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Langley family, Winchelsea, Vic

Drainage promotes hyper-yield crops

Brothers Will and Charlie Langley are building on the solid foundation of a raised-bed, controlled traffic farming system that has allowed their family to better use some low-lying areas on their farm near Winchelsea, in Victoria’s southwest.

The Langley’s farm includes some areas with relatively flat terrain combined with heavy sodic soils, where waterlogging is a constant challenge for crop production. The Winchelsea area west of Geelong is a high rainfall zone, receiving about 540 mm average annual rainfall.

Their father, David Langley, is a founding member of Southern Farming Systems, and the family hosted the group’s first subsurface drainage and raised beds trials in the 1990s. This trial tested 2.1 m and 2 m bed configurations, then expanded to include 1 km of underground drainage on a headland drain. The installation of subsurface drainage pipe was very effective but also very expensive.

These early trials showed that alleviating waterlogging using raised beds resulted in a yield increase of about 20 per cent. After using 2 m beds for about four years, they moved to a 3 m raised bed, controlled traffic configuration that has become the standard across most of the farm, developed over the last 25 years.

“In the 1990s, our business was 80 per cent sheep production and 20 per cent cropping,” says David. “With effective drainage now in place on areas that were too wet for cropping, we are now a majority cropping operation on 2430 ha of heavy brown clay soils and have sheep only on agistment.”

Their increased yield has more than compensated for the investment in drainage works. In 2020, Will received a Hyper Yielding Crops award for a wheat crop that came the closest to achieving its yield potential, followed the next year with the Highest Yield in 2021 award in the Southern Region.

The Langley’s farming system is an excellent example of how alleviating soil constraints can benefit both crop production and weed suppression. In the process, they have implemented many of the WeedSmart Big 6 integrated weed management principles in a high-rainfall environment.

Crop rotation to lower grass weed numbers

The Langleys use a double-break system of faba beans followed by canola and then two cereal crops. These days, they are growing wheat back-to-back, but barley also works well when the markets are viable. The faba bean and canola phase allows desiccation and crop-topping treatments to stop weed seed set, particularly for grass weeds. The canola also boosts the yield of the following cereal crop by about 20 per cent.

“We are growing more winter red wheat varieties, such as Longford, Cesario and Big Red, that we can sow in early April before soil conditions get too cold and wet,” says Will. “These new varieties ensure a safer finish and are highly competitive against weeds compared to older red wheat varieties that didn’t finish as well.”

These newer varieties are sown earlier into warmer soils, promoting early crop vigour and rapid row closure. This early competition against weeds complements the Langley’s current weed management program.

The Langleys slash and spot-spray key weeds along fence lines to avoid developing herbicide resistance.

Farming raised beds

Acidity, poor drainage, compaction and sodicity are common limitations to crop yield in the Winchelsea district.

Using a laser bucket and the GPS-guided T3RRA Cutta system, the Langleys have vastly improved drainage on their paddocks. The T3RRA Cutta software uses elevation maps to help the Langleys design and implement a drainage system that best suits their equipment and paddock topography. This industry-leading software makes it possible to move soil efficiently and cost-effectively.

The raised beds work like giant sponges in the Langley’s highly sodic clay soils, expanding and contracting to expel excess water from the paddocks. Their 3 m controlled traffic system keeps all traffic off the beds, reducing compaction of the crop root zone and extending the life of the beds.

“Keeping traffic off the beds preserves soil structure and keeps the profile aerated and moist. The crops have easy access to nutrients and develop a deeper root system,” says Will. “This system has boosted the farm’s income significantly and reduced the yield variability between years.”

“The raised beds have been central to our ability to transition from a majority livestock enterprise to cropping,” he says.

The Langleys use a BOSS Agriculture tyned seeder with a bridge frame and parallelogram planting units, making it possible to consistently achieve the desired seeding depth. This results in even establishment, which promotes stronger crop competition. They also value the flexibility in pre-emergent herbicide choice that the tyne seeder allows.

Their farming system keeps weed numbers low on their own country and has proven effective in reducing the weed seed bank on their leased land. Annual ryegrass is their main weed, along with wild radish, wild oats and bedstraw.

“Weeds certainly take advantage of any areas of poor drainage,” says Will. “Fixing the drainage issue is the first step, and then crop competition can provide season-long weed suppression. We often have windy or wet periods during winter that reduce the optimal spray window, so crop competition is extremely important for us.”

The crops are sown on 25 cm row spacing (10 inch), and the Langleys prefer to retain stubble to conserve nutrients and provide a weed-suppressive mulch layer.

“We found the transition to retaining stubble involves a period of nutrient tie-up, and this needs to be managed accordingly,” says Will. “Once the system is in place, the nutrient cycling is hugely beneficial. To minimise impediments to seeding, we harvest low and ensure an even chop and spread of residue.”

When there is a string of very wet years, it is more difficult to maintain good soil health due to the anaerobic conditions in waterlogged soils.

The Langleys apply fertiliser, lime and gypsum according to soil test results and work very closely with their agronomist to achieve their targeted nutrient requirements. Having broadcast lime and gypsum many years ago, they are now using variable rate technology to maintain their pH levels at around 5.5 across the farm.

“In 1994, we had paddocks with pH levels as low as 4, where nothing would grow,” says David. “Lime applications have brought those paddocks into production, and the ongoing addition of organic matter and gypsum have alleviated areas of sodicity on the farm.”

The Langleys also appreciate the impact of plant breeding programs on the competitiveness of their crops. They choose varieties with planting windows that allow them to optimise flowering times and apply pre-emergent and knock-down herbicides to manage the weed seed bank.

Each year, they assess the need for a double-knock application of glyphosate and paraquat and use this tactic if the ryegrass is past the 4-leaf stage.

Topography and optimal drainage design determine the orientation of the raised beds. Consequently, some paddocks are sown east-west, and others are sown north-south. In Victoria’s southwest area, sowing east-west has dual advantages, providing wind protection of windrows and shading of the inter-row.

Stop seed set

The Langleys use a variety of herbicide and non-herbicide tactics to stop weed seed set in their crops.

Having previously contract-grown canola seed crops, they are experienced with hand rouging and have seen the benefit of removing individual wild radish plants before they shed seed.

They also use the John Deere Operations Centre’s ‘flag’ feature in the cab and on their phones to mark any new weed patches.

“It is so important for us to have ‘eyes on the paddocks’,” says Will. “Dropping the flags is easy, and everyone in the business can see the problem areas, making it simple to communicate and find where the weeds are.”

The Langleys also keep cultivation as an option within their farming system, often tied in with their bed renovation program every five to ten years.

They occasionally use narrow windrow burning to address high weed numbers, but this tactic is only used if weed seed cannot be controlled before harvest.

Diverse herbicide program

The Langley’s agronomist, Ben Dumesny, from Premier Ag Consulting, works with the family to prepare a comprehensive agricultural chemical mixing program and coordinate herbicide resistance testing as required.

Through their resistance testing regime, they have noticed that annual ryegrass resistance to tri-allate (e.g. Avadex, Group 15), clethodim (Group 1), and glyphosate (Group 9) may be increasing. Accordingly, they have adapted their canola variety choices and are rotating their chemical modes of action.

They have incorporated several newer herbicides, such as Overwatch, Dual Gold, Luximax, and Mateno Complete, and some of the new use patterns to add more diversity to their ‘mix and rotate’ plan. After several consecutive wet years, the Langleys were pleased to see that their paddocks were still very clean, and in 2023, they had a great result with their pre-emergent herbicides.

“Along with Ben, we are keeping a close eye on new herbicide trial results in the district and observe how well each new mode of action works in our system,” says Will.

Due to their local environmental conditions, the timeliness of herbicide applications in winter is an ongoing battle for the Langleys. They have invested in a water truck and mixing trailer to minimise downtime and increase efficiencies when spraying. Their John Deere self-propelled sprayer has pulse width modulation (PWM) and turn compensation, making it easier to apply herbicides accurately according to the label instructions.

In some years it is necessary to engage aerial sprayers to keep weeds under control. The job requirements determine whether they use a plane, helicopter or, most recently, drones. Will and Charlie keenly monitor the advances in weed control technologies, looking for those that will benefit their farming system.

The raised beds provide an aerobic environment that supports deeper root development.

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