Converting to no-till
From the April 2007 edition of Agriculture Today.
The high cost of machinery has long been a barrier to wider adoption of no-till and conservation farming practices.
But it doesn’t take long for ‘Aussie ingenuity’ to kick in when there’s a good reason, as Attunga farmer Richard Chaffey demonstrated when he leased the adjoining property.
“I’d been thinking about no-till for years, and part of the agreement when we leased the 400ha property from the Sulcor mine in 2001 was to use best management practices,” Mr Chaffey said.
“It was a situation where there wouldn’t be stock involved, so it was ideally suited to zero-till.
“I knew I wouldn’t be able to afford the outlay to buy specially built equipment for what I wanted to do, so I decided to build my own using a combine and a set of discs bought at a clearance sale.”
The tynes were removed and replaced with discs, and harrows attached to ensure the seed was covered.
“What I’ve learnt over the last few years is that the specially built equipment might not suit my operation anyway.
“You really need to try before you buy to know whether it will suit your country and your soil types.
“I know my machine doesn’t suit the heavier clay soil types, but with my lighter soils it works well.
“However, what works on my country may not work elsewhere.”
He said growers need to learn from others’ experience, and then decide what’s best for their individual situation.
Richard Chaffey was one of the speakers at a recent NSW Department of Primary Industries ‘No-Tillage Bus Tour’.
His property “Strathalynne” is a 600 hectare mixed farming operation with cattle and sheep, growing wheat, oats and barley, grain sorghum and either lucerne or mungbeans as a rotation crop.
Since switching to no-till, he has never looked back.
“Once I got my equipment changed over, I found there were considerable savings in no-till, compared with a minimum till operation,” he said.
“We’ve found other benefits in terms of soil structure and reduced erosion – those are high priority areas for me, particularly because of the type of country I’m farming.
“Soil management becomes more difficult when you’re running stock. Soil may need to be opened up due to compaction.
“Paddocks are set aside for continuous cropping – without stock – I certainly would never return to conventional farming.
“The biggest problem is weed control – you have got to change your weed management strategies completely.
“You can’t sit and wait for something to happen – you have to pre-empt the potential weed problems and get on top of them as soon as they appear.”
Successful cropping during some of the driest years on record adds weight to the argument that no-till and the moisture-saving benefits of stubble retention work.
“With cultivation it would have been dicey – this year we did cultivate a paddock and the results were poor compared with the zero till country.
“Cropping is dependent on the season, but conservation farming practices reduce the risk – it keeps more options open.”
