AG in Focus Victoria - Winter 2011

Our cover: DPI's Grant Holloway says Victorian grain growers have to be vigilant about disease this season after record summer rainfall.

What is AG in Focus Victoria

AG in Focus Victoria is a quarterly publication produced by Kondinin Group with support from the Department of Primary Industries. AG in Focus Victoria delivers the latest agricultural research and innovation from across the State. The information aims to help primary producers make better choices to increase productivity and profitability.

Articles:

• La Niña delivers record deluge
• Nutrient research saves farmers and environment
• Fruit quality headed for nirvana
• Report lamb deaths and profit
• Wettest summer heightens disease threat
• Nitrogen testing urged
• Higher quality pastures cutting emissions

Productivity increases tied to scientific breakthroughs

Minister for Agriculture and Food Security, Peter Walsh

Welcome to the first edition of Ag in Focus Victoria.

The Victorian Coalition Government is committed to helping our food and fibre producers increase their profitability. We have already made progress on this front by boosting support for young farmers and setting aside seed funding to help food and fibre marketing co-operatives to get off the ground. The government has also set a strong policy to reduce the regulatory burden on food and fibre producers.

Profitability, however, also hinges on producers' ability to change and adapt —something which Victorian farmers have historically done very well. This publication is designed to keep our state's producers abreast of key scientific advancements made by DPI to ensure they remain competitive and can continue making informed decisions.

Over the past year, Victoria's agricultural industry has gone from a decade of drought to some of the worst floods we have ever seen. Through it all, DPI has played an important role helping farmers make decisions on farm, both directly and through industry groups and other service providers. But we're not just focused on the here and now, DPI is working to boost Victoria's agricultural profitability, productivity and export opportunities. It is also focussed on increasing the development of new technologies and gaining research and development adoption, improving biosecurity and enhancing market access.

Through Ag in Focus Victoria, Victorian producers across all industries will share in some of the exciting new research that DPI and, at times, other research bodies are conducting. Much of this research is already being implemented on farm, such as DPI scientist Grant Hollaway's work with cereal diseases featured in this edition. Other research, such as that of John Lopresti, who I had the pleasure to meet earlier this year on an orchard near Swan Hill, provides a glimpse of what we can expect in the future and how we're working to increase the value and scale of Victoria's exports.

It is my firm view that Victoria has a responsibility not only to feed the nation but also to help feed the world. The global population is currently at 6.8 billion and by 2050 it is projected to rise to 9.3 billion. To feed this population agricultural production will need to rise by 70 per cent from the same land and water resources.

The research work that DPI is undertaking at a number of facilities around Victoria will be pivotal to achieving this. For instance at DPI Ellinbank, research is finding a way to increase milk production while also reducing dairy methane emissions. Victoria is the leader nationally in dairy research, and the dairy industry is our single biggest industry for food and fibre production. Projects like this are essential to our ability to meet the challenges of the future.

I hope you find Ag in Focus Victoria an interesting and helpful read. For more information on any of the stories, or to provide any feedback, please visit the DPI website at www.dpi.vic.gov.au.

Peter Walsh

Minister for Agriculture and Food Security

News in Brief

New seeder getting results

A new air seeder being used for the first time by DPI staff in western Victoria is showing that big might not be better when it comes to sowing small research plots.

DPI senior pulse agronomist Jason Brand is testing new pulse varieties to provide information about the optimum management package to maximise profit and minimise production risks.

"This new equipment helps achieve our goal of conducting relevant trials in relevant systems," Dr Brand said.

"The small plot air seeder, which was made to order, was designed specifically for pulse agronomy trials.

"It has the capacity for no-till inter-row sowing and allows us to sow pulses in standing residues, which is vital for our field trials.

"It also features the ability to rapidly alter row spacings and band fertiliser. There are also separate boxes for fertiliser and granular inoculants.

"We've also purchased a new tractor with specific design features to enable a small plot version of controlled traffic and 1.8m wheel tracks.

"At our Rupanyup trial site we have successfully sown through 40–50cm wheat stubble and that makes us feel pretty happy with our investment."

Farmers will be able to find out more about the Southern Pulse Agronomy/Pulse Breeding Australia trials during the annual field days at Curyo in early September and Rupanyup in late October.

Winter crops on track

Victorian grain growers are expected to sow about the same area to winter crop this season as they did last year despite heavy rain making some paddocks almost impossible to crop.

And while the acreage planted to wheat and barley has dropped slightly, canola is the big mover, with plantings increasing by more than a third compared to last season.

Cropping estimates compiled by DPI suggest the area sown to cereals has fallen, with wheat down five per cent to 1.6 million hectares and barley also down five per cent to 870,000ha.

However, DPI acting grains director Chris Sounness said the area sown to canola across Victoria looked to be the biggest in more than a decade.

"We estimate that 360,000ha of land in Victoria has been sown to canola, including 100,000ha in both the Wimmera and Mallee," Mr Sounness said.

"The last time we had more than 300,000ha of canola in the ground was way back in 1999–2000 and while only 1000ha of canola was planted in the Mallee in 2009 and 20,000ha last season, it has jumped more than five-fold this season to an estimated 102,000ha."

Mr Sounness said while many farmers north of the divide were celebrating some of their best subsoil moisture levels in years, further south some paddocks were too wet for machinery and may not be cropped until spring.

How to tackle saturated soils

Gippsland dairy farmers facing wet soil damage should consider using on-off grazing, according to researchers at DPI Ellinbank.

"Many of our soils are now saturated with water and are susceptible to severe pugging damage", pasture and fodder conservation specialist Frank Mickan said.

Pasture growth over the next couple of months could be down by 20–40 per cent on many Gipplsand soil types, translating to sizeable reductions in pasture intake and potential milk production losses, or increased supplementary feeding.

Farmers could try using different management techniques within paddocks or trying on/off grazing where cows graze pastures for 2–4 hours, but are removed to a suitable 'stand off' area before severe pugging occurs.

On well-fertilised pastures near the two to three-leaf stage of growth, cows are likely to consume around three-quarters of their expected intake over a 12-hour period in less than four hours.

"It's best to remove the cows and save the pastures for another rotation", Mr Mickan said.

"However, the animals will need to be topped up with a high quality supplement to avoid loss of milk production."

Find out more on on/off grazing »

Sheep boost to bottom line

Claire Swann

New figures released by DPI have revealed sheep trading have had a greater influence than the sale of wool on Victorian producers' gross income.

The figures, reported in the 2009–10 Livestock Farm Monitor Project, came from comparing income and profit from crossbred and Merino ewes joined to terminal sires on farms in Gippsland, the north east and south west of Victoria.

DPI farm business economist Claire Swann said the high price of lamb created by strong international demand and reduced supply from a decline in sheep numbers, sparked her interest to explore some of the trends and drivers of sheep gross income.

"We know many sheep producers responded to these market signals and shifted their focus towards sheepmeat, particularly prime lamb production," Ms Swann said.

"In both wool and prime lamb enterprises, the income from sheep trading had a greater influence on gross income than wool income, but this was partly because of the volatility in price movements.

"In that financial year, the changing trends in proportion of income from sheep trading matched the fluctuations in lamb prices in the wool and prime lamb enterprises," she said.

"Wool contributed between 62–87 per cent of a producer's gross income and the changes in the proportion of income from wool were mostly influenced by the price of wool in each of the three regions.

This year, wool price has increased significantly and the continuation of high prices for lamb will be reflected in the 2010–11 Livestock Farm Monitor Project, which will be available on 31 August.

Find out more about the Farm Monitor Project »

Joining ewe lambs

Ewe lambs should only be joined if the conditions are right, according to a new study.

The work is part of a Producer Demonstration Site Project funded by Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA), which is being conducted on six farms through the BEST WOOL BEST LAMB network.

DPI project co-ordinator Lyndon Kubeil said the first year of the trial showed genetics, nutrition and management needed to be finely tuned before joining ewe lambs.

"It's not going to be for everyone, every year. Years of poor pasture growth and high grain prices may make it difficult or uneconomic to join ewe lambs and as part of the trial we will be doing a cost benefit analysis on the practice," he said.

"In some cases greater gains can be made by improving the performance of the adult ewes in the flock by lifting conception rates, lamb survival and weaning rates."

Mr Kubeil said the first year's results were showing that Merino ewe lambs could get in lamb at lower body weights than previously suggested for cross bred ewes.

Beef milk fever warning

Beef cattle producers are being warned to watch for possible milk fever in cows.

DPI vets in the state's west have received news of beef cows dying suddenly from what was thought to be milk fever.

Unusually, some of the cows had older calves on them whereas milk fever is generally associated more with highproducing dairy cows immediately after calving.

Producers are asked to be aware of the dietary intake of their cattle.

Milk fever is caused by the cow's inability to mobilise enough calcium into her blood to meet her production needs. Cows with mild symptoms find it hard to stand and will stagger sometimes with muscle shaking.

If detected early, treatment can be administered by a veterinarian that can save the animal.

The mineral needs of cows might have increased this year due to the long-term intake of lush, green pasture and stock have also faced stress from parasites and other diseases in wet seasonal conditions.

Farmers are advised to consult their agronomist and veterinarians to ensure adequate dietary intake and calcium management.

Find out more about milk fever »

Victorian farmers remain confident

Victorian rural confidence remains high, with Rabobank's recent rural confidence survey showing the state's farmers are some of the most optimistic in the country.

Record summer rainfall has given hope to many, with increased sub-soil moisture levels allowing farmers to bank a couple of good seasons in a row.

Released in June, the survey found 45 per cent of Victorian primary producers expected the agricultural economy to improve over the next 12 months, compared to 52 per cent in the previous survey.

A further 45 per cent expected conditions to remain stable — up from 37 per cent last quarter. Eight per cent of farmers expect the agricultural economy to worsen.

Rabobank state manager for Victoria Mark Bennett said the easing of confidence this quarter was not surprising given the high levels recorded in the previous survey.

"Despite the slight decline in confidence, the outlook for Victorian farmers is positive as the winter cropping season begins, with high sub-soil moisture profiles and good prospects for the growing months ahead," he said.

"The patchy start to autumn has meant some croppers are seeing inconsistency in emerging crops.

"This may have tempered confidence slightly as more rain will be needed in the coming month to even things out.

"In higher rainfall cropping areas, persistent wet conditions are also having a negative impact."

Conditions for graziers in the state were positive with excellent feed conditions and major irrigation storages at reasonable levels.

And 74 per cent of Victorian producers reported higher gross farm incomes over the first quarter of 2011, compared to the same period the previous year.