Case study

Andrew Auld operates a 470ha cane farm in Proserpine, which produces 40,000 tons cane supplied to the Proserpine mill.Andrew harvests all his cane green. He stool split fertilises within two weeks after harvest and uses broad boom to spray residual herbicides after fertilising.One application of overhead irrigation is made where possible after fertilising, followed up with furrow irrigation through the crop growth applying about 3ML of water.

▶ A CLASS VARIABLE RATE FERTILISER APPLICATIONS WITHIN CANE BLOCKS WITH FERTILISER RATES DETERMINED BY DATA FROM A HARVESTER YIELD MONITOR

▶ PADDOCK BY PADDOCK FINE TUNE MANAGEMENT OF FERTILISER PROGRAM IS BASED ON ACTUAL FIELD PRODUCTION DATA

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REEF TRUST THREE IS FUNDED BY THE AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT AND DELIVERED THROUGH THE REEF TRUST.

PROJECT FOCUS: NUTRIENT MANAGEMENT

Sam Orr (left) with Andrew Auld

GPS control display

Andrew is currently at B class nutrient management and would like to move to A class nutrient management by varying fertiliser rates within each different block.

In order to be able to vary the fertiliser rates on a level within blocks, yield maps of each block are required so that these can be input into the GPS unit. This system uses electronic equipment and requires that you maintain an annual subscription to the equipment dealer link in America.

The yield map data, when processed, will then automatically vary the fertiliser rates within each block based on the fertiliser rate specified for each level of yield identified from that block.

This project therefore required the installation of a yield monitor into the group’s harvester which is now producing the yield maps to be used to guide the variable rate fertiliser applications.

A final variable rate controller has also been fitted to the third fertiliser box.

The group has also fitted StoolZippas as a trial to one of the stool splitter units (below) in order to achieve better coverage of the fertiliser and reduce the

risk of nutrient losses in runoff following rainfall soon after fertiliser application.

Andrew participates in a farm equipment sharing partnership (The LOS Harvest Group) with two neighbouring farmers in Proserpine (Auld, Mark and Sam Orr and Tony and Norm Large) where the partnership has purchased a cane harvester and tipper bins with haul-out tractors and employs a harvester crew to operate this equipment to harvest the three partnership farms.

The partnership also owns a billet planting setup (below, right) and a stool splitter fertiliser unit which are all shared between the farms.

The LOS Harvesting Group has a total area of 1,092ha of sugarcane. They are all on controlled traffic at 1.8m rows with GPS guidance in all of the group’s tractors that are used for the farming operations.

The group has three fertiliser boxes, two of which have variable rate controllers linked to the GPS and have been using these to vary rates between different farm blocks as well as manually on the go within blocks since the 2016 crop.

what’s happening?KEY POINTS

▶ Reef Trust 3 funding assisted in the purchase of a harvest monitor plus setup and calibration; a new variable rate controller for a three-row stool splitter; an annual subscription to the equipment dealer link; and three StoolZippas

▶ The StoolZippas have proven very successful with field inspections after fertiliser applications showing about 90mm of firm soil coverage over the fertilised band, significantly reducing environmental risk during the four-week period after fertilising

▶ When planting, Andrew pre-applies the planting fertiliser to the prepared field using GPS guidance, eliminating the need to fertilise during planting

▶ Electronic GPS on each tractor stores farm records for all the different farming stages, making record keeping prompt and accurate

www.reefcatchments.comREEF CATCHMENTS (MACKAY WHITSUNDAY ISAAC) LIMITED PH 07 4968 4200 E info@reefcatchments.com

Management practice by this landholder is captured through Paddock to Reef – a leading integrated monitoring, modelling and reporting program jointly funded by the Queensland and Australian governments.

Paddock to Reef seeks to measure and track progress for improved water quality to the Great Barrier Reef, quantifying the hard work being done by farmers to address water quality at the property level.

paddock to reef