Improving farming systems efficiency in southern NSW

Whole farm profitability can be improved by identifying the agronomic factors that drive profit and adopting management that optimises returns (favouring the value return and mitigating the risk). Growers are under mounting pressure to maintain profitability due to constraints such as herbicide resistance, declining soil fertility, increasing soil-borne pathogens and climatic variability. By employing a farming systems approach, the implications of strategic options (like crop choice, time of sowing and fertiliser requirements) and tactical decisions (like grazing, N topdressing) that a grower might make on farm, will be evaluated across the crop sequence.

Coupling field research, modelling, economic analysis, and benchmarking results with established farm consultants can illustrate where opportunities and risks to system profitability lie. Different farming systems in contrasting environments can be compared for one and/or multiple factors. For example, you can compare kilogram of grain/millimetre of water/hectare between systems, or you can measure impact on diseases, weeds, and nutrition by manipulating cropping frequency. The ability to compare systems across different regions with common metrics is a powerful tool to assist growers to make informed decisions.