• With very low levels of available soil nitrogen and rooting limitations due to salinity at 70cm, there was a significant response to applied nitrogen over the zero N control, but was statistically significant only in treatments that received nitrogen in the seedbed.
• Where nitrogen was applied in-crop at GS31 (14 August) and GS39 (14 September), there was no significant yield response above the control (a result attributed to limited uptake 3.25mm of rain in August, 8.5mm in September).
• While grain protein content increased after seedbed nitrogen applications, there was no protein response to in-crop applications, confirming a lack of nitrogen uptake as a result of limited follow up rainfall.

• In this water-limited scenario, with 70 kg/ha N available in the soil at the start of the season, in-crop nitrogen application served to significantly reduce yield relative to the zero N control.
• Yield depression was strongly significant (p=0.001) when nitrogen was applied at GS30 (start of stem elongation) but was less evident when applied at GS37 (flag leaf first visible).
• Unusually, the yield reduction from GS30 nitrogen timing was associated with higher grain protein than the later flag leaf first visible (GS37) timing. This result looks likely to have been influenced by protein concentration effect accompanying the stronger yield reduction at GS30.

Seed and fertiliser dresings and in-crop fungicides did not give a response in wheat in a drought year. Ventura and H45 yielded better than Diamondbird.

• Seed and fertiliser dresings and in-crop fungicides gave responses in wheat that were inconsistant.
• Stripe rust varieties gave less reponse.
• Generally the best response came from spraying at full tillering (Z31).

• Fertiliser dressings gave responses in wheat during 2008.
• There were no responses to in-crop fungicides.
• During the four year of the experiment, the best fungicide treametns have benn the seed and fertiliser treatments and the in-crop fungicide sprays at growth stage Z 39 (flag leaf emergence).

• Similar yields can be obtained using a number of combinations of seed and fertiliser.
• Low tiller numbers can be recovered by using light amounts of nitrogen.
• There may be opportunities to use much lower inputs and still produce high-yielding and profitable crops.

• Trial reveals that 70 plants per square metre (about 35kg seed) and 5-10 kilograms per hectare of phophorus represent the optimal target plant density and phosphorous input level for wheat.
• Similar yeild results can be obatained using a number of combinations of seed and fertiliser.
• Low tiller numbers can be recovered by using light amounts of nitrogen.

• There was significatn rain in early April.
• Main weed problem was radish.

Despite weed competition, less-than-ideal winter weather and soil conditions, wheat responded to both P and N application at this site. Grower returns on fertilizer investment were best with P applied at 8 to 16 kg/ha and N applied at 40 kg/ha. Greater response and returns from increased fertilizer application may be expected with improved early-to-mid season moisture conditions and less weed competition.

The plant roots in this trial were not assessed for disease incidence and there were no above ground symptoms of any diseases, however results (although not statistically significant) show some modest yield increases at Gnarwarre that are consistent with the other trials conducted in Victoria.

The objective of this GRDC / SPAA funded project is to increase the level of adoption of PA 'beyond guidance' by broadacre farmers. The project specifically aims to increase the level of adoption of variable rate (VR) by growers in the project to 30% by 2013.This goal will be achieved by demonstrating how to use PA tools to growers at a regional level and by increasing the skills of growers and industry in PA to a level where they can then use PA tools in their farming systems to achieve economic, environmental and social benefits.

• The average sowing rate in low rainfall zones is 50 kg/ha.
• Increasing seeding rates is generally not helpful for yield as moisture is limiting in this zone.
• Higher seeding rates can have other benefits such as reducing weed burdens.

There was no influence of seeding rate on crop production in 2012 at Mullewa when the crop was sown close to the break. However there was a yield penalty with the higher seeding rate when the sowing time was delayed by a month. These results are in contrast to 2011 at Mullewa . Increasing seeding rate increased crop production when sown close to the break and there was no effect on  roduction with increasing seeding rate when seeding was delayed.

Emergence: 

Emergence was staggered for the first sown treatments only. This is because seeding was on the 11th May into a drying seed bed. It had rain ed in April and early May. The second sowing time was on the 7th June. Rainfall in June was 56 mm.The seeding rate treatments targeted 100, 200 and 300 plants/m2. The actual plant population was 100, 147 and 200 plants/m2 respectively (averaged across variety and sowing time). The range in ears produced across treatments was not large however it was a significantly different between the highest (145 ears/m2) and the lowest seeding rate (137 ears/2) (ave across variety and sowing time).

Yield:

At Mullewa, there was no interaction between seeding rate, sowing time and variety on crop yield. However, there was an interaction between seeding rate and sowing time on crop production for all varieties. When sown close to the break of the season, changing seeding rates did not affect crops yields significantly. In contrast to the first sowing time, the grain yield (averaged across all varieties) was significantly reduced at the higher actual plant population compared to the middle and lower targe ted plant populations of 100 and 147 plants/m2. Delaying seeding by a month later, reduced crop production by 500 - 600 kg/ha. This equates to 20kg/day/ha.

Emu Rock, Mace and Corack were the higher yielding varieties at each sowing time. Emu Rock and Mace are AH varieties, Corack is an APW variety.

Quality:

There was no influence of seeding time, plant density or variety on grain protein (P>0.05). Initial assessment of grain screenings includes whole and cracked grain. Except for Emu Rock, screenings of all varieties were lower than 5% when sown at the first sowing time (P<0.05). Observations of Emu Rock at harvest suggest the screenings are a result of mechanical damage, rather than small grain (further measurements are to be undertaken to assess this).

.

Sowing time has a greater influence on production of all wheat varieties than seeding rate. Weed competition is one factor which can limit early sowing and increasing crop competition through increasing plant density has been demonstrated as a useful non chemical tool to reduce weed growth. The research has demonstrated that increasing plant density did not adversely affect crop yield or grain quality of crops sown close to the break of the season in May however higher plant densities of varieties sown in June did reduce yield of wheat varieties.There was no influence of seeding rate on crop production in 2012 at Mullewa when the crop was sown close to the break. However there was a yield penalty with the higher seeding rate when the sowing time was delayed by a month. These results are in contrast to 2011 at Mullewa. Increasing seeding rate increased crop production when sown close to the break and there was no effect on production with increasing seeding rate when seeding was delayed.

• Sowing date, particularly for mid–late maturing varieties, was found to be a significant determinant of grain yield potential, with yield reductions of >25% observed due to a delayed sowing date (8 May vs. 7 June).
• Variety and sowing date in particular affected grain quality parameters, with a significant increase in the level of screenings for all varieties when the sowing date was delayed.
• Higher plant populations had a greater influence on grain yield when the sowing date was delayed. Yield potential was optimised at 200 plants/m2 for a 7 June sowing date vs. 100 plants/m2 for the earlier 8 May sowing date, supporting the principal of increasing targeted plant populations when sowing is delayed.
• Altering variety and maturity type, and increasing targeted plant population in response to a delayed sowing date did not fully compensate for yield losses associated with a delayed vs. timely sowing date.

Conclusions:

Results from this experiment highlight the importance of timely sowing, particularly for mid–late maturing varieties. Yield reductions of approximately 1.3 t/ha averaged across plant population treatments were recorded for the mid–late maturing varieties LRPB LancerA and EGA GregoryA with delayed sowing, which equates to a 25% and 26% yield decline, respectively. Similarly, the late maturing variety EGA EaglehawkA suffered a yield penalty of around 22% (0.98 t/ha) whilst the mid maturing variety SuntopA suffered a 14% (0.70 t/ha) yield reduction due to delayed sowing. In comparison, the earlier maturing varieties LRPB DartA and LRPB SpitfireA suffered only minimal yield reductions when SD was delayed. Importantly however, the earlier maturing varieties did not exhibit any yield advantage over the later maturing varieties in SD 2 and were significantly lower yielding than these varieties at SD 1. Temperature and plant available water during anthesis/grain fill would also have affected both yield potential and grain quality parameters, with limited effective in-crop rainfall in September/October, and temperatures exceeding 35 °C for an extended period from 4 October. The longer season variety EGA EaglehawkA in particular had high screenings for both SDs, and also produced a low yield in SD 2, reinforcing the need to sow this variety early due to its lack of adaptability under unfavourable conditions. Increasing plant population had a greater influence on GY when SD was delayed, with yield potential optimised at 200 plants/m2 in SD 2 vs. 100 plants/m2 in the earlier SD 1, supporting the principal of increasing targeted plant populations with delayed sowing. These findings further emphasise the advantage of planting early in the sowing window compared to delayed sowing just simply in terms of input seed requirements. Variety selection and sowing date particularly affected grain quality parameters and screenings. There was a significant increase in the level of screenings for all varieties when sowing was delayed. LRPB LancerA was the only variety in this experiment that achieved screenings of <5%, but only at SD 1. All other varieties, including LRPB LancerA in SD 2, exceeded the critical 5% screenings receival standards level. LRPB LancerA appears to have excellent grain stability with significantly lower screenings than either EGA GregoryA or SuntopA. Findings from this experiment indicate that there were differences between varieties in terms of grain stability, due possibly to variations in kernel shape/plumpness and or kernel weight stability. These results also highlight the adaptability of some of the mid–late season 16 | NSW Department of Primary Industries varieties, and the yield and quality advantages of sowing these varieties early, compared with sowing earlier maturing varieties later

• Look at stripe rust scores and yield with and without stripe rust control.
• Barley Yellow Dwarf Virus (BYDV) had a large effect on yield at many sites.

• Look at stripe rust scores and yield with and without stripe rust control.
• Barley Yellow Dwarf Virus (BYDV) had a large effect on yield at many sites.

• Look at stripe rust scores and yield with and without stripe rust control.
• Barley Yellow Dwarf Virus (BYDV) had a large effect on yield at many sites.

• Average treated wheat yields in the trial were 4.81 t/ha.
• The late timing of the rain in November tended to favour the longer season varieties which were just starting to grain fill at this time.
• Of the 20 varieties included in the trial, 5 are not commercially available at present.
• The highest yielding commercially available variety was Amarok at 111% of the site mean.
• The top four yielding varieties were red grained wheat.
• Stripe rust pressure was extremely high at the site giving an average yield increase of 0.21t/ha from applying a two spray fungicide programme.

• Average treated wheat yields in the trial were 4.2 t/ha.
• The late timing of the rain in November tended to favour the longer season varieties which were just starting to grain fill at this time.
• Of the 14 varieties included in the trial 6 are commercially available at present.
• The highest yielding commercially available variety was Mackellar at 120% of the site mean.
• Stripe rust pressure was extremely high at the site giving an average yield increase across all varieties of 0.2t/ha from applying a two spray fungicide programme.
• Chara increased yield from 1.93t/ha to 3.83t/ha with a $30/ha fungicide programme.

• These trials are carried out each year to assess the range of wheat varieties at several sites across the South-East.
• The regular use of fungicides for disease control within wheat NVT has reduced the impact of disease on grain yield performance, placing greater importance on the use of disease guides for varietal choice.  
• Need to minimise or avoid sowing of susceptible varieties which do not meet minimum disease standards unless a vigilant and successful disease control strategy is in place.
• Data from the NVT (National Variety Trial) data contains long-term site results. This data should be utilised to reduce the effect of seasonal variability in the decision-making process. 

• These trials are carried out each year to assess the range of wheat varieties at several sites across the South-East.
• The regular use of fungicides for disease control within wheat NVT has reduced the impact of disease on grain yield performance, placing greater importance on the use of disease guides for varietal choice.  
• Need to minimise or avoid sowing of susceptible varieties which do not meet minimum disease standards unless a vigilant and successful disease control strategy is in place.
• Data from the NVT (National Variety Trial) data contains long-term site results. This data should be utilised to reduce the effect of seasonal variability in the decision-making process. 

• These trials are carried out each year to assess the range of wheat varieties at several sites across the South-East.
• The regular use of fungicides for disease control within wheat NVT has reduced the impact of disease on grain yield performance, placing greater importance on the use of disease guides for varietal choice.  
• Need to minimise or avoid sowing of susceptible varieties which do not meet minimum disease standards unless a vigilant and successful disease control strategy is in place.
• Data from the NVT (National Variety Trial) data contains long-term site results. This data should be utilised to reduce the effect of seasonal variability in the decision-making process. 
   

At both sites stripe rust appeared relatively late and fungicide sprays were applied to control the disease.

• The regular use of fungicides for disease control within wheat NVT has reduced the impact of disease on grain yield performance, placing greater importance on the use of disease guides for varietal choice.
• Need to minimise or avoid sowing of susceptible varieties which do not meet minimum disease standards unless a vigilant and successful disease control strategy is in place.
• Data from the NVT (National Variety Trial) data contains long-term site results. This data should be utilised to reduce the effect of seasonal variability in the decision-making process.

• Commercial viability has been difficult to demonstrate.
• Field trials demonstrated that the H Senor was able to accurately classify annual ryegrass in several broadleaf crops, including canola, faba bean, lentil and field pea.
• Other grass weeds such as brome grass and wild oats were also correctly identified as grasses in these crops.
• Broad leaf weeds were accurately classified in cereal crops, however this was more difficult due to the overlapping nature of the cereal crops at the time when the broadleaf weeds had emerged.
• Classification accuracy was lower for detection of grass weeds in cereal crops and broadleaf weeds in broadleaf crops, and these scenarios were not pursued for that reason.  

• Commercial viability has been difficult to demonstrate.
• Field trials demonstrated that the H Senor was able to accurately classify annual ryegrass in several broadleaf crops, including canola, faba bean, lentil and field pea.
• Other grass weeds such as brome grass and wild oats were also correctly identified as grasses in these crops.
• Broad leaf weeds were accurately classified in cereal crops, however this was more difficult due to the overlapping nature of the cereal crops at the time when the broadleaf weeds had emerged.
• Classification accuracy was lower for detection of grass weeds in cereal crops and broadleaf weeds in broadleaf crops, and these scenarios were not pursued for that reason.  

The 2005 season in general suited wheats with mid-late maturity because of the favourable spring following a dry winter. Entries in the National Variety Testing (NVT) system were not sprayed for rust control and stripe rust had a large effect on yield of susceptible varieties in many environments. Growers should keep these two factors in mind when assessing yield data from the 2005 season.

Nitrogen use has resulted in great improvements in crop yield in favourable seasons.
In dry seasons too much applied nitrogen can result in haying-off and lower yields.
Good guidelines are now available for nitrogen use to reduce the risk of crop failure resulting from applying too much fertiliser nitrogen.
The critical factors are:
• Stored soil water (control summer weeds)
• Measure how much nitrogen is in the soil prior to sowing
• Calculate nitrogen requirement from the target yield
• Do not pre-drill more than 60 kg/ha of urea in the 350mm rainfall zone (100kg/ha in the 450mm zone)
• Split applications are safer
• Topdress with urea if the soil test indicates a need, the crop is healthy, and the outlook is for an average to wet season

Vetch is a multi-purpose crop; its versatility allows decisions about its end-use to be made during the year (grain, hay/silage or green manure/grazing) and also can be used as a management tool against resistant weed development. Vetch can improve soil fertility by returning organic matter to the soil, increase yield in the following crop by means of nitrogen fixation and reduce disease and insect risk for the following crop. Two new varieties; SA-34823 and SA-35103 are set for release in spring 2013.

Andrew’s management of water repellence demonstrates that a strategy of affordable progressive amelioration and better sowing methods for the rest of the crop can be a successful and profitable approach for managing soil water repellence. On-farm testing of water repellence management options can help confirm which strategies are likely to be successful and profitable on particular soils and landscapes. The use of winged paired-row systems, winged points, banded-wetting agents, on-row seeding or broadcast spreading a proportion of the seed ahead of the bar can all potentially improve the effectiveness of sowing on water repellent soils and this is the subject of ongoing research.

• Canola grown in wide rows (50-60cm) yielded well enough to consider this row spacing as an option.
• Canola plants were able to compensate for being sown in wide rows - biomass similar to narrow rows.
• We may be able to reduce input costs, seed and fertiliser by refining the production package in wide rows.
• Wide rows offer benefits of reduced fuel costs at seeding, easy stubble handling and safety of IBS herbicides.

• Canola grown in wide rows (50-60cm) yielded well enough to consider this row spacing as an option.
• Canola plants were able to compensate for being sown in wide rows - biomass similar to narrow rows.
• We may be able to reduce input costs, seed and fertiliser by refining the production package in wide rows.
• Wide rows offer benefits of reduced fuel costs at seeding, easy stubble handling and safety of IBS herbicides.

• Canola grown in wide rows (50-60cm) yielded well enough to consider this row spacing as an option.
• Canola plants were able to compensate for being sown in wide rows - biomass similar to narrow rows.
• We may be able to reduce input costs, seed and fertiliser by refining the production package in wide rows.
• Wide rows offer benefits of reduced fuel costs at seeding, easy stubble handling and safety of IBS herbicides.

• Amira albus lupin is a good break crop option for high and medium rainfall areas of the northern region
• Albus lupin grown in 44 cm rows yielded 81% of 22 cm rows.
• Maintaining a high seed rate maximised yield at both 22 and 44 cm row spacing’s.
• In dry conditions fungal disease were not evident, therefore we could not assess the impact of row spacing and density on foliar diseases.

• A combination of Monza and Sakura applied PSPE provided the highest levels of wild oat control (68%)
• Even with good control a high weed density remained (>200 plants per square metre) which would still be expected to cause significant crop yield losses (90%)

• Sakura alone or in combination with Avadex Xtra provided the highest levels of wild oat control (75%).
• Although Sakura treatments provided the highest level of wild oat control the high weed density remaining (>50 plants per square metre) would still be expected to cause significant crop yield losses (50%).

In 2014, an estimated 61 per cent of the seed bank germinated throughout the season, enabling a rapid reduction of the wild radish population and having a positive effect on grain yield. However, due to the long dormancy of the seed (six to eight years), 100 per cent control would be needed to eradicate the entire seed bank.

Approximately 30 per cent of the seed bank germinated as a result of summer rainfall; best practice is to make the most of seasons that deliver a summer break to get a good knockdown.

Aim to control 100 per cent of seed set by using multiple cultural, chemical and mechanical practices to eradicate the seed bank and stop resistance development.

Overall control of wild radish:

• 2-leaf only treatments achieved total control of the treated population, but with some minor subsequent germination after treatment final control was rated 91-92 percent.
• 6-leaf only treatments failed to control the treated population achieving final control of 80-86 percent.
• 2-leaf followed by 6-leaf treatments achieved total control of the original treated population and total control of radish that subsequently germinated.

 

• In many areas wild radish control requires two applications of herbicide.
• The first is early in the season to reduce the competition of the radish and the second is late in the season to reduce seed set.
• The choice of product required to reduce competition should be based on cost and potential for crop damage.
• For the late application to reduce seed set, 2,4D Amine is the preferred product.

A number of consequenes of wind erosion are discussed.

Windrow burning can reduce small pointed snail populations by over 90%. If there are weeds or fallen stubble that are not burnt then snails can still be present in the paddock.

Windrow burning can reduce small pointed snail populations by over 90%. If there are weeds or fallen stubble that are not burnt then snails can still be present in the paddock.

Early sowing resulted in excessive vegetattive growth and also provided excelelnt conditions for ryegrass that proved difficult to control.

• The average foliar fungicide treated wheat yield for the Dunkeld winter wheat trial was 5.24 t/ha. Disease pressure was high at the site resulting in an average yield increase of 0.75 t/ha across all varieties from the two spray fungicide programme, with 5 of the 8 varieties achieveing a 20% or more yield increase.
• The highest yielding variety was Mackellar at 126% of the site mean, also the most profitable variety returning a gross margin of $1,136.40/ha.
• BYDV management must be considered when growing susceptible varieties of wheat, employing techniques that also minimise the impacts on the predatory environment.

• Look at stripe rust scores and yield with and without stripe rust control.
• Barley Yellow Dwarf Virus (BYDV) had a large effect on yield at many sites.

Sclerotinia stem rot (sometimes known as white mould) is an important disease of many crops around the world. On canola it can cause substantial losses, but a number of fungicides (mostly benzimidazoles and dicarboxamides) have been used in different countries for control. To date, sclerotinia has not been a major problem on canola in the Wimmera, but in adjacent areas it does cause losses. Furthermore, it may become more important in the Wimmera in wet years because of the increased cultivation of broad-leaved crops. All broad-leaved crops are susceptible to Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, the fungus pathogen that causes stem rot.

Similar to trials undertaken in previous years, the fungicide trials undertaken in 2005 indicated there was no fungicide activity on Yellow Leaf Spot (YLS) when applied early post emergent (GS13 – three leaf stage). Fungicides applied to fertiliser or as a foliar application did not reduce the level of YLS in the crop and showed no yield benefits. Zincsol® applied to crops in paddocks which have had a good zinc fertiliser history also showed no benefit in reducing YLS pressure. After several years work the BCG conclude that spraying fungicides for YLS is not a successful practice.

Similar to trials undertaken in previous years, the fungicide trials undertaken in 2005 indicated there was no fungicide activity on Yellow Leaf Spot (YLS) when applied early post emergent (GS13 – three leaf stage). Fungicides applied to fertiliser or as a foliar application did not reduce the level of YLS in the crop and showed no yield benefits. Zincsol® applied to crops in paddocks which have had a good zinc fertiliser history also showed no benefit in reducing YLS pressure. After several years work the BCG conclude that spraying fungicides for YLS is not a successful practice.

• Fungicide applied at third node (GS33) gave significantly better yellow leaf spot (YLF) control and green leaf retention (GLR) than a tillering (GS23) application.
• The improvement in disease control with a single spray timing did not lead to a significant yield increase.
• There was a significatn yield advantage (0.27t/ha) when both spray timings were sequenced in a two-spray programme despite the low yield of the trial.
• The value of hte extra grain produced from two sprays was $69/ha, which covered the costs of the fungicides and their application.
• The net margin was great with Tilt than Prosaro largely as a result of Prosaro being a more expensive product.
• The best YLS control achieved with a foliar fungicide on the top three leaves was 65% control.

No treatment resulted in any yield effects. No disease was detected on the controls throughout the season.

The best strategy against yellow leaf spot is to avoid sowing susceptible varieties in a wheat-on-wheat situation. The effectiveness of foliar fungicides for the control of yellow leaf spot is often variable; appropriate timing is crucial. In a low rainfall environment, it is rare to achieve an economic response when applying fungicides to control yellow leaf spot. Under the right seasonal conditions, YLS can reduce yields by between 5-10%.

• Seed size did not have a significant effect on Canola yield when planted 15-20mm deep.
• Cost differential of establishing a Canola plant stand can be substantial.

The model was very accurate at the actual soil site location. Inaccuracies can be due to a number of reasons - namely weed burden at the site, frost, variations of soil type across the paddock and variations of rainfall received in the paddock versus the recording location. Furthermore, if the soil classification is slightly different in the model than is actually the soil physical properties, this could cause deviation as well. Lastly, as crop phenology can vary from cultivar to cultivar, this can cause discrepancy too.

Registered Yitpi seed came in two sizes in the 2000 season (small - 36g/1000 grain and large - 43g/1000 grain). The general concern for those who purchased Yitpi with small seed was that it was of poor quality. A demonstration investigating emergence and crop yield showed that there was no difference between the small and large sized grain in emergence and crop yield. The harvested grain from the small and large sown seed was the same size (40g/1000 grain).
It is advisable to know grain size and emergence potential so that optimum sowing rates can be determined.

• The spraytopped treatment and the fallow treatment both yielded significantly better than wheat on wheat in 2010.
• Weed burden was high in the wheat on wheat in the second year while the spraytopped treatment was slightly cleaner followed by the fallow which was virtually weed free.

• All treatments were safe to the crop except for Sakura 118 g/ha + Sencor 150 g/ha which resulted in biomass reduction at all assessments.
• This was in part due to a couple of rows being sown into the inter row that contained herbicide which re-sulted in the death of some plants.
• This mixture would not be recommended on conventional wheat. An overall crop bio-mass rating was taken 106 DAA rated Sakura 118 g/ha as 100% with the other treatments benchmarked against it.
• The crop was water stressed at this time. Inspection of the crop heads found they were not filling to potential with small grain and empty husks common across the trial.

• There were no significant visual vigour or establishment differences between retained or pedigree ATR Cobbler. However, in previous seasons this has been observed in the paddock with some growers, as well as at other trial sites this year from the same seed that was used in this trial. This may be due to the unknown vigour of the seed under different broad-acre paddock situations.
• CB Eclipse RR showed good vigour and growth initially from emergence until late flowering. From this stage, CB Eclipse RR finished flowering quite rapidly in comparison to the Hyola 404RR and 505RR, both which continued to flower strongly tak-ing advantage of the seasonal conditions. This correlates to past experiences with Hyola 404RR being an adaptable variety that will flower earlier or later depending on current seasonal conditions.
• There was a distinct increase in plant vigour and biomass with the RR Hybrids compared to the RR open pollinated varieties, which is commonly observed in many trials across Australia. This improvement in vigour (along with adequate plant popula-tions) has a significant impact on the level of crop competition achieved which is critical for adequate weed control in the RR system. The vigour advantage in the Hybrid TT varieties was not apparent until late vegetative through to early flowering.

• There were no significant visual vigour or establishment differences between retained or pedigree ATR Cobbler. However, in previous seasons this has been observed in the paddock with some growers, as well as at other trial sites this year from the same seed that was used in this trial. This may be due to the unknown vigour of the seed under different broad-acre paddock situations.
• CB Eclipse RR showed good vigour and growth initially from emergence until late flowering. From this stage, CB Eclipse RR finished flowering quite rapidly in comparison to the Hyola 404RR and 505RR, both which continued to flower strongly tak-ing advantage of the seasonal conditions. This correlates to past experiences with Hyola 404RR being an adaptable variety that will flower earlier or later depending on current seasonal conditions.
• There was a distinct increase in plant vigour and biomass with the RR Hybrids compared to the RR open pollinated varieties, which is commonly observed in many trials across Australia. This improvement in vigour (along with adequate plant popula-tions) has a significant impact on the level of crop competition achieved which is critical for adequate weed control in the RR system. The vigour advantage in the Hybrid TT varieties was not apparent until late vegetative through to early flowering.

• There were no significant visual vigour or establishment differences between retained or pedigree ATR Cobbler. However, in previous seasons this has been observed in the paddock with some growers, as well as at other trial sites this year from the same seed that was used in this trial. This may be due to the unknown vigour of the seed under different broad-acre paddock situations.
• CB Eclipse RR showed good vigour and growth initially from emergence until late flowering. From this stage, CB Eclipse RR finished flowering quite rapidly in comparison to the Hyola 404RR and 505RR, both which continued to flower strongly tak-ing advantage of the seasonal conditions. This correlates to past experiences with Hyola 404RR being an adaptable variety that will flower earlier or later depending on current seasonal conditions.
• There was a distinct increase in plant vigour and biomass with the RR Hybrids compared to the RR open pollinated varieties, which is commonly observed in many trials across Australia. This improvement in vigour (along with adequate plant popula-tions) has a significant impact on the level of crop competition achieved which is critical for adequate weed control in the RR system. The vigour advantage in the Hybrid TT varieties was not apparent until late vegetative through to early flowering.

• All treatments applied in this trial were safe to the crop with any early crop effects recovering quickly.
• At 44DAA all Velocity treatments applied alone or in tank mixtures recorded excellent control (≥94 rating) of wild radish in this trial. All Velocity treatments including tank mixtures provided superior control to Precept 300 at 750 mL/ha (88), Jagu-ar 1 L/ha (86) and Paragon 500 mL/ha applied with (88) or without (81) Bromicide 200 500 mL/ha.
• All Velocity and Precept 300 treatments achieved commercially acceptable control (≥97 rating) of volunteer lupins in this trial.

• Zinc in shoots at tillering was much higher in plants supplied with fluid phosphorus than with granular phosphorus.
• Given that in both sets of treatments zinc was supplied as zinc chelate at quite a low rate (0.75 kg zinc/ha) in a fluid below the seed row (except in fluid treatments it was mixed with TGMAP) these results suggest that mixes of trace elements with NP fluid fertilisers may be a more effective technique for supplying trace elements to broad acre crops.
• Conditions in both trials were not zinc deficient for wheat production so the absence of zinc in fertilisers at seeding had no impact on the productivity of either wheat at either site, or on their response to phosphorus fertilisers.

• Five year trial examining strategies for application of zinc to field pea.
• Zinc applied to soil, to seed or as foliar spray.
• Zinc application did not increase grain yield of field pea.
• Seed zinc concentration was 20% higher when foliar zinc applied to field pea.

There were no differences in yield obtained between the control (no zinc applied) crop and the four differenct zinc treatments.

Zinc seed dressings and/or zinc foliar sprays did not benefit treated crops in the 2009 season.

• Zinc treatments (1-5 kg/ha) did not increase grain yield or protein .
• Neither timing nor application type (on seed, in soil or foliar) nor rate had any effect on grain yield or protein at this site.

• Over a five year period incorporating either foliar or seed coated zinc increased wheat grain zinc concentration above soil applied zinc fertiliser.
• Neither timing or application type (on seed, in soil or foliar) or rate had any effect on grain yield, protein or screenings at this site.
• Copper was applied every two years in some treatments but it had no apparent effect on grain yields or grain or tissue copper concentrations.

There are no significant differences in yields between the control (no Zorro seed treatment) applications and the plots grown with Zorro seed treatment.