| Can you link to any of the work you've done, or any articles that explore similar ideas? I'm interested in reading more. We've been using variable rate to tailor nutrient applications for a few years now[0], and have started contracting with a WeedIt to do spot spraying(major reduction in chemical application). We've definitely discussed "reforming" some of our paddock structures to improve yield, or mitigate weed potential (sowing east-west vs north south). Although if you were going to commit to major production changes like that, you'd probably want to bundle them together. Changing sowing direction would mean restarting CTF, so you'd be best of doing another operation such as deep ripping at the same time. We've experimented with wetting agents, as we have quite bad non-wetting soil, and the results have been quite good. It's amazing to watch the before and after[1] Do you think we're going to need a shift in machinery before we can break out of conventional cropping patterns/methods? I'm still somewhat skeptical that a swarm farm type setup would work in our broad-acre situation, but I think a downsizing of machinery (1 * 60m bar -> 3 * 20m bar), could work if they also move to fully autonomous & electric drive. Although, automation for field operations is still quite "simple" compared to the logistics of managing seed/fert refils. [0] A few example maps - https://hectare.ag/nooka
[1] The effects being discussed here are different, but the video shows the same idea https://twitter.com/ipaddockapps/status/708066704954249216 |
Do you use / have you used a Yeomans' plough, and/or investigated keyline? These are well suited to broadacre remediation and improvement (compared to, say, the details around inner zone planning of permaculture). I've seen evidence of these techniques around the Hunter, near Yeomans' original property, and the methods tend to be highly regarded.