Presentation from the WCCA 2011 event held in Brisbane, Australia.

1. The synergy of raised beds, controlled traffic, minimum tillage and
stubble retention deliver higher water use efficiency in South West
Victoria, Australia
Renick Peries, DPI, Victoria &
Jaikirat Singh-Gill, LTU, Victoria

2. Acknowledgments
• Jaikirat S-Gill, Peter Sale, C Tang – LTU
• DPI colleagues: Bruce Wightman, Chris Bluett, Tim Johnston
• Southern Farming Systems
• Farmer Collaborators: John Sheehan, Brent Herrmann, Lachlan Wilson,
George Burdett, Rowan Peel
• Department of Primary Industries, Victoria
• GRDC Australia

3. So, why raise beds in South-West Victoria?
• Waterlogging (perched water table), in the HRZ (550-750mm RF)
• Improved drainage
• temporal changes to soil physical properties with CT
Barley on raised beds
Barley on the flat (waterlogged)

4. raised bed journey: mid 90’s to 2011
• change in land use (grazing to cropping)- 1995/96
• cropping resulted in water logging in the HRZ (550-750mm rainfall)
• raised beds improved drainage and
• created opportunities for CA practices ?
• stubble management – improvements in infiltration
• removal of compaction (CT) – better root proliferation
• deep rooted legumes – rotation management / soil str.
• 60,000 ha of raised beds by 2006
• Innovation also creates challenges

5. Our Challenges?
• Water- too much of it or lack of it ! (recent phenomenon)
• Soils

6. Problem soils of the western district (HRZ)
GREY SODIC VERTOSOL
Clay %
0
depth (cm)
50
100
150
0 20 40 60 80 100 Sodicity
Clay (%)
0
strongly sodic
depth (cm)
50 sodic
100 non
150 sodic
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
ESP (%)

7. Problem soils of the western district (HRZ)
BLACK SELF-MULCHING VERTOSOL
Clay %
0
20
depth (cm)
40
60
80
100
0 20 40 60 80 100
Clay (%)
Sodicity
0
20 strongly sodic
depth (cm)
40
sodic
60
80 non
sodic
100
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
ESP (%)

8. Problem soils of the western district (HRZ)
The Grey Sodosol

9. raised beds in HRZ - five years on …………
Temporal development of soil Structure?

10. Raised beds in HRZ - five years on ………
Difference (%) in macroporosity
Temporal development -5 0 5 10 15
15.6
of soil Structure 14.4
5
Depth of profile (cm)
15.2 15
15.4
Black V Grey SV
9.6 25
5.6
4.5
4.3 35
Macro-porosity in the long-term flat pasture state

11. Temporal change in Plant Available Water Capacity
• at bed installation, both soils were similar in their PAWC to 40 cm depth (approx 65 mm)
• from 40-100 cm depth the BV had twice the PAWC (54mm) compared to GSV (29mm)
• at three and five years after bed installation (1999) the more hostile sodic soil had gained
greater PAWC compared to the black vertosol
• the extra PAWC would provide a crop insurance even during ‘drought’ years
• the black vertosol would appear to be more suited to CT without beds
Soil type response to soil w ater storage (m m ) Soil type response to soil w ater storage (m m )
2002 2004
-20 -10 0 10 20 30 -20 -10 0 10 20 30
Depth of profile (cm)
0.1
Depth of profile (cm)
lsd(P=0.001)=7.6 0.1 lsd(P=0.001)=4.14
BV GSV
S t or a ge ( 0 - 4 0 )
St o r ag e ( 0 - 4 0 ) 0.3 GS V>B V
0.3
GSV >B V . l sd( P =0 . 0 0 1) =9 . 4
lsd ( P=0 .0 0 1) =12 .

12. Raised beds offer crop insurance during drought
• water use 20-30cm depth
• Good agronomy – yield 1.5 t/ha

13. Our Challenges?
• Water
• Soils
• Stubble

14. stubble issues on raised beds
• Improved soil/better drainage/ good agronomy – contribute to heavy
biomass
• Subsoil constraints- low HI – heavy stubble loads
• Over many years burning was the only option!
• Efficient machinery / canopy management
• Seasonal rainfall a critical factor!

15. stubble issues on raised beds
• Beds can get water logged if not properly designed
• Under ‘wet’ conditions – pests were (& are) a major issue
• To burn or not to burn- a climate specific decision?
• In ‘wet’ seasons even low stubble loads can be an issue

16. Overall benefits of the ongoing initiatives?
2 m beds: Derrinallum 3 m beds: Winchelsea

17. Benchmarking WUE in HRZ (Vic) 2009
Wheat yield SW Vic
10
9
Mr A
8
Mr B
7 Mr C
Yield (t/ha)
6 Mr D
5 Mr E
4 Mr F
3 Mr G
French and Schultz
2
Sadras and Angus
1
0
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700
April-November rain (mm)

18. Our Challenges?
• Water √
• Soils √
• Stubble √
• Addressing subsoil PAWC - for low WUE
How do we enhance the bucket size?

19. subsoil manuring- benefits & setbacks
• Improves connectivity between topsoil
& subsoil
•Improves aeration & conductivity
•Improves bucket size
•Improves soil biology ?
•Improves yield & WUE
•Can be a component of a RB
package, if
•Tillage vs CA !
•Currently Expensive

20. Transformation of the subsoil, four years after subsoil
manuring (Ballan November 2009).
Subsoil (30-40 cm depth) Subsoil (30-40 cm depth)
In Control treatment In Deep Organic treatment
May 2005 : 20 t/ha Lucerne pellets + gypsum + some DAP, applied in two rip lines
per 2m wide raised bed
Photo by Peter Sale, LTU

21. Subsoil manuring increases PAWC in hostile subsoil
(Improved fallow efficiency)
(a) Summer Fallow (b) Vegetative growth (c) Grain filling
Soil Water (mm)
0 20 40 60 80 -20 0 20 40 60 80 -80 -60 -40 -20 0
20 Control 20 20
Lucerne
pellets
40 40 40
Depth (cm)
60 60 60
80 80 80
After J S Gill et.al., (In press)

22. How major issues are impacting on farmer behaviour
• Land use change: Flat to raised beds
• Drought : Raised beds to flat !
• Rainfall variation : Stubble retained to stubble burn!
• With full realisation of soil issues: Beds-Flat-Beds
• What next?

23. Why change from raised beds to flat CT?
• drought? was the message lost?
• loss of area to furrows (20%) or
• CT without beds - the way forward for some!
June 2005
Sept 2011

24. from 2m raised beds to 3m controlled traffic and back
to 3m raised beds
2010 2011 (rainfall mm)
Jan-Mar 124.8 205.9
Apr-August 274.5 219.9
Sept-Nov 235.0

25. A success story:
From flat – 2m raised beds (1995)
From 2 m beds to 3m CT(2006)
From 3 m CT to 3m raised beds (2011)!

26. Summary
• South-West Victoria is continuing to adapt to change made
necessary by economic & climatic considerations
• While there is significant appreciation of CA in the
region, not all of the CA practices appeal to all farmer
champions
• The synergy of raised beds, CT & stubble retention have
raised crop yields towards potential WUE in the region
• There may need to be more flexibility and clarity in the
definition of CA applications in this region

27. Thank You