The most promising amendment combinations from five years at Wathingarra are moving to new ground. A replicated trial on deep sand at Walyoo Farm, is testing spading, compost and clay under lupins in Regans Ford in 2026.
Tag Archives: 2026
Composted chicken manure on cover cropped perennial pastures: WMG’s first Sandy Soils demonstration site
WMG’s first Sandy Soils demonstration site is in the ground at Gillingarra, where composted chicken manure went onto half a perennial pasture paddock at 38t/ha. We look at what the amendment is delivering and what’s being measured this season.
Wheat after chickpeas: How much nitrogen does the legume break actually deliver?
The 2025 chickpeas at Jim Hamilton’s Moora property fixed up to 83 kg N/ha. How much of that reaches this year’s wheat? A new strip trial is testing nitrogen rates from 32 to 120 kg N/ha to find out.
Helping build extension capacity across grower groups with the Soil CRC
A three-year Soil CRC project led by WMG with grower groups in three states has wrapped up, producing an Extension Toolkit and a Benefit-Cost Analysis tool now available to grower groups and extension providers across the industry.
Managing water repellent soils: What three sites showed in 2025
Three water repellence sites, three soil types, and two lessons from 2025: strong early biomass didn’t always convert to grain, and amelioration reshaped the weed burden. The Plozza Plow topped Dandaragan yields for a second consecutive season.
Clay on sand: How much helps and how much costs you
Clay on sand is expensive, effectively permanent, and highly dependent on getting the rate right. This article works through what recent Soil CRC analysis says about productive clay concentrations, the point at which more starts costing yield, and why a target concentration is not a spread rate.
Nitrogen, rainfall and the season still to come: Putting some data behind the top-up decision
By mid-July the nitrogen top-up call is looming, and most of the season is still to come. We run DPIRD’s free Rainfall to Date tool for Badgingarra, Moora and Dandaragan to put some shape around the decision.
Rethinking when you service the seeder: a whole-farm efficiency question
Most operations service the seeder in late summer, just before it is needed. But with seeding windows tightening, a question worth asking is whether completing that work immediately after the season is a better fit.
Sandy soils, groundcover and what growers are actually doing: inside the Sustainable Solutions for Sandy Soils project
Around 21% of West Midlands farmland lacks adequate groundcover during peak erosion risk periods. A new five-year project is working to change that. Here is what it aims to do and what growers across the region told us.
When does potassium application pay? Three seasons of WMG trial results
Deep ripping paid for wheat at Dandaragan. K30 MOP banded below seed was optimal at Badgingarra. And at Ballidu, the yellow sand and clay loam told completely different stories. Here is what three seasons of K trial work found.