Paddock profiling helps slash costs for a Western District farmer

SOIL mapping technology has allowed farmer Nick Paterson to cut lime costs by 40 per cent.

Soil saver: Mininera farmer Nick Paterson has used soil mapping technology to help cut some input costs by 40 per cent.

SOIL mapping technology has allowed a Western District farmer to cut lime costs by 40 per cent.

Nick Paterson, who runs a large cropping and livestock farm at Mininera with his father, Rowley, said the results showed a big variance in pH levels and phosphorous within the same paddock.

He said in the past he had taken eight soil samples and mixed them to get the average for the paddock.

Nick said Precision Agriculture, who did the grid soil mapping, took core samples while riding an ATV.

Each sample had GPS co-ordinates so a detailed map could be made of the pH level and phosphorous in two hectare squares across the paddock.

“The maps include a recommendation of how much lime or phosphorous we need to spread, then we plug that into the GPS on our equipment,” Nick said.

“Some areas needed 40 kilograms of phosphorous while others needed more.”

Nick said the large paddocks were so varied in the nutrient level because they had been consolidated from smaller paddocks.

“It might have been eight paddocks in the past and could have been for livestock or cropping.”

Nick said the aim was to build up the nutrient levels and get some uniformity across each paddock.

An added benefit was a reduction costs by directing inputs to where needed.

“We had a 40 per cent saving in lime costs,” Nick said. We spread lime in each paddock every third year and usually we spend $100 a hectare, but this year we only spent $60 a hectare.”

Nick said the crops were off to a good start this year but the soil profile had been very dry after two years of below average rainfall.

“The hot weather drained the profile,” he said.

“Our dams were dry and last year we had to cut about 50 per cent of our wheat for hay. Last year was the driest on record at Westmere.”