Liebe Group trial looks to kickstart crops on sandy soils
THE Liebe Group in Western Australia is hosting an innovative trial this season that aims to prove if a high concentrate carbon compost product is the boost needed to kickstart crops on light sandy soils throughout the State’s northern agricultural region.
Liebe Group member and Latham grain grower Dylan Hirsch, who is hosting the Group’s main trial site this season, said crops struggled to get going on the light sandy soils, where there was low carbon and the country may have blown previously when running livestock.
Dylan said there was plenty of chat in the industry about soil health and soil carbon and the Group was keen to trial the WA Broadacre Blend product as part of a soil amelioration program and investigate what it may be able to add to the sandy soils.
“I’ve been intrigued in composted products for a while, even though our location, further away from the sources of the products, can make it challenging,’’ Dylan said.
Developed by Carbon Ag, WA Broadacre Blend is manufactured from a combination of used forestry products, household green waste, pig manure and pig effluent, composted over a 10-week period during which a close eye is kept on the blend’s carbon and nitrogen ratio.
Brad Wisewould with Carbon Ag said the product was fully screened to ensure smooth application through broadacre spreaders, with a 4 tonne per hectare application providing 48 kilograms/ha of nitrogen, 32kg/ha of phosphorus and 24kg/ha of potassium.
“It is good to get it into soils soon after application and it can provide a supercharged carbon start to soil amelioration programs, or be applied prior to seeding,’’ Brad said.
Carbon Ag’s Brad Wisewould and Liebe Group member and Latham grain grower Dylan Hirsch check the quality of the WA Broadacre Blend compost. Dylan says it looked as good, if not better, than a compost product from a bag at Bunnings.
Dylan, Dalwallinu-based spreading contractor Andrew Peterson, Ceres Contracting, and Brad discuss the application of WA Broadacre Blend.
Ceres Contracting at work spreading WA Broadacre Blend.
“It provides benefits over multiple years and is particularly suitable for deep ripping programs that mostly run over about three years.’’
Dylan agreed that WA Broadacre Blend could have a good fit with existing soil amelioration programs, which were undertaken on a significant area of the northern wheatbelt’s sandplain soils.
“Soil amelioration programs are also occurring on heavier soils, so there is a big potential application there. It’s about finding out where is the best bang for the buck first and then it will grow from there.’’
Dylan takes Brad through the deep ripping operation with inclusion plates to incorporate WA Broadacre Blend to a depth of 30 centimetres. Pictured right shows a V-like shape of the incorporated WA Broadacre Blend following deep ripping.
He was impressed with the quality of WA Broadacre Blend.
“It looks as good, if not better, than a compost product from a bag at Bunnings. If these products are going to work, it will be this type of product.’’
At the Liebe Group Main Trial Site comprising soil typical of the region, yellow loamy sand and acidic subsoil with some aluminium toxicity, WA Broadacre Blend was applied at 5t/ha and incorporated to a depth of 30 centimetres via a deep ripper with inclusion plates.
“It was a similar set up to what we use with lime, which we traditionally spread and get down to the subsoil, where the aluminium toxicity is. It’s good to get this compost product down to where the really low carbon soils are,’’ Dylan said.
“We are learning how it works and in future we might be able to dial it from 2-7t/ha. If it’s going to give us long-term responses in the second, third and fourth years, I think it will be a winner.’’
Treatments in the trial include the WA Broadacre Blend with and without the normal fertiliser application, plots with no fertiliser applied and treatments with a luxury fertiliser application to assess whether the compost blend is providing extra nutrition or additional benefits.
The site has been sown to canola, which, as a nutrient sensitive plant, Dylan expected would show strong responses to any benefits. Cereals will be grown at the site in subsequent years.
“It’s all about the economic response. If we can get yield responses in the first year and out to three, four and even five years, the product could become part of normal soil amelioration programs.’’
Carbon Ag arranges transport for WA Broadacre Blend to specific farm locations, spreading contractors if required in front of operations, and also offers after-harvest payment on the bulk of the product.
Brad said the compost allowed improved water holding capacity and nutrient uptake, resulting in healthier plants with larger root systems
“It fires-up soil biology, allowing plants to access more nutrition that can be tied up,’’ he said.
“Feedback from last year indicated crops held on for longer with less disease and less pest pressure. A strong carbon program can also aid against frost, which continues to be a big issue particularly in southern areas.’’
He said Carbon Ag was keen to continue investing in product trials to help understand the return on investment for growers.
Dylan said Carbon Ag also had partnered with the Liebe Group on a trial investigating the company’s C33 carbon pellet sown with lupins this season.
“There is some evidence that heavy carbon-based products can help tie-up aluminium toxicity caused by subsoil acidity, so by banding it just below the seed, hopefully it will be able to offset some of that toxicity and give the initial shoot more of a chance in the harsh environment of WA soils.’’
“Hopefully, if we get a yield response and understand how we are getting that yield response, we will be able to better allocate it and work out where we are going to use it.’’
He said Carbon Ag was realistic and it was encouraging the company was getting involved in grower demonstrations and trials to support its products with data.
“That’s the way we analyse our inputs. The delayed harvest terms also help growers to trial a new product.’’, as well as greater control of nutrient costs over the duration of a season.
“Growers can get crops started with a basic carbon and liquids, low upfront cost program and then come over the top of crops according to the season with a foliar program applied with their herbicides and UAN products.’’
“Instead of spending a lot of money upfront and not knowing what the season is going to do, growers can have full control from day one on the dollars they want to spend.’’
Dr Peter Keating with Bioscience said growers had too often invested a lot of money in seeding fertilisers, only to end up with a poor year.
“The objective with these new types of products is that you don’t have to put most of your fertiliser in the ground at seeding,’’ Peter said.
“You have the ability to use the same product as a foliar application depending on the season. If there are good rains and yields look high, you can put more fertiliser on. You also have the opportunity to fine-tune that application by doing leaf tissue analysis in the middle of the year. If there is some hidden hunger there, the fertilisers are suitably flexible so you can address that hunger and therefore maximise your crop yield potential for the minimum cost.’’
He said the high concentration of the liquid products prevented the requirement for farmers to transport significant quantities of water.
“The DKP potassium phosphate is full of potassium and phosphate – it’s 105pc active ingredients on a volume basis. The CalMag is also a high analysis liquid, meaning you don’t have to apply a lot per hectare.’’
Peter said the particular product rates used depended upon the soil nutrition and health status.
“Typically, in soil with already good available phosphorus, DKP would only be applied at 10 litres/ha, whereas on sandy soil with virtually no phosphorus, growers may need to go to 20L/ha. Then midway through the year, if leaf tissue analysis suggests there is a deficiency, you can adjust it.’’
“DKP also has uses in other industries, including the food industry and as a corrosion regulator as well. These things make it very friendly on farming equipment.’’
He said a key benefit with DKP was its good supply of available potassium next to the seed, promoting germination and root growth.
“We have consistently seen better germination and then you start to see bigger tops and longer roots.’’
“As a foliar spray, it can be taken up in under 24 hours and it also inhibits fungal spore germination.’’
Peter said calcium and magnesium don’t command a lot of attention in broadacre cropping and research last season showed poor levels of these cations in various cereal crops throughout the State.
“CalMag addresses this problem if it is seen during mid-year leaf tissue analysis.’’
“If previous soil analysis shows deficiency in these cations, it can be applied down the tube as well. CalMag is not compatible with DKP, but a lot of growers now have dual liquid systems on their rigs to handle this.’’
He said using DNA technology, the Bioprime microbial products had been optimised towards compounds that provided maximum impact on beneficial microflora and suppression of non-beneficial microflora.
“It’s been in field trials and growers are seeing the benefits.’’
“The base Bioprime can be applied into the seedbed. It is probably the best time because you get the best impact immediately around where the plant is germinating.
“Bioprime is also quite acidic. It contains a lot of organic acids that are very good chelators of trace elements. Often trace elements are not available to plants because they are in an immobilised form. Bioprime Trace exploits all of the organic acids in it and it’s a very high analysis trace compound, so it’s applied in quite small rates – 2L/ha if you know you have got very poor trace element nutrition. It can also be used as a foliar spray.’’
Peter said the compatibility of all the liquid products can be influenced by the particular water quality available to growers, so jar tests were encouraged.
He said the carbon products mainly targeted soil health and most microflora in soil also chewed-up carbon.
“The presence of carbon in soil is the feedstock. It carries the microbial population through to the next year, so the two things in combination are what we look for in long-term sustainability and improvement in productivity.’’
“Placing carbon next to the seed also gives plants an advantage. It was surprising in the carbon trials last year how much more carbon was promoted in the soil. More carbon was in the soil in spring than had been put in the ground, because healthy plant growth exudes carbon into the soil.
“The precision placement of the carbon and liquid fertilisers is another component to soil health.’’
In addition to the C33 carbon pellet, Peter said a typical program with the liquid products at seeding could include DKP at 10-20L/ha, CalMag at 5L/ha if required and Bioprime to stimulate beneficial microflora that colonise plant roots and repress disease-causing organisms. Then as the season progresses, applications could include DKP at 6-7L/ha, CalMag at 2-3L/ha and Bioprime Trace, depending upon the results of leaf tissue analysis and the expectations of the season.
Brad said trials had highlighted the well-balanced nutrition provided by the liquids program, leading to improved crop production benefits.
“With improved moisture retention and immediate access to the nutrients, plants get off to a healthy start, leading to better seedling emergence, plant resistance and nutrient uptake, which, in turn, leads to better crop yield potentials.’’
He said the company was strongly focused on research and development and this year trials also were being planned with hay exporter, Gilmac, to assess the effectiveness of the program against black spot. Full program trials are being planned at Esperance as well.
“We want to continue to conduct trials on all of our products and programs. Broadacre farming is a big money spend, so we want to ensure our products are backed with data.’’
Peter said rather than make radical changes to their farming systems, growers were being encouraged to take small steps with the new program.
“A lot of the trials being conducted are small steps. There are growers who have taken those small steps and have come over to the program completely,’’ he said.
“Every grower and every farm is different, but we do encourage growers to at least take a few small steps and then use their judgement.’’