From vic@daena.eepo.dialix.oz.au Date: Sat, 22 Oct 1994 12:33:44 WST From: Victor Guest To: london@sunsite.unc.edu Subject: Re: double sowing barley & winter wheat! add alfalfa? (fwd) read about the following kind of method: >> >>comments: savings in tillage, savings (earnings?!) in humus, savings in >> nutrients, environment less polluted by nutrients, better >> overwintering conditions for winter crop. tests indicate crops >> harvested are about the same size as those gotten using the >> "conventional" method in finland. >> >People who use one pass broad acre techniques, supply nitrogen to the crop >to compensate for the nitrogen lost to the growing plant by the straw. >breaking down. Leached nitrogen from this practice gets to our Waterways. Hi. I would like to follow up the discussion with a report of WANTFA. West Australian No Tillage Farmers Association, given at the AGM of the Land Management Society of W.A. yesterday. Membership has grown to 300 in just 2years. The members of this Assoc. establish crops with only one sowing pass of the machinery . Mostly based at Esperance in the South East of W.A. these farmers are tackling the problems of wind erosion etc. and coming up with exciting results. Rotations of wheat, lupins, wheat are producing crops equivalent to the best results by normal cultivation. Canola results have also been excellent. The trials on wheat after Pasture were significant in that yields were increased by the addition of 40 kg of n/ha. The top yield in this trial was 3.5 tonne per ha. NOTE: In Wheat after lupins trials the REDUCTION of yield was 390 kg/ha BY THE ADDITION OF 40 kg of n/ha. The top yield in this trial was 4.32 tonne/ha. The increase in earth worms in the cropped areas is also reported as significant. The only factor to cause concern, is that the control of weeds in this technique is the use of and cost of sprays. The Newsletter I have, indicates that members may be touring North America at the moment. Copy's of the newsletter may be received by sending $A20 and writing to. WANTFA. c/-Kondinin Group 177 Great Eastern Highway Belmont Western Australia 6104 Regards, Vic -- Victor Guest V.G.Guest Perth, Western Australia vic.guest@eepo.com.au 3 McKee Plce Kingsley. 6026 ----: Sustainable Agriculture :---- Tel. (09) 3092108 --: The Land Management Society & The Permaculture Association:----