To present results from the large plot focus farm trials of the Maintaining profitable farming systems with retained stubble in the Riverine Plains region project, which where to

• investigate, demonstrate and extend cultural practices that will assist growers to adopt no-till stubble retention (NTSR) in medium and higher-rainfall environments;
• build on findings from the previous Riverine Plains Inc. Water Use Efficiency (WUE) project; and
• extend the frontier of agronomic knowledge for crops grown in NTSR systems.

• Under moist mid-April sowing conditions, there was a significant yield advantage (0.45t/ha) with one shallow-pass cultivation before establishing canola, compared with crops sown directly into standing wheat stubble.
• The yield advantage of canola following cultivation correlated to crops with higher vigour, early dry matter (DM) and greater nitrogen uptake.
• There was no significant benefit to mulching the first wheat stubble before direct drilling canola.
• The additon of 40kg N/ha at sowing gave a significant yield increase to crops established directly into the first wheat stubble, but there was no significant advantage to the additional nitrogen where stubbles were cultivated or mulched.