A southern New South Wales farming systems project has been extended and expanded. The small-plot experiments at Condobolin, Greenethorpe, Wagga Wagga and Urana will run until 2027.
New components have enhanced the research, which has co-investment from GRDC, CSIRO and the NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD).
CSIRO Agriculture and Food chief research scientist Dr John Kirkegaard says the research aims to increase the efficiency of turning rain into grain.
“In 2024, in addition to our existing farming systems, we introduced new rotations at Wagga Wagga to explore the effects of slow-release fertilisers and nitrification inhibitors on greenhouse gas emissions,” Dr Kirkegaard says.
“We are also investigating which farming systems maintain or increase soil carbon and those that enable us to lower pesticide use yet maintain profit.”
Paddock trials
Another research component, ‘Diverse Farms’, was added in 2024 to communicate and extend the results of the small-plot trials. This part of the project will continue until 2028.
“Grassroots Agronomy consultants Greg and Kirrily Condon will lead ‘Diverse Farms’, which takes place on one paddock [each] from six farms across southern NSW to compare growers’ current farming systems with new ones,” Dr Kirkegaard says.
The growers hosting the paddock-scale trials are Michael Moloney in Jerilderie, the McRae family in Urangeline, the McKinley family in Rannock, Lachie Moloney in Tullamore, Charlie French in Burcher, and Chris and Broden Holland in Thuddungra (Figure 1).
Figure 1: Diverse farm locations.
Supporting the growers are Baker Ag’s Dan Sweeney (Tullamore and Burcher), Delta Agribusiness’s Heidi Gooden (Urangeline), Rural Management Strategies’ Mark Harris and Bec Dean (Jerilderie), and Grassroots Agronomy’s Kirrily and Greg Condon (Rannock and Thuddungra).
‘Diverse Farms’ will explore the challenges and opportunities faced when growers adopt the outcomes of small-plot experiments at the paddock scale. It will explore the legacy effects of crop choices on soil nitrogen, weeds, diseases, yields, profit and risk.
Keep an eye out for paddock walks over the next three years, where CSIRO’s Dr Kirkegaard and Tony Swan, NSW DPIRD’s Mat Dunn, the grower hosts, their agronomists, and Grassroots Agronomy consultants will share what they have learned from the trials.
More information: John Kirkegaard, john.kirkegaard@csiro.au, Greg Condon, greg@grassrootsag.com.au, Kirrily Condon, kirrily@grassrootsag.com.au
Read also: GroundCover stories – Diversity is a defence against weeds and Hardy barley proves its worth in rotation trials.