Test Your Sustainability by Cherie Chen et al

Test Your Sustain-Ability Play. Sustain. Gain.

Welcome to James RuseAgricultural High School

The James Ruse School Farm has beenlooking for a manager who can run our farmEffectively… Efficiently… and most importantly of all… Sustainably.

Countless have tried before and failed… …doomed to be forgotten in the relentless march of history…But those who achieve victory… …will win eternal fame and glory… NEXT

DO YOU HAVE WHAT IT TAKES?? NEXT

You have two weeks to prove that you’vegot what it takes to successfully managethe farm and secure your place amongstthe school’s farming heroes.You will be asked to make a series ofdecisions.Click on the choice you make to find out ifyour decision was correct.Click the NEXT button to continue to yournext task. NEXT

Remember to choose the mostsustainable option available.Record your point score on asheet of paper and then checkthe scoreboard at the end tosee how you went.Good luck…and happy farming! NEXT

Day 1Your first task is to prepare thevegetable plots for the first crop byusing a tillage tool for soil preparation.

Day 1Do you use : A chisel plough A rotary hoe

You Chose… The Chisel PloughHooray! You chose a ‘low tillage’ practice. The structure of the soil remains intact, with the aggregates still present. The soil is soft and aerated. Any hard pans have beenbroken up with compaction being reduced. There won’t be too much erosion, so organic matter is kept to return nutrients to the soil. The crop is planted in light, airy soil. The right choice! Points: +2 NEXT

You Chose… The Rotary Hoe Oh dear…the soil no longer has structure – aggregates have been shattered and soil clumpshave been broken up. There is now a high chance of erosion. To make matters worse, there is heavyrainfall over the next week and most of the soil from the plots is washed away. Points: -2 NEXT

Day 2It has been raining heavily and the soil is verywet, but you wanted to plough an area of landfor your crops.Do you:Go ahead and plough when wetWait until the soil is dry

You Chose…To Plough When WetAfter you have finished ploughing, you realise that thesoil has hardened into a pan – it’s impossible to plant anything here. You must spend time and resources to prepare the land yet again. Points: -2 NEXT

You Chose…To Plough When DryThe soil is ready for planting. It’s well aeratedand not too hard and compacted. Your seeds will be able to grow and spread their roots easily to take in nutrients from the soil. Yourcrop is on its way to becoming a success. Well done! Points: +2 NEXT

Day 3It’s time to choose which variety of sweet cornto plant!Which variety do you use?Normal variety (Early Chief)Disease resistant variety (Bandit)

You Chose… Early Chief Oh no! The corn crops were growing well butwere attacked by a sudden outbreak of rust.Most of your plants have been infected by this contagious fungal disease and died. Points: -2 NEXT

You Chose… BanditPhew! Your choice of using a disease resistant crop means that the plants haven’t been severely affected by the sudden outbreak of rust. Points: +2 NEXT

Day 4It’s time to choose your row spacing as youstart planting your corn seeds. You have todecide the best way to increase yield.Do you:Plant more seeds closer togetherPlant fewer seeds but space them out

You Chose… To Plant More Seeds Closer Together You’ve got more plants growing, so you’ll get a larger harvest right? Unfortunately, you haven’t considered that planting your seeds so close together means that they have to compete with each other for nutrients, so the quality of your harvest will be compromised. What’s more, plantingthem so close together makes them more susceptible to the spread of diseases and pests like rust and Heliothis. Points: -2 NEXT

You Chose… To Space Out Your Seeds Even though this means that you’ve got less plants growing, they don’t have as much competition from each other so each plant can produce good, high-quality corn. Not only that, with spaced out plants, air flow and circulation is improved so the spread of diseases like rust can be reduced. Points: +2 NEXT

Day 5You’ve decided to fertilise your newly plantedcrop to encourage growth.Do you use:Organic fertiliser (Dynamic Lifter)Non-organic fertiliser

You Chose… Dynamic Lifter YAY! Three cheers for you! Your crops haveslow release of nutrients and the soil is very fertile from the rich organic material which means your plants will grow quicker. Well Done! Points: +2 NEXT

You Chose…Non-organic FertiliserYour plants are growing but the soil is becoming infertile and harder to grow on! It has poornutrient levels. Your plants die anyway from poorsoil. Remember to think SUSTAINABLE and what is best for the farm! You have to re-fertilise the soil and this has cost your time and money. Points: -2 NEXT

Day 6It’s time to start irrigating the crop. Rememberthat you have a limited supply of water, so youneed to choose an efficient system.Do you use:Drip IrrigationSurface Irrigation

You Chose… Drip Irrigation Although you have to spend more money to get the system set up and all the pipes laid down, the water is delivered individually toeach plant and efficiency is increased. You’re not wasting water, and so you’re reducing your costs in the long run. Good choice! Points: +2 NEXT

You Chose… Surface Irrigation Although you don’t have to spend as muchmoney setting up your irrigation system, you find that this method has led to waterlogging, salinization and deep drainage problems. Your crop is starting to suffer, and you’re going tohave to spend money trying to fix the soil. Tough luck! Points: -2 NEXT

Day 7Now it’s time to add final touches to the soil toincrease production.Do you choose to:MulchNot Mulch

You Chose… MulchingMulch is organic material used to cover weeds and protect the moisture from leaving the plant. By choosing this sustainable choice, your plants grow quicker with less competition. Points: +2 NEXT

You Chose… Not to MulchAre you sure? This method is cheaper BUT your plants have less resistance against weeds and in a hot climate your crop will quickly lose moisture and perish. Your level of production is lower, you make less money. Points: -2 NEXT

Day 8Oh No! It’s rust season and your crop is underthreat from those red brown fungi, but you’reshort on time and money.Do you:Leave the plantsBuy expensive fungicide and spray

You Chose… To Leave the PlantsEven though you’ve saved money and time, the fungal disease has spread rapidly throughout your crop and destroyed most of your plants. Unfortunately, this means you’ve lost most of this season’s harvests. Better luck next time! Points: -2 NEXT

You Chose… To Spray Fungicide Even though you had to spend a lot of timeand money, your crops are safe from rust and are continuing to grow well. You’ll probably earn most of your money back from your successful harvest. Good job! Points: +2 NEXT

Day 9You successfully planted a year’s corn crop.But what about next year? What do you do withthe empty land?Do you:Leave it thereRotate with other available land, plantinglegumes and grasses

You Chose… Leave As It IsIt has no use anyway, right? WRONG! This land is very important and should be allowed to regenerate for planting next year. You come back months later and find it is infertile and eroded. Not good. Points: -2 NEXT

You Chose…Rotate and RevegetateYES! By rotating the land, it allows the land to recover and regain nutrients for next year whilst also preventing erosion. You find the land fertile and reusable for next year and the next. Points: +2 NEXT

CONGRATULATIONS!After successfully harvesting your sweet corncrop and managing your vegetable plot, it’s notover yet!Now it’s time to move over to the animalenterprise... NEXT

Day 10You only have a limited number of paddocks onthe farm, but you have to both graze cattle andgrow crops on the land you have.Do you:Annually rotate paddocks between grazing cattleand growing cropsAllocate certain paddocks specifically for eithergrazing cattle or growing crops year after year

You Chose… To Annually Rotate Your Paddocks Good job! Annually rotating your paddocks between grazing cattle and growing crops means that your soils doesn’t become to deficient in nutrients from growing crops, nor does it become overgrazed or compactedfrom the cattle. It’s worth the extra work organising and managing everything after all. Points: +2 NEXT

You Chose… To Allocate Paddocks Specifically Even though you can get off with less organising andmanaging paddock rotation, you find that after a few years, the paddocks that have been used for continuous crop growing have become deficient in nutrients, and thepaddocks that have been used for cattle grazing are in fact overgrazed and now have hard, compacted soil from the animals’ trampling. Maybe the extra organisation would have been better! Points: -2 NEXT

Day 11You’ve now chosen the area of land where yourcattle will be grazing.Do you choose to adopt:Continuous GrazingStrip/Rotational Grazing

You Chose… Continuous Grazing Even though you don’t have to worry about the hassles of moving cattle from place to place, thepasture has a higher risk of becoming overgrazed, the soil is compacted from the cattle trampling and certain internal parasites are starting to infect your cattle. Points: -2 NEXT

You Chose…Strip/Rotational Grazing It takes more work, time and effort moving the cattle from one area to another, and you’ve spent more money purchasing the portable fencing system, butyour pasture and soil are healthier, and you’ve broken up the life cycle of those pesky internal parasites, so your cattle are healthier too! Points: +2 NEXT

Day 12It’s a busy time of year and you’re preoccupiedwith lots of other jobs, but you need to decidewhether or not to prioritise your remainingtasks with the cattle.Do you choose to:VaccinateNot vaccinate

You Chose… To VaccinateYou had to spend more time and money buying the vaccine and carrying out the vaccinations, but now you can rest much easier knowing your herd is protected against many diseases. Points: +2 NEXT

You Chose… To Not Vaccinate Well, you have saved a lot of time and money so you could get other jobs done, but a few months later, your cattle are starting to get infected byvarious diseases. You need to spend more money buying medicine to cure them. Perhaps it wouldhave been better to just get the vaccinations done and over with beforehand. Points: -2 NEXT

Day 13Bad news! You’re running seriously short onfunds, but you were going to buy a drenchinggun and medicine.Do you choose to:DrenchNot Drench

You Chose… To Drench Your funds are almost depleted, but you’ve managed to drench your entire herd. None ofthem get sick, and as a result, they grow healthily. Even better, at the end of the year, you reap high profits from the good quality beef carcasses. Points: +2 NEXT

You Chose… To Not DrenchYou’ve managed to save the remaining funds you have, but later on your cattle are afflicted by various diseases. Some cattle die, others have reduced growth due to illness. Your profitsplummet at the end of the year because your beef carcasses aren’t all that good in quality. Better luck next time. Points: -2 NEXT

Judgement Day< 8 points: Good try. Unfortunately, this job just doesn’tseem right for you. Instead of considering a career change,though, try again next time!10 – 18 points: Good work! You are highly commended foryour efforts. Keep working hard and you’ll definitely becomea top farm manager.20 – 24 points: Well done! You’ve demonstrated yourimpressive sense of judgement. You’re almost at the top!26 points: Full marks! Amazing! You are the elite of the elite,demonstrating shrewd judgement and thorough knowledgeof sustainable practices. Congratulations on becoming thenext Farm Manager of James Ruse. You can join the ranksof other legendary farm managers throughout the school’shistory. Be proud! More about JRAHS

The Real James RuseHere at the James Ruse AgriculturalSchool Farm, we do in fact carry outheaps of sustainable practices to helpour enterprises run more efficiently andproductively without negative impactson the environment. Acknowledgements

The Real James Ruse cont…Some of the things we do include:• Place wood chips for mulch around our peach and orange orchard trees• Cycle products between enterprises, e.g. chicken manure is used as organic fertiliser on our vegetable plots.• Timed drip irrigators are used on our orchard trees to reduce water wastage• Hay is used as mulch on vegetable plots• Annual crop rotation is carried out with class vegetable plots Acknowledgements

The Real James Ruse cont…..• Kikuyu grass is allowed to grow around orange and peach trees for mulching purposes• Pasture rotation is carried out with our grazing sheep and cattle• The school uses disease resistant crops• The school regularly carries out practices such has vaccinations, drenching and utilises strip grazing with the cattle• Every year, we rotate areas of land between grazing pastures for the animals and vegetable plots for the students. Acknowledgements

AcknowledgmentsWe thank the respective owners for thesephotos:• http://www.freefoto.com/preview/• http://haysvillelibrary.files.wordpress.com/• http://www.arts-wallpapers.com/• http://1.bp.blogspot.com/

WOULD LIKE TO THANK THE SPONSORS OF THE 2011 CREAM OF THE CROP COMPETITIONPLATINUM GOLD SILVER BRONZE

Test Your Sustainability by Cherie Chen et al

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Test Your Sustainability by Cherie Chen et al Presentation Transcript