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| March 2011 |
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Year kicks off with floods and heavy rains
Welcome to the Second Year of Climate ready Horticulture, a quarterly newsletter that aims to communicate weather and climate change information to the horticulture industry of Victoria. 
Following a successful first year we will continue to report at the coal face of what we see are the key climate issues to impact our industry.
Floods and heavy rains have plagued many Victorian growers (right) over the past few months. In this edition our stories address soil recovery with a particular focus on nutrient leaching, especially nitrogen fertiliser.
In our Case Study growers have seen real dollar savings through having fuel consumption and labour costs cut when adopting Controlled Traffic Farming techniques. In light of the Prime Minister’s controversial announcement on the introduction of a Carbon Price Mechanism, such techniques will only be of benefit to our industry.
While agriculture is initially exempt from the scheme, growers need to be aware that they will be stung by higher prices for fuel, fertiliser and electricity.
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What's happened to soil nitrogen in the floods?
If there was residual Nitrogen fertiliser in your soil, the recent heavy rains have probably sent it south. But the advice from several Departments of Agriculture is not to apply fertiliser until the soil has partially dried out, when there is oxygen in the soil and the plant roots are active again.
Figure 1: A Simplified Nitrogen Cycle.
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A drier season favoured for southwest Victoria
The rainfall outlook for most of Victoria during the March to May quarter is equally as likely to be above as it is to be below median rainfall. While over southern Victoria, drier than average conditions are favoured.
Figure 1: Chance of higher than average March to May rainfall over south east Australia.
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La Niña continues to weaken in the tropical Pacific |
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After reaching peak intensity in early January, the much talked about La Niña event in the Pacific Ocean is continuing to weaken, that’s according to Australia’s peak weather authority, the Bureau of Meteorology (BoM).
Figure 1: This cross-section of the Pacific Ocean, along the equator, illustrates the pattern of atmospheric circulation typically found at the equatorial Pacific.
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What you need to know about the latest water storages and inflows |
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Inflows into the Murray River System reached a new peak for February following 1865GL of water recorded – more than 10 times the long-term average for that month of 169GL. (See Figure 1.) According to the Murray-Darling Basin Authority (MDBA) water storage is now at 97% capacity with the Dartmouth Reservoir continuing its slow but steady increase in volume to 61% capacity. In addition, the catchments remain saturated and the Bureau of Meteorology has predicted that streamflows in the south-east of the Murray-Darling Basin will be higher than average from February to April.
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Soil Health Management shows economic and environmental benefits |
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Horticulture growers affected by the recent heavy rains and floods should assess if any damage has occurred to their precious soils. Few Victorian growers would have ever experienced this type of summer flooding. However, the extent of damage will depend on the soil type, duration of inundation, depth of water and crop species.
A range of tests are available to estimate whether your soil has a health problem and whether it is principally a physical, chemical or biological issue.
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Benchmarking reports help improve irrigation schedule for three key Sunraysia crops |
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An eight-year Irrigation Benchmarking Project in the Sunraysia region is being used to help participating Almond, Dried Vine Fruit and Table Grape irrigators  to identify areas of improvement by comparing themselves to their peers and also monitor the impact of on farm changes on their performance over time.
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Slowing down Nitrogen loss with new fertiliser technology |
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Improvements to the technology of fertiliser release could see greater savings for growers through increasing the nitrogen-use efficiency of plants.  The technology could also offer significant gains for the environment by reducing waterway and groundwater pollution as well as greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere.
In general, when urea or ammonium nitrogen is applied to the soil it is converted into nitrate (NO3-) by soil bacteria, this is called the nitrification process.
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Wheels work better on roads than in paddocks |
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Controlled Traffic Farming (CTF) has proven a viable management option for many horticulture growers who have observed significant improvements in soil health, crop yields and packout while also reducing energy-use and labour costs. 
Leading growers in both Australia and New Zealand, who have adopted this innovative and sustainable practice, have also seen fewer soil clods at harvest and crops that are more evenly sized.
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These are a series of interactive, online seminars on topics relating to climate and emissions in agriculture. The Climate Webinar Series is free and open to anyone interested in learning more about a range of climate and emissions related topics.
What is a webinar? A webinar is an online seminar where users watch a presentation and listen to a speaker with the ability to ask questions. To participate in a webinar you will need access to a computer with the interner and phone line.
Please join the Autumn and Winter Series of webinars:
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