{"id":5005,"date":"2020-09-09T06:38:02","date_gmt":"2020-09-09T06:38:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/terrain.org.au\/managing-erosion-copy-2\/"},"modified":"2020-10-06T23:14:09","modified_gmt":"2020-10-06T23:14:09","slug":"fallow-crops","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/terrain.org.au\/fallow-crops\/","title":{"rendered":"Fallow Crops Help Reduce Fertiliser Rates"},"content":{"rendered":"[mk_page_section bg_image=”https:\/\/terrain.org.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/red-dirt-slider.jpg” bg_position=”center center” bg_repeat=”no-repeat” bg_stretch=”true” enable_3d=”true” min_height=”500″ js_vertical_centered=”true” padding_top=”” padding_bottom=”” section_id=”donate” el_class=”donate-1″ sidebar=”sidebar-1″][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”70px”][mk_fancy_title font_family=”none” align=”center”]FALLOW CROPS HELP REDUCE FERTILISER RATES[\/mk_fancy_title][mk_padding_divider size=”67″][\/vc_column][\/mk_page_section][mk_page_section section_id=”great-1″ sidebar=”sidebar-1″][vc_column width=”1\/2″ css=”.vc_custom_1563789112768{padding-right: 36px !important;padding-left: 0px !important;}” el_class=”great_header_left”][mk_padding_divider size=”100″ visibility=”hidden-nb”][mk_padding_divider size=”15″ visibility=”visible-sm”][mk_padding_divider visibility=”visible-tl”][mk_fancy_title size=”28″ letter_spacing=”4″ margin_bottom=”0″ font_family=”none” el_class=”terrain-title-2″]CECCHI FAMILY REAPS REWARDS FROM FALLOWS[\/mk_fancy_title][mk_padding_divider size=”60″ visibility=”hidden-nb”][mk_padding_divider size=”20″ visibility=”visible-nb”][vc_column_text el_class=”sub-head” css=”.vc_custom_1602024491455{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]9 SEPTEMBER 2020[\/vc_column_text][mk_padding_divider size=”5″][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1602024848466{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]Soy beans and sunflower fallow crops are taking over sugar cane paddocks on the Cecchi family\u2019s farms at Innisfail \u2013 for both cane and environmental gains.<\/p>\n

Fourth-generation grower David Cecchi says doubling fallow land to increase production felt counter-intuitive to begin with.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe plant about 80 hectares of cane a year and we used to leave 10 to 15 per cent fallow,\u2019\u2019 he said. \u201cNow it\u2019s 30 per cent or more.\u201d<\/p>\n

David, his brother Paul and father Arthur have also upped their mill ash usage on fallow land and are experimenting with mixed species fallow crops. The initiatives are part of the Australian Government\u2019s Reef Trust IV tender program, delivered through the Wet Tropics Sugar Industry Partnership, to help growers cover the costs of changes that reduce commercial fertiliser usage and ultimately improve the health of the Great Barrier Reef.
\nDavid said the results are extremely promising.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are seeing much bigger (cane) crops, with much more vigour – we\u2019ve gone from 30 or 32 tonnes to at least 50 tonnes for our plant crop,\u2019\u2019 he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe reduced our nitrogen gradually. We started with a change to sub-surface application five years ago. Now we\u2019ve pulled back about 50kg (of nitrogen) per hectare for plant cane in fallow, going to 90kg to account for the nitrogen supplied by the legume crop.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere have been no adverse effects and we\u2019re happy with where we\u2019re at now.<\/p>\n

\u201cTender funding has gone towards buying mill ash. The benefits are there. It lasts a long time. When we fallow again we won\u2019t need to apply ash.\u201d[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″ css=”.vc_custom_1563789122720{padding-right: 0px !important;padding-left: 34px !important;}” el_class=”great_header_right”][mk_padding_divider][mk_padding_divider size=”50″ visibility=”hidden-sm”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1602024707609{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]\"fallow[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1602024859198{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]His goal is to make the fallow crops cost-neutral or, better still, make inroads on them becoming a secondary income by investigating different fallow crop options and market interest.<\/p>\n

The work follows other projects from variable-rate fertiliser application and controlled traffic using GPS systems to a creek revegetation project and drainage improvements from silt traps to spoon drains.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe sat down and looked at the farm maps and productivity data, saw some paddocks were under-performing and took it from there bit by bit,\u2019\u2019 he said. \u201cIt\u2019s about asking for advice, considering things and at the end of the day making your own decisions for your business. Farmers aren\u2019t here to throw money away, but they do have a social licence to be responsible on the land. We\u2019re up for trying new things. With a bit of help, good ideas can be put into practice.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Cecchi family is among 39 Wet Tropics growers to take advantage of the Reef Trust IV tender program.[\/vc_column_text][vc_separator][\/vc_column][\/mk_page_section][mk_page_section el_class=”grean-btn-sec” sidebar=”sidebar-1″][vc_column][mk_padding_divider size=”47″ visibility=”hidden-sm”][mk_button dimension=”outline” url=”https:\/\/terrain.org.au\/repeated-tenders\/” align=”right” el_class=”green-btn” outline_skin=”custom” outline_active_color=”#175137″ outline_active_text_color=”#ffffff” outline_hover_bg_color=”#175137″ outline_hover_color=”#ffffff”]Read More[\/mk_button][\/vc_column][\/mk_page_section][mk_page_section section_id=”great-1-blog” sidebar=”sidebar-1″][vc_column][mk_padding_divider size=”105″ visibility=”hidden-sm”][mk_fancy_title size=”28″ letter_spacing=”4″ margin_bottom=”0″ font_family=”none” align=”right” el_class=”terrain-title”]RELATED NEWS[\/mk_fancy_title][mk_padding_divider visibility=”hidden-sm”][\/vc_column][\/mk_page_section][vc_row fullwidth=”true” fullwidth_content=”false” id=”post_grid_filter_1″][vc_column][vc_column_text el_class=”grid_greate_3″ css=”.vc_custom_1602025095688{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]\n

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