The 2023 HYC Barley PGR x Harvest Date Interaction trial looked to investigate the influence of four PGR management approaches, cultivar, harvest time and canopy management regimes on barley grain yield, head loss, lodging indes nd brackling on 2 cultivars. 

• Although there was no statistical interaction between the three factors (variety x PGR x harvest date), on average harvesting on time lead to higher yields (Table 1).
• There was an interaction between variety and PGR management where a single, early trinexapac ethyl application produced the best yield in RGT Planet and was significantly higher yielding than the ‘European’ approach which also included a late application on ethephon. This contrasted with the winter variety Pixel where the European’ approach yielded best (Table 1).
• Variety, PGR and harvest date all influenced the level of brackling measured in the crop canopy at harvest. At both harvest dates RGT Planet benefited from the ‘European’ approach, whereas Pixel gave little response when harvested on time (Table 2).
• Other canopy measurements at harvest demonstrated that on average there was significantly higher lodging when harvest was delayed by 11 days. Head loss was also significantly more prevalent in the variety Pixel compared to RGT Planet (Table 2).

TRial design: Factorial (Var x PGR x HD)

Rotation position: 2022 Canola
Soil type: Organosol over grey clay
Colwell P (mg/kg) 0-10cm: 59 mg/kg
pH (CaCl2) 0-10cm: 7.5
Organic Carbon (%) 0-10cm: 8.0%