Satellite derived evidence of whole farmlet and paddock responses to management and climate

Donald, G. E.; Scott, J. M.; Vickery, P. J.

doi:10.1071/an11179

Cited by 13 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 22 publications

(38 reference statements)

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“…These dry years are consistent with the pattern of years with lower potential pasture growth found with NDVI images of the Cicerone farmlet experiment (Donald et al 2013). In addition, climate specialists have noted that fluctuations in the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) index are linked to important changes in Australia's climate, including the recent period since 1995, which they have described as the 'Big Dry' (Ummenhofer et al 2009;Verdon-Kidd and Kiem 2009).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 60%

“…In addition, the farmlets experienced comparatively low winter temperatures during the experimental period, with severe frosts occurring during 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, and 2006. These constraints would no doubt have restricted the responses to pasture inputs and grazing management; evidence of this restriction can be seen in related papers dealing with herbage mass (Shakhane et al 2013a), remote sensing of normalised difference vegetation index (NDVI), which is related to potential pasture growth (Donald et al 2013), and livestock weights (Hinch et al 2013). In the same region, Cook et al (1976) reported that differences in tolerance to soil fertility and soil moisture constraints could lead to substantial shifts in pasture composition, especially between temperate (C 3 ) species such as Lolium perenne and tropical (C 4 ) species such as Bothriochloa macra.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Comparing the climate experienced during the Cicerone farmlet experiment against the climatic record

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Abstract. Farming systems research conducted under dryland conditions is subject to the vagaries of the climate during the experimental period. Whether such an experiment experiences a representative series of climatic years must be examined in relation to the longer term climatic record. The Cicerone Project's farmlet experiment was conducted on the Northern Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia, to investigate the profitability and sustainability of three different management systems: one managed under typical, moderate-input conditions (farmlet B); a second which employed a higher level of pasture inputs and soil fertility (farmlet A); and a third which focussed on the use of moderate inputs and intensive rotational grazing (farmlet C).The climate experienced during the 6.5-year experimental period was compared with the 118-year climatic record, using a biophysical simulation model of grazed systems. The model utilised the long-term daily climate data as inputs and provided outputs that allowed comparison of parameters known to affect grazed pastures. Modelled soil-available water, the number of soil moisture stress days (SMSDs) limiting pasture growth, and growth indices over the experimental period (2000-06) were compared with data over the climatic record from 1890 to 2007. SMSDs were defined as when the modelled available soil moisture to a depth of 300 mm was <17% of water-holding capacity. In addition, minimum temperatures and, in particular, the frequency of frosts, were compared with medium-term (1981-2011) temperature records.Wavelet transforms of rainfall and modelled available soil water data were used to separate profile features of these parameters from the noise components of the data. Over the experimental period, both rainfall and available soil water were more commonly significantly below than above the 95% confidence intervals of both parameters. In addition, there was an increased frequency of severe frosting during the dry winters experienced over the 6.5-year period. These dry and cold conditions were likely to have limited the responses to the pasture and grazing management treatments imposed on the three farmlets. In particular, lower than average levels of available soil water were likely to have constrained pasture production, threatened pasture persistence, and reduced the response of the pasture to available soil nutrients and, as a consequence, livestock production and economic outcomes.Ideally, dryland field experimentation should be conducted over a representative range of climatic conditions, including soil moisture conditions both drier and wetter than average. The drier than average conditions, combined with a higher than normal frequency of severe frosts, mean that the results from the Cicerone Project's farmlet experiment need to be viewed in the context of the climate experienced over this 6.5-year period.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 60%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparing the climate experienced during the Cicerone farmlet experiment against the climatic record

et al. 2013

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“…3d). Figure 4 shows a boxplot of greenness (NDVI) from the Landsat satellite image of the farmlet areas in June 2000 -just before the commencement of treatments in July 2000 -which shows a similar range across all farmlets (Donald et al 2013). Nevertheless, it is noteworthy that Farmlet C commenced with significantly (P < 0.05) lower levels of greenness than the other two farmlets, which were not significantly different (P > 0.05) from each other.…”

Section: Final Paddock Allocationmentioning

confidence: 93%

Planning for whole-farm systems research at a credible scale: subdividing land into farmlets with equivalent initial conditions

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Abstract.Most research comparing different farming systems has been conducted on relatively uniform plots at small scales made necessary by the desire for sufficient replication of the systems and cost limitations. This paper describes an alternative approach to plan the allocation of land to three unreplicated whole-farm management systems such that each farmlet had equivalent starting conditions and yet was at a scale credible to both livestock producers and researchers. The paddocks of each farmlet were distributed across the landscape in a 'patchwork quilt' pattern after six iterations of a mapping exercise using a Geographic Information System. Allocation of paddocks took into account those variables of the landscape and natural resource capacity that were not able to be altered. An important benefit of the procedure was that it ensured that the farmlets were co-located with contiguous paddock boundaries so that all farmlets experienced the same climatic as well as biophysical conditions. An electromagnetic survey was conducted of the entire property and used in conjunction with a detailed soils map in order to classify areas into soil conductivity groupings. Equivalent areas of each soil type were allocated across the three farmlets. Similarly, land was distributed according to its topography so that no farmlet would be compromised by being allocated more low lying, flood-prone land than any other farmlet. The third factor used to allocate land to each farmlet was the prior fertiliser history of the original paddocks. This process ensured that each farmlet was objectively allocated equivalent areas of soil type, topography and fertiliser history thus avoiding initial bias among the farmlets. After the plan for all paddocks of each farmlet was finalised, new paddock boundaries were drawn and where necessary, fencing was removed, modified and added, along with re-arranged watering points. The farmlet treatments commenced in July 2000 when the first pasture establishment and differential fertiliser applications were carried out. Evidence from the electromagnetic survey and the Landsat imagery confirmed that the distribution of hydrologic soil conductivity and vegetation greenness were similar between all farmlets just before the commencement of the experiment.

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“…3). The significant effects of soil P and, at times, soil N and S, within this farmlet experiment have been reported in related papers within this Special Issue on botanical composition , potential pasture growth rate (Donald et al 2013), pasture quality (Shakhane et al 2013a), animal liveweights and SR , sheep reproduction ) and wool production and value (Cottle et al 2013). The economic aspects of the different soil fertility strategies have also been explored in relation to profitability and optimisation (Behrendt et al 2013a).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The grasses that grow under this increased fertility regime are of higher nutritive value and can support higher SR and higher animal growth rates . The response to increased fertility was therefore through a combination of improvements in species composition , potential pasture growth (Donald et al 2013) and nutritive value (Shakhane et al 2013a).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Whole-farm management of soil nutrients drives productive grazing systems: the Cicerone farmlet experiment confirms earlier research

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Abstract. The Cicerone Project included a study of three 53-ha farmlets, each subjected to a different management system. The systems varied first in their input of fertilisers and sown pastures and second in their grazing management. Farmlet A undertook a high level of pasture renovation and had soil fertility targets of 60 mg/kg Colwell phosphorus (P) and 10 mg/kg KCl-40 sulfur (S), while farmlets B and C both had a low rate of pasture renovation and targets of 20 mg/kg P and 6.5 mg/kg S. In addition, both farmlets A and B adopted a flexible rotational grazing regime over the eight paddocks of each farmlet, whereas farmlet C, which had 37 paddocks, adopted intensive rotational grazing.This paper first reviews the literature relating to soil fertility research in the summer-dominant rainfall region of the Northern Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia. It then examines whether the soil fertility targets set for the farmlets were attained and how the consequences of fertiliser management measured in this trial related to earlier research findings.Fertiliser applications, comprising both capital and maintenance rates, were based on soil test results but at times were constrained by the availability of finance. Soil tests over 5 years indicated that only nitrogen (N), P and S varied with time within the farmlets while the other indices of soil fertility remained similar. Phosphorus and S levels increased in response to fertiliser applications whereas N levels responded to increases in legume composition, which was stimulated by the higher P and S levels. Multivariate statistical analyses demonstrated that farmlet productivity was driven by P and S fertility and thus the two farmlets with lower P and S fertility (farmlets B and C) had similar but lower levels of farmlet productivity compared with farmlet A. Significant increases in several measured pasture productivity parameters were observed in response to the higher P and S fertility on farmlet A, especially when climatic conditions were favourable. The results of the Cicerone farmlet experiment confirm the findings of earlier research on the Northern Tablelands, and elsewhere in the high rainfall zone, that has demonstrated that higher soil fertility levels and pasture renovation enhance the productivity of grazing enterprises more than grazing management, without imposing significant risks to the environment.

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Satellite derived evidence of whole farmlet and paddock responses to management and climate

Cited by 13 publications

References 22 publications

Comparing the climate experienced during the Cicerone farmlet experiment against the climatic record

Comparing the climate experienced during the Cicerone farmlet experiment against the climatic record

Planning for whole-farm systems research at a credible scale: subdividing land into farmlets with equivalent initial conditions

Whole-farm management of soil nutrients drives productive grazing systems: the Cicerone farmlet experiment confirms earlier research

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