Endorsements

The Role of Liquid Systems (SA) in Developing the Fluid Fertiliser Industry in Australia

In 1998 I was Officer in Charge of SARDI’s Minnipa Research Centre and involved in investigating the poor performance of cereal crops on the highly calcareous soils of Upper Eyre Peninsula in South Australia. The two major soil types in the area are red mallee soils which contain less then 10% calcium carbonate and the grey highly calcareous soils which may contain from 20-90% calcium carbonate. It was obvious to many farmers that there was a major difference between the two soil types in terms of how much wheat they could produce in similar rainfall areas. For some reason, the grey soils were always well behind in terms of early growth and yield. There was no reason to believe that the problem had anything to do with phosphorus – for decades the SA department of Agriculture had published information indicating that the amount of phosphorus available to cereal plants could be determined by the Colwell soil test.

On many of the properties we examined however, the Colwell P test indicated that even on farms where yields were low, the grey soils we tested contained “adequate” phosphorus. Three things happened to change our minds on this. First, the development of ICP tissue tests - where leaves are tested to determine the amount of nutrient they contain – showed that there was not a relationship between the Colwell phosphorus status of the soil and the concentration of phosphorus in the plant. In 2001, CSIRO researcher Dr Isabelle Bertrand showed that the Colwell soil test overestimates the amount of available phosphorus in calcareous soils. In soils with supposedly “adequate” amounts of phosphorus, plants could actually be deficient in this major nutrient.

The third issue was that adding granular phosphorus fertiliser was not producing the same responses that would occur on other phosphorus-deficient soil. The fact that there were no major responses when the fertiliser was applied reinforced our view that phosphorus was not involved.

In 1998 we were studying different forms of fertiliser, originally to improve zinc uptake by mixing it with nitrogen and phosphorus at various rates. The only way we could do this effectively was to use fluid fertilisers. At a trial at Yandra, south of Streaky Bay in 1999, we sowed a trial including various rates of phosphorus applied in either granular or fluid form. The soil was highly calcareous and we were astonished to see a huge difference in the performance of the plants with the fluid compared with granular. For example, four kilograms of phosphorus fertiliser applied as fluid produced as much grain as 60 kg phosphorus applied in granular form. Over ten years we confirmed the superiority of fluid fertilisers on calcareous soils, in a major research program led by Prof Mike McLaughlin of CSIRO whose team uncovered the chemical basis for the difference, at the molecular level. We also found that fluids had great advantages in terms of mixing and applying macro and micronutrients – there were synergistic effects of applying zinc together with nitrogen and phosphrous and liquid fertilisers were an ideal medium for this. There were also advantages apparent in mixing fertilisers with fungicides and other pesticides.

Early in the project, I was contacted by Peter Burgess who expressed interest in developing equipment which could apply liquid fertilisers in a precise and controlled fashion. At the time the research equipment we were using was very rudimentary, consisting of a piston pump, an adapted anhydrous ammonia distributor and stainless steel pipes with the tips squashed by a vice and a 1mm hole drilled in the end.

At the same time, apart from a few really focussed farmers in the area, there was very little interest, despite the mounting and confronting evidence whenever we sowed trial plots on calcareous soils.  I vividly remember a field day we were running on a calcareous soil site near Warramboo on EP in 2002. The differences between the two forms of fertiliser in a trial there were remarkable. The ABC program Landline was there to film the evidence. I was walking behind two old farmers who were discussing what they had seen.

"What d’yer reckon Ted?", one of them said – “Are yer goin’ ter give these fluids a go?”

"Nar" said Ted, "I’m too old ter change anythin’ now".

Although fluid fertilisers seem better suited to Upper Eyre Peninsula than anywhere else in the country, there are logistical and placement advantages that will apply in any cereal growing area. In the years since funding for fluid fertiliser research ceased, interest in them has continued to grow, especially in other states. Undoubtedly this is mostly due to Peter’s original determination to succeed and his continuing developmental work with high-tech liquid application systems. There was a time when he could easily have thrown in the towel. Fortunately, he decided to go on the road from Queensland to WA and show farmers what could be done with an accurate, reliable, electronically controllable multi-liquid delivery system . He has created a product which is cutting edge, not only in Australia but throughout the world. I recently spoke at a conference in Germany about liquid delivery systems – my contribution was to detail what was happening in Australia. It was obvious that Peter’s equipment was well ahead of anything else – there is nothing else currently available that I know of that approaches the concepts, flexibility, design and accuracy of his equipment. Liquid Systems has made an enormous contribution to the development of the fluid fertiliser industry in Australia and continues to do so, especially when one thinks of variable rate technology and gps guidance. Without Peter Burgess, I am convinced that the benefits of using fluid fertiliser – which could be considerable in terms of the rural economy– may have lagged decades behind, or worse, may have been limited to a handful of dedicated farmers on Eyre Peninsula.

Bob Holloway