Department of Agriculture, South Australia Special BulletinNo. 10.75/1 AgricultureinSouth Australia THE LOWER$OUTH-fl$T 10: 14, I /. y, -°- ._ -a--'°. ,:a. ,_=.e ' - r Ar'fT > . ti}r 1 ',; ,- s 1+. - . 7 at IL. -:;:,: *; , . .'o -... ... t .-\. 3 . t` s. i' . Stalla Struan House, Naracoorte. CoZern&ra NI year to crops for vegetable oils. Not all soils are Agriculture in South Australia suited to the new crops. In future, it can be expec- ted that the more suitable soils will be sown to crops of all kinds, while the poorer soils will be . THE LOWER SOUTH-EAST intensively stocked and grazed. By P.L. Marrett, District Agronomist, Mount The district Gambier. The State border is the eastern boundary, the sea coast forms the western boundary, and a line drawn north of Frances and Kingston marks the northern boundary. The total area of the three counties, Grey, MacDonnell and Robe, is more than 1.5 million hectares. The area is well served with air and rail services and has an excellent network of sealed roads. , There are several extinct volcanoes in County Grey, t; , . 1, the best known of which are Mount Burr, Mount . ,. sr~ . Gambier and Mount Schank. These extinct vol- - F, >4. u, . canoes, together with other features such as the 4. crater lakes, caves at Tantanoola and Naracoorte, . ° 4` iá' . and a flourishing pine industry, attract many -w :.j'. ID N- 4 -..^ . , tourists each year. \, k. -.,,t, t . rriZN The population of slightly less than 50,000 persons Pruning and rod tying time in a Coonawarra vine- lives mainly in the local townships. The largest yard. town is Mount Gambier, which has a population of about 20,000. There are several centres that do not qualify as towns, but are focal points for district "':i.r ,r.1iwYM.Ar+A rL activities. Mer-... _.'.w. - l ... i, A'. .Í ti+, i 1`. i -e-.. Apart from rainwater catchments at homesteads and sheds, the district is completely dependent on under- ground water. This means that attention must be paid to the maintenance of the quality and quantity of this vital resource. Two research centres located at Kybybolite and Struan serve the district including the Upper South- East. Department of Agriculture offices are situated at Mount Gambier and Struan. The latter is the South -Eastern Regional Headquarters of the Department of Agriculture. Sweetcorn is one of the new crops in the South- Ridge systems and drainage East. Yields of 10 to 12 t per ha are common. Several ranges of low hills run in a N.N.W.- S.S.E. direction. Between the ranges there are flats which were drainage lines carrying surplus waternorth- The Lower South -East has gone through several wards before artificial drains were constructed. phases since the late 1940's. First there was the Each range and flat is lower in elevation than its new pasture development stage, followed byfairly eastern neighbour. This feature is important for rapid increases in sheep numbers. As wool prices artificial drainage. eased, there was a decided increase in cattle num- bers. On a dry -sheep equivalent basis cattle now Large volumes of water enter the district each outnumber sheep. year from east of the Naracoorte range andVictor- ian Highlands. The water comes in via Morambro, The district is currently entering a new phase with Naracoorte and Mosquito Creeks. However, natural increases in vine plantings, an increasing interest in drainage to the sea is limited to a few small creeks vegetables, and appreciable areas being sown each and springs. The best known of these is Eight Mile 2 ,_.. ... .... :...I.... i á fi, t r_ÿa -.-..-^^ 7",i4 . %._ - y _ GT wf _ . ^ . , ", 1 yr . ;,1i H M)r ,!4,... ' 4 ., t ' 4 U Cc; y1 ...s.,3.,.,......". 7. ., p ï ;. -. C ;a ':-.:.ii r , ár.. ,. l ..áF. i.. 4: . uy' ..sar, . Mount Hope drain north of Hatherleigh. Without Eight Mile Creek. One of thevery few natural drainage much of the South -East wouldnot be drainage outlets to the sea. developed. ,,.J° ash too is being more widely used. Underintensive .- rì' . .,y conditions responses to potashare obtained on all . .,..: soils except the black flats. ar Water Good supplies of undergroundwater can be -. , obtained from most parts of the district. Excep- tions are in the north western part wheresupplies can be limited. Artesian water occurs in the ;} . western area near Kingston and south to Clay o Wells. Water quality in most of thearea is good. oti'o.. a, c r_,-is Act Permits are now required before drillingmay be carried out for irrigation supplies and drainagepur- Naturally occurring sinkholesremove surplus water poses beyond prescribed depths (see Map 1). east of the Naracoorte range. Where water is needed for stock, domesticand fire fighting purposes, drillingto a depth of 10 m may be carried out without a permit. Further Creek. East of the Naracoorterange "sink- holes" information can be obtained fromthe Department remove some surplus water. In other parts bores of Mines and the Engineering andWater Supply have been used to dispose of surplus water. Department. Fertilisers Animal production With the exception of boron one or more of the In the last decade sheep numbers havedeclined, chemical elements which plants and animals but cattle numbers have almost trebled. require are known to be deficient somewhere in the district. Sheep. Numbers reacheda peak in 1966 -67, following steady annual increases formany years. Because of their naturally poor structure, the Since then, numbers have fallen by 1.3 million. sandy soils need to be artificially supplemented This represents a decline of about 30per cent. The with most elements. The black soils of the flats biggest drop was in County Grey wherenumbers (rendzinas) are in least need of complex fertiliser fell by 700,000. The most likelyreason for the additions. decline was the declining wool priceand good prospects for beef. All soils, including the volcanic soils, which had high phosphorus levels in their virgin state, now In County Grey prime lamb productionfrom cross- need regular dressings of superphosphate. Of bred mothers is the main sheep enterprise,while in importance, especially with the increases insuper- the more northerly parts of the district Merinos phosphate prices, is the need for additional sulphur are more important. Corriedales are also run in the on the acid sands in the higher rainfall areas. Pot- district. 3 Map 1: Defined areas for drilling for water in the South -East. I I j t I I II I I I 1 _ 1 A J 1 I.1.r-1 Area 11 I I Prescribed depth 25 m Arch MakinMcCallum Area 10 Shaugh Prescribed depth 10 m, t 1 25 m I --t- 10 m I I I Keith I I Senior 1 i Cannawigara I I StirlingPendleton Area 9 I---I------- 1 Prescribed depth 5 m, I 1 5m I I W i r rega Tatiara I Willalooka 1 1 I I _ I Duffield !Peacock' 'Parsons I eea mmal I Landseer IMarcollat_ ieeceela I i 10m1 II 5mI J Glen _ _ 1 G r Murrabmna I Roy I Lacepede Previously defined areas I J I Minecrow Ieinnum I ILochaber Area 2, Kingston' Woolumbool I Hynam I . t : I r I 1 Area 3, Mt. 1 CD Benson Bowakal NaracloorteIJessie 1 'Townsend\ Spence lNaracoorte O I Joyce r V manna Area 4 RossI Conmurra 1 Rob 1 Robertson 1 r 5m Water I I Area 5 House -I-i ray Smith Fox ColesIKillanoola I Revised prescribed depth 5 m L_ _ I Comaum Lake Penolá George' SymonKennonShort I I I I 4Monbull4 Penole Rivoli 2.5 m IMount? Nángwarry I y IMuirheadl RiddochGrey 1 I Area 6 J -L.- - Prescribed depth 2.5 m Mayurra_, ç nt- I Hind marshYoungMingboo Area 7 . I I Prescribed depth 5 m Benara Blanche1 0 Scale in kilometres 50 Mt. GambierGambier I 1 ongorong I I 5m I MacDonnell 'Caroline 4 main pig producing area. It appears that pig production is carried out by genuine pig breeders and not by farmers who are forced to change sl -....`±.ÿ_' enterprises because of drought. Mount Gambier is ti. o the pig marketing centre of the district. ! 17S. °° rF Top- dressed pastures !i ^ The area top dressed has increased in the past 10 _. years. However, there were fluctuations during this time brought about by variations inseasons frwr. and product prices. More than half the available pasture area is top dressed annually. Unfortunately, .t' there is no information about the types of pastures. A big proportion would be subterranean clover Part of the new Naracoorte sale yards. Morenew and annual grass based pastures. Pasture improve- complexes like this are needed to handle the high ment, by sowing to perennial species, is a continu- stock numbers in the South -East. ing programme for many farmers. Hay production Beef cattle. Numbers of cattlerose dramatically in the last four years of the decade. In these fouryears The main form of fodder conservation is hay. the numbers more than doubled from 262,000to There are several methods used in making hay. 526,000. This increase broughtmany problems to These include the rectangular bale, the round bale farmers. Watering points, previously adequatefor and the large fodder roll. There is no doubt that sheep, had to be modified. Increasedstorage and the rectangular bale is still the most popular. better troughing had to be provided. Hay making as an enterprise is a valuable industry In the change to beef many farmers had fencing in itself, being worth about $2,000,000 annually. troubles. Electric fences proved to bea great asset The area cut and the amount made has keptpace in making sheep fences cattle- proof.