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The Victoria Drought and Innovation Hub in action! Take a look at our latest projects on climate resilience and drought preparedness across the state.

At what price is there a place for bagged N in pastures (beef/cattle)?

• If additional nitrogen is being supplied as fertiliser – what application rates should be used, how many applications per year, when should these applications occur (timing, growing conditions) and which pastures should be targeted?
• Is there any role for using soil testing to monitor N levels in pastures and, if so, how do we make it accurate?
• What are the environmental implications of increasing nitrogen levels in a perennial pasture system and how to minimise them? N losses, denitrification, leaching.

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How much N do we get from clovers and when?

• If relying on legumes in the pasture system to supply the required nitrogen, how can nitrogen fixation be maximised?
• If using both N fertiliser and clover, what rules apply to maximise production & profit?

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How important is nitrogen in terms of improving pasture growth?

• Pasture nitrogen requirements – how much is needed?
• N cycle - when is N supplied & when is it deficient? How do clovers and organic nitrogen fit into the cycle?
• What is the speed of the N cycle through mineralisation and what affects this rate?
• What yield advantage can be gained by supplying more nitrogen to perennial pastures?

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Maintaining a high proportion of desirable perennial grass in a pasture requires active management. This video runs through the key things you need to get right, so you can lift or maintain desirable grass content and make your pastures more productive, persistent and able to resist weed invasion.

More information www.sfs.org.au or Contact E:office@sfs.org.au

Some annual grass weeds can reduce the quality, productivity and persistence of your pastures. Winter cleaning is an effective tactic to reduce annual grass weeds. Watch this video to learn the process of winter cleaning and what you need to consider when using this herbicide method.

If you want pastures without troublesome annual weeds then watch this video on spray-topping. It shows you the critical factors to help you improve perennial grass and clover content and extend the productive life of sown pastures.

This video helps you develop basic skills in sub-clover cultivar identification and narrow down what sub-clover cultivars are growing in your paddocks. Not being able to identify problem sub-clover cultivars means up to 30% winter production could be forfeited if growing outdated varieties or oestrogenic sub-clovers that impact on sheep reproduction go unrecognised.

More info www.sfs.org.au or  office@sfs.org.au

With all the talk about climate change have you ever wondered what it might mean for your farming business?  What impact will there be on crop yields, pasture growth and farm profit?  If I need to be prepared, what changes should I be thinking about?

Southern Farming Systems have received funding from the Australian Government’s Future Drought Fund to conduct analysis on 32 crop and livestock farms in South West Victoria to understand the likely impact of different climate change predictions.

For more information watch this short video

To register your interest contact Tahlia Ferguson SFS, E: tferguson@sfs.org.au, M: 0418 462 967

Presenter Dr Susan Orgill, NSW DPI addresses the following scenario: Carbon, it’s all that’s talked about. My kids want me to do something to help the environment and there seems to be lots of benefits in improving soil carbon and I don’t want to miss out if there is money to be made from carbon trading. But I hear it’s tricky to tell if you are actually making a difference and to do this you need to monitor over a long time or test carbon fractions. I’m not sure that my carbon levels are even that bad and that its worth lifting them. How do I even tell and if I do try and improve, what’s the best way to improve soil carbon? The neighbours are putting on compost and I have heard about special pasture renovators and even biological stimulants to increase soil carbon.

Presenter: Dr Mark Farrell, CSIRO addresses the following scenario: Healthy soils are the foundation of a productive and profitable grazing system. In the past the focus on achieving a healthy soil and pasture has been meeting sufficient levels of available nutrients by fertilising. However today some producers are querying the response they are getting from their traditional fertilisers given the money they spend; fertiliser just doesn’t seem to work like they used to. Understandably many question if they are getting good value for the fertiliser investment. When combined with recent discussion around achieving balanced soil condition, holistic soil management, feeding the soil bugs and ‘natural’ fertilisers, it is not surprising many of us are wondering what’s the right way to go.

Dr James Hunt talks about optimizing wheat yield through selection of variety for its optimal flowering time in the HRZ.

Australian farming is one of the riskiest businesses in the world because of climatic conditions, prices and our reliance on export markets. This video explores concepts around risk in farming. It explains volatility, the limitations with using averages to understand risk, correlations between yields and prices and how to frame the odds to inform risky decisions. It also shows ways of presenting information so the risk can be appreciated.

We commonly make decisions without thinking too much about them, using previous ‘rules’ to guide the choices we make. But are these rules always the best to follow and could they be leading us to make poorer decisions? This video explores the concept of Rules of Thumb and how to test if they are appropriate for the next big decision you are going to make.

Many decisions in farming are complex. There are often multiple factors to weigh up but may not be of equal importance. We also know complex decision are influenced by our head, heart and gut. This video steps through a simple process to help make more informed decisions using a seven-step process called a decision matrix.

The webinar features leading Frost Research Expert Kelly Angel, BCG and local agronomists, discussing the latest research and approaches to managing frost on-farm. With SFS farmers sharing their experiences and ideas to direct future research investment.

Better Frost Decisions is an extension project that aims to assist farmers in frost-prone areas to make better-informed decisions to help farm businesses better manage (and reduce) the risk and impact from frost. Better Frost Decisions is part of a national GRDC investment through the project “Applying current knowledge to inform grower decision making to mitigate the impact of frost, now and in the future”, with Mallee sustainable Farming coordinating this project across the Southern Region.

SFS Winter Crop Walk Video Series has been developed in the response to improvements in our communications with members and partners and COVID-19 restrictions, you can't come to the trials we will bring the trials to you.

Follow a day in the life of sowing trials at SFS this season.

Paul Breust discusses the 2015 Seeder Demo Day, April 2016.

SFS's Aaron Vague summarises the current Harvest Weed Seed Project.

SFS's Simon Faulkiner and Gorst Rural's Craig Drum discuss the Pastures in Crop Sequencing Project.

Annieka Paridaen formerly of SFS discusses Dual Purpose Wheat.

SFS looks at the benefits of direct heading canola in western Victoria.

SFS's compares water rates to desiccate weeds under a canola canopy.

SFS's Paul Breust summarises the Inverleigh Seeder Demonstration.

SFS's John Midwood discusses the results of late-season nitrogen application trials.

Ag Consultant Cam Nicholson talks about SFS's recent involvement in the Online Farm Trials Project - funded by GRDC (March 2014).

SFS's Annieka Paridaen discusses the results of spring sown winter wheat.

Dual purpose Canola featuring grower David Brady and SFS's Annieka Paridaen.

Dr Chris Preston discusses strategies to combat weeds at harvest.