Samira , although not statistically significant, was the highest yielding released variety.

• The Making Better Fertiliser Decisions for Cropping Systems in Australia (BFDC) database allows us to search for soil test calibrations for four macronutrients across a range of crops, soils types, regions and time spans.
• As an example, the critical range for soil test P (Colwell) for wheat grown in red chromosols in NSW has increased under minimum-tillage management.

Cu greatly increased yield fro 560 kg/ha to 1570 kg/ha.  Grain yield and analyses of tops of wheat showed large granules greatly reduced the effectiveness of Cu incorporated into them, the effect being more marked at the lower granule number provided by the 100 kg/ha super mix compared with the 200 kg/ha. Doubling the rate of Cu applied by doubling the Cu concentration in the granule had little effect on Cu uptake and failed to ovecome the restrictivew effect of large granules. It is the number of granules in the root zone of the wheat plants that is critical for adequate uptake of Cu and that large granulated "wet mixed" Cu superphosphate mixtures are unsatisfactory Cu fertilisers.

In general oxide source was equal to or superior to the sulfate source in wet mixes. In dry mixes in the same trial Cu oxide was only 66 % as effective as the sulfate.

Shallow placement was miuch less effective than placing Cu fertiliser at 5 cm or more. Cu foliar at 0.54 kg cu/ha applied at 6 weeks after seeding gave highest yield.

It was concluded that application methods that reduce the number of CXu particles available for root copntact greatly reduce the effectuiveness of Cu fertiliser.

 

Cu greatly increased yield fro 560 kg/ha to 1570 kg/ha.  Copper was applied as copper sulfate at 6.6 kg/ha.

Highlights of the results are:

(a) preseeding cultivations after drilling the Cu in 1979 markedly increased Cu uptake;

(b) medium sized Cu-OSP was inferior ti fine granule size

(c) the effects of granule size & 1979 pre-seeding cultivations were not reflected in 1980 Cu uptakes.  The effectiveness of the treatments which were relatively ineffective in 1980 as those treatments which were most effective in 1979

(d) Cu drilled with the seed in 1980 was much less effective than all Cu treatments applied the previous year

(e) although all grades of Cu-OSP drilled with the seed in 1980 were relatively ineffective compared with that applied the previous year, the inclusion of 15% fine material with 85% medium material increased Cu uptake from the fertiliser by 40%, 50% fine material increased Cu uptake from fertiliser by 80%.

GRanules > 3 mm are much less effective than medium sized granules.

REsearch suggests that 1 kg/ha copper sulfate at early boot is required for the first crop where Cu fertiliser is applied at recommended rates.

 

• A soil and sediment survey of 10 irrigated cotton paddocks across four cotton-growing valleys revealed the tail drain sediments were enriched in organic carbon (1.03% ± 0.05) and nitrogen (0.11% ± 0.01) compared with head ditch soils (0.73% ± 0.07 for carbon and 0.08% ± 0.01 for nitrogen) of the same paddocks. Nitrate-nitrogen and dissolved organic carbon analyses showed similar trends.
• After irrigation, tail drain samples tended to release more nitrous oxide compared with head ditch samples. Emission rates were linked to the pre-irrigation mineral nitrogen concentrations of the soil/sediments.
• These non-cropped areas, representing up to 2% of the paddock area, are a significant source of nitrous oxide emission per unit area of farm as they retain high soil moisture and nutrient concentrations in the absence of plants.
• Nitrous oxide emission calculations for cotton farming systems should incorporate the emissions from head ditch and tail drain sections of the irrigation network.
   

• Benchmarking financial performance is an important way to improve a farm business. The FAST project has benchmarked over several years about 240 farms in total. They have come up with 11 indicators that can be used to assess performance. The indicators deal with business health or financial performance, income drivers and resource use.

The 1995 cropping season was the final season that will be monitored by the FAST Project, and ironically it was also the best. 1995 provided a combination of good yields and prices, returning good gross margins to farmers, as well as adding another full year of excellent data to the large database that has been collected over the last four cropping seasons.

2012 was a set up year for the Rhizoctonia best bets demonstrations. Fungicides banded with fluid fertilisers at seeding did not reduce Rhizoctonia in the following cereal crop.

In 2013 the Rhizoctonia best bets demonstrations using rotations were over sown with cereal and showed break crops which are grass free are the best option to lower Rhizoctonia inoculum levels.

• In the southern Victorian Mallee environment, grazing crops intended for grain production can be risky, with potential penalties to grain yield and/or quality.
• The success of grazing crops relies on an early sowing opportunity and good spring.

• This work summarises the experiences of seven farmers grazing winter cereals across four different types of enterprise.
• The economic benefits were positive in all cases and ranged from $10.80/ha to $84.06/ha. When comparative grain yields were also included, this range became $21.56/ha to $430.80/ha.
• For further findings please see the attached trial report.

The four farmer demonstrations showed

• By sowing a cereal into established lucerne, total winter production can be increased although lucerne production will be decreased.
• Variety and cultivar selection is important to match growth to animal demand.

o Spring wheat, oats or barley suit early production.
o Winter wheat suits extended production.
o Barley can be used for grain production.

• Different types of sowing machinery can be used successfully.
• Live weight gains in excess of 200grms/day/hd can be achieved at a period when pasture is usually in short supply
• A viable grain yield can be achieved under good seasonal conditions by using barley.

In the 2014 season there were no significant yield advantages recorded at five sites across upper Eyre Peninsula when using the fungicide products over the nil treatments. This was in a season with an early start and minimal stress during crop establishment, and at sites with high Rhizoctonia inoculum levels. The broad acre farmer demonstrations in the 2014 season showed no visual differences or early plant growth measured at the given sites during the cropping season. There were differences in the level of crown root infection at Cleve, where the nil treatment had a higher number of crown roots infected and a greater % of crown root infection than the fungicide treatments. There were differences between treatments recorded in the mid-May sown barley crop at Piednippie in Rhizoctonia patch score and the seminal root score. Differences in protein, screenings and test weights were recorded between treatments at several sites with a general trend of lower yields having higher protein, higher screenings and lower test weights. Further evaluation of research trials and farmer demonstrations using new fluid products and fungicide placement, will occur over two more seasons to evaluate the economics of using fungicides in low rainfall farming systems.

Six different farmer operated seeders were used in a minimum tillage situation to compare seeder set up and the effect of trifluralin incorporated by sowing on crop emergence. The demonstrations were taken through to harvest to compare yield.

This demonstration showed that there was little difference in yield between Premium seed and farm-retained seed.

Average trial yield was 3.8 t/ha, close to the potential as identified by Yield Prophet during the season. No significant differences in yield were found between stubble treatments (stubble retained, worked or removed) and nutrient treatments (normal practice, normal practice plus additional nutrients to enhance stubble breakdown). Changes in Soil Organic Matter fractions over the duration of the trial (2012 to 2014) resulting from the stubble and nutrient treatments will be assessed in March, 2015.

No difference in yield or quality was noted for the stubble or nutrient treatments. It is likely that soil carbon is being increased as the additional nutrients did not increase yield. Increasing soil carbon is a slow process and several years are needed to see whether these treatments do increase soil carbon. A range of sites across southern Australia have been chosen to see if soil carbon can be increased.

The extra nutrition treatment had no effect on yield or grain quality this season. In the 2012 season the stubble removed treatment had the highest yield.

Average trial yield was 2.8 t/ha, approximately 1 t/ha below the nitrogen unlimited potential as identified by Yield Prophet® during the season. No significant differences in yield were found between stubble treatments (stubble retained, worked or removed) and nutrient treatments (normal practice, normal practice plus additional nutrients to enhance stubble breakdown). After three years of trial work, no significant differences in soil carbon were found between the stubble and nutrient treatments.

The farming systems trial is in its first yera of operation and has collected base line information so that the effects of each farming system on soil characteristics, weed composition and disease burden  an be assessed as the trial progresses.

The systems trial has not been operating for a sufficient period of time for the full effect of different management on pasture production to be defined.

2001 was the second year of complete monitoring and recording at the BCG's farming systems site.

The very dry conditions of 2002 produced little green pasture for sheep, with a maximum for the year of 160 kg/ha green feed-on-offer available in July. Stocking rates ranged from 2 to 5.4 dry stock equivalents per effective grazing ha. The stocking rates in the Reduced Till and Fuel Burner systems were higher than for 2001. Supplementary feeding from April, with ewes placed in a stock containment area in October supported sheep in the Hungry Sheep system.

2002 was the third year of monitoring and recording at the BCG’s Farming Systems site. The Systems trial site was severely affected by the drought, which limited monitoring and results for this year.

The drought of 2002 continued to impact on sheep production in early 2003 through a lack of bulk in crop stubbles and a high erosion risk if these stubbles were grazed. Breeding ewes were retained in the Hungry Sheep system using containment areas to avoid erosion problems and to maintain ewes. No other system contained significant sheep numbers during 2003. July-dropped crossbred lambs grazed on medic pasture and reached a weight of 45kg in mid-December. The ewes received no supplementary feeding from July, at a stocking rate of 3.7 ewes/ha. This was largely due to early germination of medic pasture in February, and sufficient follow-up rain to keep some plants alive, producing adequate pasture in late autumn/winter. Regenerating pastures were more productive than pastures sown at the autumn break.

The BCG long-term Farming Systems project was established in 1999. Four different farming systems are being compared; Zero Till, Reduced Till, Fuel Burners and Hungry Sheep, with the aim of the project to identify physical production, economic performance and sustainability indicators for each of the farming systems.

• Reliance on chemicals as the only weed control option is difficult (almost impossible) in a run of dry years.
• This trial will cease at the end of 2004 (3 years too early to obtain meaningful results) unless other funding is found.
• The trial showed, in the 2003 season, that there was no yield penalty for waiting until rain for sowing, although grain protein was lower in these crops.

Of the seven frost events that showed significant differences, all showed that the reduced stubble treatment (2t/ha) reached colder minimum temperatures than the removed stubble treatment (1.6t/ha). Across the seven events, the retained stubble treatment (2.5t/ha) also remained warmer than the reduced stubble treatment. The removed stubble treatment spent significantly less time at -2⁰C temperature threshold compared to the reduced stubble treatment. The retained stubble treatment was not significantly different to either of these.

These results suggest that removing stubble decreases the severity and duration of frost, however as discussed, there was variability in the results between the retained and reduced stubble treatments. This suggests, that in seasons where frost events are so severe, stubble management does not have a large effect on the severity of events.

The interim temperature results suggest that retaining 4t/ha of stubble significantly increases the severity and duration of frosts when compared to 0t/ha. On all occasions, reducing stubble loads to 0t/ha reduced the severity and duration.

The BCG long-term Farming Systems project was established in 1999. The project aim is to compare the physical production, economic performance and sustainability of four different farming systems : Zero Till, Reduced Till, Fuel Burners and Hungry Sheep.
2004 was another tough year at the trial site with a late break and well below average rainfall (GSR 155mm; decile 1.2 season).

• Crop yields in 2006 were driven by fallow (no difference between mechanical/conventional).
• Early sowing set an upper limit to yield but did not compensate for not being sown on fallow.
• Crop emergence was very sensitive to sowing conditions, with later sowing and sowing into 2005 cereal crop stubbles leading to much later crop emergence.
• The difference in soil available water driving the fallow response was difficult to measure with soil sampling on these soils; soil available nitrogen was a better predictor of yield in 2006.
• There were no yield penalties to adopting no-till in the Hungry Sheep and Fuel Burner systems.
• Cultivation in No Till and Reduced Till paddocks produced inconsistent effects on yield.

• There is no clear difference between till and no-till crop establishment systems for yield at the Farming Systems Trial.
• Low protein in some plots indicated nitrogen deficiency in 2009.
• Pre-sowing deep soil nitrogen tests indicated low protein but not always at the levels expected.

• Long chemical fallow plots achieved record yields in 2010.
• Rotation was a factor in higher 2010 yields, but the cause of differences is not clear.
• Pre-sowing soil nitrate was not a good predictor of crop yield potential in 2010.

• It is possible that a one off cultivation in no-till systems could increase crop yields in successive years..
• Standard and Fuel Burners outyielded No Till, followed by Reduced Till, followed by Hungry
  Sheep

• Lower grain and higher meat prices in 2009 will see systems with fallow (chemical and/or mechanical) and livestock being more profitable, unless wetter (decile 4+) growing seasons are experienced
• Farmers considering changing systems need to consider possible time delays and resource issues, particularly with re-introduction of fallow and livestock
• For some farmers, changes within systems could be just as powerful as changing between systems. Assistance may be required to figure out what to change
• The machinery inventory approach has shown less difference between systems than would be suggested by contract pricing. At some point, all systems required similar capacity in many machines.

• Different farming systems can have similar timeliness requirements during critical periods and are likely to need similar capacity machinery
• There are substantial differences in annual hours and hectares accumulated for different machines in different systems
• These are likely to lead to big differences in the costs associated with machinery in different systems.

• A survey was conducted in early 2010 to determine the current management practices of farmers and the average water use efficiency of farms on upper Eyre Peninsula.
• The survey will be repeated in 2013 to see if there are changes in the management practices and water use efficiency.

The Farming Systems trial has expressed some significant differences in soil health between each of the systems from 2000 to 2012. If these are not managed in the long-term, the sustainability of the affected systems may be reduced. The Fuel Burner System had significantly lower organic carbon in the soil compared with the other farming systems, reflective of the regular cultivation.

• Using crop growth models to quantify the season to season yield performance on different soil types and predict in-season potential yield can be a very useful tool for managing risk and inputs.
• Given the high spatial variability in soils and grain yield, mapping paddocks into zones of similar soil and yield potential enables farmers to better target input levels as well as understand crop yield potential in different seasons.
• Information about the capacity of a soil to hold water, the water and mineral N levels at sowing are the basic information needed to use Yield Prophet - given this information, grain yield can be accurately predicted.

The humus portion of soil carbon has relatively constant ratio of N, P and S. This has been established as 80N, 20P and 14S per tonne of humus carbon.

Overall, the trial was successful in demonstrating to the students the effects of varying urea rates on plant growth throughout the season.

This study of Victorian wheat crops shows that:

• increasing the uptake of nitrogen by 50kg N/ha improves WUE by 3.4kg/mm,
• introducing a break crop increases WUE by 2.1-4.2kg/mm,
• the efficiency with which fertiliser nitrogen is taken up by wheat increases from 40 to 80% as GSR increases from 200 to 400mm,
• each 1% of OC contributes from 16kg N/ha (200mm GSR to 32kg N/ha (400mm GSR) to the uptake of nitrogen,
• at current prices for fertiliser N ($1kg/N) and for wheat ($170/t) is is still more economic to apply fertiliser N than to increase N supply by raising OC levels with pasture,
• grain protein levels tend to fall by 1% for each 100kg/ha increase in yields.

Sustainable and productive farming practices will require that water be used where it falls and this entails that water be used by plants and not access the water table through either surface run-off or permeating below the root zone.

• Summer-active perennial grasses such as commercial Panic varieties have persisted, provided year-round groundcover and produced good quantities of pasture over several years in two field trials in the Mallee; growth rates and grazing potential are highest and most reliable in November and April.
• The high level of winter dormancy can allow for opportunistic establishment of inter-row winter species (e.g. pasture cropping). In 2012, with low growing season rainfall, pasture-cropped wheat production was penalised; evaluation is ongoing.

It’s been, once again, a frustrating season. A dry spring, then a late rain to spoil the rainfall records - and too late to be of benefit. The role of livestock in the system to diversify income has, once again, been demonstrated. It is worth looking after the stock you have because they can be a huge benefit in years like this. Many people are reaping crops with very high screening levels due to the harsh finish. What is the value of these screenings for livestock?

Feeding stock for survival during a drought is certain to be a financial loss. Feeding might not be the best strategy. However, if feeding is used, it needs to be planned and concentrate on increasing production.

Ryegrass and barley grass were the dominant weed species along fence-lines.

Higher sowing rates resulted in higher dry matter yield at late flowering and higher seed yield with no significant differences between varieties 'Fenugreek' and 'A287'.

Spinnaker at 150ml/ha was the safest post-sowing-pre-emergent herbicide for use in fenugreek. Post-emergent herbicides with good crop safety included Broadstrike 25 g/ha + Uptake 0.5%, Buttress 2 L/ha, Buticide 2.5 L/ha and Broadstrike 25 g/ha + Buttress 1 L/ha.

• Post-Sowing-Pre-Emergent Spinnaker caused significant visual damage and significant yield loss in fenugreek in the very dry 2002 season.
• Few differences were observed among post-emergent treatments.
• Of the new varieties, little difference in herbicide tolerance was observed, however further work is needed in more typical growing conditions.

150118 and 150265 were the highest yielding fenugreek lines in this trial. At least two fenugreek varieties are being commercialised. Seed should be available in 2003.

• Varieties 150265 and 150292 were the highest yielding varieties at Birchip and over all sites.
• Dry matter increased 10-fold from early flowering to mid pod fill which may have implications on the optimum time for terminating crop growth for green manuring.

• Wheat was surprisingly tolerant of continuous flooding for nearly 4 months, yielding up to 2.8 t/ha with the best combination of nutrients tested.
• Despite the extended flooding there was a 13% response to P at a starting Colwell P of 29 mg/kg, with an economic optimum application rate of 7 kg P/ha.
• Canola was intolerant of extended flooding, producing no harvestable yield.
• In-crop application of urea shortly before flooding showed no grain yield response in wheat, while there was a negative response of 9% to applying S as in-crop sulfate of ammonia.
• Ideally in-crop applications of fertiliser should be made at least a week prior to flooding to allow time for the crop to take up the nutrients.

• Application of P fertilisers increased pasture growth and dry matter production (t/ha).
• Application of P above maintenance levels will increase soil P levels.

Sowing more than 20kg of N with seed (seeder set at 9inch spacings) resulted in seedling burn and poor crop establishment.

The success of this project continues to grow as the concept of developing useful tools to empower farmers to make changes to their practices takes hold

Many articles in this manual will help you in making better fertiliser decisions for 2005 and into the future.

• Crop nitrogen requirements should be applied at or before sowing as poor spring conditions can reduce crop responses to topdressed nitrogen.
• When drilling nitrogen with the seed, rates should not exceed 25 kg/ha (7" rowing spacing).
• Grain protein levens under 10.5% indicate crop yields are below thier optimum potential - apply additional nitrogen.

Stretegic (up-front) nitrogen was useful in a wet year, but no N rate used was high enough to anticipate the wet and cool spring at Ouyen.

• Zinc (Zn) has been shown to be a clear limiting factor in achieving maximum fertiliser response from N and P on all soils sown in the SA Operation FerTill experiment program.
• Increased wheat grain yield of 4-6% has been achieved with Zn as a coat to DAP applied in each year over 3 years.
• This clearly questions the current practice of Zn application once every 3-4 years.
• These results suggest that Zn when used in combination with higher P and application should be considered every year.
• P and Zn placement are very effective management tools to reduce the severity of Rhizoctonia spp, in crops.
• Some P and Zn placement in the seed row of cereal crops is beneficial in reducing the severity of Rhizoctonia patch by up to 50%, increasing grain yield.

It is important to remember what the primary objective of seeding equipment is. Some farmers have been disappointed in the overall performance of banding fertiliser due to poor seed placement.

• Both desi and kabuli chickpea varieties suffered severe plant establishment reductions from fertiliser placement with the seed and with increasing fertiliser rates.
• Fertiliser rates of 20 kg P/ha and above placed with the seed had a significant negative effect on grain yields.
• The dry spring conditions have compressed achieved yields to that possible from the limited water supply. Differences in plant population still negatively influenced achieved yields. Yields increased with fertiliser rate up to about 20kg/ha of P in this particular season.

• Both desi and kabuli chickpea varieties suffered severe plant establishment reductions from
  fertiliser placement with the seed and with increasing fertiliser rates.
• All amounts of fertiliser placed with the seed had a significant negative effect of kabuli grain yields.
• Desi type PBA Slasher can tolerate low rate of fertiliser with the seed.
• Yields increased with fertiliser rate up to about 20kg/ha of P in this particular season and soil type

Grain yield increased by approximately 1.0t/ha as fertiliser increased from nil to the higher rates.

• Applying MAP with the seed at sowing resulted in a 25% increase in plant emergence compared to using DAP at Piednippie.
• Applying MAP at sowing resulted in higher grain yields and better water use efficiency (WUE) in plots which had high seeding rates at Nunjikompita.
• In combination with a high seeding rate, a blend of DAP and triple super phosphate (TSP) applied at sowing at Piednippie and Nunjikompita (plus urea) resulted in grain yields which were closer to the crop yield potential than the control.

• Fertiliser trials often take a few years for the real results to become evident.

• Fertiliser trials often take a few years for the real results to become evident.

• After 3  years of no fertilizer applications in the low P sites, residual P levels have fallen by 25% and are significantly affecting productivity.
• After three years there appears to be little significant difference between the three products applied.

• After four years of no fertilizer applications, residual P levels have fallen and are significantly affecting productivity.
• Granule placement appears to be more critical in low P sites.

Many wheat varieties grown in WA already have the major gene for acid soil tolerance. In this trial several other acid tolerance traits are being assessed under field conditions to determine if they confer growth and yield advantages in addition to the major gene. If the traits do prove useful they can then be back-crossed into current well-adapted WA wheat varieties and ultimately become available for growers to use. In addition to these field trials, the project aims to identify molecular markers to facilitate the breeding process. The traits are likely to be beneficial in situations where soils are being limed to correct soil acidity but are not likely to help in highly Al toxic soils in the absence of liming. This trial and others like it will help determine under what soil acidity levels the traits are likely to be beneficial.

Acid soil tolerance in wheat is not a stand-alone solution for managing acid soils, rather it complements a liming program to ameliorate subsoil acidity. Subsoil at the site is acidic to a depth of at least 40 cm as demonstrated by the indicative site soil pH (CaCl2): 0-10 cm = 5.4; 10-20 cm =  4.2; 20-30 cm = 4.3; 30-40 cm = 4.3. Prior to the site being seeded 1.5 t/ha limesand was spread and this has lifted the topsoil pH to ~5.4 on average. More lime will need to be applied to the site to lift the low subsoil pH values.

The experiments re-enforce the need for the presevation of older highly allelopathic and competitive varieties, so that these benefits can be incorporated into new cultivars.

Fluid fertilisers available in South Australia are relatively expensive compared with the granular fertilisers available. In early 2004, DAP and MAP were available on the Upper Eyre Peninsula at a cost of about $422/tonne delivered. The unit cost of P was $1.92/kg with MAP and $2.11/kg with DAP. In this case, any N combined with the P was supplied at no extra cost, with P the major limiting nutrient.

• Kaspa continues to show a yield advantage over earlier maturing varieties and blends in regions with high yield potential (eg Turretfield) due to its later maturity and subsequent higher yield potential.
• Earlier maturing varieties and blends may confer a yield advantage over Kaspa in lower yielding situations/seasons.
• This work will continue for a number of years reusing the seed from each location to identify any potential benefit for growers using a mix of these varieties to manage pea yields across variable seasonal conditions.

• 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.  

• Kaspa continues to show a yield advantage over earlier maturing varieties and blends in
  regions with high yield potential (eg Turretfield). This is due to its later maturity and
  subsequent higher yield potential.
• Earlier maturing varieties and blends will generally provide better yield stability compared to
  Kaspa in lower yielding situations/seasons eg Minnipa, Snowtown.
• At sites with generally lower yield potential (eg Minnipa, Snowtown), blends containing Kaspa
  may confer a yield advantage over earlier maturing varieties in some favourable seasons (eg
  Snowtown in 2013).

• The field peas sown at Hart on the season break in 2009, were heavily infected with blackspot and grain yields were reduced by 30% (0.8 t/ha) compared with later sowing times.
• Sowing peas two to four weeks earlier (late May) than the conventional time (early–mid June) optimises production of Kaspa and the earlier, longer flowering line OZP0602.
• OZP0602 was generally higher yielding than Kaspa particularly in later sowing treatments.
• Yield loss from blackspot can be minimised if peas are sown after 60% of airborne spores have been released.
• The combination of P-Pickel T with two sprays of mancozeb was economic in some cases in the time of sowing trial at Hart in 2009, resulting in an average 7-14% yield gain in Kaspa and OZP0602.

• Timely sowing is essential for the profitable production of field peas. Sowing in May or June produces the highest grain yields and biomass.
• Despite several frost events and dry, hot conditions during flowering, all varieties sown were able to produce profitable grain yields.

• Overall lentil and pea grain yields averaged 1.18 t/ha across all sites and treatments.
• There was no significant foliar disease and the major yield limiting factor was the lack of late season rainfall, only 25mm in September and October.
• Although only small the slightly higher grain yield at the eastern site compared to the western site highlights the importance of paddock and crop selection to maximise pulse yields in these more marginal areas.
• A similar result was found in 2011 where there was a 0.46t/ha yield increase from the western site to the eastern site, 1.76 t/ha to 2.23 t/ha respectively.

NVT is a national program of comparative crop variety testing with standardised trial management, data generation, collection and dissemination. The program is supported by the Australian Government and growers through the Grains Research Development Corporation and is managed by the Australian Crop Accreditation System Limited.

• All varieties showed similar levels of yield loss from crop topping two weeks prior to the recommended timing (rye grass milk dough stage) and no yield loss at the recommended timing under dry finishing conditions in 2014 and therefore no one variety was more or less suited to this agronomic practice.

• Yield losses from Early crop-topping generally followed cultivar maturity, with latest maturating varieties (eg Glenroy) showing the highest yield losses. Glenroy was also the only variety to show yield loss at the Recommended timing, supporting previous findings that later maturing varieties are not as well suited to crop-topping as earlier maturing recent releases PBA Twilight, PBA Gunyah and PBA Oura.

• Overall yields were low in this trial, mainly due to poor establishment and heavy week burden.
• Kaspa was the lowest yielding variety.
• The insect damage was significantly higher in Kaspa than all other varieties.
• Kaspa was released in Victoria and the late maturity of the variety would most probably cuase reduced yields when sown into drying soils in late June.

• PBA Coogee being a dual purpose pea provides growers the option to either cut for hay, harvest for grain, or graze.
• PBA Pearl is consistently the highest yielding pea variety in all areas across SA (2013 NVT data). It stands well and has better pod shattering tolerance than traditional varieties.

• There was low disease pressure in 2018 and no differences in grain yield between the untreated and fungicide programs.  

• The optimum hay cut timing for both maximum biomass production and ease of drying (i.e. before pod set) is likely to be approximately 7-14 days after commencement of flowering.
• Varieties with later flowering and pod set are likely to be better suited to hay production as this allows maximum vegetative growth prior to cutting, and extends hay cut timing into more favourable (warmer and quicker) drying conditions.

• See Milestone 2 for weather interpretation.
• Emergence was 55 plants/m2 for Kaspa, 45 plants/m2 for Moonlight and 42 plants per/m2 for Sturt. Targeted densities were 50 plants/m2 for Kaspa and Moonlight and 40 plants/m2 for Sturt.
• All varieties responded similarly to the herbicide treatments. No visual damage was observed for any of the herbicide treatments. This was probably due to the dry conditions experienced.
• Grain yields were strongly correlated with weed populations, i.e. herbicides that gave good
  weed control resulted in highest grain yields. To overcome this affect, we used weed score as a covariate. This showed that Imazethapyr applied at double rates caused a significant reduction in yield (approximately 40%). This implies that the safety margin for this chemical is relatively low, therefor growers need to use caution and avoid overlapping within their crops.
• Sturt appears to have the best adaptation to dry environments with yields 50% greater than
  Kaspa and Moonlight. This is the same trend as has been observed in the breeding program.

• Significant grain yield responses to P fertiliser application occurred at the Goonumbla site.
• At Goonumbla, 25 kg P/ha significantly increased grain yield over 15 kg P/ha only when applied with starter N.
• Field peas proved very sensitive to heliothis damage at Gunning Gap and to harvest delays at Wirrinya.

• There was no grain yield response to supplementing a foliar application of micronutrients as a foliar spray to field peas.  
• 2018 was a low disease pressure year and there was no grain yield response to fungicide applications.  

• A high rainfall growing season favoured blackspot disease build up and generally later flowering pea varieties at Minnipa in 2009.
• Kaspa was 17% higher yielding than Parafield, its highest margin over this variety at Minnipa in 11 years of testing.
• Kaspa’s grain yield was reduced by 19% when sowing date was delayed from 30 April to 20 May, however no grain yield reduction occurred in the advanced PBA field pea lines OZP0602 and OZP0601 with this delayed sowing date.
• OZP0601 and OPP0602, despite lower performance than Kaspa in the MAC variety trial in 2009, will provide better adapted “Kaspa type” options for low rainfall environments when they become available due to their earlier and longer flowering periods.

• Similarly to other seeding population trials, there was a significant interaction with seeding rate and grain yield.
• There was also a significant varietal difference between the 6 varieties. Again there was no interaction of variety by population across the trial.
• Again also this is of little concern as we wish to compare populations within a variety not across
  a range of varieties.

• There were significant responses to both increasing plant density and variety across the
  entire trial (curvature and slope) but no interactions with variety.
• This is of little concern as we wish to compare populations within a variety not across a range of varieties.

• Despite a late break to the season (12 June), very favourable conditions followed resulting in exceptionally well grown plants and above average yields with very little disease.
• Yield declined in all varieties when densities were below 35-40 plants/ sq m.
• There were no significant yield responses above 35-40 plants/ sq m in all varieties except 96-262*1.
• Seed size increased with density for Kaspa, Moonlight & Parafield but unaffected in others
• Increasing density increased lodging in the semi-dwarf types (Kaspa, Moonlight, Yarrum and 96*262*1).

• Yields peaked between 30-40 pants / sq m but trials too stressed to draw meaningful conclusions.

• The main effects of variety and plant density were highly significant.
• There was a distinct and significant curvature response to increasing densities with some varieties showing greater yield increase with increase populations.

• The main effects of variety and plant density were highly significant.
• There was a distinct and significant curvature response to increasing densities and this effect was similar across all varieties.

• Despite a late break to the season (12 June) and very late sowing, very favourable conditions followed resulting in exceptionally well grown plants and above average yields with very little disease.
• Yields at Yenda were not significantly different for the 19, 30 & twin 50 cm spacing.
• Stretching row spacing to 50 cm reduced yields