annual rainfall

Balansa has good levels of hard seed which allow balansa clover to regenerate well after a season of cropping... Mid and late maturing varieties of balansa clover are commercially available, and this range allows the species to be grown in areas receiving between 350 and 800 mm of annual rainfall... Balansa clover grows best in monoculture; good performance with perennial grasses or short-lived ryegrass has been reported...

Overall, barley diseases have the potential to cause very significant costs for farmers... Incidence is 30 per_cent frequency in 30 per_cent of the area, so that the average incidence of the disease affecting the crop is 9 per_cent... Overall, breeding contributes more than 25 per cent of the control for 14 diseases, cultural methods for 32 diseases, and pesticides for six barley diseases...

Our GRDC-sponsored research aimed to quantify the economic value of the five SOI phases system (see note below) for tactical nitrogen management at mid-tillering in wheat in south-eastern Australia, and also to provide guidelines to improve profits without increasing the level of risk through exposure to climate variability... The study showed that higher profits, without increasing the level of risk of economic loss, can be achieved by adopting a seasonal forecasting system to determine the doses of nitrogen to be applied in split nitrogen applications between pre-drill and tillering... Rodriguez@dpi.vic.gov.au "Climate & Risk" provides information from the DPI project, "Tools to reduce the impact of climate variability in South Eastern Australia...

WA growers adapt to changing rainfall patterns.. Dr Stephens says earlier sowing has benefits for crops, as they experience lower evaporative demand through the growing season and appear to be less affected by declining rain in October and increasing spring temperatures... During the growing season, Dr Stephens says changing climate will also require adaptation of input strategies and changes to crop disease and pest risks, especially with more summer rain creating 'green bridges'...

Current farming systems expose farmers to heavy losses during good seasons when the risk of crop failure is low and returns could be maximised by additional levels of N... The SOI phases, originally developed in Queensland, can be used to identify a set of past years of similar climatic characteristics (analogue years) to the present season... Seasonal climate forecasting is a crucial tool for growers to micro-adjust and governments to macro-adjust economic strategies and policies to reduce impacts on private, estate and national economic objectives...

Changing weather in the western wheatbelt.. Farm: 'Riverside Ajana' Region: Ajana, north-east agricultural region, WA (110km north of Geraldton) Commodities: wheat and lupins Farming area: 12,000 hectares (8000 cropping) Average annual rainfall: 308mm.. Farm: 'Warialda' Region: near Badgingarra, WA (200km north of Perth) Commodities: wheat, barley, canola, lambs and hay Farming area: 3200 hectares Average annual rainfall: 300 to 650mm..

The decline in profitability of the high rainfall farm is driven by declining terms of trade rather than the yield reductions under predicted climate change... Farmers and advisors still require a simple method to estimate yield potential using a simple spreadsheet or 'back of the envelope' type calculations... The soil moisture values calculated by STIN XL for sowing dates later than 1 April were seen as an underestimate...

Graph two is for a heavy clay Black Vertosol from Spring Ridge; results show the plant available water capacity (PAWC) is 272mm... Rooting depth should be determined through perusal of physical and chemical data and the physical observation of roots and water extraction through soil coring and/or electronic monitoring... Simulation of water storage using the >100 year climate record shows that a short fallow from wheat (assuming a dry soil profile at harvest in November of the previous year) results in a 50% chance of at least 110mm (range of 0-300mm) of water being available for an April planting at Spring Ridge and 80mm (range of 0-180mm) at Nyngan (Figure 8)...

This species of grass was most commonly used in an intensive grazing dairy system where it would run 40 head of cattle on 0.6 ha for three days with a rest period of 28-32 days (Moreira, 2012)... Recent reports would suggest that psyllid damage is sometimes reduced and stocking rates have in places returned to normal... As shown below FTAI has the ability to increase the percentage of cows in calf...

The second edition of The Wheat Book has been somewhat changed from the original edition... Most of the authors are employed by Agriculture Western Australia and most have contributed their time and talents as an extra-curricular activity... In the wet years, pressures were lower around Australia (particularly south of Western Australia) suggesting an increase in cold front activity...