How do soil constraints affect your production?

PRODUCTION ADVICE - JUNE 2020 - AGRONOMY

By Kimberley Beer
Land Services Officer, Mixed Farming 
P: 03 5881 9930 | M: 0439 531 306 | E: kimberley.beer@lls.nsw.gov.au

Are soil constraints limiting the production of your crops or pastures? Do you know what to look out for?

In order to help us confirm the most common constraints in the mid-Murray region, we’d love to hear from you. Click here to take part in our six-minute survey.

Soil acidity and sodicity are two common soil constraints in the Murray region. Both can limit crop yields and reduce the carrying capacity of pasture paddocks.

Soil acidity tends to accompany agricultural production.  Acidification occurs more rapidly on high-producing country and on lighter soils.  It affects some crops and pasture species more than others.  It also affects nodulation of clovers and other legumes, making them more sensitive to low pH conditions.

Sodicity is a chemical property of soils that influences their physical condition.  It can have negative impacts on crop and pasture establishment, water entry, water storage, root zone aeration and general plant production.  Most local soils have sodic subsoils and many also have sodic topsoils.

These can be rectified through application of lime or gypsum respectively. However, with several different products on the market and new techniques emerging, how do you know which is the most efficient and cost-effective?

This is what we are hoping to investigate in the second stage of the National Landcare Program project ‘building soil carbon’.

You may have seen previous articles on stage one of the project, investigating ways to increase soil carbon levels through highly productive pastures. Five trial sites have been established to evaluate the suitability of different pasture legume varieties to different seasonal conditions and soil types across the region.

The second stage of the project will be to determine the most cost-effective soil amelioration strategies to reduce constraints limiting pasture production.

How can you help?

We will be establishing a further five demonstration sites across the region in early 2021 to evaluate different soil amelioration techniques. We’d like to know what practices you are already using and how effective you’ve found them.

This survey is your chance to let us know what practices you would like to see evaluated. Or if you have a pasture paddock you’re concerned about and would like to host a trial site,, you can express your interest.

For more information please contact Extension Agronomist John Fowler at john.fowler@lls.nsw.gov.au.

This project is supported by Murray Local Land Services, through funding from the Australian Government’s National Landcare Program.