Tom Price holiday

It is always good to have a break, but especially nice to find some warmer weather in the middle of winter, such as Tom Price, in the middle of the Pilbara.

The general landscape is spectacular -

This is why they can mine the iron ore (though even the town of Tom Price seems to be conscious of tougher times ahead) -

And the geology is awe-inspiring. (How does this happen?)

.... resulting in spectacles such as Hamersley Gorge in Karijini -

Dolphins at South Perth foreshore

Another win for nature, is that dophins can still live in the Swan River. In fact, swans can too.
These dolphins were using the retaining wall as a fish trap, with one staying further out from the wall, and perhaps helping by herding towards the wall, where the other one could catch them.

As a post-script, a friend who has been recording dolphin activity in the Swan River has used the markings on the fins to identify the individuals -
www.riverguardians.com/projects/dolphin-watch/
The mother appears to be "Pirulli", so presumably her companion would be her two year old calf named "Soul".

Bio control of aphids

After too many years with agronomists finding problems for people to spray, nature is fighting back this year with aphid management.
Stories are hitting agronomy headlines such as Pestfax, with aphids are being attacked by "white fungus" disease, as well as predators. From this week's edition of Pestfax -
"James Challis (Precision Agronomics Aust.) reports that some canola growers along coastal areas in the Esperance zone have been concerned about the prolonged presence of high numbers of GPA and the impact they maybe having on advanced canola plants that are nearing the end of flowering. James has more recently seen an increase of parasitic wasps, hoverflies and aphid specific fungi which are doing a great job at halting or reducing the aphid populations. Growers are now holding off on any late aphid spray decisions and monitoring the impact of the natural bio control agents on the aphids.
Jeremy Lemon (DAFWA) reports that a national variety trial near Nyabing has canola aphids that are colonising the edge of the trial. The good news is that many of the aphids were infected by a white fungus.
Entomologist Dusty Severtson (UWA/DAFWA) reports that he has seen an increase in levels of parasitoid wasps on canola crops SW of York and is hopeful that theses beneficial insects will keep aphid levels below economically damaging levels."

A couple of weeks ago, Pestfax included this story -
"A grower near Cranbrook reported that the last time he had aphids in his barley, he sprayed with a synthetic pyrethroid before late tillering. He noticed in the barley that he had not sprayed that there were higher aphid numbers. At flowering, aphid populations in his barley paddocks crashed, whereas in his sprayed paddock, aphids were present at high numbers and the paddock was again sprayed for aphids."

These stories fit a couple of general observation over many years.
1. Aphids may build up in cereal crops to large numbers, but can suddenly disappear by themselves. This is less apparent in canola though. It should also be remembered that the research on aphid thresholds was done many years ago, and mainly with one-year response trials, which would not have captured the long term impact of predators.
2. There has been a general observation that heavy users of insecticides have more insect problems than non-users.
I wish I could offer more concrete proof, but farming is a biological system, and probably too complex to ever fully understand. In the meantime, just because insecticides are cheap, does not mean they should be used as insurance.

 

Climate change deniers an interesting study in themselves

Climate change is now accepted "science", but some notable sceptics still argue to defend their position - even in public! Several who were named were Don Aitken (http://donaitkin.com/), Geoffrey Blainey and Ian Plimer
How do such people come to their views, and why does this phenomena continue?
This was discussed on Late Nite Live by Phillip Adams and  Tom Griffiths, a Professor of History and Director of the Centre for Environmental History at the Australian National University, Canberra, on July 31. Tom's views are summarised in an essay -

http://griffithreview.com/edition-41-now-we-are-ten/weather-and-mind-games

We would do well to attempt to understand how people develop their opinions.

How to get results from research for farming

Some R&D work with farming clients over the last couple of years has given some clues about how to get results from farm research.
Most people now realise that research for farming has not lifted productivity over the last couple of decades. Difficult seasons may be one reason, but my data indicates that productivity has not improved, even if converted to water use efficiency, which should remove most of the dry season effect.
Another objection to this claim has been that no-till has improved farm profitability, and this has resulted from farm research. To this, I would explain that no-till had already happened in peoples minds, more than two decades ago, and similar developments in mind-set have not been occurred since.
I contend, that we have had the wrong approach, in relying increasingly on somebody outside of farming doing the research and providing the expertise. GM cropping is one example, but the increase in number of agronomists is another.
The R&D being done by clients is a long story in itself, but is showing that it is possible to do better.
At the risk of criticising our current research institutions, these ideas need to be developed further. Hopefully I can contribute to this, amongst other day-to-day crises.

Pigs might fly, or just as likely, we might see Tax reform

A personal view has always been that everyone should be able to understand our tax law. Imagine if nobody knew the laws of driving on the road!
Whilst I know this is a vain hope, ideas for reform to simplify tax law are always of interest. I recently found (via the usual ABC Radio National) a great story by Robert Frank. It suggests tax reform, based on the principles of Charles Darwin -
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/18/business/darwin-the-market-whiz.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1&

The world is a complicated place - just like farm businesses. Principles of biology (and farming!) can be applied much more widely.

"Wisdom of Crowds" for Australian politics?

The book by James Surowiecki, "The Wisdom of Crowds" tells a good story about how large numbers of people can accurately forecast future events. Since reading it several years ago, the theory has not a always been right. But it has encouraged me to check on-line betting sites, to watch how people think about things like politics and the footy.
Just after Kevin Rudd was elected as Labor leader, and therefore Prime Minister, the odds of Labour gaining between 71 and 80 seats in the Lower House (75 to win Government), was $4.50 to $1. Odds have since dropped to $2.50. Still probably a good investment, if you believe the opinion polls.

2.4 per cent Neanderthal

Today's news is that my National Geographic DNA test has indicated that my genome is 2.4 per cent Neanderthal!
For some, this may explain why I am the way I am, but most other people of European descent have similar genetic profiles.
The test can be organised simply, with a kit costing $200, which can be bought on-line -
https://genographic.nationalgeographic.com/ The website explains more of the research.
I was interested whether the curly hair in the family came from sub-Saharan Africa. A recent TV program suggested that this was common enough in the UK population, for instance with migration following the Crusades. Apparently the test was negative on this possibility.
We still cannot confirm or deny any royal blood, but we are a part of the Neatherthal family. Not much chance of a lucky inheritance from them.