Gaining a better understanding of his soil types allowed Upper Haughton grower Andrew Cross to fine tune nutrient application — saving money and helping to prevent runoff to the Great Barrier Reef .
CASE STUDY
ANDREW CROSS
Gaining a better understanding of his soil types allowed Upper Haughton grower Andrew Cross to fine tune nutrient application — saving money and helping to prevent runoff to the Great Barrier Reef .
With the cost of inputs rising steeply , Andrew Cross understands the importance of being more precise about how and where he applies soil ameliorants . He said he joined the Precision to Decision ( P2D ) project to access better quality soil data , which was helping him make more informed farm management decisions .
MAPPING AND SOIL TESTING SUPPORT
“ I have always been big on data , you can never have enough ,” Andrew said .
“ The trouble is gathering it . Margins are tight and although we ’ re a big operation with plenty of staff , everyone ’ s busy .”
Thanks to support from agronomy company Farmacist , Andrew accessed extensive electromagnetic ( EM ) soil mapping , which , combined with georeferenced soil testing , has given him the necessary data to farm more efficiently .
“ Blanket ameliorations are too expensive , with the price of mill mud and gypsum just about doubling ,” Andrew said .
“ JOINING THE PROJECT HAS ALLOWED ME TO FAST TRACK MY UNDERSTANDING OF THE SOIL VARIATIONS ACROSS THE FARM . IT WOULD ’ VE TAKEN 10 YEARS TO MAP EVERYTHING OUT , AND WE HAVEN ’ T GOT EVERYTHING DONE , BUT JEEZ , WE ’ RE CLOSE NOW , PROBABLY AROUND 85-90 PER CENT .
“ IT ’ S BEEN FANTASTIC TO GET IT DONE THAT QUICKLY .”
Andrew said the mapping data had enabled him to divide his paddocks into zones according to soil type , supported by Farmacist ’ s Jayson Dowie .
“ I would chat with Jayson about the number of zones , and once we had narrowed it down , we ’ d get the soil tests done , because a map is useless until you pair it up with a soil test ,” he said .
“ Without assistance it is hard to get around to soil testing because things get so busy and come Christmas time , the cane is high , and you ’ ve missed your chance .”
A WIN-WIN FOR PRODUCTIVITY AND THE ENVIRONMENT
Jayson said precision farming relied on a variety of precision data sets .
“ Understanding our soils is important because in one block you can have sand , loam , and clay soils , and then some really challenging stuff on top of that ,” he said .
“ By understanding the different chemistry of these soils , we can come up with an appropriate management plan .
“ If we take a soil sample in a particular spot and Andrew puts gypsum or some other ameliorant , mud , ash or whatever , we can come back to that exact spot in five years time and have a look at the changes .