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practices, such as planting
cover crops, which can help
them reap the rewards of
increased soil health.
“The use of cover crops has
been really good at, in a very
short time, seeing significant
improvement in soil condition
– that is, improved aggregate
stability, better water penetration
and even less soil-borne
disease,” Dr Rogers explained.
The project is also focusing
on reducing tillage through
methods that include controlled
traffic farming (CTF), which
introduces ‘traffic zones’ and
‘growing zones’ to avoid farm
machinery causing ongoing
damage to soil that would later
be used for crops.
Controlled traffic farming
Kalfresh Farms Director
Rob Hinrichsen, based in
Queensland, is an early adopter
of CTF. He says that their
growing operation has seen
tangible benefits since they
introduced the new system.
“We’re seeing a lot more
resilient crops – crops that are
a lot more able to handle wet
stress, even dry stress and heat
stress,” Mr Hinrichsen said.
“We don’t always see an
increase in yield … but overall
we’re seeing a much more
resilient cropping system, and
one that is a lot cheaper to run.
“In the past, we were looking
at between eight to 11 passes
with machinery and tillage
equipment to go from one crop
to the next. Now we’ve got it
down to three at a maximum –
sometimes it’s none, sometimes
it’s once.”
Mr Hinrichsen says that
growers who are considering
their own practice changes
should dive in and learn on the
job.
“We’ve had to come up
with a system that works on
our place – it may not work
everywhere, but just through
learning over time we’ve made
improvements,” Mr Hinrichsen
explained.
“I think that for other growers
who are looking on from the
side, just try a bit and learn as
you go – that’s the best way to
do it.”
The full interviews with
researcher Dr Gordon
Rogers, Queensland
grower Rob Hinrichsen
and AUSVEG Environment
Coordinator Andrew Shaw,
will be made available on
InfoVeg Radio at ausveg.
com.au/infovegradio.
This communication was
funded by Horticulture
Innovation Australia using
the National Vegetable
Levy and funds from the
Australian Government.
Project Number: VG15027