No-till Cropping Revolution Drives Widespread Change

A research study conducted by the Grains Research and Development Corporation of Australia reports a detailed insight into the status of no-till and conservation cropping in major grain growing regions of Australia. The report is based on a study involving 1172 growers from 19 selected grain growing regions in South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales, Western Australia and southern Queensland.

The report showed that no-till adoption in Australia is extensive and is being sustained across a wide range of regions. Other findings reported were:

• Rapid increases in adoption over the past 5-10 years have resulted in several regions increasing to levels similar to early-adopting regions;
• Extensive and on-going use of no-till is being sustained with uncommon no-till mis-adoption;
• Adoption levels in a few slower to adopt regions will likely remain relatively lower with a substantial proportion of growers not expecting to adopt in the medium term future;
• The use of disc openers remains relatively low, with the exception of the northern Australian cropping regions of NSW and southern Queensland; and
• Higher glyphosate prices led growers in many, but not all, regions to increase their use of tillage.

See details of the story at http://www.grdc.com.au/director/events/mediareleases?item_id=989B0EF9CF932E0FD6B08BC979B1EF42&pageNumber=1