Improving hostile ground

Herbicide resistant ryegrass and hostile, sodic soils meant it was difficult to see a profitable solution.

Now, Mr Rethus says the Noradjuha block, with its slightly more reliable rainfall, can often yield better than his typical Wimmera country with its self-mulching clays.

He told a Victorian No-Till Farmers Association (VNTFA) tour group last week that the secret to returning the ground to productivity was a disciplined approach to stopping seed set.

A key part of that has been a stand of clover, a mixture between sub-clover and balansa.

Mr Rethus said the clover stands were kept either for a year or if possible for two and had worked well in terms of allowing good ryegrass control.

The paddocks were brown manured and the clover left to provide ground cover over the summer period.

“If you had sheep, you could easily run them on it after it had been sprayed out.”

He acknowledged it may be seen as an expensive exercise not to make hay, especially when there is an impressive stand of clover there, but added he felt the best results where when the clover was left there.

“There isn’t a direct return that way, but you do get more in the form of organic nitrogen, which I think always benefits the crop more than getting it (N) out of a bag.”

In terms of sowing the following year’s crop through the thick mat of clover, Mr Rethus said it had been easy with his disc seeder.

“A tined machine could get through it too, so long as it was set up correctly,” he said.

With the timing of the clover stand rotation, he said occasionally he was forced to crop a paddock after a year, but if he could leave it for two years, he would.

He said options like clover also had the added bonus of improving soil structure, which is a big issue on the sodic clay loam over heavy clay.

While he said the soil was never going to compare with the self-mulching clays of the Wimmera Plains he said it was steadily improving in terms of water holding capacity.

Mr Rethus also credits tram-tracking and various controlled traffic principles with making real advances at Noradjuha.

“It makes a real difference here where the soils can be very prone to compaction, tram tracking has really helped us here and now we can grow crops here every bit as good as the ones on better ground.”