Long fallow meaning 12 months of bare cultivated soil with up to 8 or 10 cultivations. Long fallow is still widely practiced in our area. Most farmers burn their crop residues prior to cultivation. A practice that is very costly to the environment. We have not burnt any residues since 1982 and no cultivation has taken place since 1984.
All crop is direct seeded into the undisturbed residues from the previous season's crop.
In Australia the belief that pasture must be included in a crop rotation is deeply entrenched in the minds of not only traditional farmers but agricultural research and extension people as well. It is a practice that has come from the early settlers from England and still persists today. However, this desire to run livestock, mainly sheep, in a cropping rotation is the greatest impediment to the successful adoption of intensive cropping systems. It is my belief that cropping and grazing do not mix. We then started asking questions.