Kim Russell – Chairman Southern Farming Systems.

The Soil-Water Debate

www.sfs.org.au

www.sfs.org.au

Kim Russell

• 20 years in Irrigation farm management• 10 years in agribusiness consulting in Australia and overseas• Formerly

Director of Zero Waste Australia Executive of the Australian National Committee on Irrigation and

Drainage• Currently

Chair of Sothern Farming Systems Shareholder in Eagle Foods (Tortillas, wraps and chapatti) Consultant to Kagome in Australia and India

HRZ FOCUS AREA (500 900mm rainfall)

www.sfs.org.au

Southern Farming Systems Background

www.sfs.org.au

• Southern Farming Systems (SFS) formed in 1995 by farmers who came together to find ways of making farming in the higher rainfall zone (HRZ) more profitable.

• SFS now has nearly 500 members in five branches; Geelong, Streatham, Hamilton, Gippsland and northern Tasmania.

• SFS maintains international affiliations and has a strong link with the Foundation for Arable Research in New Zealand and the Arable Group in the UK.

• SFS is one of the largest farming system groups in Australia representing High Rainfall Zone Farmers and Increasingly- Irrigation Farmers in those regions.

www.sfs.org.au

The soil-water debate is as dynamic as the subject itself.

• An excellent line-up of speakers with the knowledge and experience to inform this conference and the broader debate.

• This debate is well advanced in Australia. Recent trips to India reveal it is hotting up elsewhere.

• Water is scarce and getting more scarce. • But the soil-water dynamic is as much about water as it is

about drainage. Without surface and internal drainage we will not have yield.

• In the HRZ context if you cannot control the amount of water you MUST control the drainage.

• Let me give you a perspective which comes from some years of irrigation experience

Water- Rainfall or Irrigation

Potential Yield

Actual Yield

Yield

1. Yield is still King!

• The Yield Challenge- Narrowing the gap between potential yield and actual yields in the Southern Rainfall Zone (and in irrigation)

2. Resource efficiency

• Yield is king but we must not lose sight of the resources that we manage; Water Use Efficiency Macro niutrients including N,P and K but also micro nutrient efficiency We need to foster soil microbiology to enhance the above the efficient use of on farm and off farm sources of organic

matter (composting, stubble management, weeds) is critical to our soils

energy and field efficiency .

With efficient use of these resources farms will remain sustainable.

Spectrum of organic Waste streams

Wet Compostable Dry

Heat & Energy

Liquid Fertiliser

Heat & EnergyCompost Agrichar

Bio-products combined with suitable micro-organisms & micro-nutrients.

Household and C&I Organic Waste CategoriesCityCity

SoilFarms, State owned Land, Parks and Gardens.

Of particular relevance- sources of organic matter. WCD Model (Wet-Compostable-Dry)

Current Rooting depth

Improved Rooting Depth

How do we achieve deeper Softer Soils Hardware solutions Compost Stubble incorporation, crop sequencing

(including pasture and livestock systems) and using roots to “break through”  

Nanno particles and other left field technologies

3. Structuring “deeper softer soils”

4. A value chain approach- An example

Red wheat has a significant role in high rainfall cropping systems.

We need red wheat varieties in our tool bag to combat waterlogging and loss of nutrients.

We need to maintain the high yielding characteristics of red wheat as well as its tolerance to waterlogging

we also ned to take advantage of its characteristics for use in higher value markets than just stock feed.

Red wheat has significant potential in flat bread manufacture just like it has in the Americas, Europe, the middle east and Asia.

The crops we grow need to have solid markets into the future.

www.sfs.org.au

A value Chain approach.

5. Bringing it all together with communication and technology.

GRDC variety trials targeting Identifying soil characteristics A DAFF project where Network of over 60 moisture probes used

to monitor waterlogging Working with the dairy and livestock industries to come up with

better crop systems. Field days, large scale trials Monitoring and managing the R&D needs of our farmers. Delivering results beyond our membership

EXTERNAL COLLABORATORS

• GRDC• CSIRO• DPI Vic• TIAR• FAR NZ• La Trobe University• Adelaide University• DAFF• Local Catchment Management Authorities

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AgriFocus Field Days – October

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Introducing our speakers.