Compadre Zoysia Seed Sowing

The included video is a description of one person's experience in a cool climate area in the US. But the general principles are the same. Seeding a new lawn deserves a reasonable effort in site preparation, sowing details, irrigation and general care and management to ensure a successful outcome. And that equally applies to using zoysia sod or plugs.

We have available guides for sod laying, seed sowing for zoysia, but the video is a good overview. You will note the care taken to ensure that erosion is minimised on a sloping area. It is a tricky site with stony soils, and a lot of tree vegetation close by. Future information may show if the exercise was successful.
There are three options to establish a Compadre zoysia lawn - sod, seed or plugs.

Sod is expensive, seed requires a reasonable effort and plugs are intermediate in cost and complexity.

However, there are times when sowing Compadre seed is the most appropriate option.  If sod is not readily available, then seed is the option.  Availability of sod may be poor, high priced or not available readily in your area - if so plugs are often also ruled out and seed must be used.

We supply Compadre zoysia seed, and can provide information sheets on seed  sowing, sod laying and turf maintenance.

Seed sowing requires site preparation, particularly to remove weeds and ensure a good seed bed, and a reasonable amount of attention to detail for the first 2-4 weeks to ensure adequate moisture and surface management to give the seed establishment the best chance. 

Good germination and establishment are vital to a sucessful lawn from seed.

They have not used hydroseeding which is used a lot across the Gulf states of the US, as well as in Australia.  It is a very successful option, as the mulch in the mix helps to both protect the surface and to hold moisture. 

However, most operators require a reasonable sized area to cover.  And you need to make sure they have cleaned out the tank between jobs to ensure there is no seed left from the last job, especially if it was not Compadre zoysia.  Cleaning out a spray seed tank can be costly - it is time consuming.

Information sheets on seed sowing of Compadre zoysia are available, as are complementary fact sheets on sod laying and general zoysia turf management.

For Compadre zoysia seed sowing, as the video also emphasises - good moisture management is vital for the first four weeks or so, with the tuf requiring less input and effort from then on.  The payoff is reduced maintenance and fertiliser inputs over the life of the area, and much less mowing.

Computer Systems Drive Modern Agriculture

Paul Wallbank an Australian commentator on technology joins Tony Delroy to discuss how technology affects your business and life.

This week we’re talking about how the agricultural industry is using smartphone apps and the web. A list of apps for farmers is available from the NSW Department of Primary Industry website.

We’ll also be looking at how machines are talking – in agriculture, the next generation of farm equipment will be sending data straight to the farmers’ tablet or laptop computer using the technologies we’re seeing in jet engines and other high tech equipment.

This was the topic last Thursday night [ 18 October 2012] and you can listen to the podcast or replay available off the Tony Delroy Nightlife show [ ABC radio]  http://www.abc.net.au/nightlife/ .

He seemed a bit surprised that stodgy old farmers [and many are older citizens] are actually fairly major users of technology in their business.

From phone apps related to fertiliser and crop prices, to RFID ear tags in animals to aid management, precision agriculture operations in grain growing, robotic operation tractors, drones [ yes - in use already in some places] to photograph and highlight areas in fields of disease, fertiliser deficiencies,, poor plant populations etc, not to mention monitoring rangelands, automated gates / drafting and animal medication and watering systems.  Then there are uses of google and satellite images for rangeland management, property management planning, use of weather radars on phones or in the farm office.  Plus the wide range of computer technology in equipment including spray rigs, seeders, harvesters [ often connected to other systems for precision agriculture and ultimately management of the next crop], grain dryers, moisture meters and many, many more.  Then there is the office - with networked computers, agricultural farm management software, modern accounting software and use of skype, email and webinars for training.

Agriculture is not necessarily a staid industry with straw chewing, slow talking hicks.  The modern farmer [meaning across a wide range of enteprises] is switched on to modern technology.

Sometimes though, they do not get the best of services in telecommunications to the rest of the world.

Compost Berms for Erosion and Sediment Management

Traditionally erosion and sediment control seems to have started and stopped with using a silt fence.

Experience in the tropics often seems to indicate that silt fences may not be the solution that is best suited to these conditions.  They often are poorly constructed, commonly with poor insertion of the tail into the ground.  The intensity of rain commonly dislodges soil particles and along with a lot of water these fines clog the fence.  Common result is a failed fence.  Not to mention the need for a lot of maintenance.  They have a place – but there are smarter options.
Mulch and compost berms are gaining a lot more credibility in many seasonally wet tropical regions as a superior option to provide erosion and sediment management.  If you have tried them out………they are worth considering.

That is particularly true in north Australia where copious volumes of green waste are dumped at local landfill sites and then ground up at many of the regional towns and cities, to produce mulch.  This material is commonly then given at least a partial pasteurisation in a stacked row, and reused for garden mulch.  As well as garden mulch – it is ideal for building small mulch / compost berms that can provide excellent erosion and sediment management on construction sites.

The berms can be built with readily available machinery, or if available a mulch blower.

There are a range of on line resources available to help you gain more understanding, and the concept is strongly recommended by the US EPA as well as many other organisations.

http://cfpub.epa.gov/npdes/stormwater/menuofbmps/index.cfm?action=min_measure&min_measure_id=4

This link is to the US EPA site with many links to a range of construction site tools of which compost filter berms are but one………albeit very useful.

The next link is to an article where berms are compared to silt fences in the USA.  The article is over 10 years old, but mostly still relevant.  There are many advocates for the use of mulches but read about it yourself.

http://www.tceq.state.tx.us/assets/public/assistance/compost/compost_silt_fence.pdf
The article is a good overview of using berms.

And the trees or vegetation often removed for construction can also be utilised to reduce sediment and erosion – even laid in a simple matrix on the ground, with plenty of leaves and small branches inter mixed with larger branches.  It is a smart idea, a simple easy option to reduce erosion problems.  

Live Cattle Exports or Boxed Beef - Both Needed

A lot has been said and written about the suspension of live cattle exports in mid 2011.  And there will be more to come.  A lot has been misinformed drivel, mostly from those with a burning desire to stop the trade, no matter what.  Beef cattle are grown for slaughter - and that should be clean and as stress free as possible is well understood - but they need to die to produce meat for consumers.

Well designed and effctive and efficient abattoirs are needed, and changes to the process are probably good, even if arrived at through a poor process.

But many want the trade stopped - absolutely.

Live cattle trading to SE Asia from north Australia does have quite a long history, and there have been successful abattoirs in the north as well, including more than one near Darwin.  But they are not around any more, for various reasons.

BUT.......there is still a demand for beef in the areas to the north and as has been very well put in the article below, boxed beef does not just cut it in some markets.  They need access to freshly killed beef, not even just for religious reasons.

This is a rational and sensible overview of the issue.  Yes, Indonesia aspires to beef self sufficiency, but most in the industry think it probably unachievable, due to a number of factors.  Result - a need for live cattle imports.  For some time yet!

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Boxed beef not viable: Thorne

 SPECIALIST agribusiness lawyer Trent Thorne says the boxed beef trade's viability is one of several myths used to support demands for the live cattle trade's demise while being touted as a means of improving animal welfare.

Mr Thorne, of Brisbane's McCullough Robertson lawyers, said the Federal Government's snap suspension of the live cattle trade to Indonesia last June caused an escalation in misinformed debate around the industry, especially in social media.

He said that in particular, critics were incorrectly saying the live export industry had forced abattoirs in northern Australia to close and banning live exports could make them viable again.

Mr Thorne said several other myths were being perpetuated about the trade including that meat processing could occur domestically and frozen beef could be sent to the relevant Asian markets; and that cattle transportation on live export vessels is inherently cruel.

He said those comments were made so frequently that the wider urban community started believing that the various allegations had merit, despite the fact they lacked any factual basis.

Most abattoirs in the northern regions closed more than 15 years ago, well before the live export industry started to send large numbers of cattle to Indonesia, the biggest live export market. The closure of these abattoirs was primarily due to poor economic viability, caused by several factors.

Mr Thorne said northern abattoirs were forced to close for about four months every year because of the wet season, as producers were unable to deliver cattle to the abattoirs over this period.

The difficulty in obtaining staff in these remote areas was a problem that had only been exacerbated by the resources boom.

The cattle herd on most of the northern properties are from the Bos Indicus breeds, which are genetically adapted to excel in tropical environments and poor quality pastures but not favoured by Australian meat-eating consumers who have historically eaten beef derived from the Bos Taurus breeds.

The northern abattoirs didn't have sufficiently large population bases near to their operations to economically justify their continued operation.

Mr Thorne said the meat processing sector was also one of the more volatile industries in the country, which is evidenced by the frequent closure of abattoirs that are much closer to larger urban populations than those in the northern parts of Australia.

And finally, he said most cattle stations in the Northern Territory were "breeder blocks" not attempting to fatten cattle for slaughter.

Mr Thorne said a report from the Federal Senate inquiry established after the snap suspension which investigated operations and animal welfare conditions in all of Australia's export markets, not just Indonesia, had also echoed similar sentiments.

He quoted a section of the report which said: "The live export industry plays an important role in the Australian economy. It is also a significant source of training, employment and business opportunities for indigenous communities. The committee does not support the argument that phasing out of the live export industry would reinvigorate the domestic (meat) processing sector.

"The committee is also not persuaded that the benefit to the processing sector would justify the economic and social dislocation involved".

Mr Thorne said while AA Co was considering building an abattoir near Darwin, the project would require a "substantial" amount of Territory and Federal Government funding for infrastructure, to make the commercial opportunity a reality.

"The vulnerability of the live export industry was laid bare because of the suspension in June 2011 and these northern regions do need processing facilities closer to the producing regions to offset the massive transport costs that make it presently unviable to send cattle to facilities at Rockhampton or Biloela or further south," he said.

"However, it is clear that private commercial operators cannot open these abattoir facilities in these regions without some form of government funding and assistance."

Mr Thorne said Australia does process and export a large amount of packaged frozen meat to overseas countries but that won't work in Indonesia or South East Asia.

He said one of the main problems for the average rural Indonesian consumer a problem shared across large parts of South East Asia is that they have no access to refrigeration facilities.

Most of the meat and produce sold in these areas were sold via wet markets, Mr Thorne said, where the consumers purchased meat within hours of the animal being slaughtered, and the product was then taken home and eaten almost immediately.

Also, the transportation infrastructure in rural Indonesian was poor and there was limited access to refrigerated trucks to distribute frozen meat.

"From the consumer's perspective, there is also a benefit in purchasing their meat fresh from wet markets as they can definitely determine that the meat has been processed in accordance with their religious beliefs halal," Mr Thorne said.

"Also, the boxed beef and live export trade are not perfect substitutes, as they appeal to different segments within a market. More affluent, urban-based consumers are likely to shop at a supermarket and would be satisfied with frozen meat, whereas rural consumers require meat to be freshly slaughtered."

Mr Thorne also quoted Meat and Livestock Australia's submission to the Senate's inquiry which said, if Australia ceased to supply livestock to overseas markets, the trade would not simply be replaced by the chilled and frozen meat trade, which was evidenced when Australian sheep exports were banned to Saudi Arabia in 2004.

MLA said livestock imports from other destinations increased, but in contrast, "not an extra kilogram of Australian boxed sheepmeat was sold to this market in 2004".

link to original article - http://nqr.farmonline.com.au/news/state/livestock/cattle/boxed-beef-not-viable-thorne/2629468.aspx?storypage=0

 

More Compost Benefits - Biological and Economic

Alternative ideas about compost benefits are coming thick and fast.  Are there any more out there?

These are some additional ideas about the benefits of compost and very succinctly worded!  Remember that the previous post included those that were well recognised and testable - claims that could not be refuted easily.  There are a few that could be extended, but overall - comost has many beneficial attributes and definitely worth using or making - even at home, and it can be done in apartments too [ using bokashi, a microbial culture that aids organic breakdown].  Look it up if you have not heard of it - plenty of articles available.  Compost bins for domestic use are easy to make - and come in various options, but having a lid is usually a good idea as well, as some animals might access the compost bin.  Many are made in heavy duty plastic similar to the common mobile garbage bin.

Benefits of Compost

Enriches Soil
• Adds organic material
• Improves fertility and productivity
• Suppresses plant diseases
• Discourages insects
• Increases water retention
• Inoculates soil with beneficial microorganisms
• Reduces or eliminates fertilizer needs
• Moderates soil temperature

Prevents Pollution
• Reduces methane production in landfills
• Reduces or eliminates organic garbage
• Reduces or eliminates sewage

Fights existing Pollution
• Degrades toxic chemicals
• Binds heavy metals
• Cleans contaminated air
• Cleans stormwater runoff

Restores Land
• Aids in reforestation
• Helps restore wildlife habitats
• Helps reclaim mined lands
• Helps restore damaged wetlands
• Helps prevent erosion on flood plains

Destroys Pathogens
• Can destroy human disease organisms
• Can destroy plant pathogens
• Can destroy livestock pathogens

Saves Money
• Can be used to produce food
• Can eliminate waste disposal costs
• Reduces the need for water, fertilizers, and pesticides
• Can be sold at a profit
• Extends landfill life by diverting materials
• Is a less costly bioremediation technique


Source: U.S. EPA (October 1997). Compost-New Applications for an Age-Old Technology. EPA530-F-97-047.

Soils Benefit if Compost or Mulch is Used

Twelve Benefits of Compost

 Many scientists and farmers speak highly about the use of compost and mulch in soils.  There are often soil and crop improvements attributed to using these organic additions but are they real benefits?

While there is a certain amount of quackery over many soil additives, with some very dubious clams being made for them, it is now considered that there is a reasonably comprehensive set of truisms that can be attributed to compost use, with compost consderd in a broad sense to also include organic mulches.

These benefits and soil improvements are seen in temperate regions in the US, Europe and Australia as well as in tropical regions, with the latter often seeing very big improvements as the soils are tending to be lower in soil organic matter anyway.  Small additions of organic materials can mean big crop performance improvement.

The twelve well recognised benefits of compost are listed below. 

The following list of compost benefits have been approved by the Association of American Plant Food Control Officials (AAPFCO). This organization is made up of state Department of Agriculture regulatory officials from every state in the US. These claims are permitted to be made, and are considered as valid, on compost labels, literature and websites in the US and are also relevant elsewhere.

Compost -  

a. Improves soil structure and porosity – creating a better plant root environment;

b. Increases moisture infiltration and permeability, and reduces bulk density of heavy soils – improving moisture infiltration rates and reducing erosion and runoff;

c. Improves the moisture holding capacity of light soils – reducing water loss and nutrient leaching, and improving moisture retention;

d. Improves the cation exchange capacity (CEC) of soils;

e. Supplies organic matter;

f. Aids the proliferation of soil microorganisms;

g. Supplies beneficial microorganisms to soils and growing media;

h. Encourages vigorous root growth;

i. Allows plants to more effectively utilize nutrients, while reducing nutrient loss by leaching;

j. Enables soils to retain nutrients longer;

k. Contains humus – assisting in soil aggregation and making nutrients more available for plant uptake;

l. Buffers soil pH.

There are many articles and newspaper stories about the benefits of compost - so if you are not using compost or any other organic additions such as mulch, why not?  The photo shows mechanised compost production using a row turner.

In the tropics where rainfall is often in short higher intensity storms, surface mulches and composts provide a very effective surface barrier that prevents the dislodging of soil surface particles caused by the energy of impact of rain drops - this dislodgement commences the process of soil erosion.  A mulch cover can greatly reduce that problem while also controlling the infiltration of the rain.   "Cover"is a significant term in the universal soil loss equation [ USLE] used to calculate erosion, and is a factor that can be easily modified - as distinct from some of the other factors.  And soil cover is why dense grassland or rainforest is less prone to erosion.

The carbon in the organic materials often remains in the soil for some time so it also contributes to sequestring carbon, although not always for really long periods. [ that is another complicated issue - you could read about biochar or terra preta soils]
Surface mulch and compost are great contributors to better soils and the products grown in them!. 

Energy Efficiency in the US is Going Up

Many look at the US and gas guzzling cars and wonder about energy use.  It is not all doom amd gloom, with energy efficiency seemingly a positive issue, due to significant improvements over the past few years, and more coming it seems.

The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy talked about this unique positioning last week when it released its annual state ranking for energy efficiency. True, the top states are blue: Massachusetts, California, New York, Oregon, and Vermont. But look at the states moving up the line most quickly.

“These findings show that energy efficiency is being embraced by Republicans and Democrats alike at the state level,” said Steven Nadel, ACEEE executive director. “That nonpartisan status is crucial because too many conversations about U.S. energy policy begin with the false premise that the only way to safeguard our reliable energy future is to expand our supply. While some supply investments will be needed, the truth is that step one should always be energy efficiency, our cheapest, cleanest, and fastest energy resource.”
The use of combined heat and power systems are also increasing.  This is of interst to Australia as the BluGen system, which uses a gas powered fuel cell and is ultra efficient based on European testing, was developed here and is trying to break into significant domestic markets around the world.  There is some success in Europe already.

“The issues related to CHP on both political tickets are the same when you look at energy independence, clean energy, energy security – all the things that CHP brings to the energy debate. So regardless of how the election turns out, we should continue to see a bright future for CHP,” said Joe Allen, USCHPA chairman and Solar Turbines director of government affairs.  This is now of more interest in the US given moderately abundant national gas supplies, and much lower prices, and a widespread need for many months for heating.

Perhaps energy efficiency escapes partisan titles because it is technology neutral – we can save any kind of energy. Massachusetts is number one for the second year in ACEEE’s ranking largely because of its Green Communities Act, legislation enacted in 2008 that boosted renewable energy and sustainable practices. In contrast, Oklahoma is rising quickly in the ranking, partly because of its natural gas efficiency programs. Oklahoma also significantly increased its electric energy efficiency budget and upped its energy savings, as did Montana and South Carolina.

Other policies that are neither green nor blue also boosted efficiency in states. For example, 24 states now have portfolio standards, targets to achieve a certain amount of energy savings by a prescribed date. Arizona, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont have the most aggressive portfolio standards, according to ACEEE. (On the national level, various pieces of legislation propose national efficiency portfolio standards, but Congress has taken no action on them.)

While the nation may face a stalemate on many issues, it does not on energy efficiency. The resource is growing rapidly. Utility energy efficiency budgets were $7 billion in 2011, a 27% increase over the previous year. Meanwhile, energy savings increased 40% from customer-funded efficiency programs to 18 million MWh, roughly equivalent to the electricity Wyoming uses each year, according to ACEEE.

Massachusetts’ held the top position for the second year because many parties sat at the table and worked together, according Jeremy McDiarmid, Massachusetts director for Environment Northeast, an organization that has played a key role helping the state develop energy efficiency policies.

Such cooperation is hard to find on the national energy scene. Still, energy efficiency, at least, appears to be welcome at almost any table, when and if, the parties finally gather.

Elders Goes Online

 

In a development that is a milestone for Australian agribusiness, Elders - the Australia wide agribusiness – has just opened an online version of its rural supply business, thought to be the first online supply business for farmers in Australia.

Farmers are able to order selected animal health and agricultural chemical products from its AgSure website, and have those products delivered to their farm.  Like customers across many areas, farmers are looking for the best prices. "Farmer buyer behaviour is changing," Elders general manager of strategy and marketing Mark Geraghty said in a statement, "they're shopping around, researching online and are looking to buy at a time, and price that suits them."

The on line system is designed to complement their branch structure, not replace it.

This should allow around the clock ordering, which should be a boon for many in the rural industry.

Delivery may be an issue, so it is to be hoped that their logistics are well sorted out.  That is a characteristic of excellent businesses operating online – all the way from Amazon to Nespresso coffee supplies.  Get the logistics wrong and customers disappear!

Silent Spring - 50 Years Old

http://www.abc.net.au/environment/articles/2012/09/25/3596835.htm?WT.svl=featuredSitesScroller

This link takes you to an article especially pertinent today, the 50th anniversary of the publicaton of Silent Spring by Rachel Carson.

Many argue that was the birthday of the modern environment and conservation movement.  The book chronicled the role of DDT in the environment and the damage it was causing from unprincipled use.

DDT is a very effective agrochemical and still has uses today, particularly when impregnated in mosquito bed nets, for malaria control.........it is a great option that really works.  It is just that, in some ways like the use of glyphosate today, DDT was used for everything!  And society did not know enough about the problems that arose until afterwards, and it was hard to get people to listen.

And then came the book Silent Spring.  A slim volume, and I read it, in the mid 1960s studying agrochemical use as an undergraduate in an ag science faculty.  It was a game changer.

It is still in print, and still worth reading if you have not done so before..

It is true to say, the genesis of the environmental movement can be traced to that book release.

Tide Power Coming to the NT

A major announcement today that an agreement has been reached between Tenax and the local electricity supply utility to commence development of tidal power commercial studies here in the NT.

This will be offshore from Darwin in the Clarence strait between the mainland and the Tiwi islands.

It will be tidal flow operating in both directions, and would provide power reasonably uniformly except for near the low and high tide points, and be influenced by the moon!  Yes.....tides are.

The potential is very large, at least equal to existing power capacity locally.  There will be an issue of possible power storage requirements, but if one looks around there arre numerous studies around the world looking at that issue - improved batteries, flywheels and so on, and there is optimism that stiorage issues canbe at least partially solved.

Yes, there is some way to go, but the company has done a lot of investigations already on possibilities and the supply authority is serious about delivering on the distribution network.  That is some way off....with first serious operations getting under way within about 18 months or so.

But it is part of several planned sites by the company so they are positive it can be delivered, using a series of turbine systems anchored to the sea floor.

Watch this space.

The Coming Asian Century - Where to Australia?

A lot of words have hit the press about Australia's role in the so called coming Asian Century.  Be it supply of minerals, or possibly food, it has been painted as a rosy time coming for Australia.

A more sober assessment is now being seen as closer to the real situation.

This is attached below.

It posits a reduction in the role of mineral exports with some thoughts being developed around "what else can be done?"  Some think an expanded role for agriculture and livestock - maybe, others think we need to focus on redeveloping older infrastructure.

Would it see a more gradual move to develop the north of Australia?  That has not been a focus so far.  What ever, the news article does provide some sober thinking from some reasonably knowledgeable people, and also looks at a few social issues, rather than just location and economics.

But it does not seem to look at a greater role for the north of Australia, which seems odd to those living in the north of the country, especially today when Conoco was inferring a very large upgrade to gas processing facilities in Darwin with a very long pipleine from WA [ yes - not committed, but a definite idea float!]
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The 'Asian Century' may not be that good

WE'VE heard so much about the potential for Australia to benefit from "the Asian century" that it seemed right that two eminent Asian economists opened Wednesday's official conference on the Asian white paper with a warning: it might not be that good.

Malaysian-born, Melbourne-trained economist Jayant Menon, now with the Asian Development Bank, said that if all went well, Asia by 2050 could have living standards similar to those of Europe today. But it is also possible that countries such as China, India and Indonesia could reach middle-income levels, then lose momentum, as Malaysia and Thailand have.

Asia too has challenges to overcome, Dr Menon reminded us. It has been very successful in its "catch up" phase of growth, but to reach Western levels, Asian countries will need to spread the benefits to all their people, become innovators at the frontiers of technology and science, develop lower emission technologies, attractive cities, and deep financial markets — and in China, among others, cope with a fast-shrinking labour force.

Professor He Fan, of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, was similarly frank about China's future challenges, which include a fast-shrinking labour force, due to its one-child policy. China's workforce will peak next year, he said, then start shrinking — putting a serious brake on growth.

And while Australia could expand its exports to China to high-value agricultural produce, manufactured goods and services, he noted, they will have to compete there with manufactures and services from all over the world — and proximity will not be the big advantage it has been for exports of bulk minerals.

Professor Anne Krueger, former deputy chief of the International Monetary Fund, was also wary of assuming that Asia is set to continue its stellar growth path. She backed Dr Menon's warnings, saying Asian countries will face slower growth as they approach convergence with the West and in China and Korea, workforce growth reverses, and fewer workers have to support many more retirees.

The Gillard government appointed former Treasury secretary Ken Henry to head a taskforce to prepare a white paper (policy statement) on how Australia could best position itself to benefit from what it calls "the Asian century". Julia Gillard and Treasurer Wayne Swan constantly beguile us with images of Australian schools, health care professionals, farmers and niche manufacturers finding new markets among Asia's rapidly-growing middle class consumers.

At the seminar, hosted jointly by Treasury, the Reserve Bank and the International Monetary Fund, no one disputed the central thesis that Australia's future lies in developing closer ties with Asia. But there was a clear gulf between the optimism of officials' confidence that Asia will sustain high commodity prices for a decade or more, and the estimate of Victoria University professors Peter Sheehan and Bob Gregory that within a year or two, mining investment will start falling, and detracting from our growth rather than sustaining it.

Both the officials and the outsiders agreed that what we call the resources boom really has three distinct phases. To summarise Professor Gregory's version:

  Phase 1: rising commodity prices. Between 2003 and 2011, the world decided to roughly double what it paid for our minerals. That added about 10 per cent to Australian incomes, and drove up the Australian dollar, making our imports cheaper. But that phase ended a year ago. Our minerals prices have fallen since, and could fall a lot more ahead.

  Phase 2: rising mining investment. That began in 2003, and is still building to its climax, now expected to be in 2013 or 2014. Mining investment is now running at 10 times the levels of a decade ago. In the last year, in constant prices, it grew by $33 billion while the whole of GDP itself grew just $45 billion. It dominates the economy, but soon it will be shrinking, and we will need to find new drivers of growth.

  Phase 3: rising mining exports. You might think that has happened already, but not that much. In the past decade, the volume of mining exports has grown just 3.9 per cent a year, not much faster than GDP. The next five years will see much more spectacular growth: Sheehan and Gregory estimate that it could add $100 billion a year to our GDP.

But on their scenario, that would be offset by a similar fall in the value of mining investment, as Phase 2 goes into reverse. And Sheehan and Gregory point out that there's virtually no jobs in mining — the vast Pluto LNG project will employ just 600 people, once it is up and running — and many of them are 100 per cent owned.

"An extreme example of these trends is the Shell Prelude project, which is a $15 billion wholly foreign-owned LNG project situated in waters offshore in Western Australia", their paper notes.

"Shell is constructing in Korea a massive platform which will be towed to the offshore site, and from which all drilling, liquefaction and shipping activities will take place. None of the gas will be piped to the Australian mainland. The domestic impact is likely to be minimal, other than through the tax paid."

They want the Federal government and the states to combine to create a new growth driver for Australia by setting a joint, semi-independent infrastructure authority, which could borrow under Federal government guarantee, and invest heavily in tackling Australia's infrastructure backlog, which has been estimated at $700 billion.

Treasury secretary Martin Parkinson was not impressed. He suggested that the private sector will provide the growth engine, and if the states need more money for infrastructure, they should stop exempting small business from payroll tax, and cut back their other tax concessions.

Presumably Parkinson is giving similar advice to Swan about the Federal government's own tax concessions, which Treasury last totted up at a cool $112 billion a year. There's enough money there to finance any number of initiatives to keep the economy ticking on.

http://qcl.farmonline.com.au/news/nationalrural/agribusiness-and-general/finance/the-asian-century-may-not-be-that-good/2624762.aspx?storypage=0

the second part originally written by TIM COLEBATCH, THE AGE 20 Sep, 2012 08:00 AM and acknowledged.

Recycling is BETTER

Many working in the waste industry including recycling tend to believe that recycling is a better option.

Now there is Australian data to back that up.  Recycling is BETTER.  More jobs in that sector, substantial energy savings - 241 million Gjoules per year, plus water and greenhouse gas generation savings.

These are substantial benefits.

Yet in the NT we seem to be stuck in a time warp, with little progress other than send it to landfill.  Even the greenwaste is inadequately managed with the monster piles created in Darwin inadequately dealt with to use productively as a source of nutrients and carbon for agriculture, mining site rehabilitation and similar issues, including simple issues of land cover to protect the surface from erosion and the loss of soil into waterways.  Come on construction companies.......you can do better, so can the landfill site operators.

Mulch is expected to be in short supply in both WA and SA in future years if not already, due to significant market development by commercial companies and use of product in both commercial and domestic horticulture and agriculture. 

Then there are other materials such as glass and metals.  The latter are valuable and there is an effort to recycle generally, but what of glass and used tyres?  Both have had commercial development yet are not embraced.  Used tyres especially are a valuable component for civil construction and erosion management [ see www.ecoflex.com.au ].  Locally there has been a recent report on using glass in civil construction - but is it happening?  So far, it seems no.

Locally we can do much better.

There is a link to the full report below. However, one view of the report is that it has excluded any details on tyre recycling, data on organics recycling is somewhat dated and it lacks much direction on where the industry might go.  A lot of collated data, but I am not sure how useful it really might be, although it fills a lot of report space.
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Recycling trumps landfills
A new report confirms the Australian recycling sector is a bigger employer and generates more revenue than the landfill sector, but significant barriers remain to its growth and development.

These figures come as results of the release of the Australian Recycling Sector Report, prepared by consultancy Net Balance for the Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities.

The lengthy and far-reaching report covers recycling processes and markets, the economic value of the industry, its environmental benefits, the regularity environment, standards, industry barriers, data collection and a future outlook.

Australian Council of Recycling CEO Rod Welford said the study "confirms [recycling] generates more jobs than landfill". Key aspects of the report are summarised below.

Volumes and dollars
The report draws on the most recent figures reporting that 26 million tonnes of material was recycled in Australia in 2008/2009. The study quoted the Inside Waste Industry Report 2011-2012, noting from this volume the value of recycling in Australia was around $6.145 billion.

Most of this revenue (50% or so) is attributed to the sale of recovered materials, but the report cautions markets are highly variable. More than half ($3.8 billion) of the revenue from recycling was generated in NSW and Victoria.

The contribution of the recycling sector to Australian employment is estimated at a little less than 1% - meaning approximately 22,000 people (full time equivalents) are employed in recycling in Australia.

This equates to 9.2 full time employees for every 10,000 tonnes of waste processed.

Environmental Benefit
While recycling remains a relatively small employer in Australia, the report makes clear the environmental benefits of recycling are considerable.

In total, the report estimates recycling generate approximately 241,000,000 GJ-equivalent of energy savings. This is enough energy to power around five million homes.

Other key environmental savings estimated include 172 gigalitre of water, equivalent to 10% of Australia's water consumption and 15 million tonnes of greenhouse emissions as a carbon dioxide equivalent.

Barriers to improvement
A summary of the barriers impeding greater recycling put a lack of investment in recycling and limited infrastructure as the primary challenges facing the sector.

A lack of business recycling uptake, the distance of materials to markets and consumer behaviour are also key barriers.

The full report can be downloaded from the DSEWPC website. Further information on the Australian recycling industry is also available in the Inside Waste Industry Report 2011-2012.

Successfully Establishing Turfgrass is Best Done by Mowing Higher

Cut high to help turfgrass establish seems to be the rule.

The most resilient turf has deep roots that can reach the deep water in the soil profile. New turf must be watered regularly until the deep roots develop, but regular watering discourages the turf from rooting deeply, because the turf gets all the water it needs at the surface. All the while, you’re wasting water.

 

So what can you, as the turf manager or home grower, do to speed up the deep rooting and so minimise the irrigation?

 

Researchers at the Texas A&M University, North Carolina State University and the University of Florida asked this question. To answer it, they grew plugs of turf (couch, zoysia grass, bahia grass and buffalo grass) in tall clear tubes, and tested combinations of nitrogen (N) fertiliser and mowing height. Two rates of N approximated the lower and higher ends of the normal recommended range. Two cutting heights (which depended on species) represented heavy and light mowing.

 

Two conclusions were evident:

 

• The higher N rate encouraged faster rooting.
• The higher cutting height encouraged better rooting.

Cutting height had no effect on the rate of root growth, although it had a big effect on root mass: the low cut greatly reduced root mass.

 

Bahia grass achieved the best root growth (depth and mass) in the high N, high cut combination. But Zoysia grass did best in the low N, high cut combination. The results depended as much on the species as on the treatments.

 

Overall, maintaining a high cutting height did far more to encourage rooting than applying high N fertiliser. The authors recommended that turf managers cut establishing turf to the highest height recommended for the species.

 

This is especially relevant for zoysia grass, where we are already recommending half of the nitrogen rates that appear on most fertiliser bags.  Zoysia does not respond to high nitrogen particularly well, as it is naturally a slower growing grass.  We would suggest a cut height of around 45 -50mm initially, reducing to the more conventional cut height of around 20 - 25mm.

For Bahia grass, a high cut is 65 -75mm, and low cut 35mm, with commercial operators using 45mm.  For Bahia, one might need to also temper cut height and frequency with a need to remove seed heads, which direct fertilisers into reproduction, which is not needed during estabishment.

This also fits well with convention that says that a higher cut height during stress periods is beneficial - for this you could interpret stress as high temperatures and low water availability eg September - mid December in north Australia.

[partially sourced from SESL Newsletter September 2012]  

Further reading
Wherley BG et al. 2011. Nitrogen and cutting height influence root development during warm-season turfgrass sod establishment. Agronomy Journal 103: 1629–1634.

Climate Change May Boost Agriculture in SE Asia

 

Climate change 'may boost South-East Asian agriculture'

Prime Sarmiento

Increased rainfall and temperature due to climate change could bring benefits to South-East Asian agriculture, a study suggests, contradicting more common expectations that a warmer planet will reduce agricultural productivity in the region.

Scientists from the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) have predicted that precipitation levels in vast areas of South-East Asia will remain stable, and most of the anticipated changes will occur over the sea, rather than over land.

In southern Vietnam and Cambodia, for instance, precipitation changes will be so minimal that farm production will barely be affected. In central and northern Myanmar, the increase will in fact help to raise crop output, as these are the driest areas in the region.
A
n increase in temperature may also increase crop yield in northern parts of Thailand, Laos and Myanmar, since crops such as rice and vegetables rely on regular rainfall and are most vulnerable to variability in weather. "At the regional scale, precipitation and temperature changes should benefit agricultural production, as significant precipitation increases will occur in the drier areas, whereas the steepest temperature rises will affect the coldest parts," says the study.

The study was carried out by IWMI scientists Guillaume Lacombe, Chu Thai Hoanh and Vladimir Smakhtin.  Lacombe, the study’s lead author, told SciDev.Net that the findings will help the region's policymakers plan for food security — which is being threatened by climate change.
"This study helps characterise and quantify climate change," said Lacombe. "It could help [in sustaining] food security by showing where most drastic changes in rainfall patterns over the long term will occur. This should help the prioritisation of areas of intervention for climate change adaptation."

Lacombe said he and fellow hydrologists drew this conclusion through using PRECIS (Providing Regional Climates for Impacts Studies), a regional climate modelling system designed to run on a Linux-based (an open source operating system) computer and to give detailed climate change projections in any region.

Despite optimistic results, Lacombe pointed out that climate change will have other impacts, such as rises in sea level, which could make the Mekong Delta in southwestern Vietnam more saline, leading to the destruction of rice farms. Climate change could also increase pest numbers and disease prevalence.

Lacombe said that policymakers in the region needed to consider climate projections obtained using several other climate models — in addition to the PRECIS model — before making any decisions about an appropriate response. He also stressed that PRECIS is a regional model and not a global model.

The study concludes with a call for further studies to focus on how climate trends might interact with other environmental changes caused by the region's demographic and economic developments.
Link to article

Climatic Change doi: 10.1007/s10584-011-0359-3 (2012)

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Everyone seems to believe that climate change will result in less rainfall.  This recent article seems to allay those fears for much of SE Asia. Work related to north Australia also seems to point in this same trend.

Sea level rise is still a serious issue in Asia as well as north Australia, so outcomes are not just that simple.

But it is relevant to at least see some outcomes more focused on our region.
 

Gene for Improved Phosphorus Uptake Found

Rice Genes

 

/top_stories/article/44844Rice is a cereal grain, it is the most important staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in Asia and the West Indies.

It is the grain with the second-highest worldwide production, after maize (corn), according to data for 2010. Since a large portion of maize crops are grown for purposes other than human consumption, rice is the most important grain with regard to human nutrition and caloric intake, providing more than one fifth of the calories consumed worldwide by the human species.

  Scientists have now pinpointed a gene that enables rice plants to produce around 20% more grain by increasing uptake of phosphorus, an important, but limited, plant nutrient. The discovery unlocks the potential to improve the food security of rice farmers with the lowest value phosphorus-deficient land allowing them to grow more rice to add to global production, and earn more.

As of 2009 world food consumption of rice was 531,639 thousands metric tons of paddy equivalent , while the far largest consumers were China consuming 156,312 thousands metric tons of paddy equivalent (29.4 % of the world consumption) and India consuming 123,508 thousands metric tons of paddy equivalent (23.3% of the world consumption). Between 1961 and 2002, per capita consumption of rice increased by 40%.

The studied gene — called PSTOL1 which stands for Phosphorus Starvation Tolerance — helps rice grow a larger, better root system and thereby access more phosphorus. Farmers can apply phosphorus fertilizers to increase productivity but on problem soils phosphorus is often locked in the soil and unavailable to plants.

Also, phosphorus fertilizer is often unaffordable to poor farmers. Adding to the problem is that phosphorus is a non-renewable natural resource and rock phosphate reserves — the source of most phosphorus fertilizers — are running out.

“We have now hit the jackpot and found PSTOL1, the major gene responsible for improved phosphorus uptake and understand how it works,”� Heuer (author)said.

According to Dr. Wricha Tyagi at the School of Crop Improvement at the Central Agricultural University in the Indian state of Meghalaya, knowledge of the exact gene will be critical for future breeding programs suited to Eastern and North-Eastern parts of India where rice productivity is less than 40% of the national average due to acidic soil and poor availability of phosphorus.
Dr. Joko Prasetiyono, of the Institute for Agricultural Biotechnology and Genetic Resources Research and Development in Indonesia, is breeding rice plants with the PSTOL1 gene. The plants are not genetically modified just bred using smart modern breeding techniques.

"In field tests in Indonesia and the Philippines, rice with the PSTOL1 gene produced about 20% more grain than rice without the gene," said Heuer. "In our pot experiments," she added, "when we use soil that is really low in phosphorus, we see yield increases of 60% and more, suggesting it will be very effective in soils low in phosphorus such as in upland rice fields that are not irrigated and where farmers are often very poor."

The discovery also demonstrates the importance of conserving the genetic diversity of traditional crop varieties such as Kasalath. IRRI conserves more than 114,000 different types of rice in the International Rice Genebank.

For further information see New Gene.

This is an important advance in crop development as phosphorus is so important in crop development and yield, worldwide.  While phosphorus is not critically in short supply, it is expensive and especially so in less wealthy countries.

I am sure that plant breeders for many other crops will be very interested in incorporating this gene into their crop for evaluation.

It might be a few years before this genetic advance is publicly available but it does seem to augur well for improved crop yields across many crops in future, while reducing costs, and allowing lower quality phosphorus sources.

Gas to Diesel Fuel - Is There a Case for a Plant in Australia?

There is a lot of gas in Australia, and less it seems of liquid fuels suitable for diesel or petrol.  Could there be a case for gas to diesel conversion? Economics seem to be positive, particularly for remote areas.  Surprise suprise - that is where the gas is, as well as there being major needs for diesel for transport fuel for trucks and power generation, all of which is trucked in from refineries located a long way from where the fuel is used.

A recent article explores this in some detail -
 http://www.miningnewspremium.net/storyview.asp?storyid=9590380&sectionsource=s0 .

The major Australian engineering group GHD has been examining this idea in some more detail, and presented some results of a study focused on the WA Canning Basin recently.

“The miners are very reliant on diesel. Some use it for their trucks, some use it for power generation and it’s costing them a lot of money,” GHD studies manager Jonathon Beales said at the Australian Gas Technology conference in Perth  recently.

“Talking to a number of our clients, we’ve estimated the cost of transporting diesel from Port Hedland or Kwinana adds 25 per cent to the cost they have to pay for it.”

Add to the fact that 40-50% of diesel is currently imported and there’s currently a shortage of diesel – also in the order of 40-50% – and there’s a compelling case for miners to subtly encourage gas producers to consider Gas-To - Liquids [GTL] projects for their commercialisation plans.

GHD estimated a 55 tonne iron ore project could use up to 1 million litres of diesel per day.

As an industry, Beales reckoned, the iron ore sector used 11.1 billion litres of diesel in 2010.

Beales said synthetic diesel delivered from a GTL plant could cost miners a whopping 85% less than having to import their fuel, given the right circumstances.

But what’s in it for gas producers?

“In a number of discussions with companies we’ve had in that region, we’ve found that they are sitting on a great resource but are struggling to find a way to get it to market,” Beales said.

It seems to be a win-win for both industries and would increase Australia’s liquid fuels security to boot.

While the cost of developing a plant is high - possibly $1 billion - it would add to Australian local fuel supplies while offering some real cost savings along the west coast of Australia for mining and other resource projects including agricultural and pastoral developments.

Developing the GTL plant close to the gas seems sensible, but will it happen?  Do not hold your breath, yet!