In the high-rainfall zone of south-eastern Australia, deep incorporation of organic matter has previously been reported to increase crop yields by improving access to subsoil water and nutrients, resulting from the amelioration of subsoil constraints. However, previous experiments did not separate the yield response resulting from nutrients contained in the amendment from yield response due to amelioration of subsoil constraints. In order to separate these effects, eight field experiments were conducted on a range of soil types across the medium- and high-rainfall zones of south-eastern Australia between 2014 and 2016. Grain yield and quality responses of a range of annual crops (canola, wheat, barley and lentil) to surface and deep placement of poultry litter and inorganic fertilisers with matched nutrition were assessed. Over 15 site × year combinations, there was no consistent, significant positive interaction between amendment and incorporation treatments necessary to demonstrate that deep placement of amendment (i.e. subsoil manuring) had advantages over surface application of the same amendment. Differences in crop yield in these experiments are attributed to nutrients (particularly nitrogen) supplied by the amendment, and not to the amelioration of subsoil constraints. Future research, including analysis of subsoil physicochemical properties and plant nutrient concentrations after treatment, is necessary to confirm the role of nitrogen and other nutrients in the crop response to subsoil manuring.

Soil types, cereal crop growth and grain yields are typically variable across many paddocks in the cropping regions of South Australia. In this study the value of a variable rate nitrogen fertiliser application, using the Yara N-Sensor, was compared with the standard practice of a uniform application, at crop growth stage 31, on the grain yield and protein content of wheat. These comparisons were made using the same total amount of fertiliser in paired variable and uniform rate treatments in commercial crops at a total of 10 sites over two years in the medium to higher rainfall areas of the Mid North and Yorke Peninsula of South Australia. The mean increase in wheat grain yield for the variable rate treatment was only 40 kg/ha, or 0.8%, when compared with the uniform rate treatment averaged over these 10 sites and two years. Grain yield differences ranged from 160 kg/ha more to 60 kg/ha less for the variable rate treatment when compared with the uniform rate treatment. Wheat grain yields with the uniform treatments ranged from 2.53 t/ha to 5.68t/ha and with a mean grain yield of 4.24 t/ha. The mean wheat grain protein content with the variable rate treatment was 11.0%, compared with 10.5% with the uniform rate treatment, a relative increase of 5.1%. Where grain yield responses to the variable rate treatments were compared between different biomass areas within a paddock, the greatest grain yield increases to a variable rate of N compared with a uniform rate were in the areas with the lowest 20% of crop biomass whereas grain yield differences were negligible in areas with the highest 60% of crop biomass. These low biomass areas also had the greatest grain yield response to the applied post emergent nitrogen fertiliser when compared with areas with no post emergent nitrogen fertiliser. N-Sensor outputs (biomass and N-rate) were compared with measurements of plant biomass, N uptake (kg N/ha) and %N content at points of contrasting biomass and N-rate within paddocks. There was a high correlation between the N-Sensor biomass and N-rate values and actual plant biomass and N uptake but not with the %N content. Crop biomass maps made using sensors such as the N-Sensor could provide useful data layers, which in combination with other datasets such as grain yield maps or elevation maps, be used to produce zone maps for further analysis or for variable rate input treatments. The N-Sensor could also be used in some situations to map variations in weed biomass for possible site specific weed management.

A brief account of the present status of Precision Agriculture (PA) in Australia is presented, and areas of opportunity in the grains, sugar and wine industries are identified. In particular, these relate to the use of spatially-distributed experimentation to fine-tune management so as to achieve production efficiencies, reduced risk of environmental impact and enhanced food security, and the management of crop quality through selective harvesting and product streaming. The latter may be an important avenue by which farmers can take a more active role in the off-farm part of agricultural value chains. The important role of grower groups in facilitating PA adoption is also discussed. AGRICULTURA DE PRECISÃO NA AUSTRÁLIA: SITUAÇAO CORRENTE E DESENVOLVIMENTOS RECENTESRESUMO: Apresentamos um breve relato da situação atual da Agricultura de Precisão (AP) na Austrália, e identificamos as principais áreas de oportunidade para as indústrias de cereais, da canade--açúcar, e da uva e do vinho. Especificamente, estas oportunidades envolvem o uso de experimentação espacialmente distribuída para melhoramento da gestão agrícola com os múltiplos objetivos de aumento da eficiência de produção, redução do risco de impacto ambiental, contribuição para a segurança alimentar, e gestão de qualidade através da colheita seletiva e da diferenciação de produtos. Esta última poderá ser uma importante via pela qual os agricultores passem a ter um papel mais ativo nas cadeias de valor agrícola pós-exploração. Também discutimos o papel-chave desempenhado pelos grupos de agricultores no processo de adopção da AP. BACKGROUND