You are invited to contribute to a GRDC funded project which is exploring current practices around soil amelioration and constraint management, and guiding future investments in to innovative engineering solutions. Note that for this workshop the presenters will join via Zoom, and participants in the Geraldton region will meet in the DPIRD office for group discussion facilitated by Dr Stephen Davies.

ABOUT THE PROJECT
We are part of a GRDC project which is working to inform the basis for future industry research and development investments into innovative
machinery solutions for the improvement of:
• Soil amelioration via deep tillage considering
high capacity and versatile solutions for subsoil
ripping, topsoil inclusion, profile mixing and
sublayer delving technologies.
• Processes to deliver organic matter into poorly
structured subsoils and opportunities linked to
farm-grown biomass.
• Seeder functions to improve the reliability of crop
establishment in marginal soil moisture conditions
including water repellent sands.

Ultimately, we are working to improve the design and efficiency of tillage-based soil amelioration machinery and crop seeding technologies to better suit Australian soil and climatic conditions. Our goal is to identify priorities and develop recommendations for investments into innovative technologies which are tailored to each region and
solve issues specific to soil type, rainfall and farming system. These workshops will explore gaps and opportunities in machinery innovation for soil amelioration and crop establishment.

Discussion topics will cover:
• Effective and efficient soil tillage technologies
• Improved seeder functions and crop
establishment
• Organic matter delivery into subsoils
• Optimising soil/machine interactions via computer
simulations
Facilitated sessions will explore:

What machinery innovations should be prioritised
to improve efficiency, versatility and power
requirements in soil amelioration?
How can we best integrate the use of farm-grown
biomass for subsoil amelioration?
• What machinery innovation would make a
difference to more reliably establish crops under
limited moisture?
• How should we best address existing machinery
performance bottlenecks?