The Action on the Ground program assisted farmers and land managers to trial on-farm abatement technologies, practices and management strategies to reduce agricultural greenhouse gas emissions (methane and nitrous oxide) or sequester carbon in soil while maintaining or enhancing productivity.

This project aimed to trial, measure and demonstrate on-farm practices / technologies that addressed the Round 2 Action on the Ground priority of reducing nitrous oxide emissions.

This project was an initiative of the Burnett Mary Regional Group, is supported by funding from the Australian Government and is coordinated locally by BCCA.

The project trialed:

• the integration of legume rotations,
• the inclusion of soil amendments,
• minimum tillage practices,
• the use of nitrification inhibitors,
• improved irrigation management and timing of fertiliser and compost applications,

in grain cropping systems to demonstrate how improving soil structure and reducing nitrogen fertiliser applications has the potential to decrease nitrous oxide emissions. It is expected that doing so increase productivity on cropping lands in the Burnett Mary region of Queensland.

The project aimed to trial, measure and demonstrate on farm practices/technologies to reduce agricultural greenhouse gas emissions and improve cropping productivity through the following practices:

• integration of legume crops in the cereal cropping rotation,
• the inclusion of soil amendments,
• the use of nitrification inhibitors,

The project captured data on landuse history and production information including:

• crops grown and yields,
• tillage performed and stubble management,
• pasture history,
• grazing management,
• irrigation and fertiliser usage,
• Crop inputs (fertiliser, compost, irrigation frequency, rainfall),
• Crop yield, grain protein, and total biomass yield at harvest,
• Crop N uptake under different management practices (measured from plant sampling and total N analysis),
• Fertiliser N use efficiency by the crop under different treatments,
• N contribution from legume cropping to the subsequent grain crop,
• Compost will be analysed and nutrient composition recorded at each site.

The project aimed to provide local croppers with tangible data and agronomic advice on:

• Dynamics of daily N2O emissions.
• Cumulative N2O emissions under different management practices over the fallow and cropping season.
• Identification of the best farming system that results in the lowest N2O emissions without sacrifice of cropping yield.
• Analysis of daily N2O fluxes in relation to major driving factors such as soil mineral N, water content and climatic conditions.

The project was based in the irrigated cropped area on Monto in the North Burnett, beginning in Oct 2013 until April 2017.  Extension Officer Jenny Voigt was the Technical Officer responsible for the running of the project.

The project was funded through Round 2 of the Action on the Ground program, administered by the Australian Government Department of Agriculture.

For more information regarding the project, please contact the BCCA office (07) 4166 3898 or [email protected].