Preliminary results of a Southern Farming Systems nutrient demonstration trial in Gippsland has revealed the application of molybdenum – together with high rates of lime and super – have given significant dry matter increases compared to other treatments.
Soil and plant tissue tests at the site at Forge Creek showed deficiencies in phosphorus, sulphur, copper, molybdenum, boron, and potassium.
These results highlighted deficiencies common for Gippsland soils, as seen by the results from the topsoils project, part of which is an extensive soil and plant tissue testing program of more than 250 samples across east Gippsland.
The nutrient demonstration site is a matrix of 100 different combinations of nutrients and application rates, managed by SFS’s Janice Dowe with Doug Crawford (Agriculture Victoria, Ellinbank). The demonstration site is on a sandy soil and was sown to peas and oats in August, having recovered from several months of waterlogging.
The application of molybdenum at 60kg/ha – with lime at 3t/ha and super at 300kg/ha – yielded over 6t/ha of DM of peas and oats, compared to the control yield of 2t/ha.
Due to wet conditions, the other nutrient combination that had a significant increase in DM was the application of nitrogen at 100kg/ha, with super at 300kg/ha. The other nutrients applied did not show any significant yield increases.
These early findings indicate the importance of soil testing to determine which micronutrients are limiting, as well as macronutrients.
The addition of molybdenum to an application of super increases the price by about $22/t, but can have a large effect on yield if it is the most limiting factor.
The demonstration site is part of the larger topsoils project, which is investigating the benefits of soil testing as a tool to highlight opportunities to improve soil nutrient balance and long-term productivity.
For more information on this project, phone Janice Dowe on 0488 600 209.
