We have to sort out climate change, or what kind of a planet are we going to leave behind for Keith Richards

Early career agros - come along to UWA next Fri - 13th Dec. It would be bad luck not too!! I remember learning from Steve Powles when I was an early career agro myself, and his wisdom had a big impact on me. We'll have Steve, and many more great presenters. Register now

Are you an early career agronomist, looking for practical professional development and knowledge?

WeedSmart are hosting a workshop in Wagga on 6th December especially for you - covering the Big 6, IWM, critical thinking & more

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So yes, machinery, fuel, labour and repairs are definitely expensive these days. But if the machinery is run efficiently over reasonable scale, and productivity increases are made (eg. through soil amelioration), we are still in the game.

3. But! TPML in WA is actually decreasing as a percentage of gross farm income. This has been achieved by scale (and ensuring machinery runs efficiently over a large area), and productivity improvements. Data also from soil amelioration project

2. As has TPML. TPML is a measure of how much it costs to run the operations on your farm. It includes plant depreciation, repairs, fuel and labour. Data from a study on soil amelioration I did in WA in conjunction with Farmanco with funding from DPIRD & DRDC

Some data on the cost of Ag machinery these days.
1. There is no doubt that the plant value per hectare has ramped up over the past decade. Data from the Planfarm benchmarks

If you're thinking about going drone spraying, this webinar recording is worth a listen. Lots of your questions answered. I'm still not sure if it's the future, or is it just an alternative to aerial spraying in a wet year? Or maybe a bit of both. Thoughts?

good to see you guys in this new platform. I hope it stays like this!

my first follower! @hirschirsch.bsky.social