WESTERN District grain growers have a chance to learn more about soil acidity at a Southern Farming Systems field day at Wickliffe next week.
Victorian Department of Primary Industries' soil-health officer Tim Johnston will outline the basics of soil acidity and the consequences of not doing anything.
His talk will be followed by a farm walk on the property, with further presentations by Precision Agriculture's Andrew Whitlock, and Martin Peters, of Farm Works, on how variable rate technology can be used to treat the problem.
Farmers will then travel to George Burdett's property to see a demonstration of soil manuring run by DPI scientist Renick Peries.
The field day will begin at Neil Vallance's property, Aberfoyle, on the north side of the Glenelg Highway between Lake Bolac and Wickliffe from 8.30am on February 25, and end with a barbecue lunch.
Deregulation revisited
THE Victorian Farmers Federation will look back at the controversial issue of deregulation at its annual grains conference in late March.
The VFF will panel sessions on two key topics during its conference at the Wimmera Machinery Field Days site at Longerenong.
The first is themed "Deregulation: were we ready for it?" and the other looks at whether corporate and family farming can co-exist.
Under its new format, the annual conference will also run six workshops on topical farming issues.
The conference runs from March 29-31.
Crop nutrition
A CANADIAN researcher will talk on the latest advances in crop nutrition at the Grains Research and Development Corporation farm adviser update in Ballarat next week.
Adrian Johnston, vice-president of the International Plant Institute, will be a keynote speaker at the two-day event. Another international speaker is British scientist Roger Sylvester-Bradley, who will talk on recent developments in the management of high-rainfall zone crops. Dr Sylvester-Bradley has addressed GRDC updates in the past.
The forum will be held at Ballarat's Mercure Hotel and Convention Centre next Tuesday and Wednesday.
Ethanol
WORD from the US indicates government authorities are attempting to ramp up ethanol production in a bid to reach President Barack Obama's biofuels targets. US production has been slipping behind the rate needed to meet President Obama's target.
According to Ethanol Producers Magazine, the Biofuels Interagency Working Group, made up of the US Department of Agriculture, the Department of Energy and the Environment Protection Authority, has been meeting to discuss ways to increase ethanol use so as to reduce the reliance on fossil fuels.
One proposal is to promote blends higher than E10, such as E15 and E20. Another idea is to develop green products using ethanol as the base, rather than petroleum-based material.
- Send your grain news to Peter Hemphill, The Weekly Times, PO Box 14999, Melbourne, 8001, email hemphillp@theweeklytimes.com.au or fax it to (03) 9292 2697.
