Diogenes L. Antille

• BSc MSc EngD CEng CEnv MIAgrE M.I.Soil Sci.
• Senior Research Scientist (Soil Physics) Team Leader (Soil Processes and Function) at The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation

The drive toward adoption of conservation agriculture to reduce costs and increase production sustainably causes concern due to the potentially negative effects of increased soil compaction. Soil compaction reduces aeration, water infiltration, and saturated hydraulic conductivity and increases the risk of waterlogging. Controlled traffic farming (...

Core Ideas Agronomic efficiency of organomineral fertilizers higher than biosolids granules. Organomineral fertilizers reduces the risk of soil P build‐up compared with biosolids. Conversion of sewage sludge into organomineral fertilizers improves the fertilizer value of biosolids. Field‐scale experiments in four crop seasons established the agron...

Soil compaction affects soil aeration and gas diffusivity, and thus has a major impact on the release of greenhouse gases (GHGs) from fertilised soils. Controlled traffic farming (CTF) systems reduce the area of compacted soil by confining all field traffic to permanent traffic lanes, and a pilot trial at one long-term CTF site provided evidence of...

There are multiple ways that nitrogen (N) use efficiency (NUE) can be assessed, and NUE indicators are documented in the scientific literature for measuring crop N uptake efficiency, crop N utilization efficiency, and several other agronomic efficiency indicators. At present, however, there is no consensus as to how NUE should be calculated and rep...

The water retention curve (WRC) of arable soils from the southeastern United States at different levels of compaction (no compaction, and 10 and 20% increases in soil bulk density) was estimated using the van Genuchten–Mualem (VG) model. The VG water retention parameters of the noncompacted soils were obtained first by fitting measured soil hydraul...

This paper reports on the development, validation and application of two numerical approaches for determining the effect of compaction on the soil water retention curve (WRC). The proposed approaches satisfactorily expanded the applicability of the van Genuchten (1980) model. The WRC of a wide range of soil types and textural classes used for arabl...

The energy use and emissions from direct fossil fuel combustion on-farms to power farm machinery was critically reviewed. Approximately, 15% of agricultural production costs on-farm are energy-related. A potential solution to more sustainable energy use is a shift toward biofuels from renewable resources. The reduction of greenhouse gas emissions t...

An overview of traffic management systems and their relative impacts on soil sustainability are provided. The analysis shows how non-organised agricultural traffic can have detrimental effects on the soil physical environment through changes in soil mechanical and hydraulic properties that affect important soil processes and soil functioning. Such...

Full article available at: Australian Cottongrower Vol.: 45, pp. 46-47, https://www.cottongrower.com.au/read/143#1.

The impact of climate change on methane (CH4) emissions from rice production systems in the Coimbatore region (Tamil Nadu, India) was studied by leveraging field experiments across two main treatments and four sub-treatments in a split-plot design. Utilizing the closed-chamber method for gas collection and gas chromatography analysis, this study id...

There is a growing interest in the use of pyrolysis plants for the conversion of solid waste into useful products (e.g., oil, gas, and char) and the analysis of air-polluting emissions associated with such a process is an emerging research field. This study applied a systematic mapping approach to collating, describing, and cataloging available evi...

Please access the full report at this link, available from the Society for the Environment's website: https://socenv.org.uk/resource/soils-and-stones-2024-socenv-progress-report/

A free air concentration enrichment experiment of different mustard varieties was conducted under elevated (e) ozone (eO3), carbon dioxide (eCO2), a mixture of eO3 × eCO2, and ambient air concentration. The study was conducted to investigate the relationship between plant physiological parameters and changes in atmospheric concentration of O3 and C...

Highlights Permeable materials can be used to fill mole drains and provide support to the cavity walls in structurally unstable soils. Permeable materials extend the lifespan and improve the hydraulic performance of mole drainage systems. Darcy’s law for nonlinear porous flow explained the hydraulic performance of the permeable materials used in th...

Nitrogen (N) released from soil organic matter (SOM) is quantitatively important for crop uptake, even when adequate fertiliser N is supplied. Understanding of SOM has shifted to recognise distinct fractions that correlate with properties such as turnover time, carbon (C) and N content, and chemical composition. Yet, how these fractions relate to N...

Deep sandy soils cover more than 10 M ha of Australia's southern dryland cropping lands. Farming these soils is inherently challenging, and yield gaps are often wide due to multiple cropping constraints. Physical constraints that limit rooting depth are commonplace and often attributed to traffic-induced soil compaction. However, recent observation...

Highlights Response surface methodology is suitable for DEM input parameter optimization. Soil reaction forces reduced at velocity ratios greater than one (1.2-3.9). Vibration reduced soil reaction forces at the target depth of 350 mm by 70%. In general, soil reaction forces increase with speed but decrease with frequency. Abrasive wear predominant...

A recent extensive review on the effects of applied nitrogen (N) rates on fiber quality showed varying results and inconsistencies. As a consequence, field trials were conducted in Australia during 2018 and 2019 in four locations using three popular high yielding Australian commercial varieties. Nitrogen was applied in the form of granular urea in...

Sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum L.) is the single most important agricultural industry in Fiji and occupies half of the nation's cropped area while supporting 25% of the labour force. However, the industry is facing comprehensive challenges across the supply chain, underlain by declining productivity and changing climate. The purposes of this stud...

Soil-cutting forces are key indicators of root-tuber harvesters and other soil-engaging tools’ performance. To improve operational efficiency, minimise soil disturbance, and reduce fuel consumption, the draught and vertical forces involved in root and tuber crop harvesting must be minimised. Two field experiments assessed the harvester’s performanc...

Thermal treatment in Australia is gaining interest due to legislative changes, waste reduction goals, and the need to address contaminants’ risks in biosolids used for agriculture. The resulting biochar product has the potential to be beneficially recycled as a soil amendment. On-farm management practices were reviewed to identify barriers that nee...

Nutrient recovery from wastewaters for re-use in agriculture is a key opportunity for a circular nutrient economy. The rapid consumption of rock phosphate and rising costs of ammonium production, alongside the environmental impacts of the discharge of nutrient-loaded wastewaters, highlight the necessity to recover and re-use nutrients, which otherw...

This work was conducted to quantify the area of a field that was wheeled by farm machinery over a cropping season. The commercial field used as a case-study had been managed under no-tillage for over 10 years, and it was established to soybean in the 2021-2022 cropping season when this work was conducted. Measurements showed that the total area of...

The race to meet net zero targets by 2050, while rapidly transitioning to a circular economy (CE) within the next decade, is shaping strategic Australian sustainability policy. While the success of integrating CE concepts relies on coordinating system wide change, policies and strategies are still evolving under the traditional silos of waste and e...

For this year’s World Environment Day, themed around solutions to plastic pollution, the Society for the Environment (SocEnv) highlighted the impact of microplastics and plastic pollution on soil health and its wider consequences on land condition and the environment. Plastic is one of many issues affecting soil health, cumulatively increasing the...

Low nitrogen (N) fertilizer use efficiency for irrigated cotton has been attributed to the limited ability of tap roots to access N from concentrated subsurface bands, or the preferential root uptake of microbially-mineralized dissolved organic N. This work investigated how applying high-rate banded urea affects the availability of N in soil and th...

A progressive decline in soil fertility in taro (Colocasia esculenta L., Schott) production systems has contributed to reduced crop productivity and farm profitability, and is recognized to be a threat to soil nutrient and food security in Samoa. Evidence based on three years of field experimentation showed that appropriate nutrient budgeting is re...

Soil application of biosolids as an organic fertiliser continues to be a cost-effective way to beneficially utilise its carbon and nutrient contents to maintain soil fertility. However, ongoing concerns over microplastics and persistent organic contaminants means that land-application of biosolids has come under increased scrutiny. To identify a wa...

In agricultural machinery design and optimization, the discrete element method (DEM) has played a major role due to its ability to speed up the design and manufacturing process by reducing multiple prototyping, testing, and evaluation under experimental conditions. In the field of soil dynamics, DEM has been mainly applied in the design and optimiz...

Compaction adversely affects the soil physical quality and crop yields in no-tillage (NT) systems. No-tillage seeders equipped with narrow tyne openers may be a cost-effective option to overcome shallow compaction in NT soil and reduce the reliance on tillage for seedbed preparation and crop establishment. This study was conducted to: (1) quantify...

Published in 'Farm Policy Journal' ISSN: 1449-2210. Available at: https://acrobat.adobe.com/link/review?uri=urn:aaid:scds:US:fa0598de-5e83-4bf9-bd47-cff3fe3ec8d4. Circular economy (CE) and bioeconomy (BE) are overlapping concepts that are receiving attention across various levels of government, industry, and academia. Interest is driven in pursuit...

Selecting the appropriate tyre configuration and settings for heavy farm vehicles is important to ensure that soil compaction and power loss in rolling resistance are minimised and traction is optimised. This study investigated the effect of front-wheel assist (FWA, ≈75 kN) and four-wheel drive (4 WD, ≈100 kN) tractors fitted with different tyre co...

This work was conducted to determine the area of a field trafficked by farm machinery over a cropping season. The case-study field had been established to wheat and managed under zero-tillage for over 10 years, and the soil type was a Typic Argiudoll. Measurements showed that the total wheeled area was 12-ha, representing 68% of the 19-ha field use...

Central Santa Fe (Argentina) is a low-gradient region with impaired natural drainage. Extreme rainfall events are increasingly common and cause significant economic losses to agriculture. There is a growing interest in the use of mole drainage as a cost-effective strategy to mitigate such impacts. However, there is no information available that ass...

Since human settlement approximately 2,000 years ago, Pacific Island nutrient cycles have been increasingly modified. Modern agricultural intensification has resulted in further changes in the island nutrient flows. Country scale agricultural land nutrient (nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium) budgeting in Tonga, Fiji, Samoa, Kiribati, and Tuvalu w...

Quantifying the impacts of soil disturbance on crop yield after installing an underground pipeline is essential for implementing effective mitigation plans and land restoration guidelines in agricultural systems. The objective of this study was to model maize and soybean yields on disturbed (subsurface pipeline installation areas) and adjacent undi...

This paper presents an overview of soil challenges for the Pacific region and a list of suggested recommendations. The impact and security of soil in the region are dependant not only on their diversity, but the ongoing changes in land-use and land-cover, its management, the policy and regulations, and the value placed by society more generally. A...

Irrigated cotton in Australia is mainly grown on heavy textured soils which are prone to waterlogging, resulting in significant losses of nitrogen (N) via denitrification and surface run-off. This study investigated fertiliser nitrogen use efficiency (fNUE) over three seasons on five commercial cotton farms using the ¹⁵ N tracer technique. Fertilis...

Soil compaction can negatively affect a range of soil hydraulic, biogeochemical and plant physiological processes. A study conducted in Luján (Argentina) investigated the effect of three traffic treatments (zero, controlled, and random traffic) on soil physical properties and soybean yield over a period of eight years. The soil at the site (Typic A...

No-tillage farming can improve crop productivity and the reliability of cropping compared with conventional tillage. The effects of three different seeding system configurations on surface residue handling, sunflower emergence and stand establishment, yield, and gross income were investigated over three cropping seasons. The seeding system configur...

Delays between soil sampling and processing for analysis are common in both research and agronomy, but the effects of storage conditions on measurements of plant-available nitrogen (N) are rarely considered. With increasing recognition of organic N pools in soils, such as amino acids and peptides, it is necessary to determine how sample handling im...

Bentleg furrow openers can significantly reduce soil disturbance and reaction forces relative to conventional narrow point openers used in no-tillage farming. The effect of bentleg opener geometry on soil disturbance and reaction forces in a cohesive soil was assessed in a virtual soil bin using the discrete element method. Soil disturbance and rea...

The discrete element method (DEM) is a powerful tool that can be used to predict soil disturbance and soil cutting forces to assist design optimisation of soil cutting tools. In this study, DEM input parameters were calibrated to model a cohesive soil (Black Vertosol of southern Queensland, Australia) using the hysteretic spring contact model, coup...

High operating speeds are desirable, different seeding depths are required, and low soil disturbance is necessary for sowing in no-tillage farming. The effects of operating speed (8–16 km/h) and depth (60–120 mm) on bentleg opener (four variations) performance were analysed in comparison to straight openers in a virtual soil bin using the discrete...

The long-term effects of zero, seasonally-controlled and ‘random‘ field traffic were monitored by measuring soil strength (used as an indicator of soil physical quality) and yield of soybean over eight cropping seasons. The work showed that significant yield, and therefore, financial penalties may be incurred when soil compaction is not avoided or...

A laboratory experiment was conducted to gain an understanding of heavy metals dynamics in soils amended with biosolids (treated sewage sludge) and biochar produced from biosolids. The findings of this study, albeit limited in scope, go some way to inform the development of a scientific-based framework that supports practical and cost-effective man...

The bentleg opener was developed to overcome the high soil disturbance caused by straight narrow point openers, with the original evaluation conducted on sandy soils. A bentleg furrow opener was compared to narrow point openers with varying rake angles (45° and 90°) and cutting edge cross-sections (blunt, and single- and double-side chamfers) for s...

This study investigated the agronomic response and economic return of wheat grown in compacted and non-compacted soils to represent the conditions of non-controlled (non-CTF) and controlled traffic (CTF) systems, respectively. Yield-to-nitrogen responses were derived after application of urea, DMPP-treated urea, and UAN at rates between 0 and 300 k...

An extended octagonal ring transducer (EORT) is a simple, single, and compact biaxial force measuring transducer, which is ideal for soil force measurement in tillage tool research. Calibration of EORTs is needed to ascertain their sensitivities and to determine an accurate calibration equation to convert voltage output to force measurement. Typica...

Controlled traffic farming (CTF) is a mechanisation system in which all machinery has the same (or modular) working and track width so that field traffic can be confined to the least possible area of permanent traffic lanes. CTF enables productivity of non-compacted crop beds to be optimised for given energy, fertiliser and water (rainfall) inputs....

This paper reviews information about field observations of vegetation productivity in Australia’s rangeland systems and identifies the need to establish a national initiative to collect net primary productivity (NPP) and biomass data for rangeland pastures. Productivity data are needed for vegetation and carbon model parameterisation, calibration a...

The Australian Red Meat Processing (RMP) industry is challenged with ever increasing environmental pressures to reduce their environmental footprint. Wastewater is high strength and requires quality treatment to prevent pollution of surface and ground waters; while much of the solid waste produced is organic and is suitable for land-based disposal....

Global food production is under pressure to produce more from limited resources, with further expectations to reduce waste and pollution and improve social outcomes. Circular economy principles aim to design out waste and pollution, minimise the use of non-renewable external inputs and increase the lifespan of products and materials. Waste sources...

No-till adoption has occurred in parallel with the development of equipment for planting large areas of unprepared, residue-protected soil effectively within limited periods of favourable conditions. This chapter covers the functional requirements, major components and characteristics of no-till planters (or seeders), noting the major classificatio...

The primary features of an effective and efficient furrow opener include controlled soil disturbance and low draught and vertical force requirements. When integrated in a no-tillage seeding system, furrow openers should also have the ability to assist, and not hinder, the functions of seeding system components – such as maintaining adequate surface...

Organomineral fertilizers (OMF) derived from treated sewage sludge (biosolids) were produced using a novel technique that enables addition of nitrogen (N) to biosolids (BS) to increase the N:P ratio of the sludge and improve its agronomic suitability. Two OMF products (OMF WWTP1 and OMF WWTP2) were formulated and tested in a glasshouse facility on...

This work was conducted to identify and evaluate ‘best-bet’ two-wheel tractor-attached seeders for use in wheat and maize production in small scale conservation agriculture systems in Ethiopia. On-farm evaluations were performed using imported seeders from Brazil, Bangladesh, China, India, and USA. Field operating capacity, fuel consumption and cro...

Accurate prediction of friability from soil properties that can be easily and reliably tested is important to inform practical soil management decisions. The water content at which the maximum friability of different soil types (Inceptisol, Vertisol, Molisol, Alfisol, and Ultisol) used for sugarcane production in SW Colombia was examined to establi...

A challenge faced by the Red Meat Processing (RMP) industry in Australia is the quantity of by-products generated at the end of the production chain, which require careful treatment before they can be reutilized or released to the environment. The net result is the additional, and significant, costs to the production chain. However, opportunities f...

Compaction-induced soil degradation is of growing importance as field machinery continues to increase in power and mass. Approaches to managing the impacts of soil compaction include minimisation (reduce load), remediation (tillage) and confinement (control traffic). Integrated ‘swarms’ of low-mass autonomous machinery have recently been suggested...

Soil surface and furrow profiles in soil dynamics research and applications are usually measured using manual profile meters and laser-based scanners. Manual profile meters are laborious to use, and laser-based scanners could be expensive and not portable. An approach was developed for measuring soil surface and furrow profiles using a portable and...

Soil compaction has detrimental effects on the physical, mechanical and hydraulic properties of soils, and affects important soil processes and function, and crop productivity. This work was conducted to investigate soil compaction impacts in integrated arable cropping-livestock systems managed under conventional tillage (CT) and no-tillage (NT). T...

Australia lies among the top five countries worldwide to adopt en masse conservation agriculture (CA) farming systems (Kassam et al. 2015). No-till (NT) practice is still growing having reached 80-90% of crop area in many regions (Llewellyn et al. 2012). This unprecedented rate of change has led to a rapid evolution in machinery for CA systems. Thi...

The objective of this work was to evaluate the effect of repeated traffic with a lightweight tractor on the physical/mechanical properties of an Aridisol soil from eastern Almería (Spain). The soil has been used for almond (Prunus amigdalus L.) production for the past 29 years. A light modal tractor (≈15 kN overall load) and different traffic frequ...

El objetivo principal de este trabajo fue evaluar los efectos sobre las propiedades físicas del suelo causado s por el tráfico de un tractor que es de uso común en el este de la provincia de Almería, España. El trabajo se realizó sobre suelo Aridisol, en el distrito de Vélez Blanco, en el sureste de España. El suelo se ha utilizado para la producci...

On-farm, intensive feed and processing sectors from Australian red meat, dairy and pork industries produce significant quantities of waste. The management of these wastes is a significant cost for these industries exceeding AUD100-200 (≈USD75-150) million per year. In addition, primary production and processing costs are rising and there is an ongo...

Soil surface and furrow profiles in tillage and furrow opener research are usually measured using manual profile meters, and recently, laser and LiDAR-based scanners. Using manual profile meters could be laborious and time consuming, and their physical contact with the soil may impair readings. On the other hand, laser and LiDAR-based scanners are...

The Australian Red Meat Processing Industry produces significant amounts of different by-products and animal wastes. One of these by-products is paunch; the stomach contents of the animal after slaughter. Between 25 and 40 kg of paunch (fresh weight) are produced per head of cattle, or approximately 4 to 6 kg paunch (dry weight). A medium-sized aba...

Disposal of biodegradable wastes through landfill is regarded as non-sustainable both from the environmental and resource-recovery perspectives. Agricultural recycling is considered to be the best practicable environmental option, but there are many logistic and practical difficulties that need to be overcome, including unbalanced chemical composit...

A laboratory experiment was conducted to investigate how anaerobic sludge of municipal origin inhibited the growth of a range of unknown naturally occurring fungi, including the plant pathogenic fungus Fusarium pseudograminearum. Additionally investigated were (a) the decomposition of sugarcane bagasse, and (b) the composition of residual sugarcane...

Deep tillage is often performed to alleviate traffic-induced subsoil compaction, but how long do the benefits of this technique last for in intensively-managed arable soils? Heavy traffic on loose soil significantly increases the risk of soil re-compaction at depth. Chiselling and subsoiling are techniques commonly used in Argentina to remediate so...

There is both circumstantial and direct evidence, which demonstrates the significant productivity and sustainability benefits associated with adoption of controlled traffic farming (CTF). These benefits may be fully realised when CTF is jointly practiced with no-tillage and assisted by the range of precision agriculture (PA) technologies available....

Appropriate residue management is a key factor underlying successful crop establishment in no-tillage systems. Satisfactory opening and closing of furrows, and uniform seeding depth and seed-spacing are achieved when the design of the residue management unit of the seeder, and machinery settings are correctly selected for the soil type and soil con...

Automation and robotics for agricultural production are topics of tremendous interest and large investments. There have been significant recent advances in agricultural automation and robotics in the areas of (1) automatic vehicle guidance and steering control, (2) automatic implement guidance, (3) automatic headland sequence and turn management, (...

The agricultural industry has a strong and continuing trend for the incorporation of heavy machinery into the farming system, in order to create operational efficiencies. It is therefore important to understand the soil structural cost of such machinery, which was the objective of this work. Using the John Deere 7760 (JD7760) cotton picker (soil su...

The aim of no-tillage farming is to minimize mechanical soil disruption for soil and water (irrigation, rainfall) conservation, which includes adequate year-round crop residue cover. Furrow opening in this mechanization system is therefore of great importance being the only soil loosening operation performed to create optimum seed zone conditions f...

The progressive decline of soil organic matter (SOM) threatens the sustainability of arable cropping worldwide. Residue removal and burning, destruction of protected microsites, and the acceleration of microbial decomposition are key factors. Desorption of SOM by ammonia‐based fertilizers from organomineral complexes in soil may also play a role. A...