Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/13838
Title: Whole-farm management of soil nutrients drives productive grazing systems: the Cicerone farmlet experiment confirms earlier research
Contributor(s): Guppy, Christopher  (author)orcid ; Edwards, Clare (author); Blair, Graeme  (author); Scott, Jim M  (author)
Publication Date: 2013
Open Access: Yes
DOI: 10.1071/AN12147Open Access Link
Handle Link: https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/13838
Abstract: The Cicerone Project included a study of three 53-ha farmlets, each subjected to a different management system. The systems varied first in their input of fertilisers and sown pastures and second in their grazing management. Farmlet A undertook a high level of pasture renovation and had soil fertility targets of 60 mg/kg Colwell phosphorus (P) and 10 mg/kg KCl-40 sulfur (S), while farmlets B and C both had a low rate of pasture renovation and targets of 20 mg/kg P and 6.5 mg/kg S. In addition, both farmlets A and B adopted a flexible rotational grazing regime over the eight paddocks of each farmlet, whereas farmlet C, which had 37 paddocks, adopted intensive rotational grazing. This paper first reviews the literature relating to soil fertility research in the summer-dominant rainfall region of the Northern Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia. It then examines whether the soil fertility targets set for the farmlets were attained and how the consequences of fertiliser management measured in this trial related to earlier research findings. Fertiliser applications, comprising both capital and maintenance rates, were based on soil test results but at times were constrained by the availability of finance. Soil tests over 5 years indicated that only nitrogen (N), P and S varied with time within the farmlets while the other indices of soil fertility remained similar. Phosphorus and S levels increased in response to fertiliser applications whereas N levels responded to increases in legume composition, which was stimulated by the higher P and S levels. Multivariate statistical analyses demonstrated that farmlet productivity was driven by P and S fertility and thus the two farmlets with lower P and S fertility (farmlets B and C) had similar but lower levels of farmlet productivity compared with farmlet A. Significant increases in several measured pasture productivity parameters were observed in response to the higher P and S fertility on farmlet A, especially when climatic conditions were favourable. The results of the Cicerone farmlet experiment confirm the findings of earlier research on the Northern Tablelands, and elsewhere in the high rainfall zone, that has demonstrated that higher soil fertility levels and pasture renovation enhance the productivity of grazing enterprises more than grazing management, without imposing significant risks to the environment.
Publication Type: Journal Article
Source of Publication: Animal Production Science, 53(7-8), p. 649-657
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Place of Publication: Australia
ISSN: 1836-5787
1836-0939
Fields of Research (FoR) 2008: 070304 Crop and Pasture Biomass and Bioproducts
070107 Farming Systems Research
070306 Crop and Pasture Nutrition
Fields of Research (FoR) 2020: 300405 Crop and pasture biomass and bioproducts
300207 Agricultural systems analysis and modelling
300407 Crop and pasture nutrition
Socio-Economic Objective (SEO) 2008: 830406 Sown Pastures (excl. Lucerne)
830403 Native and Residual Pastures
961402 Farmland, Arable Cropland and Permanent Cropland Soils
Socio-Economic Objective (SEO) 2020: 100505 Sown pastures (excl. lucerne)
100503 Native and residual pastures
180605 Soils
Peer Reviewed: Yes
HERDC Category Description: C1 Refereed Article in a Scholarly Journal
Appears in Collections:Journal Article

Files in This Item:
2 files
File Description SizeFormat 
Show full item record

SCOPUSTM   
Citations

16
checked on Mar 9, 2024

Page view(s)

978
checked on Mar 7, 2023
Google Media

Google ScholarTM

Check

Altmetric


Items in Research UNE are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.