A grower survey of rotations used in the New South Wales cotton industry

1999 ◽  
Vol 39 (6) ◽  
pp. 743 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. L. Cooper

Summary. Cotton growers in the Macquarie, Namoi and Gwydir Valleys of New South Wales were surveyed in 1992 to determine what crops are grown in rotation with cotton, how frequently rotation crops are used, and what influences the grower’s choice of rotation system. A total of 155 properties were surveyed, covering 100, 49 and 58% of irrigated cotton produced in the Macquarie, Namoi and Gwydir Valleys, respectively. Although a large part of the 1992–93 cotton crop (61% by area) did not follow a rotation crop, there was widespread interest in rotations and 70% of properties had used rotations. Wheat was by far the most widely grown rotation crop, but there was considerable interest in other crops, especially legumes. The perceived benefits from rotation crops reported by most growers were better soil structure, less disease in following cotton, and more soil organic matter. However, when asked why they preferred certain rotation crops, these factors did not rate highly with growers. Crops that were easy to grow and gave the best financial returns possessed the main features sought in a rotation crop. The greatest problem in growing rotation crops was a lack of irrigation water. It is not surprising that this problem ranked highly because when the survey was conducted, the Namoi and Gwydir Valleys had water allocations of 15 and 0%, respectively. Not having suitable equipment to sow rotation crops was also a problem for 17% of growers, but 10% encountered no problems. The survey also investigated the use of permanent beds and retained hills. These practices have benefits for soil structure, and are almost essential for rotation crops which need to be sown as soon as the cotton is harvested. Over 80% of growers using rotations had adopted some form of permanent beds or retained hills. The benefit which ranked highest was a reduction in costs, followed by less soil compaction. Some growers (44%) who used permanent beds or retained hills had no problems, but handling the trash and keeping the rows straight were of concern to others.

1991 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 387 ◽  
Author(s):  
GW Charles

In 1989, 52 cotton growers from the 7 major cotton areas of New South Wales were surveyed regarding their weed-control costs, major weed problems and herbicide use. This paper presents and discusses the major results from this survey. On average, weed control costs the cotton grower $A187/ha annually, the major components being $76/ha for cotton herbicides and $67/ha for hand chipping. The major cotton weeds are Xanthium occidentale, X. spinosum, Cyperus spp., Physalis spp. and Ipomoea lonchophylla. Although these weeds affect a large proportion of the cotton-growing area, their incidence is generally stable or declining under the current management systems. However, Cyperus spp., which presently affect 15% of the cotton area, are escaping the weed management practices and rapidly becoming the major weed problem in many fields. Diplachne fusca is a major weed on irrigation channels and is not controlled by the registered herbicides. Trifluralin, diuron and fluometuron herbicides are used in cotton by over 60% of cotton growers. Glyphosate is used by 59% of growers in fallows prior to cotton, and atrazine, diuron and glyphosate are used on irrigation channels by over 60% of growers. Generally, cotton growers are dissatisfied with t h e high cost of weed control and the ineffectiveness of control of some problem weeds such as Cyperus spp.


1992 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 123 ◽  
Author(s):  
JF Holland ◽  
DF Herridge

Two crops of sorghum were grown in successive summer seasons at 3 sites on alkaline, black earth soils near Tamworth, New South Wales following either soyabeans, mungbeans, cowpeas, pigeonpeas, sunflowers or sorghum. Tillage practices were cultivation using a chisel plough and scarifier, and no-tillage using atrazine and glyphosate for weed control. Variation in grain yield (1.0-8.4 t/ha) was largely associated with variation in Dec.-Feb. rainfall (128-475 mm). An average of 15 kg grain/ha was produced for each mm water above the threshold value of 83 mm. At the high (Site A) and low (Site C) N-fertility sites, the rotation effect on sorghum yields was significant for one year, but did not carry over to a second sorghum crop. Cowpeas were the best rotation crop, followed by sunflowers mungbeans and soyabeans. At the low N-fertility site, sorghum following cowpeas outyielded sorghum after sorghum by 47% in the unfertilized plots and by an aExperiments to examine the effects of tillage practice and crop sequence on the production of sorghum grain in northern New South Wales are described. Two crops of sorghum were grown in successive seasons at three sites on alkaline, black earth soils near Tamworth following either soybean, mungbean, cowpea, pigeonpea, sunflower or sorghum. Tillage practices were cultivation using a chisel plough and scarifier, and no-tillage using atrazine and glyphosate for weed control. Variation in grain yield (1.0 to 8.4 t/ha) was largely associated with variation in December-February rainfall (128 to 475 mm). We calculated that an average of 15 kg/ha of grain was produced for each mm water above the threshold value of 83 rnm. At the high (Site A) and low (Site C) N-fertility sites, the rotation effect on sorghum yields was significant for one year, but did not carry over to a second sorghum crop. Cowpea was the best rotation crop, followed by sunflower, mungbean and soybean. At the low N-fertility site, sorghum following cowpea outyielded sorghum after sorghum by 47% in the unfertilized plots and by an average of 27% over all N treatments. It is likely that the increased yields of sorghum in the rotation plots resulted from higher levels of plant available N from both N2 fixation activity (legumes only) and reduced amounts of N removed with the harvested grain (particularly cowpea and sunflower). At the non-responsive, moderate-fertility Site B, water, rather than N, was limiting. Responses to no-tillage were apparent only in the very dry 1984/85 season (December to February rainfall, 42% below average). In the other three seasons, the cultivated crops outyielded the no-tilled crops or the differences between the two practices were not significant.


2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dominique Lee Moritz

IntroductionThe potential national registration of paramedics is a significant issue. Despite widespread support of paramedics joining other registered health practitioners under the National Registration and Accreditation Scheme, New South Wales continues to oppose.MethodsThis paper considers the New South Wales submission to the Senate Committee’s inquiry into the establishment of a national registration system for Australian paramedics. It evaluates the reasons for New South Wales Health’s opposition to national registration.ResultsNew South Wales Health’s reasons for opposing national paramedic registration includes the cost to implement a registration scheme, the desire to maintain vocational entry to employment and the purported efficiency of their current regulatory system.ConclusionNSW Health’s position fails to address the challenges of employer-based regulation and the significant public protection benefit of national statutory regulation.


2015 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lynden Griggs

This article is a comment on the article by Jacob Holmes in this volume entitled ‘Professional Sport and Market Restrictions: Is the Player Points System in the Australian National Basketball League an Unfair Restraint of Trade?’. It explores some of the difficulties in applying the traditional tests from Nordenfelt v Maxim Nordenfelt Guns and Ammunition Co Ltd  and Adamson v New South Wales Rugby League Ltd to sporting organisations and concludes that ultimately, the discussion of restraint of trade and its applicability to sporting organisations highlights the limits of legal experience, and suggests that only empirical data learnt through the hard lesson of experience will yield the knowledge we need.


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