Crops

The Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development continues to support the growth and international competitiveness of all crop industries in Western Australia.

With a 2400 kilometre span from its tropical north to its temperate south, WA supports a broad range of cropping industries from rain-fed winter cereals through to irrigated horticultural crops.

In the 2012/13 year the WA cropping industries exported a total of $3.9 billion which comprised: $3.1 billion of cereals, $859 million of pulses, pastures and oilseeds, $142 million of horticultural crops. The major contributors to these exports were wheat ($2.7 billion), canola ($756 million), barley ($377 million), lupins ($42 million), carrots at $48 million, oats ($12 million), and strawberries at $5.5 million.

Articles

  • Claying involves adding and incorporating clay-rich subsoil into water repellent topsoil to overcome the repellence.

  • If you are deep-ripping, ploughing or spading to remove subsurface compaction or another constraint, it is a good idea to incorporate lime in the same operation.

  • Liming to recover an acidic soil to an appropriate pH can result in significant production benefits, however a response to liming indicates that previous production has been lost due to an acidic t

  • The rate of soil acidification due to agriculture can be reduced but not eliminated. Liming will always be needed to prevent the soil from becoming too acidic.

  • Soil acidification occurs naturally very slowly as soil is weathered, but this process is accelerated by productive agriculture.

  • A small decrease in soil pH represents a large increase in soil acidity.

  • Agricultural lime is any product that is used to increase the pH of soil. In Western Australia, the three main sources are limesand, limestone and dolomitic lime.

  • Aluminium toxicity in the subsurface is the major problem associated with soil acidity in Western Australia.

  • Carbonate from calcium carbonate (or magnesium carbonate) neutralises acid in the soil.

  • In this section you will find detailed information on various case studies highlighting the long-term benefits of liming and different options used by farmers for incorporating lime.