Growers watch SRA team members demonstrate the process for measuring biomass in a multi-species crop.
L
ate on a Friday afternoon at Alan Lynn’s Ingham farm, around 15 growers watched on as SRA’s District Delivery Officer Glen Park and Principal Agronomist Dr Danielle Skocaj tackle an unenviable task.
Cane Matters / Autumn 2022
LEARNING FROM PEERS: COUNTING THE BENEFITS OF FALLOW COVER CROPS
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igh fertiliser prices have seen increased interest among growers to understand the value of cover crops in boosting nitrogen in their soil.
A recent peer learning session in the Herbert drew a strong turnout, as growers observed how to estimate nitrogen contributions from multispecies cover crops available to the following sugarcane plant crop, while learning from the experience of fellow farmer Alan Lynn. By Cathy Weis
Using pruning shears and a cane knife, they manually cut out a one-metre long section of a vigorous multi-species crop, loaded it in a bin, and onto scales. So dense was the growth, famer Alan Lynn slashed a small adjoining section of the cover crop to enable Glen and Danielle to gain access to the site. The tricky and tangled task demonstrated how to gauge the quantity or fresh weight of the crop, known as biomass. “At the moment it’s the only way we can assess the biomass that's there,” Danielle said. “What we’re demonstrating is that it is quite difficult for farmers, especially in these multispecies cover crops, to calculate how much biomass is there.” Understanding the biomass helps inform how much nitrogen (N) is potentially available to the following plant cane crop.
