The Grains Research and Development
Corporation will look to its Sustainable Farming Systems Program
team and its Regional Panels for direction on whether it should
have a role in machinery research and development.
In the meantime the corporation has
asked for more details from the authors of a report it
commissioned on the development of machinery for controlled
traffic farming systems in Australia.
The project began under the supervision
of the Kondinin Group and was completed by Queensland consultant
Wayne Chapman of WaySim Ag Services, with input from University
of Queensland Gatton campus specialist lecturer Dr Jeff Tullberg
and former Kondinin staffer Peter Walsh.
The corporationıs program manager for
sustainable farming systems, Martin Blumenthal, said the project
had done excellent work in surveying grower opinion about
machinery requirements for controlled traffic farming in
Australia and in discussing them with machinery manufacturers at
home and overseas.
The research team had achieved a big
step forward for Australiaıs CTF farmers through its role in
helping persuade a major manufacturer to make available
warranted equipment with a front axle width matching CTF
requirements.
According to Mr Chapman, the project
teamıs success in encouraging overseas and Australian
manufacturers to produce tractors and harvesting equipment
compatible with controlled traffic farming is the projectıs most
significant achievement to date.
"John Deere will shortly be marketing
the three metre front wheel assist tractor announced recently,
and warranted three metre units are already available from
buhler and JCB,ı he said.
"Harvesters with centred fronts and
extended augers will be available next year from Case and John
Deere.
"The 13 grower meetings the project team
held around Australia revealed overwhelming support for
controlled traffic farming from the farmers who attended and
widespread interest from 300 more growers who discussed the
system at Research Updates and field days.
"Growers identified a need for low cost
guidance systems for precision agriculture, with emphasis on
improved availability of independent, comparative information on
existing equipment. They were also wanted to see the development
of lower cost alternatives as well as research on the potential
benefits that might flow from improved guidance accuracy."
Mr Chapman said that, besides raising
the profile of Australian controlled traffic farming with
machinery manufacturers and encouraging the release of a number
of new product options, the project had also resulted in: o an
outline of the project and its focus group results to more than
70 industry people at a meeting of the Tractor and Machinery
Association and Australian seeding equipment manufacturers." o
presentations to the 2003 Agricultural Equipment Technology
Conference and the International Conference on Harvesting and
Processing, o an agreement with the USA Farm Journal to
cooperate in on-farm controlled traffic trials in America, o
axle manufacturers becoming aware mostly for the first time of
demand from controlled traffic farmers for 3.05 metre front
axles, which they said were technically achievable, with cost to
be determined by volume
