John Keleher, Australian Lawn Concepts MD welcomed and thanked everyone for coming including DAFQ (Ian) and Turf Queensland and Dover and Sons. John then gave his talk on ‘This Is The First Time Variable Rate Irrigation Has Been Utilised For Turf Production In Australia’ along with Bob Dover from Zimatic.
Key Points:
100 plus ha of Turf production
50% high price 50% low price
25 staff
7 centre pivots (8ha to 60 ha)
Current owners for 12 years
Still learning…….
Water Use Efficiency
Pivots tested – distribution uniformity etc
Pumps tested – % efficiency, KwH etc
Soil Water holding capacity – moisture meters
Application efficiency
Pan Evaporation, Crop Factors
Practical Experience, BMP.
What’s missing?
Precision Ag/Site Specific Crop Management
Yield Maps
GPS
Application technology
Soil Map, EM 38
Software
Why VRI for ALC?
Practical technology
Natural Resource Management
Harvest cycle = $
Improved management
Social conscience
Greg Banff Golden Finch Lawns & Danny Weire Precision Ag Solutions) gave their talk on: Tractor mounted Variable-Rate Fertiliser (not Fertigation) is suitable for turf production and used widely in broad acre cropping.
Paul Spencer, Sales Agronomist Greenway Turf Solutions gave his talk on: Controlled release fertilisers minimise waste and the latest in fertiliser technologies to provide controlled release of nitrogen and protect nutrient sediment run-off whilst improving yield and protecting the environment.
We would like to again thank everyone who came to this event and hope that you had an informative and enjoyable day. #turf #turfproducers #turfgrass #turfgrassproducers #turffarm #lawn #lawns #perfectlawn #alcturf
https://www.ctlawns.com.au/turfbreed-and-my-home-turf-a-whole-new-turf-game-conference-at-australian-lawn-concepts/