Zero-till makes for self-sustaining cropping farm in Downside

FOR this innovative farmer, transitioning from no-till to zero-till has proven to be an all-round success, writes MADELEINE STUCHBERY.

Keen to learn: Ben Beck in a canola crop on his farm at Downside, near Wagga Wagga in southern NSW. Picture: James Wagstaff

WHEN you are experiencing one of your driest years on record, every drop of moisture counts.

For Ben Beck, who runs a mixed-farm operation at Downside, just north of Wagga Wagga in southern NSW, with wife Louisa and their young family, an investment in a highly-efficient zero-till cropping system has helped build strong and self-sustaining farming practice.

It’s a strategy that has bolstered the health of his soil across his property so he can focus his time on the thing that means the most to him — his family.

“My family is the reason why I get out of bed every day,” Ben said.

“We all need to make time to enjoy our family, and to enjoy some time away from the farm.”

Ben grows 1800ha of crops — an even split of faba beans, canola, wheat and barley. He bases his farming practice around several key principles: keeping the ground covered, low disturbance, reverse crop rotations, and using livestock.

He is passionate about learning as much as he can from other growers, and looking beyond his current system at what new technologies are developing on the horizon.

Making the move to no-till in 2004, Ben eventually made the leap into zero-till farming in 2009.

He uses careful crop rotations, and has seen his cropping system go from strength to strength in terms of soil structure, soil moisture, and resilience.

It’s a self-sustaining system that does much of the heavy lifting for him on the farm.

“It was time for a new challenge,” Ben said. “We wanted to keep our stubble, and keep our ground covered. We had seen other growers using disc seeders, and doing a better job with it than we were. We thought, we needed to get into a disc seeder system.

“Our goal was to simply get the crop planted and keep the stubble, ideally standing.”

TIME TO SHINE

ZERO till farming systems are really having their moment in the sun.

With Australia’s weather notoriously volatile, and most of NSW now officially in drought, growers like Ben are turning to innovative systems that will produce high-yield crops without draining the soil of all nutrients.

By using discs or narrow tines, growers can sow crops with minimal soil disturbance.

It’s a system Ben turned to as a way to boost the health of his soil and maintain levels of carbon.

One of the major challenges for Ben was the transition from tine sowing systems to a disc and eventually zero-till.

“In the early years, changing row spacing can be a challenge, and you can end up with uneven establishment as a result,” Ben said.

In 2009 Ben started using a nine-metre controlled traffic farming system, using permanent wheel tracks to sow his crops.

He also gives his cereal crops a two-year break, with a canola or legume crop in between.

It only took three to four years to Ben to notice improvements after implementing a zero-till system.

“After a transition to disc sowing, you get a more even result. Infiltration levels are much higher, your plant health improves, and the vigour improves,” Ben said.

“We don’t have any (soil) clods anymore, and that’s something we haven’t had to deal with for quite a long time.

“We also get less weeds, particularly summer weeds. There are still plenty of broadleaf weeds, but the lower number of summer weeds is noticeable.”

HEALTH CONSCIOUS

WHILE noticeable improvements appeared to plateau around the three-year mark, Ben said the improvement to overall soil health was drastic.

“A lot of the soil health principles we’re using, it hasn’t been a conscious decision at any point,” Ben said.

“Things that make crops grow better are really linked to soil health. It’s just the way it’s turned out.”

Stubble retention is one of the key factors linked to Ben’s healthy soils.

“The stubble physically occupies space,” Ben said.

“It retains moisture for longer, and leaves residue where you planted it. In the early days, we started to recognise the value of ground cover. Even low quality ground cover is enough to get a crop out of the ground.

“We can establish really nice crops using no-till.

“You can grow big crops with zero till.”

One of the main challenges for Ben when making the transition to zero-till was not the physical labour of the work, but coming up against preconceived ideas and traditional farming practices. Some people do what they’ve always done, and they’re afraid of change.

“I think in today’s day and age, we can see a better way forward,” Ben said.

“You have to keep asking why. Who made that rule? Is it even relevant? Question why.

“Having a new approach can lead to change.”

Depending on the weather, Ben’s harvest should kick off in mid-November. Yields are expected to be down due to the season, with hopes of three tonnes/ha for wheat, 3.5 tonnes/ha for barley and 1.7 tonnes/ha for canola which normally averages about 2.7 tonnes/ha.

“This is the driest year we’ve had,” Ben said. “We’ve had only 136mm of rain for the year, and about four months with less than 10mm rain per month.

“But the crops are looking good considering.

“The countryside is green, it’s not like 2006 when everything was dead in August.”