Large-scale farm trials are taking place across WA as Carbon Ag Solutions and AxisTech attempt to increase the adoption and application of onfarm research.
The companies have joined forces to bridge a pathway from pot and plot trials to large-scale broadacre adoption by undertaking a large-scale farm trial program across the WA graingrowing region, covering hundreds of hectares stretching from Binnu, north of Northampton, to Beaumont east of Esperance.
Under the name Carbon Ag Tech, they have designed a series of onfarm trial sites which are spread across multiple rainfall zones, soil types and commodities including canola, wheat, barley, oats and legumes.
This season, the trial program covered more than 4000 kilometres over five weeks during seeding, in tandem with the i-paddock Alpha Disc Roadshow.
AxisTech managing director Wes Lawrence said the multi-year trial program would provide a framework for how to use data to prove the efficacy of new research, so it can make its way onfarm faster.
"In agriculture, there is so much great research, great science, great practice, great equipment and great technology, but it isn't easily making its way through to adoption," Mr Lawrence said.
"As new ideas come to the fore, new technologies and even research around sustainability and reducing emissions, there is a big gap in those things being adopted and we need to continue to close that gap and accelerate the movement from research into adoption."
The idea of the trial program in the long-term is that every season, different research, products and technologies will be tested in a broadacre setting and the data analysed via AxisTech's range of devices and AxisStream platform.
This season's extensive trial program was sown by i-paddock, the company owned by Esperance farmer Mic Fels, during the 2023 i-paddock Alpha Disc Roadshow.
"The trials and demonstration roadshow used the latest 12 metre i-paddock Alpha Disc seeder to sow 600 hectares over 30 properties across the Wheatbelt," Mr Fels said.
"The aim was to demonstrate the high productivity, versatility, accuracy and durability of the locally designed disc seeder, alongside farmer seeding machinery at each property."
At each farm visited by the roadshow, a 15-20ha block was sown to allow local growers to compare the i-paddock Alpha Disc with the host farmer's seeding system.
A separate and dedicated trial to test Carbon Ag Solutions' C33 Carbon Granules and DKP high analysis P and K liquid in farmer-scale settings was also sown.
Carbon Ag Solutions founder Brad Wisewould said C33 was a cost-effective way of incorporating organic carbon into current farming practices through fertiliser granules made from urban food and garden organic waste.
"I started this five years ago and the main focus was to turn urban waste into a granular that could be used with traditional synthetic fertilisers and placed alongside the seed at seeding," Mr Wisewould said.
"Now that we have been using small plot trials for five years, I felt that it had run its course and was no longer a viable pathway for the ag industry or large enough to show the potential of the product range, so we moved onto larger scale trials."
This year, those large-scale trials included 30 onfarm sites, including three community crops at Gnowangerup, Tambellup and Kondinin, with each trial measuring 12 metres x 550m and including four controls and six different protocols within those controls.
As part of comprehensive data collection, Carbon Ag Tech's iScan device was used on the seeder bar to generate data on soil properties.
The iScan is a physical unit that attaches to the seeder bar or three-point linkage and measures in soil to generate high resolution data and mapping around carbon, nutrients and soil compaction.
"This season is about demonstrating Carbon Ag's products, the iScan mapping technology and other innovative nutrients products, alongside standard synthetic fertilisers on a large scale," Mr Wisewould said.
"That allows growers to see beyond a small plot trial and witness it working on a broadacre scale using farmer equipment from start to end."
That onfarm visual is then backed up by data analysis provided by AxisTech's plant and soil science research team.
So far, the work conducted this season has included seeding, soil compaction, initial soil sampling and plant emergence sampling.
The Alpha Disc seeder used for the roadshow and trial program was also equipped with the 'i-paddockActive' downforce system paired with AxisTech telemetry, creating live soil pressure maps in real time.
Over the coming months, additional tests including further soil and root analysis, weed count, harvest biomass and grain protein will be conducted and the data analysed to create a whole picture.
Participating farmers will receive comprehensive data to gain an understanding of comparative plant development through the growing cycle, soil analysis, plant analysis and yield outcomes, as well as the impact on soil carbon and emissions.
Mr Lawrence said the ongoing trial would help to reduce farmer risk with new fertiliser products, technologies, equipment and seed varieties."
Jasmine Peart
Jasmine is a earnest listener and a passionate advocate for justice. She feels privileged to be trusted by farmers across Western Australia to tell their truth.
Jasmine is a earnest listener and a passionate advocate for justice. She feels privileged to be trusted by farmers across Western Australia to tell their truth.
