Crop yields form an essential part of every Australian farmer’s daily life. Crop yields are crucial as they are directly tied to the profitability of the farmland. This makes increasing yields a farmer’s top concern.
With the new year rolling in within a few days, the topmost thought on every farmer’s mind remains increasing their crop yields.
After all, how much a farmer can produce within a given cropping season is a testament to the efficiency of that farmer. And in the current world order, efficiency and effectiveness are the two factors that determine success.
Here at Kelly Engineering, we know that you want to get the most out of your farmland. So, to help you do just that, here are some top tips that can help you to increase crop yields in the coming year.
Choose The Right Time To Plant
In farming, it is essential that you choose the right time to plant your crops. Knowing when your field is ready for planting is crucial to the success of your crops. There are multiple soil tests that you can perform to get an idea of whether your soil is ready or not. Once you find that it is, get ready and start planting. Favourable soil conditions can give you an early bird advantage that you just wouldn’t want to miss out on.
Practice Crop Rotation
Planting the same crop year after year can actually be detrimental to your yield rates. This is because the same crop planted consecutively drains your soil of essential nutrients that cannot be replenished as fast as required.
In order to overcome this problem, you need to practice crop rotation. This means alternating different crops that have different nutrient requirements. This way, the soil gets time to replenish its store of nutrients and distribute the nutrient requirements of your soil. Crop rotation can be an effective strategy to continuously maintain the productivity of your land.
Take To The Feet
Instead of making rounds of your farmland in some kind of motorised vehicle, consider taking a long walk around your property. Inspect the soil, look out for weeds and make sure that your crops are free from pests and diseases. This will give you a comprehensive idea about your farmland’s condition which will ultimately help to increase crop yields.
Ensure Proper Water Management
Water is life, and for increasing crop yields you need to improve your drainage provisions. Proper water management is essential to ensuring that your crops survive in the long term and present you with the desired yields.
Make sure that your fields are getting the required amount of water, but also ensure that they don’t get overwatered. This can do more harm than good. Improper water management can introduce problems such as salination or waterlogging which can ultimately affect your yields negatively.
Fertilise Carefully
As every experienced farmer knows, fertilisation of soil is an important prerequisite to ensuring steady crop yields. But fertilisation can actually be a tricky proposition. Too little and your field doesn’t receive the benefits of the process. Too much and you can actually end up damaging your soil. Excessive chemical fertilisation can lead to loss of soil productivity.
Consider your fertilisation requirements carefully before you start fertilising your fields. Different crops have different fertilisation requirements, and this factor should be carefully considered before fertilisation.
Weeds Are Not Your Friends
In fact, they can be a serious impediment to increasing your crop yields. Invasive varieties of weeds drain your soil of the essential nutrients and thus deprive your crops of the nutrition that they require in order to mature properly. They also take up valuable farming space and may attract pests.
Therefore, careful de-weeding is needed to ensure that your field remains in top planting conditions. Remember, a stitch in time saves nine, and taking care of the weed problem before it gets out of hand can help you to nip the problem in the bud.
Final Words
These were the top tips from our end to increase crop yields. We are hopeful that you will utilise these tips to your advantage. And if you are looking for help, contact us today for special farming equipment from Kelly Engineering.