Re-inventing model-based decision support with Australian dryland farmers. 2. Pragmatic provision of soil information for paddock-specific simulation and farmer decision making

Abstract

Economic and climatic pressures are forcing many Australian dryland farmers to reassess their management of soil resources and climatic risk. FARMSCAPE intervention has offered enhanced soil characterisation and monitoring as a contribution to soil water and nitrogen inventory, and simulation as a contribution to interpretation of locally measured environmental data in stochastic production terms. This paper relates the journey taken by the farmers, their consultants, and the researchers as they worked together to assess the value to farming and consulting practice of these scientific tools and techniques. Ten years after FARMSCAPE interactions commenced, a sample of participant farmers and consultants was interviewed to evaluate effects on thinking and practice. Understandings and concepts gained in FARMSCAPE continued to guide thinking and action. Early simulations in response to ‘what if…?’ enquiries of strategic importance, such as crop sequencing and rotation choice, were still referred to as learnings of continuing value. However, techniques and practices varied markedly between individuals and organisations. Monitoring of soil resources varied from continued use of the relatively complex tools and techniques provided by the researchers through to the use of much-simplified techniques that provided adequate information to satisfy the conceptual models. Methods for interpreting soil water ranged from use of the simulator, APSIM, to simple water-use efficiency ‘rules of thumb’.

Re-inventing model-based decision support with Australian dryland farmers. 3. Relevance of APSIM to commercial crops

“…Consequently, FARMSCAPE has promoted regular deep soil coring throughout Australia and, in some regions, has helped uncover previously unknown soil water and nitrogen resources at depth in the profile (Ridge et al 1996;Dalgliesh et al 2009, this issue). To assist in this promotion, Dalgliesh et al (2009) report efforts to develop standard methodologies for soil characterisation and monitoring in the dryland cropping regions of Australia, and to assist farmers and agronomists in their application. An end result of such effort is the APSOIL national database of soil properties suited as input into simulation models such as APSIM.…”

Water and temperature stress define the optimal flowering period for wheat in south-eastern Australia

“…Locations were selected to represent environments where wheat is grown in the 153 cropping belt of SEA ( Fig. 1, Table 1), and based on the availability of accurate soil 154 characterization from the APSoil database (Dalgliesh et al, 2009) and patched-point 155 meteorological weather stations from the SILO database (Jeffrey et al, 2001). At 156 some sites (Hopetoun, Swan Hill and Bogan Gate), two different soil files were 157 selected to compare the effect of soil type on the OFP.…”

Re-inventing model-based decision support with Australian dryland farmers. 4. Yield Prophet® helps farmers monitor and manage crops in a variable climate

“…In the FARMSCAPE program, scientists explored whether farmers, supported by researchers and advisers, could benefit from simulation as an aid to risk management. The following 3 science-initiated technologies were explored to assist farmers in their flexible management of cropping systems: (i) soil coring tools that allow farmers to generate data, to appropriate depth, on the physical and chemical characteristics of their farms' main soil types, and on the soil water and nutrient status at key decision points in the season (Dalgliesh and Foale 1998;Dalgliesh et al 2009, this issue); (ii) systems simulation using the APSIM model (McCown et al 1996;Keating et al 2003) that utilises locally relevant information on soil characteristics and its current status, and on the seasonal climate outlook, combined with historical climate records, to simulate probability outcomes for intended management actions relevant to an individual farmer's actual crop; and (iii) seasonal climate forecasting tools that can provide significant skill in determining the probabilities of rainfall and temperature for the upcoming 3-month period (e.g. the phase system of the Southern Oscillation Index (SOI); Stone and Auliciems 1992;Stone et al 1996).…”

“…The second aim of the FARMSCAPE program was to learn how to construct a science-based risk management service that would be valuable to farmers and be delivered cost effectively. The preceding papers in the current series (Carberry et al 2009;Dalgliesh et al 2009;McCown et al 2009; all this issue) primarily explored important aspects of the first aim. The evaluation data that provided evidence of effects from the first stage of FARMSCAPE also indicated a need for a modified approach that entailed delivering a comparable service without the high transaction costs associated with frequent direct farmer-scientist engagements.…”