Farming during a period of extreme climate variability: consequences & lessons

MCMA Grazing Crops 2010 Technical Bulletin

BCG Greenhouse Gas Emmisions final

Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Wimmera-Mallee farms, April 2011

Are Disc Seeders suitable for use in the Wimmera-Mallee

Winter Crop Summary 2011-Canola

Winter Crop Summary 2011-Wheat

Winter Crop Summary 2011-Tritcale

Winter Crop Summary 2011-Oats

Winter Crop Summary 2011-Lentils

Winter Crop Summary 2011-Field Peas

Winter Crop Summary 2011-Faba Beans

Winter Crop Summary 2011-Barley

Winter Crop Summary 2011-Title,Contents and Intro

BCG Annual Report 2010

GRDC Grain Marketing Lingo

Grazing cereals, Rainbow VIC

• Four farmer grazing cereal demonstrations at Rainbow in 2009 showed no difference in yield between grazed and un-grazed crop. Grazing increased screenings in all four demonstration paddocks.
• When grazing cereal crops, it appears that the rules of thumb developed in the high rainfall farming zone (not grazing until plants can’t be pulled out of the ground (around GS13) and removing stock before GS30) also apply to the Wimmera Mallee.
• A feed value was calculated for each paddock: Smith: $12.55/ha, Fuller: $17.20/ha, Stasinowsky: $18/ha and Robinson: $24/ha.

Grazing Cereals - Woomelang VIC

Barley produced more feed than wheat at the time of grazing.

Hindmarsh yielded the highest, even when grazed. However Hindmarsh did suffer a grain yield penalty when grazed, as did Young and Axe wheat.

Derrimut and Wyalkatchem wheat both yielded well and did not suffer a grain yield or screenings penalty when grazed. These were the best-bet dual purpose wheat varieties in the Mallee in 2009.

2009 Annual Report

Read the 2009 Annual Report

Flexible Farming Systems project - Factsheet 7: Micronutrients in no-till

Read factsheets 5, 6 and 7 produced under the Flexible Farming Systems project

Flexible Farming Systems project - Factsheet 5: Nitrogen in no-till

Read factsheets 5, 6 and 7 produced under the Flexible Farming Systems project

Flexible Farming Systems project - Factsheet 6: Phosphorus in Victorian no-till systems

Read factsheets 5, 6 and 7 produced under the Flexible Farming Systems project

2008 Annual Report

Read the 2008 Annual Report

Identifying, understanding and managing hostile subsoils for cropping manual - Part 1

Read the manual 'Identifying, understanding and managing hostile subsoils for cropping'.
Due to its size, the manual is available in sections:

• Section 1 (PDF - 3.63MB)
• Section 2 (PDF - 2.11MB)
• Section 3 (PDF - 1.05MB)

Making decisions in relation to cutting for hay?

More information in relation to cutting for hay:

• What happens to hay when it heats (DPI Agriculture Note, PDF - 116KB)
• Haystack fires (DPI Agriculture Note, PDF - 181KB)
• Curing hay (AFIA publication, PDF - 706KB)

Critical Breaking Point Final Report

The final report for the project ‘Critical Breaking Point? Understanding the impact of drought on farming families in the Wimmera Mallee’ is complete. (Read more about the project)

Download the Critical Breaking Point Final Report (PDF - 1.25MB).
Alternatively download the report in sections:

• Critical Breaking Point Final Report- Section 1 (PDF - 579KB)
• Critical Breaking Point Final Report- Section 2 (PDF - 231KB)
• Critical Breaking Point Final Report- Section 3 (PDF - 333KB)

Flexible Farming Systems project - Factsheet 4: Trifluralin Use in No-till Farming Systems

Read Factsheets 2, 3 and 4 produced under the Flexible Farming Systems project (Factsheet 1 is available under our 2007 publications)

Flexible Farming Systems project - Factsheet 2: Moving into No-Till

Read Factsheets 2, 3 and 4 produced under the Flexible Farming Systems project (Factsheet 1 is available under our 2007 publications)

Flexible Farming Systems project - Factsheet 3: No-Till Seeder Set Up and Modification

Read Factsheets 2, 3 and 4 produced under the Flexible Farming Systems project (Factsheet 1 is available under our 2007 publications)

Tebuconazole significantly reduces wheat yield under terminal spring drought

The original aim of this experiment was to test whether application of foliar fungicide to crops moderately resistant/moderately susceptible to stripe rust with infection detected at GS39-45 and of average yield potential (1.5-2.5t/ha) results in a profitable yield response. However, the experiment was side-tracked by a somewhat surprising result.

BCG Ecosystem Function Project - Glove Box Guide to Understanding and Improving Ecosystem Function in the Wimmera Mallee - August 2007 - pages 1 to 3

The Ecoystem Function project's Glovebox Guide is an easy-to-use publication designed to help farmers and land managers understand their patch of native vegetation.

The 24-page Glove Box Guide to Understanding and Improving Ecosystem Function in the Wimmera Mallee is available for download in the following PDF sections:

• Title page and Contents - pages 1-3 (298KB)
• Ecological health - page 4 (486KB)
• Understanding your patch - pages 5-13 (703KB)
• Your patch in the landscape - pages 14-15 (219KB)
• Revegetation and regeneration techniques - pages 16-17 (314KB)
• Grazing - pages 18-19 (174KB)
• Checklist- how healthy is your patch - pages 20-21 (1.45MB)
• For more information pages 22-24 (173KB)

Factsheets produced during the project can be downloaded from the Ecoystem Function project page.

2007 Annual Report

Read the 2007 Annual Report

Identifying, understanding and managing hostile subsoils for cropping

View PDF sections of this reference manual for neutral-alkaline soils of south-eastern Australia:

• Introduction and diagnostic guide (259KB)
• Chapter 1 - Soils of the dryland cropping regions of Vic and SA
• Map of Vertosols in North West Victoria (1.1MB)
• Map of Calcarosols in North West Victoria (538KB)
• Map of Sodosols in North West Victoria (904KB)
• Chapter 2 - Subsoil constraints and water (728KB)
• Chapter 3 - Nutrient deficiencies, toxicities and imbalances (755KB)
• Chapter 4 - Salinity and sodicity (2.1MB)
• Chapter 5 - Physical constraints to root growth (1.3MB)
• Chapter 6 - Identifying subsoil constraints using targeted analyses (2.5MB)
• Chapter 7 - Field diagnostics (1.4MB)
• Chapter 8 - Options for managing grain production on soils with subsoil contraints (2.5MB)
• Chapter 9 - Economic impact of subsoil constraints (163KB)

Flexible Farming Systems project - Factsheet 1: Row spacing in a no-till system

Read Factsheet 1: Row spacing in a No-till system (PDF - 1.37MB) produced under the Flexible Farming Systems project

Bio-diversity in a Piped Rural Water System - RIRDC Report

The final report from the Diversity in a Piped System project, 'Bio-diversity in a Piped Rural Water System', is available here as well as on the RIRDC website. Printed copies are available from RIRDC on 02 6272 4218.

Internet Field Days - helping farmers to make better decisions

The Virtual Agronomy section of our website allowed members to follow the progress of current trials throughout the season, plus keep updated on current issues (eg stripe rust) with photos, advice and assistance in diagnosis and treatment.

The final report 'Internet Field Days - helping farmers to make better decisions' is also available from the RIRDC website. A Summary is also available on the RIRDC website.

Critical Breaking Point?

‘Critical Breaking Point? Understanding the impact of drought on farming families in the Wimmera Mallee’ aimed to gain a better understanding of how Australian producers and their families are responding to drought and other pressures. Based on in-depth interviews with farming families in the Wimmera Southern Mallee region of north-western Victoria, this research used an unprecedented longitudinal approach to track the experiences of farming families during a time of severe drought and - it was expected and hoped – a period of drought recovery.

The research was in two phases. Part One interviewed sixty randomly selected farming families during severe drought in February 2007. Part Two involved two follow-up interviews at six-monthly intervals (September 2007 and February 2008) with a subset of twenty of the sixty farming families interviewed in Part One. This group represented some of the younger and older families of the original sample, who were selected in order to allow us to further explore some of the particular challenges that farming families at these stages of life are facing.

Herbicide Resistance Manual

BCG in partnership with the Hart Field Site Group, the University of Adelaide and the Grains Research and Development Corporation undertook the project ‘Improved techniques for managing herbicide resistant ryegrass’ between 2003 and 2005. Copies of the results from the three-year project can be obtained from BCG on 03 5492 2787 or download the pdf here.

Farmers' guide to installing a wildlife pond

We have produced a "Farmers' guide to installing a wildlife pond" that contains all the details you'll need to efficiently and cost-effectively enhance wildlife values in the Wimmera and Mallee within a piped water delivery system.

2006 Annual Report

Read the 2006 Annual Report

Drought - dealing with the financial ramifications

Two financial forums entitled 'Drought - dealing with the financial ramifications' were held in Birchip and Horsham during December 2006. View the 53-page toolkit booklet (PDF - 2.3MB) given out on the day. It contains papers from most of the speakers.

Over the Fence 2006 - complete series

You can download the complete 15-week series.

Over the Fence 2005 - complete series

You can download the complete 16-week series.

BCG Annual Report 2005

BCG Annual Report 2005

2004 BCG Annual Report

2004 BCG Annual Report

Lotfeeding lambs

Read details about a lamb feedlot we visited at Loxton, SA (March 2004)