YOUR PRODUCTION
Mixed species cover crops stand out in Tassie trial BY DIMI KYRIAKOU AND CARL LARSEN RMCG
T
he Soil Wealth and Integrated Crop Protection (ICP) project works with growers nationally to put soil management and plant health research into practice.
This article provides an update on a successful trial conducted on the east coast, which focused on the use of mixed species cover crops in Tasmania. Soil Wealth ICP Phase 2 (VG16078) is a strategic levy investment under the Hort Innovation Vegetable Fund. Since May 2019, Yuri Wolfert and his family have hosted a cover crop demonstration site in Kindred, northwest Tasmania, supported by Soil First Tasmania, Landcare Tasmania and followed by the team from Soil Wealth and Integrated Crop Protection. The trial aimed to demonstrate the effectiveness of using mixed species cover crops in cropping rotations and find out if they could improve growing conditions and the profitability for potato crops in particular, and potentially other vegetable crops. The learnings from this trial can also be analysed and applied to vegetable growing operations in Western Australia. The Kindred trial was unique as it consisted of one field with seven large plots for different cover crop mixes. These included: • Plot 1: Lupins and grass • Plot 2: Lupins and oats • Plot 3: Lupins, grass and phacelia
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WA Grower WINTER 2020
• Plot 4: Lupins, grass, phacelia, barely and tic beans • Plot 5: Lupins, grass and tic beans • Plot 6: Lupins, grass and barley • Plot 7: Lupins and barley After seeing other cover crop trials in the local area, Yuri decided to host this trial to fast track his initial thoughts for using cover crops on-farm.
The most diverse mixture of species were the best performing plots in the trial.
“We wanted to improve harvestability and the general soil health for all of our crops because there are flow-on effects if you treat the paddock right,” he explained. “Soil First Tasmania got the ball rolling and it meant we could do the trial in one field instead of many years of trials. It was set out fairly well with most plots being one hectare, which allowed for any variation in the field to be evened out and better comparisons within each plot.” The cover crops were sown in May 2019, while laboratory soil testing and a field day was undertaken in August. The cover crops were incorporated (mostly mulched) in October before the potatoes were planted.
3 AN example of cover crop mix used in the trial.
