Strip and disc cropping systems field day where growers and agronomists can learn about the benefits, practicalities and challenges of strip and disc cropping systems including:

Benefits for soil structure, moisture retention, and WUE
Evolution of the system, lessons learnt
Disc seeding for success
Retaining stubbles every year
Dealing with ryegrass and using pre-emergents
Adopting diverse crop rotations
Soil amelioration for acidity and sodicity
Integrating CTF

FIELD DAY HIGHLIGHTS

Learn from Agronomists

Independent agronomists and farm consultants Greg and Kirrily Condon from Grassroots Agronomy will present information and be on hand to answer questions throughout the day. Greg and Kirrily are incredibly experienced and valued agronomists providing advice to farmers across South-Eastern Australia. They are also involved in a number of research initiatives with GRDC, CSIRO and DPI.

Learn from Farmers

Local farmers will share their experience with strip and disc cropping systems.

Stephen and Melanie Cooper - 'Myall Park', Caragabal: Stephen, Melanie and Trevor Cooper took the step to a strip and disc system several years ago to retain groundcover and organic matter; reduce soil disturbance; and improve soil biology, fertility and water-holding capacity. Through double-break crop rotations they are successfully managing weeds and diseases while retaining full stubbles. Hesitant at first to sell their tined seeder, they have now 100% committed to disc seeding after fine-tuning their system and seeing the results.

Charlie French - 'Manna Station', Corinella: Charlie's father started disc seeding 26 years ago and Charlie is incredibly passionate about the strip and disc system benefits. Charlie sows on 12m CTF and harvests using a stripper front. He has achieved some incredible yields and gross margins on red loam and grey clay soils. He also hosts one of the Diverse Farms trial sites and is always looking at ways to improve his system.

Practical Demonstrations

The day will involve a practical demonstration of disc seeding into wheat stripper stubble.

Breakfast!

Kick off the day with a bacon and egg roll while you chat with other participants. Morning tea will also be supplied.

This field day is supported by the Australian Government through funding from the Climate-Smart Agriculture Program under the Natural Heritage Trust and forms part of Weddin Landcare's Over the Fence project.

We treat your personal information with respect. View our Privacy Policy.