• Broadleaved break crops increased pre sowing soil nitrogen by up to 40 kg/ha in 2014 while Rhizoctonia inoculum was also significantly reduced following these crops.
• Growing a legume break crop in 2014 increased the grain yield of the subsequent wheat crop by 0.6–0.7 t/ha.
• Wheat crops following legumes were twice as profitable than following another cereal crop in 2015.
• The profitability of paddock rotations that included legume break crops in 2014 were similar to or exceeded the profitability of the cereal intensive rotation in the same paddock.

• Broadleaved break crops increased pre sowing soil nitrogen by up to 40 kg/ha in 2014 while Rhizoctonia inoculum was also significantly reduced following these crops.
• Growing a legume break crop in 2014 increased the grain yield of the subsequent wheat crop by 0.6 – 0.7 t/ha.
• Wheat crops following legumes were twice as profitable than following another cereal crop in 2015.
• The profitability of paddock rotations that included legume break crops in 2014 were similar to or exceeded the profitability of the cereal intensive rotation in the same paddock.

• Broadleaved break crops increased pre sowing soil nitrogen by up to 40 kg/ha in 2014 while Rhizoctonia inoculum was also significantly reduced following these crops.
• Growing a legume break crop in 2014 increased the grain yield of the subsequent wheat crop by 0.6–0.7 t/ha.
• Wheat crops following legumes were twice as profitable than following another cereal crop in 2015.
• The profitability of paddock rotations that included legume break crops in 2014 were similar to or exceeded the profitability of the cereal intensive rotation in the same paddock.

• Broadleaved break crops increased pre sowing soil nitrogen by up to 40 kg/ha in 2014 while Rhizoctonia inoculum was also significantly reduced following these crops.
• Growing a legume break crop in 2014 increased the grain yield of the subsequent wheat crop by 0.6–0.7 t/ha.
• Wheat crops following legumes were twice as profitable than following another cereal crop in 2015.
• The profitability of paddock rotations that included legume break crops in 2014 were similar to or exceeded the profitability of the cereal intensive rotation in the same paddock.

• Broadleaved break crops increased pre sowing soil nitrogen by up to 40 kg/ha in 2014 while Rhizoctonia inoculum was also significantly reduced following these crops.
• Growing a legume break crop in 2014 increased the grain yield of the subsequent wheat crop by 0.6–0.7 t/ha.
• Wheat crops following legumes were twice as profitable than following another cereal crop in 2015.
• The profitability of paddock rotations that included legume break crops in 2014 were similar to or exceeded the profitability of the cereal intensive rotation in the same paddock.

• During the season, plant growth was measured using a Greenseeker to measure Normalised Vegetation Differential Index (NDVI) at early tillering (growth stage GS14), end of tillering (GS30), and at the end of stem elongation (GS40).
• This data has not been presented in this report.

The effect of water quality did have an effect on the efficacy of the chemicals applied. Glyphosate applied with very hard (1000ppm) water did not provide effective knockdown compared with treatments which used hard (340ppm) water or rain water. Interestingly, some of the rainwater + glyphosate treatments resulted in varying degrees of ‘brownout’ depending on the wetter or ameliorant with which it was mixed.

Excluding the effect of the herbicide treatments, the performance of Mandelup was outstanding with its yield significantly higher than other varieties.

• With a disease like rhizoctonia crop rotation away from cereals is important to reduce inoculum levels. In high risk rotations or in paddocks known to have high disease levels EverGol Prime will be a useful new option for growers based on Australia wide trial experience.
• EverGol Prime has demonstrated excellent control of smut diseases (including bunt) with work conducted in Western Australia on loose smut this year confirming it as an excellent new tool for grower’s to target this hard- to- control disease.

• Saltbush and bluebush appear best suited to the moderately to severely saline areas of the site.
• Lucerne has presisted well on the non-saline area adjacent to the saline area.
• Sub-tropical grasses didn't persist due to excessive levels of salininty and possible competition and allelopathic effects of iceplant.
• The sandy duplex soil type appears well suited to direct seeding, as there doesn't appear to be any difference in growth between saltbush seedlings and direct seeding.

• Adequate control of weeds and sufficient plant densities resulted in a clean, competitive crop at the Carnamah site. Canola remains a high earning crop that commonly forms part of a crop rotation in many farming enterprises. Robust agronomy packages and prices of the legume types demonstrated by this project, means crops such as field peas and lentils have potential suitability in the Carnamah region.
• The need to harvest chickpeas early to match the logistics of harvest of the trial compromised the results for the chickpea treatments. Use of established management practices for the harvesting of chickpeas is required to reduce the incidence of yield loss at harvest time.
• The ranking of each species on profitability should be viewed in light of the highly variable price of pulses from year to year.
   

• Adequate pre and post emergent weed control is critical for maintaining yield potential and quality of grain legume crops.
• Canola remains the most profitable non-cereal crop type demonstrated at this site in 2018.
• Where vetch grain is not harvested and sold as feed, consideration of this legume crop type for its grazing value may be advantageous for a mixed farming system.
   

• Preparation of paddocks is key to the success of legume crops such as chickpeas and field peas. Control of weeds prior to sowing is crucial and, rolling to level the seed bed post seeding improves the ability to harvest such crop types.
• Field peas and chickpeas are more susceptible to frost damage compared to canola or lupins.
• Canola remains a highly profitable non-cereal crop in Kalannie in 2018.
   

• Significant weed burdens can impact yield of legume crops considerably if not controlled well with rotation or pre and post emergent herbicide options.
• Without control of weeds, soil borne diseases can be carried from legume phase into the cereal phase. 

• Three direct drill seeders were compared (Gason, Jenke, Daybreak) to sow wheat into a canola stubble.
• The season was very dry (decile 2) with an average wheat yield of 1.4t/ha in the demonstration.
• There were no differences in crop yield between the three seeders.

It is important to match the maturity of hte oat varieties with the vetch.

• Yipti wheat is highly adapted to the Mallee environment. It is consistently one of the highest yielding varieties and has excellent quality characteristics.
• Yeipti is not hte best variety for direct drilling into wheat stubble as it is very susceptible to yellow leaf spot.

• The early maturity of Quilinock and Belara allowed these avrieties to avoid significant crop loss from the first gramozone croptopping treatment.
• Mandelup was affected by the first gramozone treatment but not as much as Tanul and Kalya.
• The competitive yield preformance of Mandelup was also determined.

• A clear advantage in yield was seen with 50cm rows compared to 25cm row spacing.
• It is possible that the response to wide rows at this site would be gretaer if the finish was drier than 2004.
• Consideration needs to be given to ensuring excellent weed control in the wide row system.

While incidence of root rot was high (83-95%), the disease severity was low on the trial site ranging from 14.3 to 19.5% for treatment averages; many plants had a low level of root disease. Distinct patches were not evident in the trial.

Despite low levels of disease severity observed in the trial and only minor treatment effects on root rot, two in-furrow treatments were found to significantly improve the yield by more than 0.24 t/ha compared to the Untreated control. These were the granular fertiliser treated with Uniform® and the split application of Uniform® above and below the furrow.

In a site with a moderate rhizoctonia disease risk, as indicated by PreDicta B, the majority of plants had root rot however severity was low and patch development did not occur. Under low disease pressure, the Uniform treatments as a whole were able to provide a small reduction in disease incidence which subsequently resulted in yield increase from two treatments. Under higher disease pressure these products can be included as part of an integrated management approach for rhizoctonia.

There was no visual response to applying N or yield. The N rich strips were also not obvious at the time of applying the N to the plots. This may have been a result of the moderate level of N in all zones, the dry spring and the time of application. From the DSN results, 20-60 kg/ha of N would have commended in August in the various zones to achieve the yield targets that were considered achievable at that time. The quality of the wheat produced was low (ASW due to low protein) indicating that insufficient N was applied. The economic analysis showed that the addition of N, lost money. The N rich strips were a useful guide to assessing that there would be no response to applying additional of N but not for assessing differing responses in different zones. It has not been possible to assess if satellite map were a useful guide to possible N response.

 There was a visual response to P applied at sowing which resulted in additional yield at harvest. Responses were obtained to up to 10 kg/ha of P. The added net income was calculated as $44 /ha or a $3 return for every $1 spent. There was no visual response to applying N. This may have been a result of the dry pring and the time of application. There was no response to N at harvest.   The co-operator was please that he noted a visual response to applying P that resulted in higher yields. The ack of N response was probably due to the dry weather in early October.

• For the growers surveyed, the main reasons for cross ripping were to mitigate uneven plant establishment from wheel track sinkage lines and to break up the tramlines to increase crop area
• Other reasons for cross seeding included; for more uniform seed placement, trash flow management, to stop the bar sinking, stop bogging and to get soil throw to cover spray tracks.
• There was less wheel sinkage with cross ripping than ripping in the same direction as the main traffic.

• Trial showed legumes to be more susceptible to frosts and high temperatures during flowering than cereals and canola.
• When legumes grain prices are high, the revenues derived are competitive with conventional crops such as wheat, barley and canola.
• Growers can improve the agronomic skills required to successfully grow legume crops on their farms very quickly.
• Ongoing research and demonstration work are required to continue driving grower adoption of legume crops in Western Australia. Increased cropping diversity is an ongoing ambition for the entire grains industry.

Yield differences of 2*st. dev. are significant. Within plot variability was large (st. dev. about 0.3 to 0.4 t/ha) but there is an apparent response to ripping, but not to depth of ripping.  More information is needed to interpret these results. 

It is important to determine the potential economic benefits of nitrogen before application. Consideration must be made for yield potential, cost of nitrogen and price of grain. The 2008 season saw no statistical difference in yield in the nitrogen response trial. Despite this there were clear differences observed in gross margin and return on investment.

• Desiccation of lentils is a practice that enables growers to bring forward the harvest date by eliminating unripe green patches, reduces the crops exposure to lodging and grain loss from unfavourable weather and reduces green material in the sample by desiccating late germinating weeds or escapes.
• The results of this trial indicate that the time of desiccation does not have a significant influence on yield once the bottom pods have fully formed.

• Early and on time desiccation resulted in large yield losses.
• Early and on time desiccation resulted in large reductions in seed size, but not to the same
  degree as yield.
• What were the reasons (other than reduced seed size) that contributed to these yield
  losses? Was ‘pinched’ seed lost through the header at harvest?
• Yield losses were bigger in the later flowering variety Kaspa.
• Need to more closely fine-tune growth stages with physiological maturity to pick the “on
  time” desiccation spray.
• Oura and Pearl were early and the pick of varieties suited to crop-topping & desiccation.

The Winchelsea site, sown in late April to Amarok red wheat, had yield variations across the site, with highest yielding plots reaching 3t/ha.  These plots although nearest the shelter belts, were the stubble incorporated treatments.  In comparison, where incorporation did take place with either the addition of chook manure or biological applications, there was a reduced yield of up to 0.6t/ha.  Burning at this site yielded 2.33t/ha, being the lowest output for this site

• On average, the stubble incorporation treatment appeared to yield marginally less across this site. There appeared to be no difference between treatments for grain quality.
• For further findings please see the attached trial report.

• On average, the stubble incorporation treatment appeared to yield marginally better than other treatments. Burning still performed very well, along with the three surface retained treatments in 2007.
• For further findings please see the attached trial report.

• Zinc,manganese and copper are the three most important trace element deficiencies for crops in southern Australia.
• Diagnosis from soil testing or symptoms is often unreliable or too late to manage the problem well.  Plant testing is the most reliable, if not fool profft tool to diagnose trace element deficiencies
• Deficiencies can be overcome with cheap sulphate foliasr sprays but boosting soil reserves for copper and zince is a good investment.

• Snails may be detected in grain as it is being harvested using a mobile phone mounted in the bin.
• Mobile phones can be programmed to detect snails on the ground using WheelCam
• Time lapse photography and analysis can be used to study the behaviour of snails over many months.
• Nozzle choice can help deposit sprays where the snails are located around the time of spraying.

• Relationships between remote sensing data and hand harvest data were identified for some varieties and sowing dates, suggesting remotely sensed data might be useful for determining canola maturity.
• Both variety and sowing date alter the relationship between remotely sensed data and hand harvested data.

• All crops go through stages of development known as critical growth periods (CGP) where stress can reduce yield potential more than at any other time.

• Shading can be used to induce defined periods of stress on a crop to identify CGP.

• The critical growth period for canola was identified as approximately 100–400 degree days (°C.days) after the start of flowering (defined as 50% plants with one open flower).

• There was minimal effect of pre- and post-flowering stress on grain yield.

Deep ripping with twin disk incorporation look to be the most economic treatment for subsoil mixing, however, the results from this one year with poor yield results from a poor season would suggest otherwise.

Nitrifying archaea and bacteria live at different soil depths, with nitrifying bacteria inhabiting the surface soil and nitrifying archaeal populations inhabiting the sub-soil (10-90 cm). Nitrifying bacteria are the most numerous overall when compared to the nitrifying archaea, and their decline in abundance with soil depth matches the decline in soil nitrification rates. In these soils, nitrification rates are low, suggesting the amount of NH4+ is low, leaving little available for nitrification. Understanding the ecology of these microbes and their role in soil nitrification rates, may lead to improved management strategies to decrease N losses from the soil and improve N use efficiency. 

Individual live‐weight gains were highest at the lower stocking rates, but income per hectare was considerably greater at the higher stocking rates with income over $1000/ha at rates of 40 and 50 lambs/ha. Grain yields tended to be higher for the lowest stocking rate but it is likely this was largely due to increased populations of ryegrass with higher grazing pressure.

Reliable and profitable pulse production for the south west HRZ is critical for the success of farming systems in this region. Suitable varieties are now available, but we do not fully understand the best agronomic package. Research and demonstrations presented here primarily indicates that timely sowing is critical for optimum yields. From 2005, delayed sowing in field peas, faba bean and lupins resulted in yield losses between 10% and 60%. We were unable to assess beans and lupins at even earlier sowings because of the
late season break.

• Spot form of net blotch (SFNB) is a foliar disease of barley threatening production of the susceptible variety Gairdner.
• Fungicides may play an important role in achieving control over this disease

All cultivation treatments reduced crop establishment significantly below “Nil” cultivation. 

Poor rainfall in September and October 2015 meant that the trial yielded very poorly (~0.5 T/ha), with no significant differences between treatments.

Soil test results are not yet available.

The Long Bottom Boots functioned reasonably well at first, but tended to plug with soil from underneath after multiple passes and on finer textured soil to the south of the trial area.

We think that a design that was wider at the back (60 – 80 mm) and therefore more open would improve soil flow down the boot, and reduce the risk of plugging.

(i) Several options exist to ameliorate subsoil acidity with incorporated lime. The method chosen will depend on pH profile, yield potential, budget, area affected, soil type and occurrence of other constraints that may be impacted. (ii) Modified deep ripping techniques can incorporate more topsoil and surface applied lime while at the same time effectively removing subsoil compaction. (iii) Applying adequate lime to ameliorate the soil pH profile to depth is of utmost importance and the rate of lime applied should not be compromised to pay for incorporation, although lime applications can be split with some applied before and some a year or two after incorporation.

1997 has shown that although lentils can yield well under drought conditions, the timliness of rain and soil type are very important.

The trial reported here is the same as those conducted at 13 sites around Australia.

• Results of preliminary tests show the fungicide has excellent activity against this fungal disease.
• The potential use of the new AgrEvo fungicide in Australia will be as a single spray, six weeks after emergence, when seed treatment activity ceases.

• Some narbon bean lines were still emerging one month after sowing.
• During the growth period August through to October the norbaon beans were growing under severe water stress.
• Considering the seasonal rainfall for the site, the grain yields were pleasing.

• The first leaf should not be used to diagnose manganese deficiency in barley as it has a higher concentration than the youngest expanded blade.
• Visual symptoms of manganese deficiency begin on the youngest leaves but necrosis develops slowly.
• There was no difference in manganese concentration between the youngest expanded blade on the main stem or tillers so either could be used.
• Chlorophyll a fluorescence was strongly correlated with manganese concentration and a useful tool for identifying manganese deficiency in barley.

• High levels of herbicide resistance are present in annual ryegrass in South Australia and Victoria.
• Trifluralin resistance is high in South Australia, but lower elsewhere.
• There is no cross resistance to the new pre-emergent herbicides Boxer Gold and Bay 191.

• High levels of herbicide resistance are present in annual ryegrass in SA and Victoria.
• Trifluralin resistance is high in SA, but lower elsewhere.
• There is no cross resistance to the new per-emergent herbicides Boxer Gold and BAY-191.
• Trifluralin must be conserved because the new pre-emergenet herbicides are not selective in canola.

• Zinc deficiency caused production losses in cereals of up to 25% and in medic of up to 300% in biomass.
• Critical level for zinc deficiency in wheat was established as 18 mg/kg in YEBs at late tillering.
• Zinc deficiency in crops can be corrected with foliar sprays, zinc coated fertilisers or zinc applied to the soil and thoroughly incorporated by tillage. Fertilisers which are a mix of NP granules and zinc granules are poorly effective.
• Zinc applied to the soil will provide residual benefits for 3-10 years, the longer persistence in sandier mallee soils.
• 70% of cereal crops in the SA mallee were zinc deficient in the early 1990s.
• An application of 2 kg zinc/ha to the soil (as an incorporated soil spray or zinc coated fertiliser) will correct zinc deficiency in broadacre crops and pastures.

• Twenty replicated factorial experiments conducted 1970-1971.
• Copper, manganese, zinc, iron, boron and molybdenum applied as foliar sprays at various times.
• Vegetative growth was less affected by copper deficiency than grain yield.
• There was a response to copper at 14 of the 20 sites.
• Response to other trace elements were much less frequent.
• Copper deficiency occurred on a wide range of soils.
• Responses to zinc and manganese applications were confined to calcareous soils.
• Copper concentration in the tops was poorly correlated with yield but a critical concentration of 2.5 ppm was apparent from grain analysis.
• The relationship between grain copper and copper responsiveness was not influenced by soil type.

The 2017 season was significantly colder than average with about 500 hours below zero.

While stubble management may influence in-canopy temperatures, the differences between management practices were minimal during 2017.

Differences in frost damage of grains were significant between treatments at both the Coreen and Yarrawonga sites, with the burnt treatment showing the greatest frost damage at Coreen, while the no-till stubble retained (NTSR) treatments showed the greatest damage at Yarrawonga.

Stubble management per se did not influence frost damage in wheat during 2017, with frost damage not necessarily related to in-canopy temperatures.

Stubble management practices can influence the rate of crop development and may lead to changes in flowering time. This change in rate of development can influence crop susceptibility to frost at different times throughout the growing season.

 

• Despite apparently adequate levels of nitrogen in the soil profile, a significant yield response was still recorded where sulphur was supplied along with nitrogen protected by a nitrification inhibitor - Entec Granam.
• Marginal S levels may have become deficient during the course of the trial due to leaching of sulfur.

• There were adequate levels of nitrogen in the soil profile which limited response to any applied fertiliser.
• There were significant yield increases from enhanced efficiency products such as Entec at sowing.

• The application of 40kg/ha at sowing resulted in significant yield responses from all products over the control where only starter fertiliser was applied.
• Fertilisers banded at sowing generally resulted in higher yields and grain N recovery than top dress applications, while the inverse was true for grain protein levels.
• Low grain protein levels (<10.5%) for all treatments and application timings generally indiates that yield was not optimised due to the limited nitrogen supply.
• There were no significant responses found from the use of inhibitors in this trial.

• There were good dry matter responses to starter fertilisers at either 16 or 32 kg/ha of P although only certain treatments gave a significant dry matter inrease when raising P rate from 16 to 32 kg/ha. The best dry matter response was from Gree Top which supplied all the nutrients lacking in the soil test report.
• Potassium seed burn was not apparent possibly due to the relatively wet conditions.
• Both DAP and Gree Top grew over 70 kg DM/ha/kg P at the lower rate of 80 kg/ha, which supplied 16 kg/ha of P.
• Only Green Top, Croplift and Superfect+Mo increased yields with increasing rate of application indicating they supplied the lacking nutrient required to make use of the extra P available.

• There were adequate levels of phosphorus in the soil profile, but we still saw a response to phosphorus fertiliser.
• There were some differences within different products at the 12 kg P rate - with sulfur enhances products delivering a better outcome.
• Other additive to phosphorus fertilisers delivered no additional benefits.

• Although soil measures of zinc availability indicated sufficiency, zinc deficiency was severe in the untreated plots.
• Yield responses to foliar zinc of up to 86% were observed in sensitive cultivars.
• Some cultivars were not responsive to applied zinc and did not show any symptoms of zinc deficiency.
• Appropriate early treatment with foliar sprays eliminates zinc deficiency.
• Where soils are shown to be zinc deficient soil applications may be warranted but interactions with phosphorus need to be understood.

• Zinc diffusion was assessed for three fertilizers in three soils of varying pH.
• The fertilizer (zincSO4-coated monoammonium phosphate, MAP; zincSO4-coated diammonium phosphate, DAP; or zincSO4 alone) was applied in the centre of a Petri dish filled with soil.
• The zinc diffusion zone was visualized at various incubation times (1, 7 and 18 days) by exposing a CaCO3-impregnated filter paper on the soil surface and colouring the zinc captured on the filter paper using dithizone.
• The extent of diffusion was also assessed through concentric sampling and chemical analysis of soil sections.
• The visualization results agreed with the chemical analyses and demonstrated the effects of soil properties and fertilizer formulation on zinc diffusion.
• Combining zinc with P fertilizer restricted its diffusion, particularly with DAP fertilizer or in high pH soils.
• Solubility considerations indicated that this was due to the formation of zinc phosphate minerals.

• Digital photos collected up to GS31 and processed for green ground cover provided a good measure of crop biomass and N uptake.
• Images collected after GS31 had poorer relationships with crop growth.

• Canola and juncea can successfully be direct-harvested without windrowing or using pre-harvest chemicals.
• Windrowing can help the crop ripen more evenly, allowing better management of the harvest windrow, especially if damaging weather is forcast.
• Although expensive, Reglone and Desikote Max may help to offset yield losses experienced with crop variability.

• Time of sowing is more important than seeding system.
• Depth control on disc seeding systems can affect crop establishment.
• In this trial the knife-point press wheel seeding system out yielded the single disc seeding system.

• Both the grazed disc and grazed tyne treatments yield the same.
• In contrast to one of the initial years where the tyne treatments saw greater Patterson’s Curse density, there have not been any further or continual patterns of weeds within the site.
• Disc seeder saw limitations in ungrazed stubble, when stubble lodged along with soft wet soil. Solutions will include reducing stubble harvest height, to lower risk of post-harvest lodging, however even spread across header width will be essential.
• Addition of “residue managers” to brush material aside from path of disc openers would reduce level of poor establishment and ensure discs continue to roll and cut.
• Poor establishment means that it is behind on tiller density and ultimately head density. This is the basis of building yield potential and water use efficiency. Focus on maximum and consistent establishment to efficiently use nutrient and moisture resources.
• Tyne seeder is more “forgiving” in troublesome conditions, as there are fewer variables to manage.
• To date, total yields are virtually level, signifying there is no silver bullet to seeding machine or stubble management.
• To manage the variables which pose risk to any such system will be the key to limit downfalls (as seen this year with the ungrazed disc) and maximise profitability. This is the silver bullet!

Please refer to attached trial report for discussion of results.

• The trial at Dalwallinu suffered from low soil temperature after sowing.
• Disease was not a larege problem at this trial as the level of inoculum would have been very low.
• Bird damage accounts for some of the large standard deviaitons in the Genesis 90.

• Baudin produced a statistically higher yield than Gairdner under all treatment regimes.
• The dry growing season lead to a very low disease presence in the plots.
• Under non-experimental cropping situations, foliar fungicide sprays would not have been applied in the absence of disease; however, in this trial the cost of foliar applications were not returned through improved yield.

The new Dun type field varieties Parafield and Kaspa (PSL4) had a significantly higher yield compared to Dundale at the Woomelang trial site (Dundale 1.3t/ha, Parafield 1.9t/ha, Kaspa 2.1 t/ha). The increased standability of Kaspa also makes harvesting much easier. In the 2001 season there were no benefits from a fungicide spray program on yield.

• A combination of old and new technology is being used to detect and analyse airborne fungal spore patterns affecting cereal and pulse grain crops.
• Intense spore showers were detected for blackspot of field pea and NFNB of barley, but negligible for YLS of wheat, at the experimental site at Hart during the 2013 season.
• Spore dispersal patterns of blackspot of field pea fitted with Blackspot Manager predictions.

Drought conditions throughout the Mallee and Wimmera last year (2002) resulted in poor growth in most pulse crops, with many crops failing. It is very tempting to re-sow paddocks to the same crop or another pulse in 2003. However, there are several disease management issues growers should be aware of before deciding to replant on pulses.

• Combined results from the sowing date and disease management trials indicated PBA Blitz and PBA Greenfield were more severely affected by ascochyta blight than previously observed relative to other varieties. This has resulted in a drop in their disease ratings relative to other varieties.

The main messages from the trial work undertaken in 2005 for disease management in 2006 are discussed.

• The 'Full' treatment was significantly better yielding than the other treatments.
• The 'Full' treatment was more profitable than other treatments for wheat.

Taking account of fungicide costs (both application and product) revealed that untreated Teesdale generated the equal highest margins (Table 6-16). With both Mitre and Kellalac the most cost effective treatments were two applications of fungicide based on a GS32 Bayleton followed by Opus, however as stand alone treatments the flag leaf spray of Opus was substantially more cost effective than either Jockey or Impact. The application of Bayleton at GS32 followed by GS39 Opus was slightly more cost effective than the Impact followed by Opus. Impact had an edge over Jockey in this trial in terms of green leaf retention, yield and margin.

• Wider row spacings resulted in less visual symptoms of ascochyta blight and higher grain yields.
• This was particularly notable in the susceptible genoptype, Howzat.

• Disease pressure was low in the trials and no major effects of agronomic treatment were noted.

• New varieties are likely to offer significant yield improvement in southern Victoria, along with improvements in disease resistance.

• No significant disease was noted in trials this year so grain yields were unaffected by disease management treatments.
• However the trials did clearly highlight the yield advantage of AF05069, AF05073 and AF05095 compared with Farah.

• New varieties are available for southern Victoria, offering a range of grain types and forage options, associated with excellent yield potential. Disease had little impact on yields in 2014. PBA Pearl was the highest yielding variety producing, 2.3t/ha and estimated profit of $500/ha.

• Chlorothalonil (Bravo), pyraclostrobin (Cabrio) and azoxystrobin plus chlorothalonil (Amistar
  Opti) showed increased yield compared to the nil treatment, however further improvement is
  possible as the response from fortnightly chlorothalonil sprays was even greater.

• Disease was not significant in 2014. AF05095-1 continued to show increased susceptibility to brackling compared other varieties.

• Due to extreme weather events there was no major effect of disease management in 2014.

• The kabuli chickpeas, both smaller and larger seed types were much more profitable than desi’s at Rupanyup in 2012. Disease had no significant effect on yield, although symptom scores highlighted potential risks with a new line CIC0717.

• Phytophthora medicaginis (Pm) inoculum concentrations decline to low levels (within 6−12 months) of a diseased crop and the distribution becomes more uneven.
• Within 6−12 months, survival populations of Pm (oospores) can be below detectable levels based on both soil DNA and isolate baiting methods.
• These inoculum decline factors limit the ability of PreDicta B to identify paddocks that have a significant disease risk.
• The Pm test is useful for in-crop disease diagnosis when the pathogen is active and inoculum decline has not taken place.
   

• Early break to the season triggers a very early canola sowing time (22 March) in a time of sowing trial at Minnipa.
• Disappointing yields and no stand out varieties in time of sowing 1 (TOS1) at Minnipa missing the full potential for early sowing due to shattering and mice damage.
• Exceptional yields in TOS2 Clearfield trial at Minnipa where Hyola 571 CL, Pioneer 44Y84 CL and Pioneer 43C80 CL all exceeded 2.5 t/ha.
• ATR Stingray, CB Junee HT and ATR Snapper are the highest yielding TOS2 TT lines at Minnipa.
• Hybrids Hyola 571 CL, Pioneer 45Y82 CL and Pioneer 44Y84 CL shine in the Clearfield trial at Witera yielding above 2 t/ha.
• ATR Cobbler, ATR Stingray and Tanami are the best performing TT lines at Witera.
• Oil content in canola is above 42% across all trials.

• Axe and Gladius produced the highest gross income at Franklin Harbour.
• Correll and Yitpi produced the highest gross income at Mt Cooper.
• Pugsley and Yitpi produced the highest gross income at Elliston.
• Flagship and Capstan produced the highest gross income of barley at Mt Cooper.

Trojan wheat shows its class, outperforming all other varieties apart from Phantom and Wyalkatchem at Port Kenny. Fathom, LaTrobe and Compass barley pushed towards the 5 t/ha at Port Kenny in 2014.

Mace, Phantom and Wyalkatchem out-yielded all other varieties at Elliston.

Corack was the top performing wheat variety at Wharminda.

Corack, Mace, Emu Rock and Scout were the top four yielding varieties at Franklin Harbour.

Top five highest yielding wheat varieties at Port Kenny in 2013 were Scout, Cobra, Corack, Mace and Wyalkatchem. Compass, Fathom and Skipper barely varieties performed well at Port Kenny.

There were no differences in yield between varieties in this trial however Cobra, CL Justica and Espada performed the best at Franklin Harbour in the 2013 season.