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      Biological approach boosts cereal yields
Central NSW grain grower, Scott Darcy. Central NSW grain growers, Scott and Paul Darcy, have significantly increased their yields and returns after trialling a BioAg crop nutrition program. The brothers grow 350 hectares of wheat, barley, oats and lucerne and run about 1900 Merino and Dorper crossbred sheep on their 1,030 ha property, “Traversdale”, 30 kilometres west of Forbes. The family partnership also includes their brother, Richard, and father, Brian, who farm at Tullamore. Concerned about the health of their soils and the soaring cost of conventional acidic fertilisers, the Darcys have applied blended rock phosphate fertilisers for the past three years to supply their cereal crops with phosphorus and calcium. “It doesn’t matter what sort of fertiliser you use, if your soil is stuffed you’re fighting a losing battle,” Scott said. “We don’t use a lot of chemicals on our sheep, pasture or crops, so we think our soils are pretty healthy. We want to keep them that way or even improve them.” Last year, they took this natural approach a step further by dressing their cereal seeds with a liquid culture from the innovative Narrandera-based biological fertiliser company, BioAg. The company manufactures a range of “biologically active” solid nutrients and fermented liquid cultures that not only provide a rich source of plant-available nutrients but also introduce beneficial microbes into the soil to produce a living, healthy and balanced soil for optimum plant and livestock productivity. One of its products is BioAg Soil & Seed, a liquid microbial culture which, applied to seed or bare soil, encourages rapid germination, root development and soil microbial activity. “We tried Soil & Seed as a seed dressing on one small paddock of wheat in 2006 and we were pretty impressed,” Scott said. “The root development was twice that from other seed treatments we have used and the plants looked much healthier. If plants have a bigger root system, it means they are getting more nutrients and moisture and are actively photosynthesising.” Last year, the brothers decided to use BioAg Soil & Seed as a seed dressing in a 16-hectare paddock of Dictator forage barley being grown for registered seed. Seed for a crop of Marombi winter wheat was also treated. The crops were sown in early June at 35 kg/ha with 40 kg/ha of rock phosphate fertiliser and were grazed by lambs. By August, both crops were showing signs of wear and the brothers contacted Cumnock-based BioAg agents, Andrew and Rhonda Watt, for advice. Tissue analysis revealed the both crops had nitrogen, phosphorus and calcium deficiencies. The recommended program included a foliar application of calcium nitrate (12 kg/ha for the barley and 9 kg/ha for the wheat) and 1.4 g/ha of a dandelion supplement, which helps plants to help draw calcium and silica from the soil. The results were astonishing, not the least being a 150 mm height difference between the treated and untreated crops when harvested in early December. More importantly, the Dictator barley yielded 1.3 tonnes/ha compared to 0.75 t/ha for the untreated crop, while the treated Marombi wheat yielded 2.6 t/ha – more than twice the 1.2 t/ha yield of the untreated wheat. Mr Watt had also recommended a foliar application of BioAg Balance & Grow, a microbial culture that stimulates vegetative growth and improves soil microbial activity. Because he was worried about the timing and the outlook for the crop at Forbes, Scott elected to use the Balance & Grow at 2.5 L/ha on a barley crop on the family’s other farm at Tullamore. The results were equally spectacular, with the treated barley yielding 1.7 t/ha and the untreated crop 1.0 t/ha. The results were equally spectacular, with the treated barley yielding 1.7 t/ha, more than 40% more than the untreated section. Scott estimated that the foliar treatments lifted his returns at “Traversdale” by $350/ha for the barley and $150/ha from the wheat for an outlay of less than $50/ha. “We made more money on that 16 ha than we did on the rest of our cereal enterprise,” he said. “We had a wet harvest but the seed quality and seed weight of the treated wheat hardly varied, whereas the untreated wheat went blackish and lost a lot of weight. The treated plants seemed to hang on a lot better and looked healthier for the last month or so. “Our harvesting contractor was amazed at the difference and wanted to know what we’d used so he could use it at his place this year. The treated barley also grew well, and the seed weight and quality were excellent. “We’re very happy with the BioAg approach. We’re going to adopt a complete BioAg fertility program on most of our paddocks this year, including foliar applications of Balance & Grow, Fruit & Balance and calcium nitrate.” |
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