EMERALD irrigator and dryland grain grower Nigel Burnett is a firm advocate for the Grains BMP (Best Management Practice) initiative as it provides his farming business with quantifiable environmental management credentials.
A graduate of the Cotton BMP process, Mr Burnett said he was keenly aware of the productivity, profitability and environmental benefits to be gained from being a participant in Grains BMP.
For the past six years, Mr Burnett and his wife Beth have leased their Emerald Irrigation Area farm Colorada which supports 556ha of irrigated cropping and 600ha of dryland cultivation plus a 2187ha grazing and farming holding Langley Downs.
Langley Downs has 400ha of dryland cropping in addition to a 100 head cattle breeding herd. Mr Burnett also buys in store steers to be finished on grass pasture.
Mr Burnett said his involvement with Grains BMP had enabled him to complete the pesticide application module and access the personalised advice of spray consultant Graham Betts.
“That enabled me to gain a better understanding of the full capability of our linkage-mounted 24m Goldacres spray rig which is used in the irrigated and dryland cropping operations,” Mr Burnett said.
“I have a renewed confidence in being able to self-test spray nozzle pressures and fine-tune the chemical output.
“The recommendation to refit the boom with 48 new course nozzles at 50cm spacing has paid dividends as the unit is effectively getting more spray on the ground to kill targeted weeds while alleviating spray drift issues.
The Grains BMP incentive payment has assisted Mr Burnett to purchase a hand-held Kestrel 3500 Delta T weather meter to accurately record climatic conditions for spray decisions.
“Our grain farming enterprise moved into zero till in 2004 and machinery operations with the exception of the header are based on Controlled Traffic Farming based on 2m tracks using a 2cm accuracy Green Star guidance system,” Mr Burnett said.
The versatile Goldacres spray rig has a 1500 litre tank capacity and is operated behind a John Deere 7920 (190hp) tractor. An additional 1500L front-mounted tank on the tractor provides a 3000L total tank capacity for increased efficiency.
Mr Burnett said the workload for the Goldacres spray unit is shared between the dryland and irrigated cropping and is covering about 4860ha annually.
With frontages to the Nogoa River and Gordonstone and Crinum Creeks, the bulk of the cultivation country is heavy alluvial clay which runs back to scrub soils and red sandy loam.
“Our primary weed problems on the heavier country are sesbania and parthenium while feather top Rhodes grass has not become a major problem as yet,” Mr Burnett said.
“If chemical control of feather top Rhodes does become an issue, then strategic ploughing will be a management option.
“On our lighter cultivation country, sweet summer grass, button grass and saltbush are the most prolific weeds.
“We only use the spray rig to apply herbicides and call in aerial contractors to apply insecticide sprays where applicable,” Mr Burnett said.
To plant broadacre grain sorghum, wheat and chickpea crops, Mr Burnett uses a 12m Gyral penetrator bought three years ago whereas for the irrigated crop planting is done with an 8m John Deere Maxi-Merge planter which fits the CTF paddock layout.
“At this stage, the only machinery that does not meet the CTF objective is the contract harvester.
“We did not have a rainfall opportunity to plant winter crops this year but thanks to a good soil moisture profile in 2008, a 270ha chickpea crop yielded 2.2t/ha and 730ha of wheat averaged 3t/ha all under zero till,” Mr Burnett said.
Mr Burnett said he did not graze cattle on any of the cultivation country as, in addition to the loss of stubble cover, any short term gain was offset by soil compaction that impacted on follow-up crop productivity for the next 18 months.
Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation development extension officer Rod Collins who is leading the Grains BMP initiative across the Central Queensland grain belt said that during the past 12 months 87 farming businesses took part.
Grains BMP is a Property Management Systems Initiative developed in partnership with QPIF, Fitzroy Basin Association Inc (FBA) and AgForce. The project is backed by funding under the Reef Rescue component of the Australian Government’s Caring for Our Country that aims to improve water quality of the Great Barrier Reef lagoon through increased adoption of sustainable land management.
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