It is well known the influence soil can have on the overall health and yield of a crop, but how well do you understand the soils in your paddocks?
BCG extension manager, Ciara Cullen, recently caught up with Agriculture Victoria Northern Region Grains Manager, Melissa Cann, and Precision Agriculture’s, Daniel Bell.
Discussion revolved around understanding the key drivers to soil production, grid soil sampling and nutrition decision making.
Having both presented at the recent crop walk held at Alwyn and Jonathan Dyer’s property near Kaniva on the relationship between controlled traffic farming (CTF) and soil health, discussion began around the variability in this paddock.
“It was quite an interesting soil pit because within about three to five metres there were three distinct soil types,” Ms Cann explained.
“The depth to the calcareous clay layer varied from 20 to 70 centimetres, while also hosting varying colours and structured clays within it.”
Mr Bell explained that soil sampling is one-way growers can get a greater understanding of their paddocks, while also highlighting some production benefits that can result.
“If we don’t soil sample, firstly we may not be realising some yield potential or missing out on some yield potential due to under fertilising, and then we could be over applying in certain paddocks of the farm,” Mr Bell emphasised.
Precision Agriculture, based out of Ballarat, have undertaken grid soil sampling as part of the National Landcare Program 1 Federal Government and the Wimmera CMA project.
“Grid sampling is basically breaking up a paddock into different hectare grid sizes, in those hectare grid sizes we are taking different lengths of transects suited to enterprise type. We take eight cores across that transect, compile them into a soil sample bag which gets sent off it a lab for analysis,” Mr Bell described.
The results of this research will be analysed at the conclusion of the cropping year.
This BCG in Focus podcast was funded by the Federal Government’s National Landcare Program Phase 1 and in conjunction with the Wimmera CMA.
You can find this podcast on SoundCloud or iTunes by searching for BCG in Focus or follow the link below.
https://soundcloud.com/bcg-birchip/bcg-in-focus-soil-contraints-and-the-use-of-grid-soil-sampling
