Drought Feedlot Rehabilitation Trialarchive.lls.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/... · soil...
Transcript of Drought Feedlot Rehabilitation Trialarchive.lls.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/... · soil...
Introduction
A partnership between Southern Rivers Catchment
Management Authority (CMA), the Department of Environment and Climate Change (DECC) and landholders in
the Southern Rivers region is demonstrating applications of composted recycled organics (RO) in land rehabilitation.
The project demonstrates potential uses for recycled organics products following best practice guidelines for the
using compost in land rehabilitation in three different
settings: rehabilitation of heavily eroded landscapes; rehabilitation of sacrificed drought feedlot paddocks; and
suppression of weed growth in coastal areas.
This case study examines the project two years after the
first demonstration sites were established.
The project identified a sheep property near at Mt Fairy
near Tarago where landholder Tim De Mestre was entering into a riparian management agreement with Southern
Rivers CMA. Tim showed an interest in the recycled
organics trial and offered to host a demonstration site on the property. As part of a drought strategy, Tim was taking
the approach of sacrificing a small number of feed lot paddocks in order to maintain ground cover on the
remainder of the property. The trial seeks to demonstrate the benefits of applying RO to a feedlot paddock to increase
the speed of recovery and longer term health, resilience and productivity of the soil.
What is being done?
Establishment of a demonstration site:
• Scarified paddock direct drilled with black oats and
fertilizer (plot 1 was drilled with oats but not fertilized);
• 5 trial plots of approximately 1Ha each with varying RO
application depths including control - total of 990m3 of product spread with tractor spreader pictured above.
• Application of RO in a 60/40 blend of 60% coarse mulch
and 40% fine soil conditioner
• Soil tests at yearly intervals
• Dry matter comparison within initial oat crop
• On-going monitoring of the site
Who is involved?
DECC Sustainability Programs Division - funding, technical
support and overall coordination.
Southern Rivers CMA - demonstration site sourcing and
establishment, ongoing monitoring of sites.
Merigan Pastoral Partnership - participation in the trial and ongoing monitoring.
Why this approach?
The beneficial properties of composted recycled organics are becoming more widely accepted and are accompanied
by the quality guarantee of an Australian Standard product.
A coarse mulch can reduce irrigation requirements, increase soil temperature, improve moisture and nutrient retention.
Soil conditioners have demonstrated improvements in soil structure, water infiltration, and water holding capacity of
the soil.
At Merigan, a feedlot paddock was to be brought back into
production through a three-year cycle of oats-oats-pasture.
In a time when farmers were being offered an increasing range of incentives and training to conserve ground cover
on the property this project presented an interesting opportunity.
What are the results?
At this stage in the rehabilitation of the paddock there have been some remarkable results. Although soil tests are
inconclusive as to the amelioration of paddock’s natural
resource, observations over the period of the trial have demonstrated a significant benefit from the application of
RO to the site.
Results include:
• Excellent initial germination;
• Dry matter test results showing increased dry weights;
per plant in composted plots;
• Observed increases in moisture available to plants in
composted plots and recorded increased flowering and seeding in these plots;
• A crop that provided a strong performing winter feed for
stock and was grazed heavily;
SOUTHERN RIVERS CATCHMENT MANAGEMENT AUTHORITY
CASE STUDY
Drought Feedlot Rehabilitation Trial
What do the partners have to say about it? “Compared to other paddocks with similar history prior to the oats sowing in 2007, the production from the compost laid site has been exceptional.
Growth rates of plants during winter and spring of 2008 far ex-ceeded plant growth in areas that did not receive the compost treatment.
In our situation the compost application has clearly demonstrated rapid amelioration of an over-grazed landscape.”
James Whale, Manager
What are the lessons?
Manager James Swales admitted to over-
grazing the paddock during the 2008 winter. James was surprised at the rate of recovery of
the paddock and has attributed this success in part to the presence of compost.
The scope of this project allowed for limited scientific trials including soil testing and dry
matter weights. Grain from the various plots
was due to be measured using a GPS equipped harvester with the capacity to weigh grain from
a given area. Unfortunately this was not available at the time of harvest.
Additional testing of soil moisture and water holding capacity as well as the impact of RO on
the release of organic and chemical fertilizers
would enhance our understanding of how the cost-benefit ratio can be improved.
Project funding
Funding for compost product, transport and spreading was from the NSW Government.
Funding for fencing, tree planting, maintenance
and erosion control works was from a combination of landholders, NSW Government
and Australian Government.
• Excellent follow up germination from fallen seed -
to the degree that planned additional sowing could
be abandoned.
• The dry matter harvest results from six months
after application (taken from random 50cmx50cm
quadrant) indicate that at this stage, fertilizer has a greater impact on growth than the RO. Although
benefits of RO are clear with plots 2, 4 and 5 producing the greatest weights.
What are the challenges?
Long term results - it is anticipated that the benefits of
this application will be observed in this paddock for years to come.
Disclaimer The Southern Rivers
Catchment Management Authority (SRCMA) and project partners Depart-
ment of Environment and Climate Change (DECC)
have developed this case study for educational
purposes and have made a all reasonable endeavours to ensure the contents of
this case study are factual and free from error. The
SRCMA and DECC shall not be liable for any damage or loss, which may occur in
relation to any person taking action or not on the
basis of this case study.
Contact:
For further information please contact
Peter Pigott SRCMA Nowra [email protected]
Tel. (02) 4429 4449 Fax: (02) 4429 4458
Dry matter per plant (average of two samples) (g)
0.00
0.20
0.40
0.60
0.80
1.00
1.20
1.40
1.60
1.80
Plot 1 Plot 2 Plot 3 Plot 4 Plot 5
These images demonstrate less cover in plot 3 where no compost was applied. Photos were take in random locations at a similar point on the slope of each plot.
Seed - No Fertilizer Compost @ 20mm
Seed + Fertilizer Compost @ 20mm
Seed + Fertilizer No compost
Seed + Fertilizer Compost @ 10mm
Seed + Fertilizer Compost @ 23mm