A new approach to liquid nitrogen fertiliser timing and application rates is allowing Ian Carter to cut input costs by up to 50 per cent without sacrificing winter crop yield.
Mr Carter is using cutting edge canopy management techniques to match crop growth to available moisture on his 2845ha Liverpool Plains property, “Connamara”, Pine Ridge, NSW.
“Canopy management is a term which means different things to different people,” he says.
“To me, it’s aligning crop inputs with moisture, crop growth demands and risk factors throughout the growing season.”
His high-end target yields are for five tonnes/hectare for wheat and 7t/ha for sorghum; this compares to the 10-year average of 4.2t/ha and 6t/ha respectively.
Fertiliser is the single biggest yearly cost to the farm enterprise but the benefits of canopy management are broader than just cutting costs, he says.
“Essentially we are applying nitrogen to influence plant growth but we need to think broadly about it because it has a range of implications – not just on the expense ledger.
“If we can cut costs while we increase yields and overall farm productivity and improve soil health, we’ll stay out in front.”
Mr Carter says canopy management meshes well with his zero-till, controlled-traffic, flexible-opportunity cropping approach on the Liverpool Plains’ self-mulching black soils.
He uses a range of tools to finetune canopy management decisions, including:
• monitoring available moisture and possible rain events from an average 650mm annual rainfall;
• soil nutrient testing;
• aerial-based tracking of green leaf area changes;
• assessing disease, pest and weed status and risks;
• considering potential growth and yield gains; and
• estimating the return on the nitrogen fertiliser expenditure.
“If we tick all the boxes on these, we’ll proceed with the amount of nitrogen that the conditions justify,” Mr Carter says.
“There is no point applying a full rate of nitrogen when there are moisture risks. We’ll come back and apply more nitrogen if conditions improve and the expense is warranted. We want to make the best possible use of every unit of nitrogen applied.
“Essentially, it’s all about being more proactive with crop management.
“We’ve moved a long way from fertilising at sowing with an amount determined by district convention and sitting back to let things happen.”
He says this year’s conditions have reinforced the value of strategic fertiliser application.
“The season this year has been ‘hand-to-mouth’ in terms of moisture as we’ve had numerous frosts, a lot of warm days and lower than average rain – and the crops have hung on.
“However, we won’t race out and dose up wheat or barley paddocks with nitrogen as a likely-looking cloud band approaches.
“When moisture is marginal we manage the inputs through the growing season so it’s moisture that governs how much is spent on the crop.”
For instance, the Connamara Durum wheat crop this year was sown at a base-rate of 50kg/ha, with 80kg/ha of urea in mid June.
Following a 35mm rain event in early September 2009, a liquid nitrogen application rate of 60 litres/ha was determined as justified to provide optimal growth advantage given the new available moisture.
“Since that application was made, we expect the crop yield to move from 3.5t/ha to towards 4.5 t/ha this year, if the seasons progresses OK.
“That’s a potential gain of 1000kg/ha, for an application of 25kgN/ha.”
With a firm belief in always looking for new tools, techniques and information, Mr Carter is continually evolving farming practices and principles.
The core of his business focus is maximising profit by increasing yields and managing costs. He says accessing Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) information is key to staying up with the latest R&D breakthroughs.
“We use the GRDC Updates as a prime source of relevant and topical information, and I go to an Update every year to keep in touch what the researchers are coming up with,” he says.
“Its essential to have R&D; without the GRDC there would be a limited amount of private research – and that would be about it."
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