PTD’s: Pasture Top-dressing demonstrations
Objective
To identify the long-term effects of fertiliser application on pasture and animal production.
Key activities in current program
The site was originally set up to identify the benefits of different fertiliser application rates on pasture production and grazing management - hence the title "Permanently Top Dressed" (i.e. PTD) site (Table 2). It is a reference site for monitoring acidification under pastures at different stocking rates and with different production outputs. In addition the movement of lime through the soil profile has been determined - the only long-term site in Australia that has been able to show the rate of Ca movement and pH effect as the lime moves into the subsoil. This site is invaluable for the continued understanding of soil acidification processes under long-term pastures. In addition this site provides continued data sets for the impact of sheep grazing on soil and pasture persistence over time. It also contains a native pasture from which time series comparisons can be made.
© The State of Victoria, 1996 - 2008.
This document was last reviewed on 24/09/2008