Free Standard AU & NZ Shipping For All Book Orders Over $80!
Register      Login
Animal Production Science Animal Production Science Society
Food, fibre and pharmaceuticals from animals
Shopping Cart: ( empty )
You are here: Home > Journals > AN > EA04095
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 46(3)

Improved soil and irrigation management for forage production 1. Site establishment and soil physical properties

K. L. Greenwood A B , G. N. Mundy A , K. B. Kelly A , K. E. Dellow A and S. M. Austin A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Department of Primary Industries, 120 Cooma Road, Kyabram, Vic. 3620, Australia.

B Corresponding author. Email: kerry.greenwood@dpi.vic.gov.au

Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 46(3) 307-317 https://doi.org/10.1071/EA04095
Submitted: 13 May 2004  Accepted: 7 April 2005   Published: 28 March 2006

Abstract

Red-brown earths (Red Sodosols and Red Chromosols) are the dominant soil type used for irrigated forage production in northern Victoria. However, these soils have dense, clay-textured subsoils that can limit productivity. Soil modification may reduce these limitations through improving subsoil structure.

In a field experiment on a Red Chromosol near Kyabram, we compared 2 systems of soil modification involving deep ripping and gypsum application (with and without subsurface drainage) with an unmodified control. Two irrigation frequencies were imposed. This paper reports on the site establishment and the soil physical responses to soil modification. Later papers detail the forage yield responses and plant–soil–water relations.

Initially, both soil modification treatments improved the physical condition of the subsoil. For example, the bulk density of the modified and the drained subsoils was reduced to about 1.48 Mg/m3, compared with 1.71 Mg/m3 in the control. Soil strength was reduced in the modified and drained treatments between depths of 0.10–0.40 m at most soil water contents. In the subsoil, the modified and drained treatments had smaller soil aggregates with about 60% by weight being less than 20 mm diameter compared with 39% from the control treatment. Subsoil hydraulic conductivity, at 10 mm water tension, was 12 mm/h in the control, 33 mm/h in the modified treatment and 71 mm/h in the drained treatment when measured 1 year after the treatments were imposed. These improvements in soil physical properties generally persisted for the 2 years of measurements.

Additional keywords: deep ripping, gypsum, soil modification, subsoil, subsurface drainage.


Acknowledgments

Financial support was provided by the Victorian Department of Primary Industries and Dairy Australia, through Murray Dairy. We are grateful to Rick Cipriani, Travis Hearn, Les Lowe and Ken McLennan for assistance with site establishment, and to Jim Maden, Leigh Callinan and Alvin Milner for statistical advice. The advice and professionalism of the commercial contractors, who undertook various aspects of the site establishment, was also appreciated. We thank Barry Collins, Melinda Edwards, Matt Austin, Chris Hazelman, David Price and Doug Cousins for their help with soil physical measurements.


References


Adem HH, Tisdall JM, Willoughby P (1984) Tillage management changes size-distribution of aggregates and macro-structure of soils used for irrigated row-crops. Soil and Tillage Research 4, 561–576.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Ankeny MD, Ahmed M, Kaspar TC, Horton R (1991) Simple field method for determining unsaturated hydraulic conductivity. Soil Science Society of America Journal 55, 467–470. open url image1

Blackwell PS, Green TW, Olsson KA (1987) The size and horizon-of-origin of fragments produced by deep ripping texture contrast soils. Australian Journal of Soil Research 25, 211–222.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Blaikie SJ , Martin FM (1984) Root zone limitations in the Goulburn Valley. I. Effects of soil profile modification on irrigated pasture yields. In ‘Root zone limitations to crop production on clay soils’. Symposium of the Australian Society of Soil Science Inc. (Eds WA Muirhead, E Humphreys) pp. 305–317. (Riverina Branch: Griffith, NSW)

Blaikie SJ , Mason WK (1992) A new approach to improving yield of white clover — role of roots. In ‘Proceedings of the 6th Australian Agronomy Conference’. (Eds KJ Hutchinson, PJ Vickery) pp. 292–295. (Australian Society of Agronomy: Parkville, Vic.)

Blake GR , Hartge KH (1986) Bulk density. In ‘Methods of soil analysis. Part 1. Physical and mineralogical methods’. 2nd edn. (Ed. A Klute) pp. 363–375. (ASA/SSSA: Madison, WI)

Brasher BR, Franzmeier DP, Valassis V, Davidson SE (1966) Use of Saran resin to coat natural soil clods for bulk density and moisture retention measurements. Soil Science 101, 108– . open url image1

Cass A , Cockroft B , Lanyon D , Olsson K , Bourne J (1995) ‘Profitable soil management for orchards in the Goulburn Valley.’ (CRC for Soil and Land Management: Glen Osmond, SA)

Chepil WS (1962) A compact rotary sieve and the importance of dry sieving in physical soil analysis. Soil Science Society of America Proceedings 26, 4–6. open url image1

Cockroft B , Martin FM (1981) Irrigation. In ‘Red-brown earths of Australia’. (Eds JM Oades, DG Lewis, K Norrish) pp. 133–147. (University of Adelaide and CSIRO Division of Soils: Adelaide)

Coughlan KJ, McGarry D, Loch RJ, Bridge BJ, Smith GD (1991) The measurement of soil structure — some practical initiatives. Australian Journal of Soil Research 29, 869–889.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Cresswell HP , Hamilton GJ (2002) Bulk density and pore space relations. In ‘Soil physical measurement and interpretation for land evaluation’. (Eds N McKenzie, K Coughlan, H Cresswell) pp. 35–58. (CSIRO: Melbourne)

Dunne T, Zhang W, Aubrey BF (1991) Effects of rainfall, vegetation, and microtopography on infiltration and runoff. Water Resources Research 27, 2271–2285.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Eck HV, Martinez T, Wilson GC (1977) Alfalfa production on a profile-modified slowly permeable soil. Soil Science Society of America Journal 41, 1181–1186. open url image1

Goss MJ (1987) The specific effects of roots on the regeneration of soil structure. In ‘Soil compaction and regeneration’. (Eds G Monnier, MJ Goss) pp. 145–155. (A.A. Balkema: Rotterdam)

Grable AR (1971) Effects of compaction on content and transmission of air in soils. In ‘Compaction of agricultural soils’. (Eds KK Barnes, WM Carleton, HM Taylor, RI Throckmorton, GE Vanden Berg) pp. 154–164. (ASAE: St Joseph, MI)

Greenwood DJ (1975) Measurement of soil aeration. In ‘Soil physical conditions and crop production. Ministry for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Technical Bulletin 29’. pp. 261–272.

Greenwood KL, MacLeod DA, Hutchinson KJ (1997) Long-term stocking rate effects on soil physical properties. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 37, 413–419.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Greenwood KL, MacLeod DA, Scott JM, Hutchinson KJ (1998) Changes to soil physical properties after grazing exclusion. Soil Use and Management 14, 19–24. open url image1

Greenwood KL, Dellow KE, Mundy GN, Kelly KB, Austin SM (2006) Improved soil and irrigation management for forage production. 2. Forage yield and nutritive characteristics. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 46, 319–326.
| Crossref |
open url image1

Hignett CT (2000) Water holding properties of pasture soil at Kyabram Dairy Centre, Victoria. Report to DAV 438 Project. Soil Water Solutions, Adelaide.

Hodgson AS, MacLeod DA (1989) Use of oxygen flux density to estimate critical air-filled porosity of a vertisol. Soil Science Society of America Journal 53, 355–361. open url image1

Isbell RF (1996) ‘The Australian soil classification.’ (CSIRO Publishing: Melbourne)

Kelly KB (1985) Effects of soil modification and treading on pasture growth and physical properties of an irrigated red-brown earth. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 36, 799–807.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Kemper WD , Rosenau RC (1986) Aggregate stability and size distribution. In ‘Methods of soil analysis. Part 1. Physical and mineralogical methods’. 2nd edn. (Ed. A Klute) pp. 425–442. (ASA/SSSA: Madison, WI)

McBride RA, Watson GC (1990) An investigation of the re-expansion of unsaturated, structured soils during cyclic static loading. Soil and Tillage Research 17, 241–253.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

McDonald RC , Isbell RF , Speight JG , Walker J , Hopkins MS (1990) ‘Australian soil and land survey field handbook.’ 2nd edn. (Inkata Press: Melbourne)

McGowan M, Wellings SR, Fry GJ (1983) The structural improvement of damaged clay subsoils. Journal of Soil Science 34, 233–248. open url image1

Marshall TJ , Holmes JW (1979) ‘Soil physics.’ (Cambridge University Press: Cambridge)

Martin FM (1982) Potential productivity of irrigated perennial pasture. In ‘Proceedings of the 2nd Australian Agronomy Conference’. (Ed. MJT Norman) p. 304. (Australian Society of Agronomy: Parkville, Vic.)

Mason WK, Small DR, Pritchard KE (1984) Effects of irrigation and soil management for fodder crops on root zone conditions in a red-brown earth. Australian Journal of Soil Research 22, 207–218.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Materechera SA, Kirby JM, Alston AM, Dexter AR (1994) Modification of soil aggregation by watering regime and roots growing through beds of large aggregates. Plant and Soil 160, 57–66.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Mehanni AH (1974) Short term effect of some methods for improving soil structure in red-brown earth soils of the northern irrigation areas, Victoria. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture and Animal Husbandry 14, 689–693.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Mundy GN, Greenwood KL, Kelly KB, Austin SM, Dellow KE (2006) Improved soil and irrigation management for forage production. 3. Plant–soil–water relations. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 46, 327–335. open url image1

Olsson KA , Cockroft B , Rengasamy P (1995) Improving and managing subsoil structure for high productivity from temperate crops on beds. In ‘Subsoil management techniques’. (Eds BA Stewart, NS Jayawardane) pp. 35–65. (Lewis Publishers: Boca Raton)

Olsson KA, Dellow KE, Hirth JR, Kelly KB, Greenwood KL, Blaikie SJ (2002) Soil properties, root responses and production of irrigated pasture on a red-brown earth after subsoil modification. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 42, 453–463.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Perroux KM, White I (1988) Designs for disc permeameters. Soil Science Society of America Journal 52, 1205–1215. open url image1

Pritchard KE, Mason WK, Byrne SP (1988) Landforming a red-brown earth — effects of topsoil removal and redistribution on irrigated crop production. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 28, 599–605.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Reynolds WD (1993) Unsaturated hydraulic conductivity: field measurement. In ‘Soil Sampling and Methods of Analysis’. (Ed. MR Carter) pp. 633–644. (Lewis Publishers: Boca Raton)

Reynolds WD, Elrick DE (1991) Determination of hydraulic conductivity using a tension infiltrometer. Soil Science Society of America Journal 55, 633–639. open url image1

Russell RS, Goss MJ (1974) Physical aspects of soil fertility — the response of roots to mechanical impedance. Netherlands Journal of Agricultural Science 22, 305–318. open url image1

Skene JKM , Poutsma TJ (1962) Soils and land use in part of the Goulburn Valley, Victoria. Technical Bulletin No. 14. Victoria Department of Agriculture.

Stace HCT , Hubble GD , Brewer R , Northcote KH , Sleeman JR , Mulcahy MJ , Hallsworth EG (1968) ‘A handbook of Australian soils.’ (Rellim Technical Publications: Glenside, SA)

Taylor AJ, Olsson KA (1987) Effect of gypsum and deep ripping on lucerne (Medicago sativa L.) yields on a red-brown earth under flood and spray irrigation. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 27, 841–849.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Unger PW, Kaspar TC (1994) Soil compaction and root growth: a review. Agronomy Journal 86, 759–766. open url image1

Vance WH, Tisdall JM, McKenzie BM (1998) Residual effects of surface applications of organic matter and calcium salts on the subsoil of a red-brown earth. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 38, 595–600. open url image1

Youker RE, McGuinness JL (1957) A short method of obtaining mean weight–diameter values of aggregate analyses of soils. Soil Science 83, 291–294. open url image1