The Chapmans have just received funding through the Fitzroy Basin Association (FBA) Innovation Fund to conduct the relay cropping trial, which they plan to do on their cropping and cattle property, Wanaringa, and at a number of other sites in Central Queensland in forthcoming summer crops.

Relay cropping involves planting a crop into an already established crop close to harvest time, using controlled traffic, zero-till methods.

"Normally you plant then harvest, and plant then harvest, but we're trying to plant, plant, then harvest, harvest – that's the concept," Mr Chapman said.

"For example, if you had a chickpea crop that's just about ready to harvest and you get rain, the conventional way would be to wait for it to dry out and then harvest.

"But with relay cropping, you would use controlled traffic to get in and plant sorghum in the inter-rows, to take advantage of the moisture, and then harvest the chickpeas.

"It's about passing the moisture from the old crop to the new crop before you harvest the old crop."

Mr Chapman said there were many benefits to relay cropping beyond harnessing moisture and retaining soil structure and topsoils.

"It could also help with weed control – as the old crop that's about to be harvested dies off, the idea is to have another crop up and growing before weeds germinate.

"We only get sunlight, air and water for free, and the government is trying to work out how to charge us for water, so we've got to try and make use of every drop that falls.

"If climate change or rather climate variability does eventuate, and if we start getting bigger but fewer rainfall events, then we've just got to grow crops on what is available to us."

Mr Chapman said farmers in parts of the United States had been using the technology for some time, planting the likes of soybeans into wheat.

In this summer's sorghum crops, Mr Chapman hopes to plant chickpeas.

* Extract from a full report in Queensland Country Life, November 20 edition.