The remarkable improvements in Australian mixed farming

John Angus

Honorary Research Fellow, CSIRO Plant Industry, Canberraand ‘Wattle Flat’, Stockinbingal

Hector and Andrew Stewart Memorial Lecture,University of Western Australia, 18th March 2011

Average dryland

farm –

land area, crop area and livestock number

1990 1995 2000 2005 2010

Land

are

a (h

a)

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

Shee

p nu

mbe

r

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

Cat

tle n

umbe

r

0

100

200

300

Farm area

Crop area

Sheep number

Cattle number

ABARE data

Australian wheat yields, 1850-2010

Aust. J. Exp. Agric 41, 277-288

1860 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000

Yiel

d (t/

ha)

0.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

Nutrient exhaustion

SuperphosphateNew cultivars Fallowing

Milleniumdrought

Break crop (canola) in Sth. Aust

Legume nitrogenBetter rotationsMechanisation

Annual

5-year running mean

Trends

Selective grassherbicides

Semidwarfcultivars

N fertiliser in Sth. Aust

Break crop(lupin) in WA

Wheat yield gap below the water-limited potential

Evapotranspiration (mm)

0 100 200 300 400 500 600

Yiel

d (t/

ha)

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

n = 691

China Loess PlateauMediterranean BasinNorth American Great PlainsSE Australia

Aust. J. Agric. Res 57, 847-856

Contributions to increased wheat productivity

BreedingTimingDisease resistanceStress tolerance (www.patentlens.net

/ search: wheat & drought)

Stature –

semi dwarfsGrain quality

Crop managementTimingNutrition –

fertilisers and pasture-N

Crop sequences –

rotationTillage and stubble management Correcting soil acidity -

liming

Weed control –

herbicidesDisease control -

fungicides

Climate changeAdoption -

innovation

Studies evaluating the contribution of crop management to yield increase

Reference Region Percentage of yield improvement due to management

Warren (1971) Southern NSW 100Russell (1973) South Australia 78Greb

(1979 USA 70Ridley and Hedlin

(1980) Canada 85O’Brien (1982) Victoria 67Schmidt (1984) USA 47Perry and D’Antuono

(1989) Western Australia 71Bell et al (1994) Mexico 50Anderson and Impiglia

(2002) Western Australia 68Horie

(2004) Rice, Japan 100Mackay et al (2010) UK winter wheat ’48 -’82 40

Mackay et al. (2010) UK winter wheat ’83 -’07 0

Average 65

Trends of WA wheat yield on farms and in variety trials

1860 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Yiel

d (t/

ha)

0.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

WA wheat yields(5-year running mean)

Variety yields by year of release (Perry and D'Antuono 1989)

Western Australian wheat and barley yields, 1876-2010

1860 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Yiel

d (t/

ha)

0.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

1860 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020Yiel

d ra

tio (w

heat

/bar

ley)

0.6

0.8

1.0

1.2

1.4

1.6

WheatBarley

Wheat yields on farms and variety trials in the Victorian Wimmera

1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010

Yiel

d (t/

ha)

0

1

2

3

4

Pinnacle

Summit

Summit

KewellGhurka

FederationFree Gallipoli

Ghurka

Pinnacle

Free Gallipoli

Federation

Meering

Cocamba

Meering

BreedingSlice 2Management

Contributions to grain yield GRDC R&D investments

in 2005-06

Varieties $55.1mPractices $36.7mNew Products $11.2mCommunications $8.9mOthers $3.4m

.

Middle-distance speed of racehorses (selectively bred) and human males (not selectively bred)

1840 1860 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Tim

e (m

:s)

3

4

5

Melbourne Cup

World mile record

Adoption of N fertiliser in Australia is recent

1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010

Wor

ld n

itrog

en fe

rtili

ser (

x 10

6 t N

)

0

20

40

60

80

100

Aus

tral

ian

nitr

ogen

fert

ilise

r (x

103

t N)

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

World

Australia

ShootDens vs YldResp

Shoots / m20 200 400 600 800 1000 1200

Yiel

d re

spon

se to

40

kg N

/ha

topd

ress

ed

-800

-600

-400

-200

0

200

400

600

800

1000

After break crop

No break crop

Wheat yield response to topdressed

nitrogen fertiliser

1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000

Can

ola

area

(mill

ion

ha)

0

1

2

Fert

ilise

r N u

se (m

illio

n to

nnes

)

0.0

0.5

1.0

Lim

e in

NSW

(mill

ion

tonn

es)

0.0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

Canola area

Fertiliser N use

NSW lime use

Canola triggered the use of lime and nitrogen fertiliser

NSW canola and lime use

1980 1990 2000 2010

Lim

e ( '

000

tonn

es)

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

Can

ola

area

('00

0 ha

)

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

MullawaMoree

GulargamboneGilgandra

AriahPark

Condobolin

MorawaKalannic

Mukinbudin

Lake Grace CascadeSalmon Gums

VarleyMerredin

Dalwallinu

ThuddungraNangus

Horsham

Loxton

Minnipa

Walpeup Kyalite

Prime hard wheat experimental sites

Grain protein (%)

0 5 10 15 20 25

Scre

enin

gs (%

)

0

10

20

30

40

50

NorthSEWest

Grain quality: screenings of wheat grain in 3 regions

Increased wheat production per farm since 1990Rotations

Crop sequences

Break crops

Wheat after wheat2 t/ha

Wheat after canola5 t/ha

One of 700 assessments of break crops

Possible mechanisms of the break-

crop effect

•

Root disease –

absence of host or biofumigation

?•

Foliar disease

•

Residual water•

Residual nutrients

•

Biologically fixed N residues•

Hydrogen fertilisation

•

Suppression of arbuscular

mycorrhizal

fungi (AMF)•

Better weed control / earlier sowing

Take-all fungus in wheat roots

Suppression of take-all by brassica

and linseed tissue ‘biofumigation’

Plant and Soil 162, 107-112

Hydrolysis of glucosinolates

releases isothiocyanates

N -

OSO3-

Glu

|| Glu

-

S -

C R-N=C-S

\ R Glucosinolate

Isothiocyanate

R = phenylethyl

(generally present in Brassica

roots)

= propenyl

(present in mustard roots)

N2

+6H+ 6e-12

ATP12

ADP 2NH3

3e- 6ATP

6ADP

3H+ 1.5H2

Hydrogen fertilisationNodule

Nitrogenase

Uptake Hydrogenase(HUP+)

3H+

3e-

N2

+6H+ 6e-12

ATP12

ADP 2NH3

3e- 6ATP

6ADP

3H+ 1.5H2

Nodule

Nitrogenase

Many symbioses are HUP-

Energy = 5-6% of daily photosynthesis HH22

Diffuse

Hydrogen fertilisation

.

.

Previous crop

Δ

wheat□

field pea

○

canola

Filled symbols no POpen symbols 17 kg P/ha

Plant and Soil (2005) 270: 275–286

.

Break crops regulate mycorrhizal colonisation of wheat

Break-crop effect of oats (0.47 t/ha)

Yield of wheat after wheat (t/ha)0 2 4 6 8 10

Yiel

d of

whe

at a

fter o

ats

(t/ha

)

0

2

4

6

8

10

SwedenAustraliaOther

Australian Agronomy Society 2008

Break-crop effect of canola (0.8 t/ha)

Yield of wheat after wheat (t/ha)0 2 4 6 8 10

Yiel

d of

whe

at a

fter c

anol

a (t/

ha)

0

2

4

6

8

10

AustraliaOther countries

Australian Agronomy Society 2008

Break cropsYields benefits of break crops for wheat

Barley +0.19 3.52 60Oats +0.50 3.68 150Canola +0.79 3.45 180Mustard +0.58 3.03 59Flax +0.91 3.20 38Field pea +1.00 2.63 82Fababean +1.10 4.00 41Lupin +1.46 2.24 53Chickpea +0.98 1.73 54Lentil +0.71 2.24 32

Break crop Yield benefit (t/ha)

Wheat yield

No. of obs.

Lupins give a greater break-crop benefit than field pea

Yield of wheat after wheat (t/ha)0 2 4 6 8

Yiel

d of

whe

at a

fter l

egum

e (t/

ha)

0

2

4

6

8

After field peaAfter narrow-leaf lupin

Effect of 3 different break crops on wheat yield

Barley Oats Canola Mustard Flax Field pea

Lupin Wheat Number

+0.21 +0.60 3.59 59

+0.60 +0.62 3.12 36

+1.08 +1.07 3.54 38

+1.55 +1.82 3.25 31

Sources of the break-crop effect and estimates of their contribution to additional yield for a 4 t/ha wheat crop

Mechanism Additional yield (t/ha)

Take-all suppression 0.5Suppression of other root diseases 0.3Net N benefit of canola 0.1Hydrogen fertilisation by legumes 0.4Suppression of AMF by non-hosts 0-0.1?Net N benefit of legumes 0.5

Adoption of break crops (particularly canola) triggered:

LimingIncreased yield of following cerealsMore extraction of soil water and N by wheatMore reliable cereal response to N fertiliserLime helped the return of lucerne and barley

Twenty-years of conservation cropping at Harden

Yield response to direct drilling in relation to seasonal rainfall

Growing season rainfall (mm)

0 100 200 300 400 500 600

Yiel

d di

ff (R

DD

-BC

) (t/h

a)

-1.5

-1.0

-0.5

0.0

0.5

1.0Longterm AverageYield gain

Yield loss

Wheat response to conservation cropping at Harden

1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2007 2008

DC

30 B

iom

ass

(g/m

2 )

050

100150200250300

* ** * * *

**

*

Burn/Cult Retain/DD

1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2007 2008

Yiel

d (t/

ha)

0

2

4

6

8

10

*

*

*

**

*

Burn No burn

Till 4.8 4.4

No till 4.6 4.3

Yield (t/ha) of wheat grown every second year, Harden 1990-2008

Grazing vegetative crops

Effects of grazing vegetative crops with sheep (~20 dse /ha for 30-50 days)delayed maturity (1 day’s flowering delay per ~4 grazing days

deferred water usepoor nitrogen uptake after grazing?reduced lodging of early-sown cropsyield response -

4 ±

25%

2.27 t/ha 2.80 t/ha

Wheat yield increased by grazing because water use is deferred until after flowering

Reintegrating livestock with croppingOpportunities

Perennial pasturesGrazed crops Failed crops as a feed sourceWool-shedding sheep (Dorper & Wiltipolls)

Fewer pests (flies, worms, PETA)Transporting northern cattle south?

ProblemsBreeding stock on grazed cropsExcess paddock sizeLess shade

‘The County Agent’, Norman Rockwell, 1948

Innovation and adoption

Adoption:

Delay of ~30 years between research andadoption on farms. Alston et al. 2010.

Innovation:

users of products and services—both firms and individual consumers—are increasingly able to innovate for themselves. von Hippel

2005

AcknowledgementsWal

Anderson

Bill Bowden

John Passioura

Tony Fischer Mark Peoples

Tony Good

Megan Ryan

John Kirkegaard

Victor Sadras

Lars Ohlander

Anthony van Herwaarden

John Oliver

Jim Virgona

N s

uppl

y an

d de

man

d (k

g ha

-1 d

ay-1

)

0

1

2

3

J F M A M J J A S O N D

Demand

Supply

Nitrogen supply and demand by a wheat crop

Grain protein (%)

0 5 10 15 20 25

Test

wei

ght (

kg/h

L)

50

60

70

80

90

100

NorthSEWest

Grain quality: test weight of wheat grain in 3 regions