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On-farm trials - keep it simple for a clear result
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Now is a good time to consider a potential on-farm trial for the coming season.
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Looking at last season, was there something at your place that you wish you knew more about?
Maybe you had a block where the weather conditions meant you had to do things differently to your original plan – and that raised some questions you’d like answered.
Running your own on-farm trials can be a great way to test new ideas and practices and to find out what the results mean for you.
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Start with a simple question: can I get a yield increase from applying 2 tonnes/ha of gypsum? What is the optimum N rate in that field? Will product x give me an economic return?
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Keeping the question simple gives confidence in the results. Generally, it is best to look at Practice A compared to Practice B.
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The purpose of the trial is to land on one of two outcomes: the treatment has made a significant difference, or the treatment has made no significant difference.
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No response result is still a result. The question has been answered if the trial has been set up correctly.
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You need a control or nil strip in the same field. A single strip of a treatment can be a starting point and analysed for differences but can be prone to differences in soil conditions – which gives you a noisy result. It is safer to do multiple strips and controls across the field.
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A nil strip in another field will not pass the science test. A true comparison in the same field needs to be part of the trial design.
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Replication of the strips gives a lot more confidence.
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All sorts of things can happen in paddocks each season. Replicating the trial avoids chance events and gives you greater confidence in the result.
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The field chosen should be a field with known relatively stable yields in the past. Recent soil nutrient tests should be available if doing fertiliser trials. Treatment size should fit in with your planting machinery widths so could be the width of 12 or 24 1m rows.
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Choosing a stable block helps give you greater confidence in the result.
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Use physical markers so you know where the trial is come harvest. It can also be geo-referenced so the use of technology can be harnessed.
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If you lose track of the strips of the trial - then that’s it for the trial this season.
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A bale trailer can be used to record treatment weights, turnout estimated for the field and the treatment area calculated to give yield/ha. Hand samples may need to be taken from round modules for quality information.
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The more accurate your results, the more confidence you have.
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In some cases, the trial may be asking questions on what is the best rate to apply, so different treatments or rates are included in the trial design. It is best not to have too many treatments: keep it to a maximum of two or three rates and a control. These treatments need to be randomised across the field so one treatment is not favoured over another.
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A trial example showing replicated and randomised treatments.
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Want to know more?
Our Southern NSW REO Kieran O'Keeffe has created this short video on setting up an on-farm trial. Nick Barton from Precision Cropping Technology has also offered this advice for setting up on-farm trials. A range of service providers and consultants can also assist you with design and analysis of the results.
If you'd like help in setting up an on-farm trial for the season, or you'd like to discuss your trial design with other growers, please contact your local CottonInfo REO. We encourage people to talk to your REO if you are conducting a trial, so that we can support you and share the results with others.
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Southern Valleys REO Kieran O'Keeffe talks tips on setting up your own on-farm trial.
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Recent on-farm trials with CottonInfo
Through the last season, the CottonInfo team worked on a range of on-farm trials across the industry. These included trials on retention, cover cropping, soil biome, and pre-season nitrogen loss traffic lights. The team will share the results and information as it becomes available.
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