The wet 2021 season provides an opportunity for landholders with bare sandy paddocks to plant pastures and grasses to protect their soils from wind erosion in coming months.
Despite widespread rainfall, there are still areas of the Grainbelt, particularly pasture paddocks in the Midwest and the West Midlands, that have insufficient ground cover to prevent wind erosion 鈥 particularly over the warmer months.
Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) research scientist Geoff Moore said with plenty of subsoil moisture available, spring seeding pastures provided a possible solution to reduce the risk of wind erosion.
Mr Moore said there were three short-term options to implement in coming weeks to provide ground cover on sandy soils, with the possibility of providing an additional stockfeed option a bonus 鈥 providing there is surplus biomass.
鈥淯p until mid-September, there is a small window to sow a mixture of temperate, or C3, annual grasses, like cereal rye, Shirohie millet and feed barley,鈥 he said.
鈥淎fter mid-September the preferred option is to sow warm season, or C4, annual grasses, such as hybrid sorghum, Sudan grass and pearl millet, which require warmer soil temperatures to germinate and will grow rapidly if there is summer rain.
鈥淚t is important for livestock producers to note that hybrid sorghum has a risk of prussic acid poisoning so if planning to graze it would be safer to sow pearl millet or Sudan grass.
鈥淭he third option from mid-August through to early September is to sow subtropical warm season grasses.鈥
The department recommends landholders aim to have at least 50 per cent of groundcover, of which about 30 per cent should be anchored, by the beginning of autumn to prevent wind erosion through to autumn 2022.
顿笔滨搁顿鈥檚&苍产蝉辫; have more land management information, including several useful articles to assist growers with .
Stubble retention of a bumper grains crop will be crucial to mitigate the risk of wind erosion blowing away next year鈥檚 crop potential, as will careful management when .
Soil and Land Conservation Commissioner Cec McConnell said preventing wind erosion to optimise soil productivity next season started now.
鈥淭he 2021 season provides an opportunity to optimise ground cover and prevent a repeat of large-scale wind erosion events in late summer and autumn seen in previous years,鈥 she said.
鈥淕ood planning and land management practices over the coming months will be an investment in the productive potential and sustainability of our soil resource.鈥
More information on , as well as pests and disease management and other information to navigate the season ahead can be found on 顿笔滨搁顿鈥檚&苍产蝉辫; at agric.wa.gov.au
The wet 2021 season provides an opportunity for landholders with bare sandy paddocks to plant pastures and grasses to protect their soils from wind erosion in coming months.
Despite widespread rainfall, there are still areas of the Grainbelt, particularly pasture paddocks in the Midwest and the West Midlands, that have insufficient ground cover to prevent wind erosion 鈥 particularly over the warmer months.
Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) research scientist Geoff Moore said with plenty of subsoil moisture available, spring seeding pastures provided a possible solution to reduce the risk of wind erosion.
Mr Moore said there were three short-term options to implement in coming weeks to provide ground cover on sandy soils, with the possibility of providing an additional stockfeed option a bonus 鈥 providing there is surplus biomass.
鈥淯p until mid-September, there is a small window to sow a mixture of temperate, or C3, annual grasses, like cereal rye, Shirohie millet and feed barley,鈥 he said.
鈥淎fter mid-September the preferred option is to sow warm season, or C4, annual grasses, such as hybrid sorghum, Sudan grass and pearl millet, which require warmer soil temperatures to germinate and will grow rapidly if there is summer rain.
鈥淚t is important for livestock producers to note that hybrid sorghum has a risk of prussic acid poisoning so if planning to graze it would be safer to sow pearl millet or Sudan grass.
鈥淭he third option from mid-August through to early September is to sow subtropical warm season grasses.鈥
The department recommends landholders aim to have at least 50 per cent of groundcover, of which about 30 per cent should be anchored, by the beginning of autumn to prevent wind erosion through to autumn 2022.
顿笔滨搁顿鈥檚&苍产蝉辫; have more land management information, including several useful articles to assist growers with .
Stubble retention of a bumper grains crop will be crucial to mitigate the risk of wind erosion blowing away next year鈥檚 crop potential, as will careful management when .
Soil and Land Conservation Commissioner Cec McConnell said preventing wind erosion to optimise soil productivity next season started now.
鈥淭he 2021 season provides an opportunity to optimise ground cover and prevent a repeat of large-scale wind erosion events in late summer and autumn seen in previous years,鈥 she said.
鈥淕ood planning and land management practices over the coming months will be an investment in the productive potential and sustainability of our soil resource.鈥
More information on , as well as pests and disease management and other information to navigate the season ahead can be found on 顿笔滨搁顿鈥檚&苍产蝉辫; at agric.wa.gov.au
Caption: PIRD research scientist Geoff Moore (left), talking to agronomist Owen Mann at a field day at Walkaway, says there is an opportunity to sow pastures and grasses in the next few weeks to mitigate the risk of wind erosion on bare paddocks.
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