To understand the financial benefit of the many ameliorations options, it is vital to know how long the productivity gains from their implementation are likely to last. In this trial, large-scale on-farm strip trials with repeated controls using grower seeders and harvesters were applied. This trial deonstrated one-off mouldboard ploughing, rotoary spading and claying.
Strategic deep tillage can be used to ameliorate soil water repellence and subsoil constraints. One-way disc ploughs have a low capital cost and are relatively cheap to modify into a simple but robust tool for partial soil inversion. In this demonstration one-way disc ploughing was compared to rotary spading, a proven amelioration option for repellent sands and a number of deep ripping approaches, including some of the newer very deep rippers.
In 2016 DAFWA, in collaboration with the WMG, established three claying trials in the region looking at combinations of different clay rates and incorporation methods using a range of tillage equipment. The aim of the trials was to identify the most cost-effective combination/s and produce practical guidelines for farmers seeking long term improvement for enhanced crop productivity on water repellent soils under local growing conditions.
The trial was aimed at assessing the effectiveness of simple and cheap ‘bolt-on’ attachments to deep ripper tines at incorporating topsoil and applied lime into acidic sandplain subsoils.
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