Radio Transcript

Welcome to Agritalk Radio.

This week we are going to be talking about some simple farming principles that have grown out of the Mallee Sustainable Farming Project.

So how does a grower make the best of the good and bad years?

How do they maximise their cropping and livestock potential in all situations?

Uncertainty and unreliability describe well the rainfall environment of the marginal cropping country of Australia. Mallee Sustainable Farming Project, a GRDC supported farmer directed project, has been working away in the Murray Mallee regions of NSW, Vic and SA for the past ten years. In that time there has accumulated a wealth of knowledge from research projects directed specifically toward assisting the grower to make practical decisions to maximise farm potential.

Many growers through the Mallee are following a number of simple principles to optimise their water use potential, and some of these are:

• Reduce the number of workings before sowing – It is well known that there is a loss of precious soil moisture with every working of moist or damp soil.
  
•  Reduce the number of weeds.  Summer weeds and in-crop weeds are no friend of the farmer as they compete with the crop for water and nutrients. 
  
•  Reduce the non productive irredeemable areas of the farm and concentrate maximum cropping effort on those soils that give a return on the dollars spent.
  
• Increase knowledge of soils and sub soils.  Know what’s down there and how it may be affecting your crop. 

 
There is a series of fact sheets, which are freely available, covering a range of topics that cover Mallee farming situations with practical advice borne of sound research and farmer experience.  The fact sheets can be found at the Mallee Sustainable Farming web site. 

There is opportunity for farmers to take out a membership to further the work or for business to become investors in the project.  The Mallee Sustainable Farming Project is having a positive impact in the Mallee across three states.

For further information on this story or any edition of Agritalk, please visit www.ruralsolutions.sa.gov.au, click on news, then radio.  You will find a transcript of the program along with lots of handy links to the things discussed.

Information kindly supplied by Richard Saunders, Rural Solutions SA.