Soil wetter and seeder strategies for non-wetting sands

An estimated 12.5 million hectares of sandy soils in southern and Western Australia are deemed at moderate and high risk of water repellence. In this podcast, researcher Dr Jack Desbiolles from the University of South Australia evaluates the effectiveness of available soil wetter chemistries and seeding tactics to improve crop productivity in non-wetting sandy soils.

The research findings explored in this podcast are the result of two field trials that were run in 2018 and 2019, made possible through GRDC investment. The trials, conducted in a 270 millimetre growing season rainfall zone at Murlong on SA’s Eyre Peninsula, involved a soil wetter evaluation trial and a seeder strategy evaluation trial, comparing a number of seeding strategies.

Contact

Dr Jack Desbiolles
Agricultural Machinery Research and Design Centre, University of South Australia
jack.desbiolles@unisa.edu.au

Useful resources

• GRDC Adelaide grains research update paper: Seeder-based approaches to reduce the impact of water repellence on crop productivity