THE best technology is right in a producer’s backyard, it’s just a matter of managing it.
For the past decade, Bayer Business Development Manager Tim O’Grady has been visiting horticulture farms around the country and witnessing their transition towards a more sustainable or holistic farming system.
His work involves encouraging growers to move towards a more productive farming system by building soil carbon through controlled traffic, compost and cover crop systems.
“We are trying to promote a whole system rather than a product,” he said.
“There is growing awareness that soil carbon is a key driver in productivity.
“How to build carbon in large scale intensive vegetable production is the challenge.
“Innovative growers are adopting controlled traffic and less aggressive tillage systems, compost application and cover cropping.
“Each farming systems has a different set of constraints in adopting these tactics.
“It’s not a case of one size fits all.”
These are basic principles, Mr O’Grady said, but they are difficult to achieve on a large scale farm with constant customer demands.
“Moving towards a holistic system is difficult in a large scale vegetable operation with customer demands to keep up with. It’s a step wise process,” he said.
With many horticulturist across the state now assessing the damage from ex-Tropical Cyclone Debbie, Mr O’Grady said one of the proven benefits in soil carbon is building resilience in the farming system.
“Some growers have still been able to harvest crops despite extremes of weather due better soil health,” he said.
“There is a long way to go...but there are some larger scale vegetable growers leading the pack.”
Mr O’Grady will be a speaker for the panel discussion at Queensland Country Life’s Food Heroes event at Gatton on April 12.
He will discuss what innovation looks like in horticulture and the innovative practices he has witnessed during visits to properties across the country.
The host property, Koala Farms, are just one of the large scale horticulture operations leading the way in innovation by utilising such techniques.
Lucy Kinbacher
Raised on a cattle property at Biggenden, Lucy Kinbacher has spent 10 years working across metropolitan, regional and rural publications in both Queensland and NSW. Lucy has been the editor of the Queensland Country Life and North Queensland Register since 2021.
Raised on a cattle property at Biggenden, Lucy Kinbacher has spent 10 years working across metropolitan, regional and rural publications in both Queensland and NSW. Lucy has been the editor of the Queensland Country Life and North Queensland Register since 2021.
