Carters raise the bar

The Carters have taken out the North Coast Oilseed Growers Association’s 2014 soybean competition with a crop of the dark hilum variety Manta, aimed at the full fat soymeal market.

Due for harvest in the first week of May, it will likely yield four tonnes a hectare, well above the industry average of 2.4t/ha.

Part of the success of the 26ha crop, grown at “Hillyards”, Cedar Point, near Kyogle, was the timely rain it received, albeit in much smaller helpings than is typical for the district.

However, it was the innovative raised-bed farming system which not only provided a permanent prevention to waterlogging but encouraged controlled traffic, where all the wheels travel along the furrows between beds thus limiting compaction on the majority of the paddock, that underpinned the crop’s success.

The system allowed for significantly reduced labour and fuel costs via minimum cultivation requirements, and increased yield capabilities through improved soil structure.

Mr Carter believed the concentration of topsoil in the growing area provided benefits in moisture storing, which was crucial during this atypical dry season.

“Part of our decision making with opting for a variety suitable for the crushing market was to run a lower-cost program,” he said.

“We have grown soybeans for the human consumption market in the past but the end point royalties with new varieties was something we wanted to avoid.

“It is possible to target lower-end markets and with the right program come out with a crop that is just as profitable.”

The Manta crop is the third soybean crop the Carters have planted the

former pasture country, on which they laser levelled, extensively drained and then formed 150 millimetre beds in two rows, with 1.5 metre centres.

In rain-fed coastal cropping operations, waterlogging – the result of a lack of oxygen in the root zone – is common where more rainfall often arrives than what the soil can absorb.

The foremost purpose of the raised beds was to counter that, but they provided other production benefits.

After winter wheat was taken off last year, gypsum was broadcast at 250 kilogram a hectare and muriate of potash at 100kg/ha.

Then, instead of fully cultivating, Mr Carter set up a bed renovating tool that shifted soil and allowed for the fertiliser to be incorporated.

The soybeans were direct drilled on December 13 on a full moisture profile.

A pre-emergent weed control application coincided with rain, which created excellent pre-emergent activity, he said.

“To deal with any weeds that did emerge, we ran a shielded spray application and also applied a foliar spray in a 30 per cent band over the row at the same time, which was six weeks post plant,” Mr Carter said.

The crop also had one insect

spray at early pod development.

The biggest fall the crop received was only 25mm, but the rain came

at the right time and was enough

to keep the crop going, Mr Carter said.

The Carters have now planted grazing oats, sown over the soybeans by aerial application before leaf drop, which created a seedbed for the oats.

“We will finish some of our beef cattle on the block due to lower than normal pasture growth on our beef property as a result of the dry summer,” Mr Carter said.

“We will have very strong oats growth which we can put the cattle on only three to four weeks after harvesting the soybeans.

“This is what we like about soybeans – the many options for the winter.”