Pasture Challenge Update

Come along for a short and informal afternoon to see what is being trialed, what's working and what management decisions are being made coming into spring. At this Update, we will:

• Look at comparative growth since late June
• Review tissue tests to see what affect lime had on micronutrients
• See if sprays have addressed micronutrient deficiency
• Bury our underpants! Cotton underwear provided for burial to indicate microbial activity.

The Pasture Challenge is a friendly contest between four groups of farmers who have designed agronomic packages to overcome soil constraints and improve productivity. The contest takes place on a Busselton beef farm, with each group applying their package to three strips each in the corner of the paddock. The trial also includes three nil strips.

The groups are:

• Rippers - this group deep-ripped their strips to 400 mm on 15 June so will be keen to see if there's been a response.
• Meat & Potatoes - the district standard clover and ryegrass treatment got off to a slow start. Will it explode into production, or be held back by soil constraints?
• Biology - this group's mixed species pasture yielded highest of the four treatments in June, but was sown 18 days before others. How will it fair this time?
• pH Group - dazzled everyone in June with a nice even stand of mixed pasture, but symptoms of micronutrient deficiency were noticed following 5 tonnes of lime per hectare. Tissue tests have been conducted. So, was it short on manganese, zinc, copper, or all three? Come along to find out.

Soil tests conducted on the sand/loamy sand in 2022, and the constraints found:

• Penetrometer tests found severe compaction below 10 cm depth,
• Sub-clover root inspection found poor-to-ineffective nodulation (N fixation) and severe root rot,
• Subsoil tests (10-20 cm) found several constraints, including pH down to 4.2, organic carbon below 0.8%, potassium below 50 mg/kg, and sulfur down to 3.4 mg/kg
• Tissue tests found deficiencies in copper and selenium.

Location will be provided with ticket.

This project is delivered by the South West NRM and supported by Western Beef Association Inc. It is part of the Soil Wise project, funded by the National Landcare Program Smart Farms Small Grants - an Australian Government Initiative. It is supported by Healthy Estuaries WA - a State Government program.