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With funding from the The Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry National Landcare Programme and SAGIT.
Eight precision agriculture groups have been set-up across south eastern Australia to progress the use of yield
maps. Eighty five growers are involved with the project.
Many growers have several years of yield maps, while others have maps for up to 10 years. In addition to growers, several agronomists and PA specialists are also involved. All participants see the groups as an opportunity to capitalise on the use of PA technology, improve their skills and to share experiences and knowledge.
“The aim of these groups is to improve the farm economic and environmental returns using yield maps and other data layers,” explained Allan Mayfield who is coordinating the project.
“This can be by the more appropriate use of nutrients or other inputs across paddocks (variable rate) or simply by learning more about increasing crop production using on-farm trials.”
At group meetings growers learn from each other as well as from specialists who have the skills to process maps or design and analyse on farm trials. Group members will also hear from growers from other regions on how precision agriculture is improving their bottom line. There is an opportunity to gain assistance with the processing of historic data. This is being done by Sam Trengove, Michael Wells and others in SA and Cherie Reilly and
Ben Jones at Birchip, Victoria. Many growers in these groups will do on-farm trials that will be assessed using yield mapping.
Examples of trials include:
• increasing fertiliser rates (vs a standard rate) in more responsive areas, such as sand hills.
• using phosphorus fertiliser according to last year’s yield pattern across the paddock.
• comparing crop production where chicken manure was spread compared with normal fertiliser.
• increasing sowing rates in non-wetting sands or in thicker weed patches compared with normal sowing rates.
Growers have met throughout the growing season to discuss how trials are progressing and to learn how to clean-up yield
data, to combine yield data from several years into a single map and to add other data layers.
If you wish to be involved, in a group contact your regional coordinator or Allan Mayfield.
The broad regions of these groups and contact details of the coordinators are:
Project Coordinator, Allan Mayfield, P 08 8842-3230, E mayfield@chariot.net.au
Group Coordinators:
Lower Eyre Peninsula, Randall Wilksch, Yeelanna
Eastern Eyre Peninsula, Graeme Baldock, Buckleboo
Northern, Brian Tiller, Warnertown
Central, Mark Branson, Stockport
Yorke Peninsula, Ashley Wakefield, Urania
Upper South East, Craig Bell, PIRSA, Murray Bridge
Murray Mallee, Peter Treloar, PIRSA, Loxton
Victorian Wimmera and Mallee, Cherie Reilly, BCG, Birchip |
