.
Kurt farms 7500 hectares at ‘Broken Plains’, 13 kilometres east of Rolleston, where he grows a mix of mostly winter cereals and pulses and leucaena for finishing-off cattle.
He started deep banding about four years ago, following trials with Emerald-based Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries agronomist Doug Sands.
The deep banding of phosphorus and potassium tackles two issues – these nutrients’ immobility in clay soils and the region’s reliance on stored soil moisture. When crops dig deep for moisture, they also need to find nutrients.
Long-running GRDC-supported research continues to illustrate that nutrient deep banding is important in addressing the northern region’s declining soil fertility.
When Kurt started, he deep banded in three runs, watching them for two years. The initial spacings were 20 centimetres deep and 50cm wide. “It was unbelievable. For comparison, for every $2 we spent on that investment, we made returns of $6.80 in better crops.”
Central Queensland grain grower and cattle producer Kurt Mayne with his son Eli in a barley crop. The paddocks that have been deep banded are showing improved yield responses. Photo: Rowdy Travis
With such an impressive yield response, Kurt purchased a dozer, with specialist machinery operator Brendan King, two years ago, deciding the planter was not up to the task. The rig combines a bulldozer, deep ripper, fertiliser and seeder – an investment worth more than $1 million.
“Deep banding and ripping have been a really big investment, but the results prove it is worth it. This research has transformed my farm no end. Once I had the initial results and got my numbers right, buying the dozer was a no-brainer. I needed to fix the soil.”
The new rig will allow Kurt to place nutrients deeper than in the original trial, at 45cm. “My theory is that I need to go deeper than what I plant at, which is 20cm. So, that’s what I’m doing.”
Doug Sands says that while Kurt’s deeper-banding work has not been tested in research trials yet, he is keen to see the results.
“He had excellent first-year results with his planter, so we can see why he’s keen to take it to the next level. But like many considering deep banding, it can be done with a robust tyne planter if the appropriate soil conditions are targeted. They would be starting exactly where Kurt did when he got those outstanding chickpea and wheat yields.”
Kurt aims to deep-place fertiliser in spring, as soon as the winter crops are off. “I don’t mind making a mess. We have friable black soil, and it mulches down very well. So, by November after a few storms, it is back to manageable, and I can run a roller over it.”
Overall, the process has been an eye-opener, he says. “As soon as I had worked out that it worked well, I wanted to do everything. I’ve already done more than 3500 hectares.”
Improving soil fertility at depth fits with Kurt’s ethos on continual progress. “We are dealing with a drier system and will continue to do so, but we have awesome deep, black soils that we weren’t utilising as well as we could.”
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