"The Future belongs to those who plan for it!" ...quote

Geoff and Sharon, "here for the long-haul"

Ask Geoff and Sharon Brown at 'Goodgerwirri;, an 800ha barley and sunflower property at Spring Ridge on the Breeza Plain, about their farming priorities. You might expect to hear phrases like 'better yields', 'higher protein and oil content' etc. But more likely you'll hear words like 'sustainable', 'zero-till' and 'conservation'.

No tree-hugging dreamers, they've been working the property for 20 years but, in common with an increasing number of practical farmers, are anxious to adopt practice is which will preserve their major asset, the soil. That's why they decided to use Beaulieu R.U.M. Liquid Plant Food this season on 70ha of barley sown straight after a '20-bag' crop of wheat. They planted with 40units/ha of urea and followed up 6 weeks later with 3 litres R.U.M./ha as a foliar dressing. Over half the 800ha property is typical Breeza self-mulching, black soil and Geoff remembers the days when cultivators threw up earthworms 20cm long.

Now, by adopting zero-till methods and using earthworm-derived R.U.M. liquid, he hopes to restore earthworm and microbial activity to the soil. "Sharon and I are here for the long haul", said Geoff. "And if we expect the soil to look after us then we will need to look after it."

No salt on my rice, please!

Increasing salinity in Australia's rice bowl, the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area, is becoming a major problem for some producers. However, Paul Brown, 'Gordonvale', Griffith, has enlisted R.U.M. in the fight against the salty enemy.

With a salinity problem in several bays of rice, Paul used R.U.M. as a wetting agent to help his knockdown herbicide... then sprayed a 1-in-10 solution of R.U.M. and water onto his seed which he direct-drilled instead of aerial sowing. "My agronomist said the results were surprisingly good for salt-affected ground", Paul said. "But when I found out that I had an infestation of 'dirty Dora' weed, I decided to hit it with a selective herbicide... not a good idea as it turned out 'cos the emerging went crop went white... and so did I!

Faced with losing the rice, Paul figured that R.U.M. might help, so, utlising the natural turbulence of his irrigation flow, he applied 5L/ha to each of the rice bays. In a week, seeding vigour had returned to the affected plants. Re-sowing has been averted and the 'dirty Dora' hasn't raised its head since... thus avoiding a further round of herbicide spraying. Good move, Paul!

'Hip-Hip-Pocket-Hooray' at Gunnedah

Peter Greentree checks his emerging 125ha of dryland cotton at Gunnedah

Gunnedah cereal and cotton cropper Peter Greentree's hip-pocket is in good shape after putting R.U.M. to the test

Peter had a big win when over 200ha of his R.U.M.-sown wheat crop tested at up to 15.3% protein! His application 'formula' is to put 70% of his R.U.M. under the ground at sowing, 15% as foliar spray at tillering and the remaining 15% when the 'head is forming in the boot'. "Mix it with at least 100L of water to improve the coverage", he said.

Peter has just sown 125ha of cotton with 7L/ha of R.U.M. and got 95% germination on good rains. What a quinella!