Mouldboards make a comeback

Machinery importer, Landpower, has sold more than 20 Gregoire-Besson ploughs during the past 12 months and expected this figure to double in the next 24 months.

The Messina family has bought two mouldboard ploughs for use in their large-scale cropping operation at Spring Park Farms in the Mullewa district about 100 kilometres east of Geraldton.

With their father Charlie and respective families, brothers Rod and Andrew Messina sow up to 12,000 hectares of wheat, lupins and canola each year using a (formerly) zero-till controlled traffic program.

"The limiting factor of our crop yields is root depth and this is determined by soil pH, compaction and high aluminium," Andrew Messina said.

"Non-wetting is a natural problem but there's no doubt our minimum-till cropping program hasn't helped it.

"Our yellow sand has low organic material as it is and the waxy lupin residues have slowly accumulated.

"In effect, we've ended up with a loose surface on the top, a compacted zone at the bottom and a dry zone in between that takes up to 20 millimetres of rainfall to wet up."

The WA Department of Agriculture and Food did six large-scale mouldboard plough demonstrations in the Mingenew region in 2007 and 2008.

These trials found ploughing can significantly increase crop yields by increasing the clay content and "wettability" of sandy soils.

The practice also buries weed seeds far below the surface.

"We immediately borrowed their three-furrow plough and did some trials of our own in a standing lupin crop in August," Andrew Messina said.

"It completely inverted the top 300mm of soil, incorporated the stubble and two tonnes a hectare of lime, and buried the weed seeds in one pass.

"Leaving the paddock completely bare goes against every min-till principle in the book but the difference in soil colour and texture was obvious."

In 2011 the Messinas purchased a second-hand Gregoire-Besson mouldboard plough from Mingenew district farmer, Stewart Smart, who had already adopted the technology.

The French-manufactured machine features two rows of 13 blades mounted back-to-back along an articulated shaft.

Carriage wheels mounted at the rear and midway along the shaft allow the plough to accurately follow the row and ground contours.

Alternatively, the heavy-duty 180mm by 180mm shaft can be locked to ensure even penetration in tough soil conditions.

A hydraulic breakout system protects each blade from buried obstacles.

Although the plough is designed for mounting to three-point linkage, an optional "trailed lifter" system is available to suit drawbar tractors.

Mr Messina said the plough paid for itself in its first year.

"At $80 a hectare, it's not cheap but it's been more than worth it," he said.

"The soil now 'wets up' with just five millimetres of rain and it stays wet once the sun seals the surface.

"The process also brings more clay to the surface, which improves wetting and helps to retain moisture and improve germination.

"We don't have to apply a knockdown or a preem which saves us $25/ha straightaway, while our in-crop weed pressure is so low the paddocks are hardly worth spraying.

One somewhat unexpected side-effect was that the Messinas' 20-metre DBS Ausplow airseeder was unable to work effectively in the cultivated paddocks, forcing the purchase of a 20-year-old Case Concord airseeder with spring tynes and tyre rollers.

Impressed by the results of the first season, the Messinas bought a second Gregoire-Besson mouldboard plough from CLAAS Harvest Centre in Geraldton.

"With a working width of 6.1m and an operating speed of just under nine kilometres an hour, it's a slow process," Mr Messina said.

"Even when we're going 24/7 with two 550 hp tractors, we can still only do about 240ha a day.

"The other downside is the limited window of opportunity.

"This means we've only got one week or so to plough as much as we can before we have to sow."