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Regenerative Agriculture - a literature review on the practices and mechanisms used to improve soil health
No full textConventional farming practices can lead to soil degradation and a decline in productivity. Regenerative agriculture (RA) is purported by advocates as a solution to these issues that focuses on soil health and carbon sequestration. The fundamental principles of RA are to keep the soil covered, minimise soil disturbance, preserve living roots in the soil year round, increase species diversity, integrate livestock, and limit or eliminate the use of synthetic compounds (such as herbicides and fertilisers). The overall objectives are to rejuvenate the soil and land and provide environmental, economic, and social benefits to the wider community. Despite the purported benefits of RA, a vast majority of growers are reluctant to adopt these practices due to a lack of empirical evidence on the claimed benefits and profitability. We examined the reported benefits and mechanisms associated with RA against available scientific data. The literature suggests that agricultural practices such as minimum tillage, residue retention, and cover cropping can improve soil carbon, crop yield, and soil health in certain climatic zones and soil types. Excessive use of synthetic chemicals can lead to biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation. Combining livestock with cropping and agroforestry in the same landscape can increase soil carbon and provide several co-benefits. However, the benefits of RA practices can vary among different agroecosystems and may not necessarily be applicable across multiple agroecological regions. Our recommendation is to implement rigorous long-term farming system trials to compare conventional and RA practices in order to build knowledge on the benefits and mechanisms associated with RA on regional scales. This will provide growers and policy-makers with an evidence base from which to make informed decisions about adopting RA practices to realise their social and economic benefits and achieve resilience against climate change
Recreational fishing for Abalone in Western Australia in 2021/22: estimates of participation, effort and catch.
No full textThe Western Australian Recreational Abalone Fishery (RAF) operates in shallow coastal waters along the metropolitan, south-west and south coasts. This hand collection fishery targets three species of abalone. Roe’s Abalone (Haliotis roei) inhabit nearshore reef complexes and are therefore generally collected while wading from the shore in accessible areas. This species is taken from the metropolitan, south-west and south coast regions. Greenlip Abalone (H. laevigata) and Brownlip Abalone (H. conicopora) are collected while wading (including snorkelling) and diving (using compressed air) and occur predominantly in the south coast region.
Recreational fishing for all abalone species is licensed and highly regulated, especially in the Western Zone (includes the Perth Metropolitan Roe’s Abalone Fishery) where fishing is only permitted for a 1-hour period on four days per year.
Recreational abalone fishers are required to hold a licence, and this was used as a sampling frame to select fishers for a phone-recall survey to generate estimates of participation, fishing effort and retained catch (by numbers and weight) for 2021/22. These are the first statewide estimates since intermittent phone-diary surveys in the mid-2000’s.
Participation in the RAF (all three species) by licensed fishers (abalone licence holders aged five years and older) in 2021/22 (1 April 2021 – 31 March 2022) was 12,700 fishers (95% CI 12,391 – 13,008; 74.8% of licence holders). The total fishing effort (all three methods) for abalone fishing (all species) in 2021/22 was 48,860 days fished (95% CI 46,186 – 51,534); of which 94.4% or 46,111 (43,554 – 48,667) was by wading and 5.6% or 2,749 (1,846 – 3,652) by diving.
The statewide harvest of Roe’s Abalone in 2021/22 was 48.0 t whole weight (ww) (95% CI 45.6 – 50.4); of which 99.6% or 47.8 t ww (45.4 – 50.2) was caught by wading and 0.4% or 0.2 t ww (0.1 – 0.4) by diving. The majority of this catch occurred in the Metro (46.9%) and South-West (34.6%) regions. The statewide harvest of Greenlip Abalone was 4.0 t meat weight (mw) (95% CI 3.3 – 4.7); while Brownlip Abalone was 1.5 t mw (95% CI 0.9 – 2.1), with the majority of these catches obtained by wading.
A range of social and attitudinal information was also collected to inform future strategies for safety, communication and engagement with fishers. In terms of safety, 92.8% of fishers considered the weather and ocean conditions before going fishing and 68% of abalone licence holders could swim more than 200 metres (m) in a standard 25m swimming pool. Although 77.2% of abalone fishers spoke English at home, Mandarin (6.2%) and languages from other parts of Asia (9.2%) were also common. The majority of abalone fishers who fished were very satisfied (55.7%) or quite satisfied (29.6%) with this activity.
This statewide phone-recall survey of the RAF will complement annual on-site monitoring within the Perth Metropolitan Roe’s Abalone Fishery, as well as provide robust estimates for use in stock assessments
Best practice marking of lambs
No full textLambs should be marked between two and 12 weeks of age, with the youngest animal in the mob at least 24 hours old, to ensure the formation of a maternal bond. If lambing extends for more than six weeks, consider having two mulesing/marking sessions.
Lambs should be tail docked using a gas-heated knife or rubber rings and mulesing should only be carried out when necessary.
The provision of pain relief with routine husbandry procedures benefits animal health and welfare and is now a consumer and community expectation. Producers have access to registered products that can relieve pain associated with mulesing, tail docking and castration
Katanning research station showcase: projects and initiatives
No full textAn overview of current projects run from Katanning Research Station.
Katanning Research Station is a sheep, pasture and cropping research hub. The digital agriculture technologies and management systems are designed to lift productivity and lower greenhouse gas emissions. The research includes the: genetics (breeding values) of feed intake efficiency in sheep impact of feed supplements and forage combinations on methane production of sheep evaluation of novel pasture species to develop livestock systems of green feed year round saltland rehabilitation program that aims to halt and reverse salinity (surface water management and groundwater drainage), and provide out-of-season feed (the planting of native trees / shrubs / saltbush / perennial grasses) management and monitoring of the National Genetic Resource Sheep Flock, a genetic research resource for difficult to measure traits such as feed intake efficiency national sire evaluation program (managed by Australian Merino Sire Evaluation Association for more than 20 years) management of the ‘Yardstick’ flock in partnership with industry. Located 8km east of Katanning, our Station demonstrates how technology can be integrated into farm businesses
Greenhouse gas emissions reduction options for Western Australian agriculture
No full textThe Western Australian (WA) Government is committed to building the climate resilience of the agriculture industry. The WA Climate Change Policy underscores this commitment to adapting to climate change and working with all sectors of the economy to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.
Achieving climate resilience requires both adaptation and the mitigation of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions which accelerate climate change.
The Sectoral Emissions Reduction Strategies (SERS) are a core commitment of the Western Australian Climate Policy. These will provide robust and credible emissions reduction pathways across sectors for the whole of WA. Development of the SERS, announced in December 2021, will involve consultation with industry, business, research institutions and other key stakeholders.
The Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) is working with industry and producers to develop emissions reduction strategies and solutions for the agriculture sector as part of the Western Australian Government’s transition to net zero emissions
Fisheries science update - Gascoyne Demersal Scalefish Resource - April 2023
No full textKey points: 2022 stock assessment outcomes: The Gascoyne Demersal Scalefish Resource (GDSR) comprises more than 60 species inhabiting Gascoyne oceanic waters (excluding inner Shark Bay), with pink snapper and goldband snapper recognised as the two indicator species. Oceanic pink snapper is five years into a 20-year recovery plan following a 2017 stock assessment that showed the stock was at severe risk. The GDSR oceanic pink snapper recovery plan is based on limiting the annual total fishing mortality of oceanic pink snapper to 100 tonnes (all sectors combined) and providing targeted protection for key spawning aggregations. The Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) tracks stock status by undertaking weight-of-evidence stock assessments of GDSR indicator species every 5 years. This latest assessment provides a ‘health check’ on the status of goldband snapper and on the recovery progress of oceanic pink snapper in the GDSR. The 2022 stock assessment shows that goldband snapper remains sustainable and there are some early signs of recovery of oceanic pink snapper. The 2022 stock assessment shows that management changes in 2018 have successfully increased spawning biomass of oceanic pink snapper above the Limit refence point, however, it has not yet fully recovered to sustainable levels. Oceanic pink snapper is expected to continue to rebuild at a satisfactory rate over the next five years under current fishing mortality limits and level of spawning protection. The next GDSR stock assessment is scheduled for 2027
Development and testing of an IoT spectroscopic nutrient monitoring system for use in micro indoor smart hydroponics
No full textNutrient monitoring in Micro Indoor Smart Hydroponics (MISH) relies on measuring electrical conductivity or total dissolved solids to determine the amount of nutrients in a hydroponic solution. Neither method can distinguish concentrations of individual nutrients. This study presents the development and testing of a novel spectroscopic sensor system to monitor nitrogen changes in nutrient solutions for MISH systems. The design phase determined that using an inexpensive AS7265x Internet of Thing (IoT) sensor in a transflective spectroscopic application could effectively detect small fluctuations in nitrogen concentraation. Next, a novel transflective sensor apparatus was designed and constructed for use in a MISH system experiment, growing lettuce over 30 days. Two solution tanks of different sizes, 80 L and 40 L, were used in the deployment of the system. Samples from each tank were analyzed for nitrogen concentration in a laboratory, and multilinear regression was used to predict the nitrogen concentrations using the AS7265x 18 spectral channels recorded in the sensor system. Significant results were found for both tanks with an R2 of 0.904 and 0.911 for the 80 and 40 L tanks, respectively. However, while the use of all wavelengths produced an accurate model, none of the individual wavelengths were indicative on their own. These findings indicate that the novel system presented in this study successfully and accurately monitors changes in nitrogen concentrations for MISH systems, using low cost IoT sensors
Biochemistry of plant-microbe symbioses explains ironstone gravel formation and ecological function
No full textChemical weathering and hydromorphy are widely invoked in earth science disciplines to explain formation of ‘laterite and ironstone gravel’ (LG). The presence of LG is used regularly to infer age and paleoclimate conditions, despite extensive data disputing these notions: polar wander paths place LG landscapes at high latitude at supposed time of formation; oxygen isotope and stratigraphy studies infer formation of LG in cold climates; radio-isotope data from diverse LG around the world conclude recent, episodic, and perhaps continuous, formation of LG
PestFacts WA Issue 21 - November 2023
No full textPestFacts WA Issue 21 - November 2023 contents: Final PestFacts WA newsletter for 2023! Virus surveillance and aphid monitoring findings Dongara weevil investigation update Green bridge management over summerhttps://library.dpird.wa.gov.au/fc_pestfactswa/1019/thumbnail.jp
PestFacts WA Issue 07 - June 2023
No full textPestFacts WA Issue 7 - June 2023 contents: Mealy bugs Green peach aphid and turnip yellows virus update Slatershttps://library.dpird.wa.gov.au/fc_pestfactswa/1009/thumbnail.jp