Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4 Western Australia, Series 4
Volume 5
Number 7 July, 1964 Article 2
1-1-1964
Salt land survey, 1962 : report of a survey of soil salinity in the Salt land survey, 1962 : report of a survey of soil salinity in the agricultural areas of Western Australia
agricultural areas of Western Australia
L C. Lightfoot S. T. Smith C. V. Malcolm
Follow this and additional works at: https://researchlibrary.agric.wa.gov.au/journal_agriculture4 Part of the Agricultural Economics Commons, Environmental Indicators and Impact Assessment Commons, and the Environmental Monitoring Commons
Recommended Citation Recommended Citation
Lightfoot, L C.; Smith, S. T.; and Malcolm, C. V. (1964) "Salt land survey, 1962 : report of a survey of soil salinity in the agricultural areas of Western Australia," Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4: Vol. 5: No. 7, Article 2.
Available at: https://researchlibrary.agric.wa.gov.au/journal_agriculture4/vol5/iss7/2
This article is brought to you for free and open access by the Agriculture at Digital Library. It has been accepted for inclusion in Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4 by an authorized administrator of Digital Library. For more information, please contact [email protected].
Salt land survey, 1962 : report of a survey of soil salinity in the agricultural areas Salt land survey, 1962 : report of a survey of soil salinity in the agricultural areas of Western Australia
of Western Australia
Cover Page Footnote Cover Page Footnote
The co-operation of the Farmers' Union and the Commonwealth Bureau of Census and Statistics in aiding this survey, and of the latter organisation's additional help in processing results, is gratefully
acknowledged. Assistance rendered by Mr. T. C. Stoneman, Research Officer, of the Soils Division and Mr.
T. Hartigan, Adviser, Soil Conservation Service, in assembling results, is also acknowledged.
This article is available in Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4:
https://researchlibrary.agric.wa.gov.au/journal_agriculture4/vol5/iss7/2
SALT LAND SURVEY, 1962
Report of a survey of soil salinity
• L . C. LIGHTFOOT, B.Sc. (Agric), tS. T. SMITH, M.Sc. (Agric), and t C V. MALCOLM, M.Sc. (Agric.)
In M a r c h , 1962, farmers in 68 shires in the a g r i c u l t u r a l areas of W e s t e r n A u s t r a l i a estimated t h a t on their properties 3 0 5 , 2 7 0 acres of land previously cropped or sown t o pasture had become salt a f f e c t e d . Of this t o t a l , 5 9 , 2 0 3 acres had gone salt in the seven years immediately before the survey.
W h i l e there was an increase in the total area salt a f f e c t e d over the seven years before the survey the affected area as a percentage of the t o t a l land occupied had not changed significantly.
Considerable differences were reported between areas of salt on individual farms. In the survey, 7,150 farmers reported having no salt l a n d , 120 had 500 acres or more and 4,107 farmers had areas ranging f r o m 1 t o 4 9 9 acres.
In some shires the area of salt land was reported t o be increasing rapidly w h i l e in others a net decrease was reported.
Overall 58 Shires showed a net increase in salt land, nine had a decrease and one had no change. T h e increases occurred on the properties of almost a h a l f of farmers reporting salt land.
M a n y farmers reported having followed one or more of the Department of A g r i c u l t u r e ' s recommendations f o r treating salt land. However, there was disquieting evidence t h a t much of the work done would be ineffective because m a n y farmers did not adopt the recommendation to fence f o r g r a z i n g control.
T h e survey was a co-operative e f f o r t by the Commonwealth Bureau of Census and Statistics, the Farmers' Union a n d the W e s t A u s t r a l i a n D e p a r t m e n t of A g r i c u l t u r e .
* C h i e f , Soils D i v i s i o n . t Senior Soil Research O f f i c e r , Soils Division. t Research O f f i c e r , Soils Division.
396
he agricultural areas of Western Australia
INTRODUCTION
IN Western Australia there are within the agricultural areas about one million acres of salt land, largely within the 14-25 inch rainfall area used for cereal and wool production.
Much of this salt land is in the valleys of ancient river systems and was present before agricultural development. These valley systems are the relics of ancient rivers and following geological uplift they now have very low gradients and many of them only carry water intermittently.
Quite apart from the salt lakes and channels in existence before agricultural development, clearing land has resulted in a considerable extension of salt encroach- ment to land previously cropped. A survey carried out in 1955 (Burvill, 1955) indicated that about 181,000 acres had been affected in this way. The mechanism of this encroachment and the types of salt problems resulting are reported by Smith
(1961).
A further salt land survey was carried out in 1962 with the object of determining what changes had taken place in the intervening seven years on land once cropped or pastured. It also aimed to determine farmers' reactions to salt land and whether they had been following recommended salt land management practices. Their reaction to the method used was also sought.
METHOD AND COVERAGE OF SURVEY The survey was undertaken co- operatively by the Commonwealth Bureau of Census and Statistics, the Farmers'
Union of W.A. and the W.A. Department of Agriculture. A questionnaire was pre- pared and included with the forms for normal annual statistical returns. The replies were processed and the overall results are presented here, but individual replies are confidential.
Only those shires in the Southern, Cen- tral and Northern Agricultural Divisions, together with the Shires of Boddington and Boyup Brook in the South-West Division and the Shires of Yilgarn, Dundas, Esperance and Ravensthorpe in the East- ern Goldfields Division were included in the survey. The area covered, embracing a total of 68 shires, is shown on the map.
A total of 11,416 forms were returned, representing 86.3 per cent, of the farmers who received forms in the area covered by the survey. The total acreage of alienated land in the area covered by returns is about 44 million acres.
RESULTS
The data obtained in answer to the Salt Land Questionnaire are summarised for the rive statistical divisions and presented in Tables 1 to 5. The figures for each district are unfortunately too voluminous to include here but have been compiled into a separate booklet for distribution to Shire Councils, Libraries, etc.
397
SALTLAND SURVEY, 1962
SALT AREA, 1962
\~
^
UOTAL CLEARED LAND i, 19627 / O
MORE THAN 2.00%
1.41 — 2.00%
E
0.71 1.40%"Lr
0 — 0.70%
BOUNDARY OF SURVEY
398
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Over-all Position of Salt Encroachment Within the area of 44 million acres embraced by the survey (see map) the total area which was once cropped or pastured but has since become salt- affected is now 305,270 acres; this repre- sents 0.68 per cent, of the total land alienated. Although this is only a small
proportion of the total land developed for agriculture it is unfortunately not evenly distributed. Salt encroachment has occurred on 32 per cent, of the holdings and some 10.7 per cent, have more than 50 acres affected; 2.8 per cent, of the farmers have more than 500 acres of salt land.
Table 1 . — T h e present overall situation on salt encroachment
Statistical Division
South West* ....
Southern Central Northern Eastern Goldfieldst
Total
Number of Holdings from which Annual Statistical Returns were Received
436 4,068 5,081 3,133 528
Areas of Holdings from which Statistical Returns
were Received
Number of Holdings where Land pre- viously Cropped or
Sown to Pasture is now Salt l
acres
603,974 127 8,100,691 1,071 14,255,353 1,996
15,909,836 972 5,678,223 61 13,246 44,548,077 4,227
Sum of Areas now Salt (from previous
column)
acres 1,454 69,048 144,936 85,306 4,526 305,270
Per cent. Land Once Cropped or Developed now
Salt Affected
0-24 0-85 1 0 2 0-54 0 0 8
Number of Farmers who Consider Salt a Major Problem on their Farms
18 224 499 382 7
0-68 1,130
* Shires of Bod ding ton and Upper Blackwood only.
f Shires of Dundas, Yilgarn, Ravensthorpe and Esperance only.
QUESTIONS ASKED
Below are the questions farmers were asked to answer:
1. On your total present holding how much land previously cropped or sown to pasture—
(a) Was salt affected seven years ago? acres
(b) Is now salt affected? acres 2. Do you consider that the salt land referred to in question 1
(b) constitutes a major problem on your property?
3. Is salt land increasing on your property?
4. If you have salt land—
(a) have you fenced any salt affected areas to give special grazing control?
(b) Do you cultivate or roughen the salt areas to aid plant establishment?
(c) Have you tried any of the following salt tolerant perennials?
Bluebush
Old Man salt bush Trailing salt bush Paspalum vaginatum Puccinellia
401
Table 2 . — A r e a s of salt encroachment on individual holdings
Statistical Division
Numbers of Holdings with Salt Affected Areas of Various Sizes
Nil 1-49 50-249 250-499 500 and Over
South West Southern Central Northern Eastern Goldfields
Total
Acres 232 2,285 2,548 1,669 416 7,150
Acres 122 177 1,336 548 34 2,817
Acres 5 219 515 324 22 1,085
Acres 0 49 85 68 3 205
Acres 0 26 60 32 2 120
There is some variation in the severity of salting from division to division, as shown in the map.
The greatest total area of salt land is in the Central Statistical Division. This Division also has the highest ratio of salt- affected to cleared land (1.02 per cent.), the highest number of properties with salt land (see Table 1) and the highest number of properties in each category of salt affected area (see Table 2). It is not surprising that in this Division 499 farmers out of a total of 1,996 consider salt a major problem. Within this Division 33 per cent, of the farms that have salt have more than 50 acres affected.
In general, in the drier districts, salt occurs in the broad valleys of river systems and tends to manifest itself in large areas.
Smaller areas are more common in the wetter districts where with more sloping topography salt seepages are common.
This is illustrated in Table 2, where for the South-West Division, there are no areas greater than 250 acres and only five greater than 50 acres. In the Central
Division, on the other hand, there are 145 areas greater than 250 acres.
To illustrate this variation a t a district level, in the Shire of Goomalling, 73.7 per cent, of the active holdings had some land which had gone salty since development, with an average area of salt per affected holding of 89 acres. In the Shire of Kulin, on the other hand, only 15.9 per cent, of the active holdings had areas which had gone salty. The average area of salt per affected holding was 139 acres. In the Williams Shire 39 per cent, of the active holdings had salt land with an average of
16.6 acres on each property.
Changes in Salt Land
(a) Overall changes (see Table 3).
Over the area embraced by the 1962 Salt Land Survey there had been an in- crease of 59,203 acres of salt land over the previous seven years. Of the 4,227 farmers reporting salt encroachment, 1,877 re- ported an increase in area and 517 of these farmers had no salt seven years ago.
Table 3.—Changes in salt land over the last seven years
Statistical Division
South West Southern Central Northern Eastern Goldfields
Total
Sum of Areas of
Salt 7 Years Agot
Acres 1,215 61,487 124,457 55.897 3,860 246,916
Sum of Areas of Salt as at 3 l / 3 / 6 2 t
Acres 1.392 67,227 137,304 79,839 4,476 290,238
Sum of Increases
Acres 260 10,592 20,785 26,688 878 59,203
Sum of Decreases
Acres 83 4,852 7,938 2,746 262 15,881
Net Increase
Acres 177 5,740 12.847 23,942 616 43,322
Number of Holdings where Salt has
Increased*
53 458 761 587 18 1,877
Not Changed
54 438 869 264 32 1,657
Decreased
9 121 264 60 6 460
t 233 Farmers gave no figure for seven /ears ago but now report a total of 15,032 acres. These are not included in Column 2 above.
* 517 Farmers had no salt 7 years ago but now report a total of 11,422 acres.
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The increased area of salt, while of some concern, was not out of proportion to the amount of new land developed.
The overall percentage of salt-affeced land to that alienated had not materially changed over the previous seven years. If we accept that salt movement is conse- quent to land development, salt encroach- ment to further areas is to be expected, as salt moves from the higher country towards the flats.
It may also be expected that in the older areas salt will move further into the river areas with the possibility that some areas may improve. In fact 460 farmers reported a decrease in the area of salt-affected land and these decreases total 15,881 acres.
However, as the decreases may merely mean that the land now has a better plant cover, such estimates must be treated with reserve.
(b) Changes at Shire Level
Shires varied considerably in the changes estimated to have occurred in salting. Whereas in the Dalwallinu Shire a further 6,435 acres of land previously farmed became salty in the seven years before the survey, in the Lake Grace Shire 2,150 acres of salt land were returned to production in the same period. In all, 58 shires showed a net increase in salt land, nine had a decrease and one no change.
The average increase in salt land reported
by the 91 farmers in the Dalwallinu Shire was 71 acres, indicating the problem of salt encroachment in this particular district.
Curiously, Wongan-Ballidu Shire had a net increase in salt land of 4,851 acres, the second highest in this respect; but it was also second highest in the area of salt decrease reported (1,110 acres). These figures highlight the dynamic nature of the salt problem and offer some support to the belief that, in the long term many areas which turned salty following clear- ing will become fresh some time in the future.
In general, salting is more stable in the drier districts but in the wetter rainfall districts sharp increases in affected areas are occurring, probably because of clearing.
Salt as a Serious Problem
Of the 4,227 farmers who reported hav- ing salt land, 1,130 regarded it as a serious problem.
Not all those who considered salt a serious problem had any great area and, in fact, in the Central Statistical Division, 91 farmers with less than 25 acres of salt land regarded it as a serious problem on their properties. Within this division there are 1,336 farmers with from one to 49 acres of salt land, of which 168 (12.6 per cent.) regarded it as serious; of the total 515 farmers with 50-249 acres of salt land
Sheep c o n g r e g a t e on salt patches. I t is essentia! to f e n c e and so prevent d e t e r i o r a t i o n .
405
lv!*"
Cultivation allows the trapping of seed and water and helps plants to establish on salt land.
220 (42.7 per cent.) regarded it as a major problem, while among the 60 farmers with more t h a n 500 acres 45 (75 per cent.) regarded it as a major problem.
Clearly, the greater the area of salt on the property the more likely is it to be re- garded as a major problem. However, farm size is important and a given area of salt land is less likely to be as serious a problem on a large farm. The individual viewpoint of the farmer also affects the seriousness with which he views the problem, as does his assessment of whether the salt land is increasing. Of the 1,497 farmers with salt land who apparently did not regard it as a major problem, only 30 per cent, reported it as increasing.
Treatment of Salt Land by Farmers
Over the years, and particularly since 1953, the Department of Agriculture, in association with many farmers, has devoted a great deal of time and effort to investigating methods of handling salt land.
The techniques which may be used for treating salt land vary, depending on the type of salt problem and the rainfall of the district in which it occurs. The methods have been described in various publications—Burvill (1956), Smith (1956) Smith and Malcolm (1959).
Despite the variation in treatment which applies to the particular situations three
fundamental principles are common to all cases. These three major steps are:—
• Salt affected land should be fenced to allow control of grazing.
• The area should be cultivated to produce a rough surface which will encourage water entry and trap moving seeds.
• The area should be sown to a perennial salt - tolerant plant suited to the prevailing conditions.
The salt land questionnaire included several questions aimed at finding how many farmers are, in fact, treating salt land, and if they are doing so in the best known way. The results of their answers to these questions are tabulated in Tables 4 and 5 but the summarised results are of interest here.
Of the total of 4,227 farmers with salt land, it is gratifying that 72 per cent, have tried at least one or more recommended treatments. However, closer study reveals that 18 per cent, have fenced their salt land, 61 per cent, have cultivated their salt land, and 33 per cent, have sown perennials. Only 13 per cent, of farmers with salt land sowed perennials and fenced them.
From this it will be seen that farmers have adapted the practices in the order in which they find them easiest to follow.
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Grazing control has allowed the establishment of bluebush, a salt tolerant, productive perennial.
Cultivation is done readily and is fol- lowed by the sowing of perennials, but only a small percentage have carried out the single most important step of fencing.
The value of cultivation is certainly much lessened when fencing is omitted and the sowing of perennials on salt land is almost completely wasted unless the land is fenced.
It appears that a great deal more stress should be placed upon this vital initial step of salt land reclamation. While it is clear that many farmers have adopted the easier practices, some regard fencing as expensive. When one analyses it critically however, for many areas fencing costs far less per acre than cultivation or special sowings.
The adoption of various practices, as one might expect, varied from area to area. For example, in the South-West Division where salt is largely associated with creeks and seepages, 31 per cent of
farmers had cultivated salt land, whereas in the Central Division, where it occurs in more extensive areas, 68 per cent, had used cultivation. Similarly, relatively little fencing is done where salt encroachment occurs in limited areas along creek lines, as in the wetter districts.
Those who regarded salt land as a serious problem, whether this concern is justified or otherwise, have tended to spend more effort in treatment.
For example, of the farmers in the Central Division who have salt land, a higher percentage of those who regard it as serious have fenced, cultivated and sown perennials—even though they may only have little salt land—than those who do not regard it as serious. This suggests a greater keenness on the part of some farmers.
Of those in the Central Division who regarded the problem as serious, 80 per cent, had cultivated and 42 per cent, had
Table 4 . — T r e a t m e n t of salt land by farmers
Statistical Division
South Wast Southern ....
Central
Northern ....
Eastern Goldfieldi Overall
Number of Farmers
w i t h Salt Land
127 1,071 1,996 972 61
Percentage of Farmers who have Treated Salt Land Have Have
fenced ] Cultivated Salt Land | Salt Land
10 18 17 20 13
31 49 68 65 62
Have Sown H»v« S ? " "
Perennials ^ V «n n l , li i OR fenced 45
32 31 37 13
46 36 36 41 20 18 61 33 j 37
Have Sown Perennials But N O T Fenced
Have Sown Perennials
A N D Fenced
35 9 18 1 14 19 12 21 16 7 1 7
Have Used ac Least
One Treatment
61 62 72 74 66 20 13 1 72
83887—<2) 409
Table 5 . — N u m b e r of farmers using recommended perennial plants on salt land
Statistical Division
South W e s t Southern Central N o r t h e r n Eastern Goldfields
Number of Farmers
w i t h Salt Land
127 1.071 1,996 972 61
Bl jebush
2 95 223 182 3
Old Man Saltbush
1 92 208 1-46 5
Creeping Saltbush
1 66 171 138 4
Paspalum Vaginatum
55 231 387 181 3
Puccinellia
4 30 29 20 0
4,227 505 857 83
sown perennials, although only 33 per cent, had fenced. Comparative figures for those in this Division who did not regard then- salt land as serious were 64 per cent., 27 per cent, and 15 per cent, respectively.
It is again clear t h a t even in this group of farmers who regard salt as a serious problem in the Central Division, many more are prepared to try recommended plants than are willing to give the neces- sary protection by fencing.
It is also of interest that the percentage of farmers applying treatment increases with the area of salt land on their properties.
The Use of Recommended Plants
Salt tolerant perennial plants have proved the most satisfactory means of ensuring regular production from salt land.
A number of perennials are recom- mended, depending upon t h e type of problem. Paspalum vaginatum, is a sum- mer growing plant suitable for seepage areas which remain moist through the long dry summer. Bluebush, old man salt bush and trailing (or creeping) salt bush are recommended for salt affected areas in the wheatbelt, provided such areas do not get too water-logged, under which conditions Puccinellia is a more suitable plant.
In general, the results of the question- naire showed that the usage of plants was reasonably well understood. For example, whereas 43 per cent, of farmers with salt land in the South-West Division had used Paspalum vaginatum, less than 2 per cent, had used bluebush. In the drier districts the use of bluebush was quite extensive.
Unfortunately, however, efforts in the use of these plants varied considerably from district to district, probably depend- ing on the publicity given by the farmers
within a district who h a d successfully tried such plants. For example, in the Kununoppin - Trayning - Yelbeni district less than 20 per cent, of the farmers with salt land had tried perennials. In the Kulin district almost 100 per cent, had planted perennials because there is a good and well-publicised area of bluebush in the Kulin district. In the Morawa Shire only 13 per cent, of the farmers with salt land had tried bluebush, which would be eminently suited to the conditions in that district.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The co-operation of the Farmers' Union and the Commonwealth Bureau of Census and Statistics in aiding this survey, and of the latter organisation's additional help in processing results, is gratefully acknow- ledged. Assistance rendered by Mr. T. C.
Stoneman, Research Officer, of the Soils Division and Mr. T. Hartigan, Adviser, Soil Conservation Service, in assembling re- sults, is also acknowledged.
REFERENCES
Burvill, G. H. (1955).—Salt Land Survey 1955. J. Agric. Western Australia 5 ( 1 ) . Burvill, G. H. (1956).—Paspalum vagina-
tum for Salt Land. J. Agric. Western Australia 5 (1).
Smith, S. T. (1956).—Handling Salt Land.
J. Agric. Western Australia 5 (6).
Smith, S. T. (1961).—Soil Salinity in West- ern Australia. J. Agric. Western Aus- tralia 2 (9).
Smith, S. T., and Malcolm, C. V. (1959).—
Bringing Wheatbelt Salt Land Back into Production. J. Agric. Western Australia 8 (3).
410
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