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Probe boosts carbon data gathering

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Brad Wisewould and Jack Arundel of Carbon Ag with one of the Veris iScan high definition soil mapping and furrow sensing units that will be mounted on growers’ seeding bars during the upcoming seeding season.
Camera IconBrad Wisewould and Jack Arundel of Carbon Ag with one of the Veris iScan high definition soil mapping and furrow sensing units that will be mounted on growers’ seeding bars during the upcoming seeding season. Credit: Supplied/Supplied

A new high-definition soil mapping and furrow sensing module is set to help WA growers collect carbon data and other key soil measurements on farm.

Carbon Ag’s seeding bar mounted Veris iScan system complements the Veris U3 trailing platform, as well as the P4000 hydraulic four-sensor probe for deep soil coring, available as a complete mounted vehicle package.

Director Brad Wisewould said Veris technologies mapped entire paddocks to provide key soil indicators across farms and help fine-tune management zones within paddocks.

“There hasn’t been a tool available for broadacre growers to hire that maps their farms during the seeding process, effectively creating a baseline carbon store for their property,” he said.

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“With the iScan unit mounted on bars, we hope this can establish a dataset that will start to identify carbon baselines for growers from 2021.”

Mr Wisewould said some users of the U3 trailing platform — which consists of sensor probes measuring soil pH, electrical conductivity and soil organic carbon — had been impressed with its ability to identify areas of non-wetting soils in paddocks that could then be specifically targeted for amelioration.

He said the P4000 hydraulic probe could then “ground-truth” the different management zones devised by the iScan and U3 systems in paddocks.

“The P4000 takes soil cores to a depth of 1m and the sample remains in the core for accurate testing at different depth levels,” Mr Wisewould said. “The core sample is not mixed before testing. An infrared camera is sent down the soil core to measure soil organic carbon from 0cm to 1m and it also measures compaction and insertion force.”

Mr Wisewould said results of soil core testing could assist to tighten or loosen the relevant paddock management zones created.

He said Carbon Ag would provide training and support to growers and industry representatives to undertake their own testing with the systems.

“Growers and advisers have a better handle on where and how they want to conduct their own testing,” Mr Wisewould said.

The company — which has established a manufacturing facility in Kwinana — was also investing in technologies able to measure the amount of Australian Carbon Credit Units.

“The maps generated by the U3 and iScan units are accredited by the Emissions Reduction Fund for soil stratification purposes,” Mr Wisewould said.

Meanwhile, Carbon Ag also has now established a manufacturing facility at Kwinana, where it distributes its range of carbon-based products to growers.

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