AGRIC 2505RW - Crop and Pasture Production II

Roseworthy Campus - Semester 2 - 2021

This course delivers an overview of agronomic production systems from a diverse array of dryland pastures and crops. In particular the course provides a practical understanding of selection, establishment, management and utilisation of crops and pastures in the main rainfall and soil environments encountered in southern Australia. Topics include: weed, pest and disease management; species and cultivar identification and selection; selection and use of crops and pastures; rotations; tillage; nutrition and fertilisers; and the interrelationship of agronomy and the environment.

Open All

Course Details

Course Code	AGRIC 2505RW
Course	Crop and Pasture Production II
Coordinating Unit	School of Agriculture, Food and Wine
Term	Semester 2
Level	Undergraduate
Location/s	Roseworthy Campus
Units	3
Contact	Up to 6 hours per week
Available for Study Abroad and Exchange	Y
Prerequisites	AGRIC 1510WT or AGRIC 1520WT
Incompatible	AGRONOMY 2502RW
Assessment	Exam and practical reports

Course Staff

Course Coordinator: Dr Gurjeet Gill

Course Timetable

The full timetable of all activities for this course can be accessed from Course Planner.

Course Learning Outcomes

1	Describe production characteristics of the major crop and pasture production systems in Australian agriculture
2	Explain the influence of different drivers of change on the farming systems.
3	Describe how agronomy is used to improve resource use efficiency and sustainable production
4	Identify important species of crops, pastures and weeds
5	Describe growth and development pattern of major crop species
6	Critically evaluate information related to important agronomic practices
7	Collect and evaluate agronomic data critically and present it clearly

University Graduate Attributes

This course will provide students with an opportunity to develop the Graduate Attribute(s) specified below:

University Graduate Attribute	Course Learning Outcome(s)
Deep discipline knowledge informed and infused by cutting edge research, scaffolded throughout their program of studies acquired from personal interaction with research active educators, from year 1 accredited or validated against national or international standards (for relevant programs)	1-7
Critical thinking and problem solving steeped in research methods and rigor based on empirical evidence and the scientific approach to knowledge development demonstrated through appropriate and relevant assessment	5-7
Teamwork and communication skills developed from, with, and via the SGDE honed through assessment and practice throughout the program of studies encouraged and valued in all aspects of learning	5, 6
Career and leadership readiness technology savvy professional and, where relevant, fully accredited forward thinking and well informed tested and validated by work based experiences	3, 6
Intercultural and ethical competency adept at operating in other cultures comfortable with different nationalities and social contexts able to determine and contribute to desirable social outcomes demonstrated by study abroad or with an understanding of indigenous knowledges	6, 7
Self-awareness and emotional intelligence a capacity for self-reflection and a willingness to engage in self-appraisal open to objective and constructive feedback from supervisors and peers able to negotiate difficult social situations, defuse conflict and engage positively in purposeful debate	6, 7

Learning Resources

Required Resources

Lecture handouts will be posted to the relevant area of MyUni before each class. There will be no provision of printed lecture handouts.

Recommended Resources

Additional relevant information is available in the textbook:
Tow, Cooper, Partridge and Birch (2011) Rainfed Farming Systems (Online access available through UA library)

Learning & Teaching Modes

The course material is taught by a combination of lectures, tutorials and practical classes, with formative assessment exercises in the form of practical write-ups, tutorial presentations and summative assessment in the form of one examination. The lectures are organised into three streams. The first of these are lectures that cover major principles related to sustainable and profitable crop production. The second stream covers constraints and production practices for important field crops in southern Australia. The third stream addresses the role and adaptation of pastures to the environment and management practices for their management. Lecture modes used are based primarily on traditional classroom paradigms of lecturer-student interactions, using PowerPoint or similar presentation techniques.

Practical classes and tutorials are designed and timetabled such that as far as possible, the topics co-ordinate with those being taught at that time within the lecture stream. One of the practical sessions will be used as a test on describing crop growth stages and ability to dissect and display apical meristem of wheat. Students will work in small groups to collect data on crop growth and development in the field and at the end of the semester all groups will submit and brief research paper on their findings.

There will be 3 tutorial sessions during the semester. In the first, students will be guided in the methodology required for data analysis from their field study. In the 2nd tutorial, student will work in groups and each group will be given data on yields trends and rainfall at Roseworthy farm. Student groups will analyse the data and make a PowerPoint presentation at a later date to describe the results and provide an interpretation of the likely reasons for seasonal differences in productivity.

Feedback is provided on all assessed work.

Workload

The information below is provided as a guide to assist students in engaging appropriately with the course requirements.

A student enrolled in a 3 unit course, such as this, should expect to spend, on average 12 hours per week on the studies required. This includes both the formal contact time required to the course (e.g., lectures and practicals), as well as non-contact time (e.g., reading and revision).

Learning Activities Summary

Schedule
Week	Lecture Topic	Practical
Week 1	Introduction to the course Rotations; biological principles; nitrogen fixation; soil structure; root and leaf (e.g. Take-all, Rhizoctonia, yellow leaf spot, rusts) diseases; risk man Soil constraints to productivity: sodicity, acidity, compaction, boron and their managementagement	Water use efficiency of field crops – individual report (7.5 marks) Tutorial to explain the assignment, allocation of crops, how to analyse the data and present the report; discussion
Week 2	Vegetative growth of crops including leaf area index Reproductive development of crops	Effect of seed rate (crop density) on growth and development of barley (1st assessment) Practice weed identification
Week 3	Current role of pastures in mixed farming systems, rotational impacts of pastures in disease and herbicide management and nitrogen supply, environmental services provided by pastures, models of crop / pasture integration, pasture adaptations to soil and climates including soil pH, salinity and flowering time (Waite campus, CHCC107)	• Exploration of the criteria required for a pasture system to meet production, feed-base and environmental goals; discussion and information collection for scenario-based learning.: Charles Hawker, 107, Conference Centre
Week 4	Establishment and regeneration of pastures, seed dormancy, hard-seededness, breaking of dormancy, adaptive traits of pastures and trade-offs in seed size, dormancy and survival in grazed systems, manipulation of pasture composition through nutrients, grazing and herbicides, (Waite campus, CHCC107	•Pasture practical (visit Waite pasture trials with pasture agronomists and breeders) meeting place: to be confirmed
Week 5	Current status of pasture systems in the cropping zone, inclusion of forages and fodder systems including native and exotic, annual and perennial grasses, legumes, early grazed cropping dynamics, the impacts of perennial systems on productivity, environmental services and profitability. (Waite campus, CHCC107)	Group preparation of Pasture scenarios - small group discovery exercise (12.5 marks): Charles Hawker, 107, Conference Centre
Week 6	Seeding systems for succesful crop establishment - no-till and zero-till systems; pros and cons	Growth and development pattern of wheat varieties of different maturity groups I – an introduction to the practical; group work for data collection in the field; processing of the samples in the field lab and data recording. [Individual report – 10 marks]
Week 7	Managing soil constraints to crop production – acidity, sodicity, non-wetting soils	Barley seed rate response II - collection of crop samples; processing of samples and data collection; estimation of grain yield.
Week 8	Management of crop nutrition - focus will be on nitrogen and phosphorus management	Identification of weeds and other biotic constraints affecting crop production
Week 9	Disease management: genetics, rotations, hygiene (control volunteer plants), distance from previous crops, time of sowing, seed treatments, fungicides, ICM; wheat, barley, canola and pulse crop major diseases	Growth and development pattern of wheat varieties of different maturity groups II - group work for data collection in the field; processing of samples in the field lab and data recording.
Week 10	Weed management – weed impact, weed control tactics, herbicide MOA, herbicide resistance and IWM	Visit to selected paddocks on Roseworthy farm to assess crop performance in 2018.
Week 11	Agronomy of wheat Agronomy of barley	Practical exam: identification of cereal growth stages and weed species [10 marks]
Week 12	• Agronomy of canola • Agronomy of lentils	Revision for the final exam

Small Group Discovery Experience

Practicals will require students to undertake research in small groups to analyse, document and present information on:

1. On-farm yield trends over time and changes in crop water use efficiency
2. Scenario-based learning on Australian dryland pastures

The University's policy on Assessment for Coursework Programs is based on the following four principles:

Assessment must encourage and reinforce learning.
Assessment must enable robust and fair judgements about student performance.
Assessment practices must be fair and equitable to students and give them the opportunity to demonstrate what they have learned.
Assessment must maintain academic standards.

Assessment Summary

Due to the current COVID-19 situation modified arrangements have been made to assessments to facilitate remote learning and teaching.

Assessment Task	Task Type	Due	Weighting	Hurdle	Learning Outcome
Practical - An investigation of growth and development pattern of major South Australian crops	Summative	Week 9	12.5%	No	1, 3
Practical - Toxicity of fertiliser urea to canola and wheat	Summative	Week 8	7.5%	No	4
Small group discovery exercise in pastures	Summative	Week 6	15%	No	6
Practical - Yield formation in field crops	Summative	Week 12	10%	No	2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
Practical - Electronic collection of agricultural weed species	Summative	Week 10	15%	No	2-5
Final Exam	Summative	Exam Period	40%	No	1-7

Assessment Detail

Summative (examination-based) Assessment - details:
The final exam will consist of a 3-hour paper containing questions based on lecture material covered in the semester. (40%)

There will also be five summative assessment components related to practicals:

An investigation of growth and development pattern of major South Australian crops (12.5%)
Toxicity of fertiliser urea to canola and wheat (7.5%
Small group discovery exercise in pastures (15%)
Yield formation in field crops (10%)
Electronic collection of agricultural weed species (15%)

Submission

Assignments should be submitted with a cover sheet available from MyUni. Feedback will be provided within two weeks after the submission date.

Late submission of assessments
If an extension is not applied for, or not granted then a penalty for late submission will apply. A penalty of 10% of the value of the assignment for each calendar day that is late (i.e. weekends count as 2 days), up to a maximum of 50% of the available marks will be applied. This means that an assignment that is 5 days or more late without an approved extension can only receive a maximum of 50% of the mark.

Course Grading

Grades for your performance in this course will be awarded in accordance with the following scheme:

M10 (Coursework Mark Scheme)
Grade	Mark	Description
FNS		Fail No Submission
F	1-49	Fail
P	50-64	Pass
C	65-74	Credit
D	75-84	Distinction
HD	85-100	High Distinction
CN		Continuing
NFE		No Formal Examination
RP		Result Pending

Further details of the grades/results can be obtained from Examinations.

Grade Descriptors are available which provide a general guide to the standard of work that is expected at each grade level. More information at Assessment for Coursework Programs.

Final results for this course will be made available through Access Adelaide.

Student Feedback

The University places a high priority on approaches to learning and teaching that enhance the student experience. Feedback is sought from students in a variety of ways including on-going engagement with staff, the use of online discussion boards and the use of Student Experience of Learning and Teaching (SELT) surveys as well as GOS surveys and Program reviews.

SELTs are an important source of information to inform individual teaching practice, decisions about teaching duties, and course and program curriculum design. They enable the University to assess how effectively its learning environments and teaching practices facilitate student engagement and learning outcomes. Under the current SELT Policy (http://www.adelaide.edu.au/policies/101/) course SELTs are mandated and must be conducted at the conclusion of each term/semester/trimester for every course offering. Feedback on issues raised through course SELT surveys is made available to enrolled students through various resources (e.g. MyUni). In addition aggregated course SELT data is available.
Student Support
Policies & Guidelines
This section contains links to relevant assessment-related policies and guidelines - all university policies.
Fraud Awareness

Students are reminded that in order to maintain the academic integrity of all programs and courses, the university has a zero-tolerance approach to students offering money or significant value goods or services to any staff member who is involved in their teaching or assessment. Students offering lecturers or tutors or professional staff anything more than a small token of appreciation is totally unacceptable, in any circumstances. Staff members are obliged to report all such incidents to their supervisor/manager, who will refer them for action under the university's student’s disciplinary procedures.

The University of Adelaide is committed to regular reviews of the courses and programs it offers to students. The University of Adelaide therefore reserves the right to discontinue or vary programs and courses without notice. Please read the important information contained in the disclaimer.

Authorised by:	Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President (Academic)
Maintained by:	Course Outlines Administrator