YOUR INDUSTRY
Showcasing the latest news from our demonstration sites across Australia.
Sustainable farming practices
put to the test at demonstration sites
T
BY DIMI KYRIAKOU AND CARL LARSEN RMCG
he Soil Wealth and Integrated Crop Protection (ICP) project works with growers to put soil management and plant health research into practice. In this column, we showcase the latest news from our network of demonstration sites across Australia, including Victoria, New South Wales and a new site in Queensland. Soil Wealth ICP Phase 2 (VG16078) is a strategic levy investment under the Hort Innovation Vegetable Fund. The Soil Wealth ICP team works with vegetable growers to integrate profitable and sustainable practices into modern commercial production systems through a diverse range of demonstration sites. These sites provide an opportunity to test new farming practices and technologies out in the field, and share the results and lessons learnt with the wider industry.
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WA Grower SUMMER 2021
Below are some recent highlights from a selection of the project’s demonstration sites around the country, but you can find out more at soilwealth.com.au/ demo-sites/
Mulgowie hosts new Queensland demo site The Mulgowie Farming Company is a family-owned producer growing conventional and organic sweet corn, green beans and broccoli across Australia. With a strong focus on innovation and sustainable farming practices, Mulgowie has teamed up with Soil Wealth ICP to take their soil management to the next level.
— the soil becomes more friable and less compacted, and yields increase, with plants showing more resilience to weather extremes,” Andrew said. The next step in improving their soils is to understand how to manage beneficial soil biology. Working with Kelvin Montagu from the Soil Wealth ICP team, Mulgowie will be looking at how to get the beneficial fungi, mycorrhizae, back into their soil.
Helping growers to integrate profitable and sustainable practices.
Andrew Johanson, Mulgowie’s Agronomy Process Improvement Manager, has driven advances in soil health through controlled traffic farming, cover crops and minimum tillage. “This has seen the soil’s water infiltration and holding capacity increase
Previous sampling has shown very low levels of mycorrhizae in the soil and corn roots at the home farm at Mulgowie in the Lockyer Valley.
“Mulgowie’s reduced tillage is giving mycorrhizal fungi a fighting chance to re-establish in the soil now that they are not being regularly chopped up by cultivation. We now need to see if we can use soil phosphorus test results to target paddocks to give the mycorrhizal fungi the best chance to re-establish," Kelvin said.
