Conservation farming
Too often the need to farm profitably and the need to farm well are seen as being in conflict. As cropping intensity increases and the time spent in pasture is reduced, the risks of soil damage and erosion increase. Conservation farming offers a way to increase cropping intensity safely and profitably without excessive soil damage.
Conservation farming is an approach to farming that uses a whole raft of ideas that together can increase long-term profitability: reducing cultivation to maintain soil structure and soil water storage, retaining stubble to reduce erosion and increase soil organic matter, and reducing traffic across the paddock to avoid compaction.
Information
- Conservation farming technology
- Conservation farming - soil management (contained in Part D of SOILpak guide 'Southern dryland farmers')
- Using stubble to manage topsoil (contained in Part B of SOILpak guide 'Dryland farmers on the red soil of Central Western NSW')
- Soil management following drought
- Incentive funding for machinery conversions and soil testing