Angelo Loi & Steve Carr (Bayclassic) ALOSCA™ granular inoculant  New inoculation technology for grain and pasture legumes Angelo Loi & Steve Carr (Bayclassic)

Crop and pasture legumes add enormous value to farming primarily through their : Ability to fix atmospheric nitrogen Weed control Wool and meat production.

Root nodule bacteria NITROGEN

Traditional inoculation

Nodulation failure

Rhizobium effectiveness Inoculated Uninoculated

Thanks to the Centre for Rhizobium Studies we have some of the best strains in the world Casbah (biserrula)

Trifolium incarnatum cv Caprera …and we can successfully grow the new pasture species recently developed in WA Trifolium incarnatum cv Caprera

Grain legumes

Old technology (peat based) Peat inoculants must be stored and transported at 4-6OC Best when inoculated onto seed and then sown immediately into moist soil Rhizobia die rapidly when exposed to high heat and when exposed to dry soils in southern Australia (>90% within 24hours) Rhizobia have sub-optimal performance when mixed with certain seed-applied fertilisers insecticides and fungicides

Why do we need ALOSCA to inoculate our pasture legumes Easy to do (mixing one bag of ALOSCA and one of seed) Reduce the risk of decreased rhizobium viability under stressful condition (eg. sowing in suboptimal conditions or dry autumn conditions) Be ready to sow when conditions are right Undersowing and dry-sowing are possible due the high viability of the rhizobium in the granules (over one year in the soil)

Rhizobia die when inoculated seed is sown into dry soil & this cause a Grain legumes Often a compromise between disease control (seed applied fungicides) and effective N fixation (conventional inoculation) Rhizobia die when inoculated seed is sown into dry soil & this cause a delay in nodulation- compromise yield

Liquid inoculant Liquid-based inoculants generally have a shelf-life of less than six months Logistics of delivery on a large scale Liquid-based inculants have a limited inoculum delivery potential of several thousand cells per seed

- Western Australian company International patent Special clay combined to a novel technique

Improving inoculant technology ALOSCA Peat Uninoculated PEAT ALOSCA

Faba beans Nodulation score at 8 weeks for Faba beans sown with ALOSCA at Mullewa and Nyabing (average of both sites) Howieson et al 2004.

Pea rows at Nyabing

What happen when condition start to get suboptimal? Peat and Liquid technology work very well under optimal moisture and temperature soil condition What happen when condition start to get suboptimal?

Summer temperatures on soil surface are very high

6 weeks at high temperature ALOSCA 6 weeks at high temperature Fresh peat Uninoculated

‘ALOSCA’ dry clay inoculant provides the opportunity to sow legumes dry Nodule score on Faba beans at 10 weeks ALOSCA granules sown at 10 kg/ha with faba beans produced better nodulation than normal practice

Dry autumn conditions ALOSCA Traditional Whittington’s farm (East Brookton)

Max Hawley (Pingrup): Faba beans seed production Uninoculated Sandy: 100 % Clay: 100 % Conventional Sandy: 130% Clay: 102 % ALOSCA Sandy: 165 % Clay: 114 %

No refrigeration needed Flexibility – capacity to mix ALOSCA with both seed and fertiliser SEED ALOSCA Same storage No refrigeration needed

Remedial option for poorly nodulated pastures ALOSCA Drilled 5 cm - 10 kg/ha ALOSCA Top dressed 10 kg/ha Untreated No nodules Burr Medic (4.7 pH)

Introducing improved strains in old pasture stands of sub-clover

ALOSCA has been tested in WA (2003-4) “Ballard Seed” evaluated ALOSCA at 12 demo sites in 2004

Up to 6 t DM 1 t of seed T. formosum cv Portolu inoculated with ALOSCA Paish & Wilson (Badgingarra) Up to 6 t DM 1 t of seed

Biserrula (Casbah) inoculated with ALOSCA granules at Tincurrin (Ballard Seed)

Yelbeni (yellow serradella) inoculated with ALOSCA granules at Hagboon’s farm

Summary ALOSCA: viable alternative to conventional inoculation Granules remain viable in the soils for extended periods in soils subject to wetting and drying cycles (ie false break) Research indicates equivalent nodulation (to conventional ) under optimal conditions- but SUPERIOR under adverse conditions Easy to handle

Summary cont. Option for seed applied insecticides (important for small seeded pastures) Current indications are that up to 1000 times the number of cells in ALOSCA are alive at sowing compared with conventional inoculation Enables effective nodulation under poor or dry sown conditions ALOSCA is compatible with seed applied fungicides

sliced bread” Countrymen 31/7/03 Max Hawley (Pingrup): “ALOSCA granules: best thing since sliced bread”

Why pastures in the rotation? Nitrogen Weed control More sheep per ha

Poor sub-clover pasture 4 sheep /ha 2t of wheat (80-100kg of Urea) Before pH 4.2 310 mm Poor sub-clover pasture 4 sheep /ha 2t of wheat (80-100kg of Urea) Trees to be planted After: 2003 - Santorini (yellow serradella) pH 4.2 310 mm DM = 11t & >3t pods Potential water use over 500 mm 15 sheep/ha

2004 Wheat after serradella: a) 50Kg “Maps” 2.74 t/ha 11.4% (prot) b) 50Kg “Maps” + 30Kg Urea 2.50 t/ha 10.7% (prot) Trees to be planted Tot. 10t DM (tops and roots) 3.5% = Tot. N org = 350Kg 350Kg of org. N = 700kg of Urea 30% of this N will be available in the next year= 210Kg Urea (equiv.)

Biserrula (Badgingarra) 2004 Wheat after biserrula: Agstar 100Kg + Urea 40Kg 5.7 t/ha Agstar 100Kg + Urea 110Kg + NS51 100 5.1 t/ha

Establishing cheap pastures Undersowing Established pasture ALOSCA granules (S) Wheat Hard French serradella pods Fertilizer Wheat Hardseed breakdown of the pasture seed Sowing Second year First year

Grower survey Farmers asked to list for 2004 156 responses areas sown to pasture pasture legume varieties used 156 responses Mainly wheatbelt farmers Total farm area in survey: 572,852 ha 87% of respondents sowed new pastures in 2004 Area sown to new pastures: 64,470 ha Average of 26% of total area in pasture

Grower survey There is a strong interest in pasture improvement in Western Australia; An estimated total area of 1.3 mill ha of wheatbelt and mixed farming areas was sown to pastures in 2004; Over 50% of all pasture legumes sown in 2004 have been released since 1996 and are derived from the WA NAPLIP/CLIMA programs; Over 55% of species sown in 2004 were not the traditional species (subterranean clovers and medics)