Grower Guides

Crop Establishment and Precision Planting

How can we improve crop establishment?

This booklet will help growers better understand reasons for poor and uneven establishment. It consists of three sections:

- A summary of some of the environmental and management factors that influence the rate and uniformity of crop establishment.

- Six grower case studies from the southern and western regions who share their tips and crop establishment experiences.

- Recent experimental work that has assessed the benefits of precision planting in winter grain crops in the southern and western regions. 

Download it here: Crop Establishment and Precision Planting

Hart long-term seeding systems trial - a summary of 22 years of research

When we produced the first edition of this booklet in 2016, then Hart vice-chairman Justin Wundke wrote the foreword and much of what he said still rings true.

The decisions we make when upgrading our seeding system, whether new or second-hand, can have a significant impact on many aspects of our farming operations.

This trial features comparisons between three seeding systems, considering more than just yield, and after 22 years it has come to an end. Not only have we updated the data, we've also caught up with all five farmers from the original case studies to see how their systems have changed (or not).

We think you'll find it a really interesting read - you can download the latest edition here.

The first edition, published in 2016, can be found here: Hart long-term seeding systems trial 2016

And if you like, check out this 4 minute video clip from 2015 (thanks to SAGIT) as we sowed the trial for the 16th year.

Ten tips for early sown wheat

Timely operations are key to maximising farm profit and sowing is one of the most time-critical operations. This is because of the yield penalty associated with delayed sowing in most regions.

Find out more about this other important factors that can influence wheat yield  potential and profit in this publication produded by the GRDC.

Improving pre-emergent herbicide spray coverage in stubble retention systems

How does stubble effect spray coverage?

Will the herbicide wash off the stubble?

Tips to improve your spray coverage

Are there other ways to manipulate your spray setup and improve coverage?

The Hart Field-Site Group thanks the University of Adelaide weeds team and Bill Gordon for assistance with trial development for this project. We also gratefully acknowledge SAGIT for project funding (H114).

 
Soil Organic Matters 2017

Over five seasons Hart and other farming systems groups in the Southern region have investigated whether soil carbon (C) content can be increased through stubble retention +/- additional nutrients to assist the breakdown of stubble.

At the conclusion of five years the project was unable to demonstrate differences in soil C between the stubble and nutrient treatments.

To view the key points and soil C results, see “Soil Organic Matters” Factsheet #4.

This project was funded by Australian Government and GRDC (CRF00002). 

Nitrogen management in wheat 2017

Why are nitrous oxide emissions an issue?

Under what condition in cropping are emissions more problematic?

Nitrogen management in wheat

Using new technologies to visualise crop nitrogen demand