Test Your Sustain-Ability

1. Test Your Sustain-Ability Play.Sustain.Gain.

2. Welcome to James Ruse Agricultural High School

3. The James Ruse School Farm has been looking for a manager who can run our farm Effectively… Efficiently… and most importantly of all… Sustainably.

4. 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

5. DO YOU HAVE WHAT IT TAKES?? NEXT

6. You have two weeks to prove that you’ve got what it takes to successfully manage the farm and secure your place amongst the school’s farming heroes. You will be asked to make a series of decisions. Click on the choice you make to find out if your decision was correct. Click the NEXT button to continue to your next task. NEXT

7. Remember to choose the most sustainable option available. Record your point score on a sheet of paper and then check the scoreboard at the end to see how you went. Good luck…and happy farming! NEXT

8. Day 1 Your first task is to prepare the vegetable plots for the first crop by using a tillage tool for soil preparation.

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

10. You Chose… The Chisel Plough Hooray! 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 been broken 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

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

12. Day 2 It has been raining heavily and the soil is very wet, but you wanted to plough an area of land for your crops. Do you: Go ahead and plough when wet Wait until the soil is dry

13. You Chose… To Plough When Wet After you have finished ploughing, you realise that the soil 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

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

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

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

17. You Chose… Bandit Phew! 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

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

19. 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, planting them so close together makes them more susceptible to the spread of diseases and pests like rust and Heliothis. Points: -2 NEXT

20. 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

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

22. You Chose… Dynamic Lifter YAY! Three cheers for you! Your crops have slow 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

23. You Chose… Non-organic Fertiliser Your plants are growing but the soil is becoming infertile and harder to grow on! It has poor nutrient levels. Your plants die anyway from poor soil. 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

24. Day 6 It’s time to start irrigating the crop. Remember that you have a limited supply of water, so you need to choose an efficient system. Do you use: Drip Irrigation Surface Irrigation

25. 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 to each 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

26. You Chose… Surface Irrigation Although you don’t have to spend as much money 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 to have to spend money trying to fix the soil. Tough luck! Points: -2 NEXT

27. Day 7 Now it’s time to add final touches to the soil to increase production. Do you choose to: Mulch Not Mulch

28. You Chose… Mulching Mulch 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

29. You Chose… Not to Mulch Are 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

30. Day 8 Oh No! It’s rust season and your crop is under threat from those red brown fungi, but you’re short on time and money. Do you: Leave the plants Buy expensive fungicide and spray

31. You Chose… To Leave the Plants Even 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

32. You Chose… To Spray Fungicide Even though you had to spend a lot of time and 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

33. Day 9 You successfully planted a year’s corn crop. But what about next year? What do you do with the empty land? Do you: Leave it there Rotate with other available land, planting legumes and grasses

34. You Chose… Leave As It Is It 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

35. You Chose… Rotate and Revegetate YES! 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

36. CONGRATULATIONS! After successfully harvesting your sweet corn crop and managing your vegetable plot, it’s not over yet! Now it’s time to move over to the animal enterprise... NEXT

37. Day 10 You only have a limited number of paddocks on the farm, but you have to both graze cattle and grow crops on the land you have. Do you: Annually rotate paddocks between grazing cattle and growing crops Allocate certain paddocks specifically for either grazing cattle or growing crops year after year

38. 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 compacted from the cattle. It’s worth the extra work organising and managing everything after all. Points: +2 NEXT

39. You Chose… To Allocate Paddocks Specifically Even though you can get off with less organising and managing 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 the paddocks 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

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

41. You Chose… Continuous Grazing Even though you don’t have to worry about the hassles of moving cattle from place to place, the pasture 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

42. 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, but your 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

43. Day 12 It’s a busy time of year and you’re preoccupied with lots of other jobs, but you need to decide whether or not to prioritise your remaining tasks with the cattle. Do you choose to: Vaccinate Not vaccinate

44. You Chose… To Vaccinate You 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

45. 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 by various diseases. You need to spend more money buying medicine to cure them. Perhaps it would have been better to just get the vaccinations done and over with beforehand. Points: -2 NEXT

46. Day 13 Bad news! You’re running seriously short on funds, but you were going to buy a drenching gun and medicine. Do you choose to: Drench Not Drench

47. You Chose… To Drench Your funds are almost depleted, but you’ve managed to drench your entire herd. None of them 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

48. You Chose… To Not Drench You’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 profits plummet at the end of the year because your beef carcasses aren’t all that good in quality. Better luck next time. Points: -2 NEXT

49. Judgement Day < 8 points: Good try. Unfortunately, this job just doesn’t seem right for you. Instead of considering a career change, though, try again next time! 10 – 18 points: Good work! You are highly commended for your efforts. Keep working hard and you’ll definitely become a top farm manager. 20 – 24 points: Well done! You’ve demonstrated your impressive 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 knowledge of sustainable practices. Congratulations on becoming the next Farm Manager of James Ruse. You can join the ranks of other legendary farm managers throughout the school’s history. Be proud! More about JRAHS

50. The Real James Ruse Here at the James Ruse Agricultural School Farm, we do in fact carry out heaps of sustainable practices to help our enterprises run more efficiently and productively without negative impacts on the environment. Acknowledgements