Works in this collection were published by the Department of Agriculture and Food, Western Australia.
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Greener pastures 3 - Managing phosphorus in dairy pastures
Mike Bolland, Ian Guthridge, Bill Russell, Martin Staines, John Lucey, and Richard Morris
Between 1999 and 2009, soil testing was conducted in 48 dairy paddocks at Vasse Research Centre (VRC) in the south-west of Western Australia (WA). This study will be referred to as the VRC soil test study.
Phosphorus experiments were undertaken on partner farms of the ... Read more
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Greener pastures 4 - Managing potassium in dairy pastures
Mike Bolland, Ian Guthridge, Bill Russell, Martin Staines, John Lucey, and Richard Morris
We undertook three studies into the potassium requirements of high rainfall pastures: 1. Between 1999 and 2009, soil testing was conducted in 48 dairy paddocks at Vasse Research Centre (VRC) in the south-west of Western Australia (WA). This study will be referred to as the ... Read more
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Greener pastures 5 - Managing sulphur in dairy pastures
Mike Bolland, Ian Guthridge, Bill Russell, Martin Staines, John Lucey, and Richard Morris
During 1999-2009, soil testing for sulfur (S) was undertaken on 48 paddocks at the Vasse Research Centre (VRC) at Busselton, in the south-west of Western Australia (WA).
Paddocks had been grazed intensively by dairy cows and their young stock over a period of 10 years, ... Read more
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Greener pastures 6 - Managing soil acidity in dairy pastures
Mike Bolland, Bill Russell, Martin Staines, Richard Morris, John Lucey, and D L. Bennett
During 1999-2009, soil testing for pH (in CaCl2) was used to determine lime application for 48 paddocks at the Vasse Research Centre at Busselton, in the south-west of Western Australia (WA).
Paddocks had been grazed intensively by dairy cows and their young stock over a ... Read more
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Greener pastures 7 - A fresh look at nutrient losses from intensively managed pastures
Don Bennett, Bill Russell, Martin Staines, Richard Morris, Mike Bolland, and John Lucey
Dairy farmers in Western Australia have a long history of being concerned for the environment in which they live and work, from early involvement with Landcare District Committees through to participating in the various programs run in DairyCatch.
They have planted trees, organised soil testing ... Read more
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Growing oats in Western Australia for hay and grain
Raj Malik, Blakely Paynter, Cindy Webster, and Amelia McLarty
The oat industry in Western Australia has made phenomenal progress in recent years with the discovery of new markets, the release of several high yielding varieties and the development of agronomic guidelines through rigorous research programs. Oat production in Western Australia for the domestic and ... Read more
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Landscapes and soils of the Lake Grace district
D N. Sawkins
The publication aims to provide readers with the principles underlying the formation of local landscapes and soils, and the ability to identify landscapes and their associated soils.
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Native vegetation in Western Australia is actively involved with soil formation
Doug Sawkins, William H. Verboom, and John S. Pate
Many adverse situations in Western Australian agriculture have arisen because in the past we cleared native perennial vegetation below safe ecological limits in order to grow annual crops and pasture. In retrospect, we did not fully understand the functioning of the native ecosystems concerned and ... Read more
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Soil test and phosphorus rate for high rainfall clover pastures
Robert Summers and David Weaver
When new land was first developed, phosphatic fertilisers had to be applied at high rates to overcome Phosphorus (P) deficiency, and to increase P fertility. Once good P fertility has been established after a number of years of applying P, the requirement for applying high ... Read more
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Soil test and phosphorus rate for high rainfall clover pastures
Robert Summers and David Weaver
Essential information for soil testing to determine the phosphorus fertiliser requirements for clover pastures in high rainfall coastal areas of Western Australia. Includes procedures for soil sampling, tissue testing, liming, when to apply fertiliser, how to decide on the target production level, how much fertiliser ... Read more
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Subsurface compaction a guide for WA farmers and consultants
Stephen Davies and Alison Lacey
For plants to grow in agricultural soils, roots and emerging shoots must be able to force their way through the soil. In soils of high strength, this growth is physically restricted. High strength soils may be due to natural soil characteristics and conditions or develop ... Read more
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The value of break crops in weed management
Wayne Parker, Ian Pritchard, and Abul Hashem
This publication discusses the effect on weed management of the inclusion of break crops (lupin, field pea, chickpea, faba bean, lentil and canola) in the cropping rotation compared to a rotation of continuous cereals.
Including break crops in the cropping rotation allows weed management options ... Read more
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Wheat variety guide for WA 2011
Brenda Shackley, Sarah Ellis, Christine Zaicou, Harmohinder Dhammu, and Manisha Shankar
The wheat variety guide summarises performance characteristics of commercially available wheats which have undergone testing in the National Variety Trials Project (NVT), breeding organisations crop variety testing and Department of Agriculture and Food (DAFWA) variety specific agronomy projects.
This information includes variety summaries, agronomic, disease ... Read more
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Adoption of sustainable farm management to improve tailwater quality - A plan for the Ord River irrigation area
Tara Slaven, Rebecca Heath, and Jamie Bowyer
The overall purpose of this plan is to provide a clear pathway to improve adoption of sustainable farming practices. The focus of the plan is to develop and encourage adoption of practices that minimise sediment, nutrient and chemical export from agricultural land within the Ord ... Read more
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Carbon capture project, final report. An evaluation of the opportunity and risks of carbon offset based enterprises in the Kimberley-Pilbara region of Western Australia
Mark Alchin, Elizabeth Tierney, and Chris Chilcott
Commercialisation of carbon in the Australian Rangelands could lead to the development of a multi-billion dollar industry, and Western Australia has the potential to capture a significant share of this revenue. A significant proportion of the WA Rangelands is degraded which is the legacy of ... Read more
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Climate change response strategy
Anne Bennett
Climate change and policies introduced to reduce emissions will affect the agricultural sector and will lead to social and economic outcomes.
In addressing the Western Australian Government's priority plan for the agriculture and food sector, the Department of Agriculture and Food, Western Australia has a ... Read more
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Ecologically significant invasive species, a monitoring framework for natural resource management groups in Western Australia
Jan-Willem de Miliano, Andrew Woolnough, Andrew Reeves, and Damian Shepherd
This publication is the result of the project titled 'Resource Condition Monitoring for Ecologically Significant Species. The project identified and addressed key weaknesses in the State's capacity to monitor threat posed by ecologically significant species. The invasive species monitoring framework for Western Australia developed through ... Read more
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Growing biserrula to improve grain and livestock production
Angelo Loi, Natalie Hogg, Clinton Revell, and Diana Fedorenko
Biserrula pelecinus is a new genus of pasture legume which was developed for commercial agriculture by a team of Perth-based legume pasture scientists in the early 1990s. Biserrula is an annual pasture legume that is found in natural grasslands of the Mediterranean Basin, frequently on ... Read more
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Landscapes and soils of the Narrogin district
D N. Sawkins
The publication aims to provide readers with the principles underlying the formation of local landscapes and soils, and the ability to identify landscapes and their associated soils.
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Landscapes and soils of the Northam district
D N. Sawkins and Department of Agriculture and Food
The publication aims to provide readers with the principles underlying the formation of local landscapes and soils, and the ability to identify landscapes and their associated soils.
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Phosphorus for high rainfall pastures
Mike Bolland, Bill Russell, and David Weaver
Soil testing for phosphorus provides a reliable indication of when the level of phosphorus in a soil is likely to be adequate for pasture production in the next growing season. It is a waste of money to apply phosphorus fertiliser when soil testing indicates none ... Read more
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Potassium for high rainfall pastures
Mike Bolland and Bill Russell
Potassium plays a major role in plant growth. It maintains the solutions in plant cells at ionic strengths suitable for maintaining strong plant walls and for the proper functioning of leaf pores (stomata) and plant processes such as photosynthesis, transport of sugars and enzyme activation.
... Read more -
Production of premium waxflowers
Kevin Seaton and Nikki Poulish
The cut flower trade is a highly competitive global market. Waxflowers are grown around the world—often in countries with lower cost structures or closer proximity to our main markets. Western Australian producers can only compete if their product stands out from the crowd in terms ... Read more
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Report on phosphorus and potassium experiments conducted on partner farms of the Greener Pastures project
Mike Bolland, Ian Guthridge, Graham Blincow, and Peter Needs
Dairy production in south-western Australia occurs predominantly on sandy soils in the greater than 800 mm annual average rainfall areas of the region. The climate is Mediterranean-type, typically with cool, wet May-October growing seasons and hot, dry November-April. Most dairy pastures are rain-fed and comprise ... Read more
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Wheat variety guide 2010 Western Australia
Christine Zaicou, Steve Penny, Brenda Shackley, Sarah Ellis, Shahajahan Miyan, Harmohinder Dhammu, Manisha Shankar, and Darshan Sharma
This guide summarises performance characteristics of commercially available wheats which have undergone testing in the National Variety Testing Project (NVT), breeding organisations crop variety testing and Department of Agriculture and Food (DAFWA) variety specific agronomy projects. This information includes variety summaries, agronomic, disease and herbicide ... Read more
