Why is Phillip and Kim Kerr's farm at Oaklands performing so well?

No it's not as some of their neighbours have speculated that they're just lucky nor is it that rare phenomenon of square clouds hovering within their property's boundary.

Like his father before him Phillip has shown a willingness to pioneer new ground at the cutting edge of agriculture. Some 30 years ago Phillip's father Don embraced the then radical idea of stubble retention a practice still routinely employed by Phillip to this day. In his turn Phillip began yield mapping in 1996 before such a thing as technical support existed.

However six years ago despite his best efforts and the application of existing best practice principles such as soil testing (0-10cm) to determine appropriate inputs direct drilling and the introduction of elements of 'precision agriculture' he wasn't seeing the results he expected.

This was the catalyst for employing Peter and Hazel McInerney of M.O.R.E. consulting to develop a whole farm management plan. As part of this process several key issues were identified including succession and financial control livestock and herbicide resistance issues as well as soil problems. Phillip now readily acknowledges The Plan as one of the best things they've done. Instead of working year to year he now has a long term plan that has added focus and direction to his business and provided strategies to address issues and ultimately achieve his family's goals.

With regard to the soil issues Phillip knew the increased yield potential of that 10% of his land that was irrigated and thought what if he could get an extra 20 mm more rain into and out of his soil.

Out of this the key physical challenge became " How to get 20mm extra water from the soil and turn it into 400 kg of grain ".

To Peter this presented a challenge in two parts ... initially how to improve the soil to allow crops to extract water from deeper in the soil profile and in the longer term how this may be further enhanced by improving the soil's water holding capacity.

As a first step a review of existing data (soil tests harvest maps) was undertaken. To this base data was added an EM survey and satellite imagery to help identify areas of variance that in turn allowed the selection of sites for closer investigation and analysis. Soil experts were involved to interpret or confirm findings from soil pits and targeted soil testing to a depth of 60 cm.

Findings basically indicated that over the farm 80% of crop roots were restricted to the top 30 cm of soil. The soil issues identified as preventing roots from accessing water deeper in the profile were compaction as well as 'natural' physical or chemical barriers.

As a result a whole farm rotation was developed that took into account strategies to overcome the constraints of individual paddocks as well as providing a balanced robust sequence to consolidate productivity and profitability. For example all paddocks now include a manure crop that is in some cases combined with deep tillage (20-30 cm) where surface or shallow compaction exists.

While The Plan gave Phillip permission to sell the sheep and go 100% cropping there is flexibility in the program that allows for opportunistic grazing on manure crops - a tactic that paid handsome dividends during the 2002 drought.

Case study Chisholm's paddock - A naturally heavy sodic paddock that used to turn into a pond when it rained. Prior to growing the safflower crop in 1999 as a means of 'biological cultivation' the best this paddock had done was 2.5 t/ha cereal.

Notes ... ^*1 2.5 t/ha gypsum applied; ^*2 Controlled traffic introduced; ^*3 Drought years; ^*4Very late start to the season.

In 2000 controlled traffic was introduced via a 40 cm track tractor on 3 m centres to address the longer term implications of compaction. The original 25 cm accuracy GPS used for yield mapping and boom spray guidance has been upgraded to a 2 cm accuracy GPS (2002) allowing inter-row sowing on 30 cm row spacing in standing stubbles. As well as allowing seeding flexibility controlled traffic has improved efficiency through lower fuel costs and increased trafficability allowing ground rigs to be used where others have had to resort to aerial spraying and spreading.

An added benefit of the system being observed is a decrease in fertiliser requirements while at the same time yields are increasing. This could in part be explained by better targeting of inputs but beyond that we can only speculate as to whether the cumulative effects of long term stubble retention and/or the current methods being employed have improved nutrient extraction at depth and/or whether nutrient cycling has been enhanced.

In the end the reliability of returns even in drought has confirmed that Phillip and Kim are on the right track to a sustainable future.

Note The wild fluctuation 2001-02 is due mainly to tax strategies involved in the business being restructured as a result of family succession. The trend since then is all going in the right direction!

What we've learnt - be willing to challenge what you're doing

• technology is a tool not an outcome
• there is no one formula that fits all situations
• target strategies by identifying variance and associated issues
• change takes time
• be prepared to adapt your thinking as change brings new challenges
• and plans are a good thing!