In our demonstration the higher fertiliser (DAP) rates produced higher yields, slightly higher protein and also slightly higher screenings when compared to the lower rate of DAP, as you would expect. The PR70 did not have any influence on yield at the lower rate of DAP, however at the higher rate of DAP the PR70 treated plot yielded 400 kg/ha less than the untreated plot. Therefore our trial demonstrates that PR70 did not produce significantly beneficial results in our area this year. More extensive replicated trial work is now
needed in our soil type to confirm the potential benefits of PR70.

For discussion please see the attached trial report.

• Calingiri generallly yielded higher than Arrino, had slightly higher protein and screenings.
• The highest yielding treatment of each variety were the district input treatments.
• The district input treatments of each variety returned the highest gross return per hectare and although Calingiri yielded higher, Arrino provided slighly higher returns, having slightly better grain quality.

District input, high input and active input treatments produced the highest yields in both Arrino and Calingiri.

Crop vigour: the low input treatments showed the least amount of vigour; a direct result of minimal nitrogen and a low seeding rate.

This trial was severely limited by dry conditions, with yields ranging from 0.16 to 0.42t/ha with not significant differences between any variety or management input level.

Low input of continuous wheat is returning the highest gross margin in this scenario.

• Higher rainfall in 2015 allowed the crop to capitalise on extra nutrient availability with the top three treatments (canola, wheat and field pea) under a high input rotation.
• Low input on continuous wheat rotation is returning the highest gross margin in this scenario.

Two species of root lesion nematode occur in cropping regions of southern Australia: both species cause root damage and yield loss.

For results please see the attached trial report.

For results please see the attached trial report.

For results please see the attached trial report.

Slender iceplant exhibits a germination quality that increases its chance of survival.

Good iceplant control results were achieved with Broadstrike, diflufenican and diuron in various mixtures in these trials.

Early control of radish in both Terbyne pre-emergent plots showed great promise and gave enough early control and timento get back to spray post emergent applications with applications of Velocity or Jaguar contolling next to 100% of wild radish.

• Residual control of herbicides applied before crop emergence was not effective for short to medium term control or suppression of radish.
• It appears that in-crop control techniques are more effective.

• Group D herbicides should not be used alone – it is important that resistance to this very important group of herbicides does not develop.
• There was no difference in yield between the trifluralin in mixes with metribuzin, diuron or avadex applied; however there was a reduction in ryegrass heads at flowering due to the addition of Dual Gold (metolachlor) to trifluralin.

Trifluralin use has increased in the last decade and the threat of ryegrass developing resistance to group D herbicides (including trifluralin) is real, already occurring on some farms. In this trial a number of herbicides with activity on ryegrass were tested as mixes with trifluralin on their efficacy in controlling ryegrass as well as on grain yield.

• Seasonal conditions reduced the potential impacts of the pre-emergent herbicides evaluated in this trial with sowing taking place under dry conditions. The top 5 cm was dry with little follow up moisture although there was enough to get the crop out of the ground. The effects of pre-emergent herbicides are generally more pronounced under very moist conditions particularly under intense heavy rain events at seeding or when the top soil is saturated for an extended period at plant establishment.
• In this trial neither yield or weed density were significantly different between the herbicide treatments.
• Weed plant densities were extremely variable within each treatment so caution should be taken when comparing grass weed efficacy in this trial.

• Group A resistant ryegrass populations are becoming more prevalent across south Australia, increasing the reliance on the use of Group D (trifluralin) for ryegrass control.
• Group D resistance will develop if trifluralin is consistently used without other control practices.
• Trifluralin used in combination with other herbicides such as Avadex Xtra (Group E) and Dual Gold (Group K), may enhance ryegrass control and could prolong the onset of Group D resistant ryegrass populations.

Standard farmer practice of 'pasture topping' in the previous year, followed by a knock down around the seasons break, remain the best practice before sowing saltbush or bluebush by seed.

Standard farmer practice of 'pasture topping' in the previous year, followed by a knock down around the seasons break, remain the best practice before sowing saltbush or bluebush by seed.

Increased crop density reduced annual ryegrass density.

Herbicides offered effective weed control, and performance of Sakura® and Boxer Gold® was similar in this season.

Triflur X® provided excellent control of barley grass over the entire site, although by August, weed density was lower following Triflur X® at 3L/ha rather than 2L/ha.

In 2020, Intervix® provided excellent control in-crop, preventing panicle production. In 2021 the field was too wet to spray in-crop herbicides.

Increased seeding rate increased crop density, and resulted in a non-significant reduction to barley grass panicles.

• Continuous cropping is not an effective way to manage herbicide resistant annual ryegrass over the long term in the high rainfall zone.
• The increase in weed numbers over time can be slowed by adopting an intensive and high cost herbicide strategy, but not enough to reduce soil weed seed bank.
• Increasing annual ryegrass density by 100 seed heads per square meter was associated with a 150 kg/ha decrease in grain yield. 

• From the statistical analyses performed on this trial it is concluded that Paraquat at 1L with adjvant LI700 at 0.5% is most efficient in causing fast brownout on Paddy Melons, Wild Radish, Serradella, Mint weed, Capeweed, Couch grass and Blue Lupins.  

• Dry pre-furrowing of sandy loam pasture at Pindar in 2003 resulted in a yield benefit estimated at $26.5/ha.
• Grain quality was not changed by pre-furrowing in this trial.

• Barley is more susceptible to sprouting than wheat, which may require more rainfall (>50mm) for sprouting to occur.
• Protection against sprouting (seed dormancy) reduces following maturity; all varieties will become more susceptible the longer they are left standing in the paddock.
• Grain quality diminishes with delayed  harvest and multiple rainfall events.

• Variable rate nitrogen management has great potential; particularly in the higher rainfall areas of the region with good responses being received in years where rainfall hasn’t been limiting.
• EM38 technology is useful in detecting depth to limestone; the benefits of this however will depend on if the yield is being constrained by rock or not (and in a lot of cases this isn’t occurring)
• In most cases, NDVI biomass readings have been highly correlated with yield.

• Knowing the amount of moisture that is available in the soil profile is invaluable when making nitrogen management decisions.
• Previous crop history (particularly hat of pulses) can have a very large impact on the levels of nitrogen required in following seasons. 

The data received from the 2007 trial year proved similar results to 2006. Although we received an extra 50mm more growing season rainfall than 2006, it was still 50mm short of the Corrigin average rainfall. With yields over 3t/ha, no-one can complain though, especially with barley prices around $480/t cash, at harvest in 2007. In terms of the trials’ aim – to find which stubble treatment better suits downhill tramlinning, the jury is still out as for the two years that the trial was run; 2006 & 2007, with limited rainfall we can only draw conclusions on the results that have been found; and for both years it was found that the burnt stubbles had higher yields over all. The burnt plots [having barer ground to seed into] collected more runoff than the other treatments in 2007. Removing the stubble can allow for light falls of rain to be more useful for a crop in such years, hence the better yield whereas having high levels of stubble in such cases can often intercept this moisture making it not available to the crop; rainfall that ponded on the stubbles evaporated before the plant could acess it [Jeff Russell pers.comm]. Subsoil moisture could have played a part in the earlier establishment of the burnt stubbles too as these plots would have got away sooner having no surface restrictions [stubble or organic matter] and therefore these plots would have had a chance to tap into the summer rainfall earlier than the other treatments [Glen Reithmuller pers.comm]. According to Dan Carter [DAFWA], burning stubbles removes valuable nitrogen, soil carbon and other nutrients and leaves the ground vulnerable to damage from wind erosion. In most cases, retaining stubbles will contribute to long-term soil fertility, through both preservation of nutrients and better moisture-holding capacity.

 

In saying this however, we found in 2007 [as we did in 2006] that the burnt [bare] stubble treatments yielded higher than any of the other stubble treatments as seen in trials. To compare against the control treatment, which has the least runoff, we use the 5%LSD = 2.14*3.94 = 8.4, which suggests that the burnt/bare and raked are significantly higher than the control since the difference between the means is higher than the LSD.

 

Key achievements were getting the trial in the ground, harvesting and collection of results. Also successful application for 2nd & 3rd years of funding Project 053042 – Precision Agriculture Systems – Impact on zone management, soil health and surface water management (Years 2 & 3).

Key findings from the trial in 2006 were that the most run off was collected from burnt stubble tramline which suggests that bare ground with tracks, can potentially aid the channelling of water more than with stubbles where water can ‘dam’ with the interference of stubble and foreign matter. As this was the first year of the trial at Corrigin it raised many more questions which will hopefully be answered in the next two years.

Late notification of project approval combined with difficulty in employing a suitable coordinator resulted in the project starting 6 months late (February 2006).

Farmer with tramlining capability easily identified.

Paul Blackwell’s (DAFWA) assistance proved beneficial, were able to combine two trial sites into one paddock to better utilise the farmers controlled traffic system. Minor issue occurred when fire from burning chaff heap destroyed original stubble trial site. New site established.

The biggest issue for the trial in 2006 was lack of heavy rainfall events, while a crop was taken off, there were very few rainfall events greater than 10mm.

Several issues occurred with the design, construction and collection of water from the water traps. After consultation with Paul Blackwell on trap design and a visit to his Pindar site (Liebe project) to visually assess the traps, we had a better understanding of how to construct the Corrigin traps. To bury 20 chemical containers into hard soil it was decided to hire local contractor to use his backhoe/digger to dig them out.

Collection of water from the water traps was a major issue too. A range of equipment and methods was trialled and found to be inadequate. After consultation with the local businesses in town, a powerful suction pump that could be screwed to a battery pack for power and ease of moving was order. The pump proved to be the right combination for the job required. A further issue arose over the 2006 trial year with water traps chemical drums becoming

slimy and animals getting trapped resulting in  blocking and clogging of the pump. To overcome this problem in 2007 we decided to a) place gauze over the hole from the trap to the pipe leading to the drum, so large matter cannot enter the drum. This has worked well so far, however it has restricted some trap’s water from entering the pipe. We are currently working on rectifying this problem. and b) a second filter was put on the water pump so now it has a main filter and a hose filter to sort though the ‘gunk’ before allowing it to enter the water pump.

 

Crop dry matter at maturity and grain yield were significantly higher in the ‘High Yielding’ zones than in the ‘Low Yielding’ zones.

Using precision agriculture (PA) to apply variable rate of fertilise is an easy way to test new idea on farm. Precision agriculture can be used to apply different rates of fertiliser to different areas of a paddock. Wheat responded to applied phophorus, even though soil tests indicated it had a high level of Colwell P (56mg/ka).

Reducing sowing rates to 50 kg/ha did not impact on yield, which is consistant with 2009 trial results. Yield at the site did not respond to applied phosphorus or nitrogen fertiliser even following early plant growth responses.

Precision agriculture can be used to apply variable rates of nitrogen fertiliser; generating fertiliser savings and optimising yields throughout the paddock. Optimising applied nitrogen fertilser results in optimum yields and gross margin.

The higher yielding zone of the paddock did not require more DAPSZC than the lower yielding zones. Such on-farm experiments have a great potential to inform and improve paddock management for increased profits and environmental outcomes by using inputs more wisely.

• Precision soil mapping for pH and nutrients can result in significant cost savings for producers.

• Mapping soil pH has greatest value if the paddocks are into their second or third rotation of lime.

• Consider including sulphur in the testing if mapping phosphorus.

• Establish several sites across the farm to monitor the ongoing pH, P and S status.

• Yields at very low seed rates of 0.3 and 0.5 kg/ha were comparable to yields at higher seed rates of 1.0 and 2.5 kg/ha when using a precision seeding machine.
• Yields in excess of 2.0 t/ha were achieved when sowing at 50 cm row spacing.
• These results suggest we should continue investigating more precise seed delivery systems.

• Yields at very low seed rates of 0.3 and 0.5 kg/ha were comparable to yields at higher seed rates of 1.0 and 2.5 kg/ha when using a precision seeding machine.
• Yields in excess of 2.0 t/ha were achieved when sowing at 50 cm row spacing.
• These results suggest we should continue investigating more precise seed delivery systems.

• There was good correlation between yield predicted from historical yield maps and actual yield data.
• Wind during harvest caused over 0.5t/ha yield loss in the lower yielding areas of the paddock.

The forecasting models also have potential to significantly improve production levels in other agricultura, pastoral and horticultural industries.

Although this trial yielded less than half the other NVT trials conducted in AgZone 1 in 2006 there is some consistency with their results and the ranking of these varieties in this trial.

• Nodulation can be very poor and very patchy, and measures to improve both the level and consistency of nodulation are needed.
• Growers are encouraged to take root samples of legume crops in late winter or early spring to assess nodulation. A nodulation assessment guide that includes photos of plants with poor and good nodulation is available online.
• AgKI has received funding through GRDC for bean nodulation trial work in 2015 – so hopefully next year’s Ag Trial booklet will have good news about how to improve nodulation.

• Chaff lining is an evolving harvest weed seed control method
• It presents as a low cost, easy weed management tool
• It is considered to be good control for ryegrass and radish but not as successful for brome grass

This trial has identified that foliar fungicides can provide good control of eyespot but there is variation in fungicide efficacy and that results are seasonally dependent. Fungicides with a higher level of activity on eyespot might give satisfactory control or suppression of eyespot if applied in-furrow.

• Yield Prophet provided good background information to apply nitrogen during the season. Whilst the nitrogen applica-tion treatment based of Yield Prophet reports was the second highest yielding treatment it did provide a delayed spend on nitrogen. Treatment 4 had exactly the same nitrogen application rate but the timing was far early than treatment 7 (Yield Prophet guided treatment). This does prove that Yield Prophet can help growers to make less risky nitrogen de-cisions without sacrificing yield and grain quality. Obviously with the excellent finishing rainfall the highest nitrogen application was the highest yielding treatment.
• This site was very responsive to Flexi-N and some very high yields were produced.

 

The important message from these trials is that any post seeding treatment is better than none at all.

Phosphorus is an essential nutrient for crop growth. Insufficient plant-available P, ultimately results in reduced yield. 

Crops, particularly cereals require a high amount of P for crop production, and P can often be depleted over time if optimal rates are not applied. Given P is an immobile nutrient historical application rates can bank P within the soil profile. 

Variable rates of starter fert were applied over a 4 year period, to assess the cumulative yield effect and P balance, to determine an optimal rate for crop production.

The control rate of 100kg/ha of MAPSZC:MOP (15.8kg/ha P), produced identical cumulative yields across the time span of the project to the 140kg/ha luxury rate. 

The 80kg/ha application provided sufficient P levels to maintain the phosphorus balance for cumulative yields achieved since 2017. However lower P rates will consume stored soil P reserves. 

• Most farmers apply fungicide as a curative rather than preventative measure.
• Foliar fungicides are more effective when applied before the onset of the disease.
• Preventative applications can be applied at lower rates than curative applications thus reducing application costs and potential yield loss.
• Despite the dry spring finish, all plots treated with fungicide demonstrated an increase in yield compared to the control.
• There was a small yield deficit incurred from applying only Folicur at GS39 compared with only Triad at GS32.

• All treatments gave higher yields than the control, where no fungicide was applied.
• Despite the lack of replication, it would appear that Impact at 500 mL/ha gave an increased yield by comparison to the control.
• A yield advantage of 1633 kg/ha would certainly more than pay for the cost of the treatment.
• For further conclusions, please see the attached trial report.

• Unlike wheat, higher seeding rates in malt barley may have a detrimental impact on grain yield and quality. This is particularly the case for Schooner (lower yields) and Vic Sloop (higher screenings).
• The exception to this rule may be Gairdner. Higher plant densities had no impact on yield or grain quality so increasing seeding rates in this variety may be a management tool available to compensate for its poor early vigour.

• Previous BCG results indicated that higher plant densities achieved by increasing seeding rates provided many benefits including stable or increased yields (never a yield penalty), reduced screenings, increased access to moisture, nutrient and light and better competition against weed populations.
• The results of this trial support the findings of previous BCG research.
• For many growers seed of their preferred variety may be in relatively low supply following the 2002 drought but it will be important to maintain or increase current seeding rates in 2003.

• From soil tests we knew that P was going to be the limiting factor.
• This trial shows that there is no substitue for keeping your P rates up. For example a ~$90/ha investment achieved a return of $483/ha.
• It also show the importance of soil testing.
• Plant analysis did not show any improvement in P uptake from either product enhancer and neither of these'enhancers' improved crop yeilds.

• Field peas were the stand out crop in terms of both dry matter production (5.8-6.5 t/ha) and grain yield (1.7-2.3 t/ha)
• Excellent grain yields were generally achieved for the other pulse crop options; chickpea (1.5-1.6 t/ha), lentil (1.5 t/ha), faba bean (1.4 t/ha) and lupins (0.9-1.2).
• Over two seasons at the site, Kabuli chickpeas have been the most profitable crop option followed by Desi chickpeas and field peas. Lentils were the most profitable option in 2014.
• There were no significant dry matter differences between treatments in the Brown Manure trial with all producing about 4.5 t/ha.

•  There were no significant yield effects of fungicide application at either V8 (8 leaf) or VT.
• No disease was observed in the trial and there was little evidence to suggest that fungicides improved green leaf retention when assessed at V14, V15 and V16.

• There was a significant interaction between fungicide product and the timing of application with propiconazole being more effective than prothioconazole at the later VT timing and visa versa at V8, however there is no evidence that this is a real effect.
• Application of three different fungicide active ingredients (four products) at either V8 (8 leaf) or VT tasselling produced no yield response at the Kerang site
• Application of a fungicide at either 8 leaf or tasselling did not result in an extended period of green leaf retention during grain fill.
• No disease was evident in the trial for the duration of the season. 

• Application of three different fungicide active ingredients (four products) at either V8 (8 leaf) or VT tasselling produced no yield response at the Yenda site.
• Application of a fungicide at either 8 leaf or tasselling did not result in an extended period of green leaf retention during grain fill.  
• No disease was evident in the trial for the duration of the season.

Two significant weather events that had an important influence over the results in this project, in 2016, frost and 2017, summer rain. In 2016, there were multiple severe frost events during the critical, flowering stage of the growing season. Oats being a relatively frost tolerant species proved to be the best performing species for yield and gross returns in 2016. The broadleaf crops, both legumes and canola were severely impacted by frost.

For barley in 2016 the accumulated gross returns for two years was higher in rotation, fallow 2015; barley 2016 when compared with wheat 2015 barley 2016. This supports previous work by CFIG that including fallow in the rotation can increase gross returns over a two year period.

In season 2017 frost damage was minor when compared to 2016. Season 2017 was dominated by heavy summer rainfall and a very dry start to winter. The fallow plots were impacted by the summer rain due to lack of soil cover. The loamy, morrell soil set hard at the surface as a result of the heavy summer rain which severely impacted penetration of the seeding equipment and subsequently, crop establishment was poor. The very dry start to the season likely exacerbated the poor establishment on the fallow plots.

Oats performed well again in 2017 in terms of yield but barley produced higher gross returns. Chickpeas and lentils were the best performing of the broadleaf crops in 2017.

When the gross returns in 2017 were compared by rotation (2015-2017), it is interesting to note that 2017 cereals grown in rotation with legumes in 2016 generally performed well.

The gross returns for every rotation tested in the trial were compared on an accumulative return over 3 years (2015-2017) and the rotation with the highest accumulative return was year 1; wheat year 2; chickpeas and year 3; barley. This demonstrates the value of a legume in a rotation which contributed to the highest yielding plot, which was barley in 2017.

The top two highest total gross return rotations over three years had a legume crop in one year of the rotation. The third highest return rotation had a fallow phase which confirms fallow as a rotation option. In the top 10 highest returning rotations, 4 had fallow in one year of the rotation.

•  Legume break crops reduced populations of RLN (Pratylenchus neglectus) in the soil while canola increased the population.
• RLN levels increased across the site after one season of Scepter wheat (a susceptible host) to medium risk levels on legume plots and high risk levels where canola had been a break crop.
• A single break crop in the rotation may be insufficient to effectively reduce disease inoculum beyond the season following a break crop year.

• The results from experimental comparisons of crop sequences of at least two and three years’ length undertaken over the last five years in the SE Australian cropping belt were consistent with findings from previous local and global research
  that has demonstrated that sequences including break crops tend to be more productive than continuous wheat.

• Canola is not a break crop in paddocks if root lesion nematodes (RLN) and Rhizoctonia solani are both present
• Weed free legumes, pulses and pastures are the best options where RLN and R. solani co-exist in a paddock
• Cereals substantially increase RLN and R. solani levels while canola will also increase RLN

The outcome from this project will be more reliable and more productive low rainfall farming systems through the increased use of less risky broad leaved break phases.

This will be achieved through the promotion of the following outputs from the proposal in low rainfall regions of south eastern Australia 1. More reliable management strategies for the production of broad leaved phases.

2. Identification of more reliable break phase options.

3. Guidelines to identify trigger points for when, for how long and which break phases to use for improved farming systems outcomes.

4. Reliable estimation of risks with break phases as well as their total impacts on following cereal crops.

A break of two years can produce a better financial outcome than continuous wheat over a four year period of production where there are substantial pressures on wheat performance (eg. grassy weeds). Wheat yields after a two year break were a significant step up from wheat crops following a one year break, which were in turn, much better than the continuous wheat. Large break crop benefits of 0.5-1.25 t/ha were achieved following a two year non-cereal break phase compared to continuous wheat. The break crop benefit of a one year break may only last one season if grass weeds are a significant factor. The major benefit of breaks in these long term cereal paddocks was to reduce grassy weed pressures for subsequent wheat crops phases. The benefit of a two year break had little to do with the phases chosen for those two breaks, providing that excellent grass weed control could be achieved in both. Many of the most profitable crop sequences over the four year period often started with a two year break phase.

• Continuously cropping cereals has increased grass weeds and root disease to a point that it is no longer the most economical option, due to decreased yield and costs associated with addressing weed and disease issues.      
• Two year breaks starting to pay their way in the third year of the rotation. One year breaks have lifted wheat performance but have not kept grassy weeds or diseases under control.

When compared to fallow, the 2005 grain yields from the field pea more than compensated for the subsequent 2006 wheat grain yield reduction.

• Crops can be established and grown in 6.6 t/ha of retained stubble in the HRZ without compromising establishment
• Stubble retention in the HRZ requires careful systems based planning and attention to detail
• Seasonal conditions will strongly influence outcomes of stubble retention through factors such as pest pressure and conserving soil moisture
• Burning may not be an option in the near future because of unacceptable risks of litigation