GPS Application In Wimmera and Mallee Agriculture

1. GPS ApplicationIn Wimmera and Mallee Agriculture • Ivan Mock and Ben Jones, DPI Walpeup

3. Precision Farming or Farming with Precision? • Where are the best returns for investment in positioning technology in broadacre agriculture?

4. Precision FarmingMeasure spatial variation and manage accordingly Scale of management unit (8+m) much greater than existing GPS accuracyManagement recommendations confounded by environment

5. Precision FarmingAdditional accuracy is useful but will not greatly enhance benefits

6. Farming with PrecisionGuidance of implements in the paddock - Applications with existing agronomy - Applications with new agronomy enabled by guidance

7. Existing Agronomy-Eliminate overlap between implement runs and reduce/eliminate headlands = waste of inputs-Expand operational capability eg night spraying, harvesting = more efficient use of inputs-Predictable benefits through cost reduction and timeliness of operations-Occasional 2-10 cm guidance

10. Paddock Layout Worked Up and Back, no patches, 105.0 hectares Worked Up and Back, no patches, 105.0 hectares Worked Round and Round, in patches, 110.7 hectares Worked Round and Round, in patches, 110.7 hectares No overlap, 101.6 hectares No headlands, 100 hectares Each hectare = $112 input costs

11. Farm layout • Substantial scope for re-arranging farms to take advantage of guidance technology • Superficially works against messages of the last century • Loss of layout by land class mitigated by spatial management according to land class

12. New Agronomy • Novel farming Systems - focus of a Grains Research and Development Corporation project at VIDA Walpeup • ‘Conservation Farming’ - NSW/QLD/ Wimmera farmers

13. Novel Farming Systems • 2 cm guidance requirement • Inter-row seeding, fertilising and spraying • Increased crop intensity, reduced input costs per crop hectare

14. In theory

16. Conservation Farming • 2 cm guidance, direct drill, controlled traffic • Precise placement of seed with respect to stubble of previous crop • Inter-row fertilisation • More applicable to Wimmera (> 350 mm annual rainfall)

18. Farming with Precision • Reliable beneficiary of increases in real time positioning accuracy • Greatest return will come when guidance-enabled changes to agronomy are realised

19. Implications for GNSS • Large market of potential guidance and point location users spread across extensive farming regions • Public and private benefits from provision of correction signal • Reliability of GNSS and the correction signal is important

20. Is there an economic optimum accuracy?