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On Friday the 13th, the Murrumbidgee branch of the Young Irrigation Network held the first function of the new-year. The group of mainly young irrigators visited two of the newest crops in the district - walnuts and cotton, both of which are being grown on properties down Tabbita lane.
Websters Walnut plantation
As viewed at 100km/hr driving down Tabbita lane, the Websters walnut plantation looks pretty inconspicuous, but as you begin the slow drive down the bumpy lane-way and as plumes of rusty red dust flys up things quickly become more impressive. There is definitely movement at the station, as hundreds of tonnes of soil is heaped into long straight mounds.
When you reach the first blocks planted in July 2004 (250ha) you see that the walnut trees are going great guns. Orchard manager David Mead says they are very impressed with the growth of the trees. They are now over 6 foot tall and would have taken twice that time to reach the same height in Tasmania, where the main business operations are.
David says they expect to have a small harvest in the 4th year, with tress expected to reach full production by the 8th year. In Tasmania, walnut trees would take at least 10 years to get to full production.
Once the trees reach maturity, they will be on a 3 year hedging rotation (one side will be hedged each year so that after 3 years the trees will have been completely pruned). The hedging promotes growth and production, while maintaining orchard access.
The orchard is drip irrigated with the second drip line added in the winter. The first line was buried on the western side to encourage root growth which also acted as an anchor against the predominantly westerly winds. Provisions have been made to add a third drip line if it is required in the future.
In the pump shed there are 2 diesel pumps which will be relegated to "stand-by units" once the 3 electric pumps are installed in early autumn, and they have budgeted on average water use of 9-11 Ml/Ha.
Stage two of development is currently underway, with the planting mounds being formed and hand planting of the 650 ha due for the autumn. The mounds are made "as high as possible" as there will be up to 20% settlement.
Harvesting will comprise of a tree shaker, with nuts being swept into the centre of each row before being gathered. At this stage it is planned for hulling to take place on site, with the best quality buts being sold still in the shell. It is envisaged that lower quality nuts will be cracked on site before being sold.
There is a huge interest to return in a few years to view the harvesting and hulling operations.
Frasers Cotton
Historic high rice water usage (17Ml/ha) in past years prompted Ian and Irene Fraser to investigate alternative summer crops to grow on their property for the 04/05 irrigation season. After the success of growing cotton last season(which used 8 ½ to 9 Ml/ha), the Frasers decided to not only increase the area planted to cotton (from 110 ha to 170 ha) but they have also decided to totally eliminate irrigated winter crops from their farming rotation and concentrate on growing cotton and corn in the summer.
This season Ian & Irene have planted Bolgard II and "round-up ready" varieties, mainly because of the reduced reliance on chemicals. Traditional non-GM crops would have required up to 7 sprays by mid January, where-as the Frasers have not applied any to their GM crops.
Ian & Irene added that one of the keys to successful establishment is not to plant too early. Soil temperature (12 degrees and rising) and sunlight hours are key factors in the establishment and good growth of a cotton plant. It is obvious that attention to detail is essential in growing a good cotton crop. They rely upon the good and timely advice from a number of sources including their agronomist and the NSW DPI cotton development officer.
The Frasers are adjusting their layout to that which will best suit growing cotton and their machinery. Currently they have 36 inch rows, in 830 mt long runs. At the end of the season it is important to "pupae bust" to help prevent the heliothis pupae from surviving in the soil.
Ian says that cotton is a very forgiving crop in terms of soil type. Old roadways, bank lines and channels are not visible as uneven growth in the cotton field as is the case with rice and corn. They have even managed to establish plants on a very salty patch which has been out of production for a number of years.
Ian & Irene improve their gross margins by doing as much of the work (such as planting, chipping and picking) as possible. They have been lucky enough to find a variety of second hand equipment which has needed only minor repairs and alterations.
As Australia produces the highest quality cotton in the world the Frasers believe the future of cotton growing is strong and look forward to being a part of the industry for a long time to come.
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YIN Members at Webster's Walnut Plantation |
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