AS A RULE, Australian farmers on normal soil types can expect to store around 25pc of rain that fell in early January in the soil profile with that figure rising to around a third from now on and grading steadily upwards as we enter the autumn, according to agronomists.
Michael Moodie, Mallee Sustainable Farming (MSF), said moisture retention rates would slowly start to improve from now on.
“Stored moisture has become increasingly important to our croppers in the Mallee, so this year’s rain has been good, even though we can’t store it all.”
John Shepherd, secretary with the Conservation Agriculture and No Till Farming Association (CANFA) in Central West NSW, said moisture conservation levels would be influenced by weather over the late summer / early autumn period.
“It’s obvious, but if it comes in hot once again, a lot of the moisture will be wasted, whereas if we keep getting these rains, we will store more.”
He said better soil types in his area could store moisture effectively for access by the winter crop.
Greg Butler, research and development manager with the South Australian No Till Farming Association (SANTFA), had a warning for growers, saying they may be a victim of their own success.
“Crops are getting much better at drawing out in-crop moisture.
“I am not sure this rain may not just be replacing previous season in-crop rain that once was not available until the following winter crop.”
“We’ve got better water use efficiencies and soil biology to mean crops now access that moisture much more effectively.”
And he warned this effect was often felt worse after two dry years.
“We saw a similar thing in 2007-2008. The first year was dry, but crops performed remarkably well, the year after, with similar rainfall, we started to see the issues with screenings and the like.
“However, at the very least, the summer rain should offset some of the rainfall deficit over the last half of last year.”
Gregor Heard
National grains writer for Fairfax Agricultural Media.
National grains writer for Fairfax Agricultural Media.
