18 ON THE LAND
thursday 24 june 2021
burdekinlocal.com.au
BURDEKIN GROWERS DELVE DEEP INTO THE SCIENCE OF SOIL NQ Dry Tropics SOIL guru David Hardwick concluded a three-part course in Soil Health recently with a workshop enthusiastically received by a tight-knit group of sugar cane growers. Hosted by Glenn and Rhonda Pirrone on their Ayr farm, the third workshop in the series concentrated on making sense of soil analyses and getting value out of them. The workshop was organised by NQ Dry Tropics and funded through the
Queensland Government Reef Water Quality Program as part of the Enhanced Extension Coordination in GBR project. Assisted by Soil, Land, Food Extension Officer Simon Mattsson, they explained how nutrients cycled through the soil to become available for plants to consume and grow and eventually return to the earth when the plant died, culminating in an explanation of the nitrogen cycle. Multi-species covercropping pioneered by Mr Mattsson in Australia was
Weekly production figures Burdekin region mills Week 2, ending 19 June 2021 Cane crushed Invicta Pioneer Kalamia Inkerman Burdekin
This week 144,457 63,402 71,739 36,589
CCS Invicta Pioneer Kalamia Inkerman Burdekin
Season to date 228,825 112,460 108,645 75,334 525,264
316,186 13.30 13.20 12.78 12.35
13.13 13.06 12.86 12.51 12.97
13.05
Weekly variety performance for region Variety % CCS Variety Q240 34 13.08 Q208 KQ228 33 13.09 Q183 21 13.35 Q232 5 12.90
% 5
CCS 12.15
Comments: Throughput for the Burdekin mills in week two of the season was just over 316,000 tonnes. This was above budget despite the impact of wet weather on cane supply. Inkerman Mill experienced the greatest impact, with some areas receiving more than 60mm of rain for the week. The mill ran out of cane on Thursday morning and did not resume crushing operations until Sunday night.
The Soil Health Check Workshop conducted at Glenn and Rhonda Pirrone’s Ayr farm. Pictured are (from left): NQ Dry Tropics Soil Conservation Officer Bernie Claussen, grower Angelo Spina, Matt and Chris Horsfall, hosts Glenn and Rhonda Pirrone, growers Denis Pozzebon and Heath Salter and NQ Dry Tropics Project Officer Michael Hobbs with Soil, Land, Food representatives Simon Mattsson (left) and David Hardwick kneeling
also a focus of the workshop. The group inspected a fallow paddock on the Pirrones’ farm, noting the clearly evident soil benefits left by a short-term mixed species cover crop. The group discussed minimum-tillage strategies to prepare the paddock for planting, including using a mixture of molasses and prilled urea to accelerate the biological activity in the soil that would break down the remaining mulch. Bacteria helps break down the biomass meaning farmers have to use less tillage. Mr and Mrs Pirrone said the workshops had been invaluable.
“It’s new knowledge, and it’s so good for us to be able to have somebody like David Hardwick come and walk through our paddock, dig up the soil and give us advice,” Mrs Pirrone said. “As an ecologist, we learnt more from him than at any other agronomy meeting I have attended.” She said repeat visits for similar workshops would have a knock-on effect on the environment and for the whole community. CONNECT NOW: Visit the NQ Dry Tropics website at www.nqdrytropics. com.au for more details.
The north bank mills experienced some cane supply shortfalls, but much lower rainfall totals meant harvesters were able to get back into paddocks sooner. Average weekly CCS was 13.05. This was above budget and a good outcome given the wet conditions experienced across the region. The highest CCS sample was 16.2 from a rake of Q240 Plant cane in the Invicta Mill area. Wilmar employees delivered the cane train safety message for the first time at the new Queensland Country Bank Stadium on Friday night, with community engagement activities held before and during the Cowboys versus Sharks game. Engagement was good and feedback was positive. John Tait Cane Supply Manager Burdekin Region
NQ Dry Tropics Soil Conservation Officer Bernie Claussen (right) with Matt (left) and Chris Horsfall
NQ Dry Tropics Project Officer Michael Hobbs (right) with Angelo and Deanne Spina
Lower Burdekin growers Denis Pozzebon (left) and Heath Salter
