Beat Sheet Sampling with Hugh Brier
Hugh Brier describes the need for beat sheet sampling in crop to identify insect pests. First you need to do a cursory inspection and look for what stage the crop is at. But to estimate the number of insects you need to sample at least 5-6 sites with 4-5 samples per site. The reason is because insects are not uniformly distributed across your crop. They tend to occur in hot-spots. Finally you need to know how to identify which insects are actually pests. This presentation by Hugh Brier (Senior Entomologist, QDPI) was part of a Soybean & Pulse IPM training course provided to growers by AOF, Pulse Australia and GRDC.
Posted by Henry Thomas, 3 years ago on Thursday, January 29, 2009[ , Read more... ]
Ground Water Monitoring with Russell Jorden
A piezometer is a small-diameter observation well used to measure the hydraulic head of groundwater in aquifers. Russell Jorden has several of these on his Burdekin property. They have data loggers to track fluctuations in ground water levels over time. He also takes water samples which he tests for salinity. Rising water tables are a concern in the Burdekin and Russell monitors his irrigation to reduce losses to improve his furrow irrigation efficiency.
Posted by Henry Thomas, 3 years ago on Thursday, December 18, 2008[ , Read more... ]
Water Quality Testing Lab with Sonia Hesp
Sonia Hesp shows us the Palintest she uses in her water quality testing lab to test farmer water samples for nitrates and phosphate in their runoff. Over 10% of farmers in the Burdekin district test their runoff for nutrient losses on a regular basis.
Posted by Henry Thomas, 3 years ago on Thursday, December 18, 2008[ , Read more... ]
Water Sampling Trailer with Chris Hesp
Chris Hesp presents the Mulgrave Area Farm Integrated Action (MAFIA) groups water sampling trailer. The trailer enables growers to monitor runoff from their blocks when irrigating to assess the nitrate and phosphate content of the runoff. All run-off water on Chris' farm is collected in recycle pits and re-used on the farm. The trailer is fitted with a solar power ISCO Avalanche refrigerated pumping sampler. Being mobile, the unit can easily be moved to any site within the MAFIA grower group area. It was used to monitor runoff from a dunder application trial which showed that more nutrients were present in the final draining than in the first flush.
Posted by Henry Thomas, 3 years ago on Thursday, December 18, 2008[ , Read more... ]
Green Cane Trash Blanket with Chris Hesp
In this clip, Chris Hesp explains that the long rows and flat conditions of typical Burdekin farms makes it difficult to cut green and flood irrigate. Most of the farmers in his area have tried trash blanketing, however the cane tends to get waterlogged, and turns yellow from fertiliser loss due to de-nitrification. So the idea is to rake every second row and get the flood irrigation water through quicker.
Posted by Henry Thomas, 3 years ago on Thursday, December 18, 2008[ , Read more... ]
Enviroscans and Lysimeters with Chris Hesp
Chris Hesp describes how his irrigation scheduling is done with Enviroscans. He has two in the furrow system and four on the overhead system. They are installed in the top 100 metres and the bottom 100 metres of the paddock. He also has Lysimeters, at a 1.5 metre depth to intercept any water that is beyond the depth of crop roots. Lysimeters are used to help understand the amount of water and nutrients going to deep drainage and help calculate water balances for the crop. The data collected has been used to ground truth irrigation simulations using SIRMOD.
Posted by Henry Thomas, 3 years ago on Thursday, December 18, 2008[ , 1 comment... ]
Centre Fed Lateral Irrigator with Chris Hesp
Chris Hesp describes his Zimmatic centre fed lateral irrigator. The centre fed design was chosen to reduce pumping costs, although the trade-off is the loss of 15m of production area for the channel. The lateral irrigator greatly reduces water usage compared to the flood irrigation in Chris's furrow block. It provides greater control over irrigation applications, has very little run-off or deep drainage recorded and can be used effectively on green cane trash blankets. The machine is 600 metres wide in 12 spans and travels 1.5km to cover a 100ha area. It can apply 14mm of water to that area in a 24 hour period. It is powered by a 150hp 6 cylinder motor, which drives a 6" pump, consuming 15.5 litres of diesel an hour.
Posted by Henry Thomas, 3 years ago on Thursday, December 18, 2008[ , 1 comment... ]
San Dimas Flume with Bryce Davies
Bryce Davies (Project Manager, BBIFMAC) describes how a San Dimas flume is used to measure the runoff from a furrow irrigated paddock. When this information is combination with the the amount of water being lost to deep drainage is subtracted from the amount being applied they can estimate the amount available to the cane plants. This information is run through simulations to optimise the water use efficiency.
Posted by Henry Thomas, 3 years ago on Tuesday, December 16, 2008[ , Read more... ]
Ground Water Drainage with Bryce Davies
Rising ground water tables are a major concern in areas of the Burdekin delta. Bryce Davies (Project Manager, BBIFMAC) discusses a BBIFMAC lead project where a new set of drainage pipes was dug under the road near the gum holes. The theory was that water was pooling due to the drainage pipes being to high. The hope is that the new pipes will help lower ground water levels upstream from the road crossing. Groundwater heights in the area are being monitored as part of the Upper Haughton Water Balance Study run by BBIFMAC.
Posted by Henry Thomas, 3 years ago on Tuesday, December 16, 2008[ , Read more... ]
Recognition of Prior Learning with Pauline Catt
Pauline Catt (RPL Coordinator, AACC) describes the recognition of prior learning process and accreditation through the Australian Agricultural College Corporation.
Posted by Henry Thomas, 3 years ago on Thursday, September 18, 2008[ , 3 comments... ]
Trash Raking with Shane McNee
Growers in the Burdekin have been slow to adopt green cane trash blanketing because they believe trash causes problems for flood irrigation. Shane McNee demonstrates his inter-row trash rake. It clears the trash from every second furrow. Shane hopes this will let him cut green, without effecting his irrigation management.
Posted by Henry Thomas, 3 years ago on Thursday, September 18, 2008[ , 1 comment... ]
Water Quality Monitoring with Denis and Brian
As part of the BBIFMAC WQ Pixel project, Denis Pozzebon and Brian Strathdee sample the quality of the water in their recycle pits. They look at electrical conductivity (a test for salinity), nitrates, phosphate and turbidity (a test for suspended particles in the water such as soil). Denis uses the results of his water tests to help manage his nutrient and fertilizer applications.
Posted by Henry Thomas, 3 years ago on Thursday, September 18, 2008[ , Read more... ]
WQ Test Kit with Adam Connell
Adam Connell (Project Manager, BBIFMAC) is the project manager for the Water Quality Pixel Project. Over 60 growers participate in the project in the Burdekin district. The monitor the nutrients entering and leaving their farms and adjust their nutrient management accordingly to improve the water quality of the water entering the local creeks, rivers and ultimately the Great Barrier Reef lagoon. Each grower is provided with a Test Kit. It contains tests for nitrate, phosphate, electrical conductivity and optionally turbidity. Growers also take water samples that are sent of to a local lab for more accurate testing.
Posted by Henry Thomas, 3 years ago on Wednesday, September 17, 2008[ , Read more... ]
Tips for Growing Soybeans from Dr Alan Garside
Dr Alan Garside (Principal Researcher, BSES) gives his tips for growing soybeans: Plant good quality seed, inoculate the seed, plant into moisture and manage pod sucking insects after flowering. Aside from that, Allan explains "once you get them up, they are a relatively easy crop to grow".
Posted by Henry Thomas, 3 years ago on Wednesday, September 17, 2008[ , 8 comments... ]
Pod Sucking Insects with Hugh Brier
Hugh Brier presents the pod sucking insects and their predators including: green veggie bugs, brown bean bug, red banded shield bug, brown shield bug, assassin bug, trichopoda, and the glossy shield bug. This presentation by Hugh Brier (Senior Entomologist, QDPI) was part of a Soybean & Pulse IPM training course provided to growers by AOF, Pulse Australia and GRDC.
Posted by Henry Thomas, 3 years ago on Tuesday, September 16, 2008[ , Read more... ]
Heliothis and its Predators with Dr David Murray
Dr David Murray describes Helicoverpa armigera - commonly known as Heliothis. This is a major pest in coastal soybean production because it has become resistant to most insecticides. David shows how to identify them in crop and the need for a go-soft strategy for controlling them to protect the natural predators. This presentation by Dr David Murray (Principal Entomologist, QDPI) was part of a Soybean & Pulse IPM training course provided to growers by AOF, Pulse Australia and GRDC.
Posted by Henry Thomas, 3 years ago on Tuesday, September 16, 2008[ , Read more... ]
Lesser Soybean Pests with Hugh Brier
Hugh Brier describes some of the lesser pests in soybeans and mungbeans and their predators, including: cluster caterpillar, loopers, shined predatory bug, legume web spinner, soybean leaf miner, bean pod borer, soybean aphids, ladybirds, hoverfly, lacewing, monolepta, lucern crown borer, bean fly, and myrids. This presentation by Hugh Brier (Senior Entomologist, QDPI) was part of a Soybean & Pulse IPM training course provided to growers by AOF, Pulse Australia and GRDC.
Posted by Henry Thomas, 3 years ago on Tuesday, September 16, 2008[ , Read more... ]
