A SEMINAR to help Yorke Peninsula farmers prepare for future seasons after a challenging year was held at Paskeville Community Centre last week. 

The importance of soil health and utilising soil moisture and weather data were emphasised at the Soil and Success forum, which attracted 65 participants. 

Agricultural Bureau of South Australia and the South Australian Drought Resilience Adoption and Innovation Hub hosted the Wednesday, December 11, event. 

Organiser and ABSA president Brenton Oster said it was hoped the event would foster local resilience. 

“There is no question that this has been a tough year, but we can start now to be more resilient for the future,” he said. 

“The Ag Bureau is keen to work with industry to organise more informative events in 2025 to help you make decisions in the current environment”. 

Leighton Wilksch from YP-based AgByte, explained how farmers could use weather and soil moisture data collected in the paddock to inform their decisions. 

Mr Wilksch has installed weather and soil moisture probes at 734 sites, including on Yorke and Eyre Peninsulas, and other SA regions, as well as in Victoria and Western Australia. 

He said the data could show huge variation in soil moisture levels within a small geographical area, with contributing factors including soil type, crops grown, presence of weeds and volume of stubble retained, in addition to variations in rainfall between properties. 

He said the probes measured moisture in the soil profile down to 1.2 metres. 

“What I found quite remarkable was that we have had one of the driest seasons ever, but on EP and YP we did not get to the driest (soil moisture) levels ever recorded,” he said. 

“The wheat did not grow enough to get a really robust root system down to 100 to 120 centimetres below soil level, so we will have residual moisture left over for next year, should we have an average year.” 

Mr Wilksch said data from probes revealed the extent of moisture losses from summer weeds and reinforced the importance of early weed control. 

He said this was illustrated by the example of a farm at Lochiel, where summer weed control was delayed because the spray unit was out of action. 

Melons and caltrop sprung up in a sandy paddock after 40 millimetres of rain fell in late spring. 

“The weeds put down roots to 120cm and sucked all the moisture out of the soil profile within 25 days,” he said. 

Chris Davey, of Next Level Agronomy, emphasised the importance of soil health for profitable and sustainable farming. 

He said some of the soil problems on YP were acidification, soil carbon decline, and subsoil constraints such as compaction and non-wetting soils. 

“YP is highly calcareous and has very alkaline soils because of all the inherent limestone,” he said. 

“Everything we produce that goes out the gate — whether it’s livestock, wool, hay or grain — is alkaline, plus the fertilisers we use to grow our crops are acidifying; so, overall, the soils are becoming more acidic. 

“Lentils are what are making us money at the moment, but they are hugely sensitive to acidity.” 

Mr Davey said lentils could also be a barometer of other soil health problems, such as salinity and waterlogging. 

Drought grants open

APPLICATIONS are now open for the South Australian Government’s $5 million On-Farm Drought Infrastructure Rebate Scheme. 

Primary producers can apply for rebates for projects that help manage drought conditions and strengthen drought preparedness — including water infrastructure upgrades, stock containment areas, grain and fodder storage, soil moisture monitors and weather stations. 

Eligible businesses will be reimbursed with a rebate of up to 75 per cent (to a maximum of $5000, GST exclusive). 

The rebate scheme was announced as part of the SA Government’s $18m package to assist farming communities affected by drought. 

Connecting Communities Grants of up to $5000 (GST exclusive) are available to industry, community, not-for-profit, local government and incorporated groups to host events that foster social connections and provide support. 

For more information about drought support or to submit grant applications, visit pir.sa.gov.au/drought. 

He encouraged farmers to watch for weeds such as ryegrass and capeweed in lentil crops, as these could indicate the lentils had been affected by acidity, making them unable to compete with the weeds. 

Mid North agronomist Allan Mayfield spoke about the huge productivity gains made in South Aus tra lian agriculture since the mid-1980s. 

These included better crop yields and labour efficiencies, achieved through improvements in soil condition, weed and disease control, and huge advances in plant breeding and farm machinery. 

“Plant breeding in Australia has been a success story,” he said. 

“The improvement in the potential yield achieved per millimetre of rainfall used to be 5 kilograms/ hectare, now it’s more than 15kg/ha.” 

“If you go back 30 years, it used to take 14 years to breed a new variety, now it’s more like seven years.” 

Mr Mayfield paid tribute to farmers and organisations — such as the SA No Till Farming Association, the Society of Precision Agriculture Australia and the Crop Science Society of SA — which had pioneered valuable innovations that later became mainstream.