Balance + Simazine showed the most crop damage, reducing the growth for a short period of time and chickpea establishment was slightly less, however, yield was significantly better than any other treatment.

• There were no differences in yield between the control, BTH and fungicide treated plots.
• Disease levels in 2000 were very low and had no impact on yield.

• Four oestrogenic sub clover varieties (Yarloop, Dinninup, Geraldton and Dwalganup) have been found in South East SA and Kangaroo Island pastures.
• Oestrogenic clovers can be responsible for reduced ewe fertility, difficult births, prolapse of the uterus, urethral blockages in wethers and udder development in maiden ewes and wethers.
• Growers are encouraged to assess their own paddocks for the presence of problem species, potential impact on their flock and the development of appropriate management strategies

Hussar® is a group B herbicide, which is active on a range of grasses (Wild Oats, Phalaris, and Rye Grass) and broadleaf weeds in wheat. Hussar® is currently pending registration.

Affinity is a Group G herbicide (as is Goal) used for broadleaf weed control in cereals. Best used in conjunction with MCPA. The control plot yielded the least presumably due to competition from weeds. Affinity showed good crop tolerance.

Paragon is similar to Tigrex and in this demonstrationshowed good tolerance in wheat.
 

Raptor (imazamox) has activity on barley grass, brome grass, dead nettle, volunteer cereals, wild oats and mustard. 

In the northern wheat belt, poor crop growth has often been reported following long periods of fallow or after a prolonged drought. The symptoms of poor growth have been attributed to a lack of vasicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi on the roots of wheat plants following a long dry period.

• 2 seasons after the break crop being planted, significant yield benefits from the break crop are still being observed
• Significant interactions between the nitrogen requirements of wheat after the break crop were observed again in 2013 (also noted in 2012)
• Splitting nitrogen treatments after wheat and canola resulted in significant yield increases when compared to a single nitrogen application

• Effect of location: A 30km distance North from the south coast within the HRZ, proposed as the ‘Chillinup  Line,’ appears to be a critical agronomic cut off point for where the risk of downgrade or failure to meet specification is manageable. Noodle Wheat can be grown more successfully North of the ‘Chillinup line’, 30 km inland from the South Coast and East and West of the Stirling Ranges yet still in the HRZ.

Nobody is going to argue that 2006 was a disastrous year for agriculture in southern Australia. After a dream start in most areas, many farmers were saying that “the crop went in the best it had for years,” but the absence of useful follow up rain, and in some cases damage due to frost, was a bitter pill to swallow.

• A strong trend was evident in this trial indicating that the new plant growth regulator Moddus Evo when used in combination with Amistar Xtra gave positive yield results. These results where beyond what could be attributed to antilodging with Moddus Evo and disease control with Amistar Xtra
• The addition of tank mix partners where not seen to be antagonistic to the results and in fact also trended positively however Syngenta recommends not mixing Flexi N or phenxy herbicides with Moddus Evo. The herbicide mix’s greater yields may have been linked to improved weed control.

• The profitability of any crop is highly sensitive to changes in both yield and price. In past Crop Challenges, cost of production ($/t) and crop yield (t/ha) have been strong indicators of financial return. On average, these indicators have been able to predict 75-90% of the variation in gross margin.
• In 2014 due to low yields and vastly different cost structures across the teams, yield was a substantially better indicator of final gross margin (see Figure 4 in attached trial report).
   

PBA Bolt is a good first choice for Esperance lentil growers, with PBA Ace an option for early sowing or longer seasons. The new XT line CIPAL1422 performed well and may be a valuable alternative to PBA Hurricane XT for those growers wishing to use imazethapyr (e.g. Spinnaker®) or facing SU carryover issues.

PBA Samira was the highest yielding released faba bean variety at Wittenoom Hills.

The simulation study suggests that the rate of root extension into the subsoil was dramatically slower in the presence of subsoil constraints. However, in the 2001 season, wheat yield was not limited by this factor, which reduced the use of soil moisture early in the season and thus delayed the onset of water stress during the dry grainfilling period.

• A literature search was conducted of research into trace elements in crop production systems of south eastern Australia.
• References found in the "grey" literature (primarily printed material not available on-line) was summarised into key points and entered into the On Farm Trials database.
• All of these entries, plus those found from searching the international peer reviewed journal literature were entered into an Endnote database.
• The Endnote database is made available here, along with a text version for use by researchers.
• This activity was funded by the GRDC More Profit from Crop Nutrition program.
• Keywords: zinc, manganese, molybdenum, iron, copper, boron, trace elements, micronutrients.

Crop establishment and nutrient supply had a greater effect on crop growth than soil water repellence at this site. Interestingly, grain yield showed a weak, slightly positive relationship with our measurements of water repellence e.g. grain yield was highest at points that had higher levels of water repellence (data not shown here). The positive relationship between soil water repellence reflects the role of soil water repellent organic matter and soil nitrogen supply. Our results suggest nitrogen supply was a major limitation to growth therefore it is reasonable that higher grain yields occurred where soil organic carbon (soil nitrogen supply) was high. Water repellence may have had a minor effect because it was not severe at this site; the MED values ranged from 0.1 (Low water repellence, King 1981) to 2.1 (Moderate water repellence) and the average was 1.0 (Moderate water repellence). However, the samples for MED measurement were taken in winter when the expression of soil water repellence is lowest.

Gamma thorium provided a reasonable prediction of shoot K concentration and gravel content and provides a feasible method for delineating K management zones on sandy gravels in the Badgingarra area. Figure 2 shows that high shoot K concentration is associated with gravel content and vice versa. The critical shoot K concentration for wheat at anthesis is 1.5%; based on the data shown in Figure 2 the areas where gamma Thorium is less than 40 ppm would be responsive to potassium fertilizer application.

The gravel measurements separated into 2 clusters; non-gravelly soil where the fraction of gravel was less than 15% by weight and gravel soil where the fraction was greater than 15%. The mean Colwell K 0 to 10 cm was 17 mg kg which is well below the critical range of 51 to 57 for high yield potential on deep grey sands. Based on current prices and a wheat yield potential of 2t/ha, the DAFWA K calculator shows profit would be maximized with 40 kg K/ha applied. However, the efficacy of topdressed K on this sand may be low. The mean Colwell K for the gravel soil was 24 mg / kg which is also well below critical levels but shoot K concentration was adequate. This suggests that the crop is accessing K from the subsoil and that tissue testing may be an important component of assessing nutrient supply from different parts of the sandy gravel landscape.

• Sites in the Riverina, Cootamundra, Cowra and Grenfell developed high levels of Sclerotinia-infested petals during the flowering period in 2015.
• No correlation was found between individual districts and petal infestation levels.
• The amount of rainfall during flowering was positively correlated to the level of inoculum.
• Rainfall during flowering is not the only factor that determines the level of petal infestation. Other factors such as initial inoculum level (from sclerotia), crop height, crop-canopy density and paddock history play a significant role.

The results of the 6 tonne crop trial have raised more questions that we were able to answer. 

• Abiotic stress can be reduced by choosing the most appropriate pulse species and adjusting agronomy (sowing time, plant density, soil management) to ensure sensitive crop stages occur at the most favourable time in the season. For example choosing the optimum sowing time, species and cultivars with appropriate phenology can reduce the effect of frost and drought in pulse crops in dryland environments with terminal stress.
• For further management options please see the attached trial report.

Dessication and windrowing accelerated the rate of ripening of a lodged barley crop by 2 weeks, without affecting yield and grain quality.

• Acidity was found to be more widespread in the USE than expected, with 15 of the 18 paddocks examined containing zones of soil with pH below 5.5
• Sandy loam and clay soils used for cropping were acidic
• Clay spread shallow sandy soils used for cropping were acidic
• Clay spread deep sandy soils used for grazing were acidic
• The target soil pHCa range is between 5.5 and 6.5; lime needs to be applied now to combat current and future acidification.

• 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.

• There were significant increases in dry matter (DM) accumulation, nitrogen (N) uptake and crop canopy greenness where barley was established following cultivation with one pass of the multidisc, which was most evident where additional nitrogen was added at sowing.
• Although there was a trend for cultivated stubble with additional sowing nitrogen to yield more than burning, there were no significant yield differences in the trial.
• Growing a faba bean crop instead of a second wheat crop increased the yield of the following wheat by 0.34–0.47t/ha in 2016 compared with a 2t/ha advantage in the following wheat crop in 2015.
• Adequate nitrogen availability in the third wheat crop, combined with higher yield potential, and poor nodulation in the faba beans, appears to be partly the reason for the smaller yield benefit in 2016.
• Across three years of field trials, none of the different stubble management treatments have been superior to the no-till stubble retention (NTSR) control, despite differences in DM production.

• There were significant increases in dry matter (DM) accumulation, nitrogen (N) uptake and crop canopy greenness where second wheat was established following cultivation with additional nitrogen, however there was no yield benefit.
• Over four years of research (2014–17) at the Coreen focus farm there has been no benefit to either cultivating, burning or additional nitrogen at sowing with cultivation over the no-till stubble retention (NTSR) control.
• Growing a faba bean crop instead of a second wheat crop increased the yield of the following wheat by 0.34–0.47t/ha in 2016 and an average of 2t/ha in 2015, however there was no evidence that the legume benefit of the faba beans influenced canola sown two years later (in 2017).
• Burning first wheat stubbles before establishing second wheat has offered no yield benefit, despite indications of better tillering, higher DM and superior yellow leaf spot (YLS) control.

• Well managed continuous wheat produced a yield of 3.6 t/ha in 2011, a decile 5 year.
• Oats produced up to 9 t dry matter (DM)/ha as a hay crop.

(i) Rotations are complex and depend on preference, the problem and opportunities- there is no ‘right way’. (ii) The break species can be selected for multiple benefits including grazing value, fodder conservation, nitrogen fixation and improving soil conditions. (iii) If weeds are the problem, focus on targeting the weeds that come late in the season, these are the ones  getting through in a continuous crop rotation. (iv) Weeds can be reduced by up to 90% in two years by stopping weed seed set through fodder removal, while providing ample fodder.

(i) Rotations are complex and depend on preference, the problem and opportunities- there is no ‘right way’. (ii) The break species can be selected for multiple benefits including grazing value, fodder conservation, nitrogen fixation and improving soil conditions. (iii) If weeds are the problem, focus on targeting the weeds that come late in the season, these are the ones  getting through in a continuous crop rotation. (iv) Weeds can be reduced by up to 90% in two years by stopping weed seed set through fodder removal, while providing ample fodder.

• Grain yield across all crops were exceptional in 2016 despite a relatively late break and sowing date. Yields were aided by exceptional spring conditions where there was abundant moisture and cool finishing conditions.
• Field peas were the most productive crop grown across all soil types in 2016 and averaged an exceptional 2.9 t/ha. Vetch (2.2 t/ha), narrow leaf lupin (2.1 t/ha) and lentils (2.1 t/ha) also averaged over 2 t/ha across the four trial sites. Faba beans yielded just under 2 t/ha while both chickpea treatments yielded above 1.5 t/ha (Kabuli 1.5; Desi 1.8 (t/ha). Both canola and albus lupins averaged less than 1.5 t/ha.
• High value crops such as desi and kabuli chickpeas produced extremely high gross margins on approximately $2000/ha. Lentils also had an average gross margin of over $1000/ha across the four trial sites.
• Break crop productivity and profitability was very different between common Mallee soil types with the poorest break crop productivity and profitability on the deep sand at Loxton in 2016.

• Where Flutriafol in furrow was used at establishment no stripe rust was observed in the MS-S cultivar Chara until approximately 130 days after establishment at third –fourth node GS33-34.
• In Chara Flutriafol alone was still giving 80% control of stripe rust at the end of flowering, the same level of control achieved with a GS32 application of Folicur (145ml/ha). Where the crop had received a flag leaf spray at booting GS45 (late flag leaf spray) there was 99-100% control of stripe rust on the flag leaf throughout grain fill.
• All fungicide programmes applied to the cultivar Chara produced a significant yield increase (0.74 – 1.64 t/ha or 12-27%). The greatest yield increase of 1.64t/ha was the result of Flutriafol in furrow with two foliar fungicides
follow ups at GS32 and GS45.
• Chara gave an 18% yield increase from the use of fungicide, averaged across all fungicide treatments, Yitpi gave a 2.5% yield increase and Beaufort gave no response despite a late low level stem rust infection.
• Three of the eight fungicide programmes produced significantly higher yields than the fully untreated crop and the flutriafol alone when meaned across the three cultivars, they were the two programmes receiving two foliar fungicides and the flutriafol followed by a foliar fungicide applied at booting (GS45).
 

• Controlling low to moderate levels of stripe rust (15-20% infection severity) on top leaves of crop canopy did not result in a significant increase in yield.
• The best control of stripe rust was given by disease management programmes that included a mid-stem elongation spray applied at GS 33 (third node). A spray for stripe rust applied at booting (GS 45) was too late to give good control.
• Conversely, the booting spray gave significantly better control of stem rust than the third node spray. The two spray approach gave the best control of all three rusts: stripe, leaf and stem.
• There was no evidence that the disease control correlated to yield, since the response to fungicide was no different whether the variety was generally resistant (Bolac) or susceptible (Chara).

• Sowing too early exposes a crop to a high frost risk at flowering.
• Sowing too late exposes a crop to heat shock during grain fill.
• Use Yield Prophet to determine the least-risk sowing window for the varieties you are planning to sow in 2011.

• Although plant available water (PAW) at sowing was ~47 mm (0–120 cm), timely in-crop rainfall of 257 mm improved yield potential.
• If yield and subsequently fertiliser decisions were made on PAW at sowing and a low input approach to nitrogen (N) application was taken, as per the nil treatment in this experiment (42 kg/ha of Granulock Z), 0.9 t/ha or 20% of yield potential would have been lost, compared with the optimum N response rate (120 kg N/ha).
• Significantly, even at modest levels of N application (e.g. 40–80 kg N/ha), grain yield was increased by 0.56 t/ha or 13% over the nil N treatment.
• Although maximum yield was achieved at 11.1% grain protein content (GPC), the rate of grain yield increase per unit of additional N declined at GPC >10%. Importantly, results from this experiment did show that yield was compromised by N deficiency when GPC was <9%.
• Results from this experiment highlight the need to consider yield potential in terms of targeted yields and hence N requirements. Importantly, if N inputs are limited then yield potential can be negatively affected.
   

The trial showed a remarkable variance in frost damage and yield between the two treatments. There are a number of possible reasons why the mouldboard ploughed treatments had reduced frost damage. Firstly, overcoming topsoil water repellence can improve topsoil moisture content which allows for better transfer of heat into, and out of, the soil. Secondly, mouldboard ploughing can increase the overall yield potential which may include more and larger heads which could result in the frost damage being proportionally less. Further analysis is required to determine if this is the case. Thirdly it is possible that the crop on the ploughed soil flowered at a different time however this is unlikely given that this is the third season since ploughing was applied and that there were multiple frost events so avoidance is unlikely.

As canola has the ability to compensate for bare areas by closing over the canopy, it is likely that if the trial area was planted to cereals, the variation between yields may have been greater. Over the first three seasons there have not been significant yield responses to the tillage treatments. Establishment on the mouldboard plough areas has been poor and this may be related to herbicide damage but weed control on the ploughed areas has been improved. Monitoring of this trial is ongoing, to see the impact of the treatments over time.

• This large scale on-farm demonstration has shown how soil inversion with a mouldboard plough can provide wheat yield benefits on sandplain soil.
• The mouldboard ploughing reduced the soil water repellence by about a third, but moderate repellence was still present. In this trial frost affected the mouldboard plough treated area more than the untreated area which is opposite to what some growers have reported who felt that crops on mouldboard ploughed soil were less affected by frost.
• Soil type, soil moisture, crop biomass and timing of the frost event may have had an impact in 2014.
• Short-term grain yield responses to cultivation on sandplain soils are typical and the potential benefits need to be studied for several more seasons before the value of the practice can be properly assessed.
• Other deep soil cultivation practices, such as deep ripping, can also give wheat yield responses in the first year.

• At Wangary SA when barley seed with a high manganese content was sown there was an increase in yield beyond that achieved with managnese fertiliser.
• Seed produced from manganese deficient or marginal soils can have low manganese, post anthesis foliar sprays can increase grain manganese conentration and improve the growth of a crop sown from that seed.
• At Marion Bay SA the timing of manganese spraying during grain fill was not critical.
• Yields of barley grown from barley seed gathered from a number of different sources and sown at a Callington SA correlated very strongly with the concentrations of copper and zinc in the sown seed.

The main messages from the agronomy trial work undertaken in 2005 were: ƒ

• After a slow start, our season in 2005 ended up producing excellent yields and quality,
• Grass weeds are becoming more and more of a concern across our region,
• Timely summer weed control is important. Spraying summer weeds over 2004/05 resulted in a 0.5 to 0.7t/ha yield increase, and
• Climate variability is something we need to learn to live with.

• Crop establishment was good for both sowing times due to good rainfall after seeding in 2011. Seed rates of 40 kg/ha achieved the target plant population of 100 plants/m2 on all sites. With each additional 40kg/ha of seed, plants numbers increased by approximately 50 plants/m2 at Badgingarra.   Ears/m2 increased from 219 to 320 with increasing seeding rate from 40 to 120kg/ha.   Averaged across all seeding rates, the ear numbers of Mace (227 ear/m2) were significantly lower than the other varieties (approx 275 ears/m2).
• At Badgingarra, increasing the seeding rate from 40 to 120 kg/ha increased the mean grain yield of King Rock, Mace, and Wyalkatchem at both sowing times. The mean yields of Fortune and Calingiri were not influenced by seeding rate at the May sowing time, but did increase from 40 to 120 kg/ha at the second sowing time in June (Fig. 1).   Magenta mean yields were higher at the 120 kg/ha than 40 kg/ha seeding rate at the second sowing time, but were highest with the 80 kg/ha seeding rate at the first sowing time in May.   Fungal staining of Mace and Wyalkatchem (data not presented) was greater than 5% at all seeding rates when sown on May 18th at Badgingarra.  

Seeding rate did not influence the level of screenings at Badgingarra of the varieties sown on May 18th.   The screenings of Magenta and Fortune declined when seeding was increased from 40 to 120 kg/ha at the June sowing (Figure 2).

Fungal staining of Magenta was greater than 5% for Magenta when sown at the second sowing time.  This influenced the gross income of this varieties (Table 2).   Lower yields and downgrading due to hectoliter weight (<74HLW) influenced the economic returns of Calingiri and Fortune in the first sowing time.

In a season like 2011 with good winter rainfall across all sites and stored moisture at seeding, higher seeding rates either improved maintained high grain yields when sown in May and June in a range of environments in Western Australia.   There was no evidence that increased seeding rate increased screenings risk in a season with good winter and spring rainfall.

• Airborne map images available are generally full colour, four band CIR (Colour Infrared), or manipulations of the CIR spectrums such as NDVI (Normalised Difference Vegetative Index) or SVI (Standard Vegetation Index), and can provide good information about crop growth and health.
• All these images are available in digital format from an increasing range of suppliers of precision agriculture services.

Modern noodle wheat verities Kinsai, Ninja and Zen, yielded higher than Calingari in almost every trial conducted by SCF between 2016 and 2018.

Southern HRZ noodle wheat growers reduce the of downgrades resulting form falling numbers and germ ed staining y sowing noodle wheat later in the program. 

Southern HRZ growers try to avoid planting noodle wheat within 30km of the coast to reduce the risk of harvest rain, and the resulting downgrades. 

Southern growers reduce grain quality risks by prioritizing the harvest noodle varieties. Noodle wheat should be harvested once the crop is ripe and the moisture falls below 13%. HRZ growers can harvest noodle wheat at above 13%, and be dried if economically feasible. 

Kinsai had the highest cumulative yield over the span of the project. Kinsai has good physical characteristics and provides a general udon quality improvement compared to Calingari and Ninja. 

A tailored agronomy package is necessary to maximise yields and reduce the risk of missing quality grades in the HRZ. 

Sowing noodle wheat later in the sowing program will mitigate the risk of late-season rain impacting the grain quality. 

High yielding noodle wheat, that achieves ANW grade can result in similar gross margins to barley and canola. 

• No significant difference in any of the treatments.

It must be noted that these results have not been statistically analysed, and due to the uneven nature of frost and hail damage, results must be viewed with caution.

It must be noted that these results have not been statistically analysed, and due to the uneven nature of frost and hail damage, results must be viewed with caution.

• An H45 crop affected by stripe rust was treated with Tilt. There was no significant difference between the yield of the sprayed and unsprayed sections.
• The crop was badly hit by frost and moisture stress in September and October.
• 2003 was not a typical year in the Parkes area, so the results from this demonstration should not be used until more work is carried out in more typical seasons.

Crop damage can occur with some of these chemicals and a good understanding of how these chemicals work and their registration status is essential before commercial use.

• The best yielding crops were undersown barley, at l t/ha, and wheat at 0.8 t/ha.
• Excel field peas were the only alternative crop to yield similar to wheat, but like all other alternative crops, its yield was statistically different from undersown barley.
• Wheat and undersown barley were the only trial entries to have positive gross margins.
• Kaspa field peas had the lowest gross margin in the alternative crops because of high seed costs

• Sow as soon as soil temperatures reach the recommended minimum for the crop type
• Moisture probes are a valuable tool for irrigation scheduling and monitoring soil moisture
• Understand and plan agronomic and irrigation requirements of your selected crop. Short season crops will require less water and may fit into a ‘double cropping’ program.

• Juncea canola varieties, with the advantage of lower production costs, are being bred for the lower rainfall districts to provide a Brassica break crop option. Further breeding is required to improve the yield potential of these varieties.
• Identity preservation schemes, involving the contracted production for a particular market, are required for the production ofspecialty oils, either for human consumption (eg Monola™) or industrial use (eg Hemola™). Growers need to carefully consider the price premiums (above canola) and the agronomic performance of these varieties. Unfortunately, currently there is very limited independent evaluation of this material.

There was no evidence of gypsum application and deep ripping interacting to improve overall soil structure and crop growth.

Under the low rainfall conditions experienced in the 2006 wheat-growing season (particularly during grain fill) at Balliang and Mt Pollock, increases in yield could not be expected using the treatments in this experiment.

• Deep ripping had an adverse effect on crop establishment and crop yield in the establishment year.

• Both lime and magnesium silicate (a blended product of 70% Doonba dunite and 30% F70 lime) were capable of increasing soil pH and decreasing exchangeable aluminium (Al) at the 20–30 cm depth where the soil amendment was applied.

• Deep placement of gypsum had no effect on soil acidity and did not improve grain yield.
 

These grower scale on-farm soil amelioration demonstrations have been managed by the growers according to standard practice. Both soil types are highly water repellent and in general the amelioration treatments have improved crop establishment, vigour and grain yield. Economic analysis indicates that the return on investment has been large as the benefits from the treatments have tended to last for at least 5-years or more at these sites. While it is possible to improve establishment, water and nutrient use efficiency and crop productivity using these techniques it is important to recognise that other constraints such as poor water and nutrient holding, soil acidity and compaction can still limit the yield potential of these soils and this needs to be considered when investing in amelioration. Liming to improve the soil pH and very deep ripping to remove compaction below 30-40 cm may well provide further yield gains beyond those achieved through amelioration of the top 10-30 cm only, and this may also help sustain the benefits of amelioration over a longer time.

These grower scale on-farm soil amelioration demonstrations have been managed by the growers according to standard practice. Both soil types were highly water repellent and the amelioration treatments have generally improved establishment but have probably had an even bigger impact on crop vigour. While it is possible to improve establishment, water and nutrient use efficiency and crop productivity using these techniques it is important to recognise that other constraints such as poor water and nutrient holding, soil acidity and compaction can still limit the yield potential of these soils. Pale sands which overly a clayey gravel or clay base within the top 1 m often have greater potential than the very deep sands.

Most treatments that altered the wetting properties of the soil improved the grain yield also. The mould board ploughing treatment was an exception due to the introduction and inter-locking gravel in the topsoil which might have impeded the germination. Once established the crop on the ploughed plots did very well. None of the treaments were able to economically improve the yield because the Control plots yielded exceptionally well.

Within this trial, there was only a significant difference between two treatments for yield, within all 11 products applied. MV Breakdown was the highest yielding treatment at 2.995t/ha vs the 750ml/ha rate of Stubble Aid, which was the lowest yielding treatment at 2.623t/ha. All other treatments were not statistically different for yield.
All in-crop monitoring of stubble breakdown products showed that there was no significant difference within any of the treatments when compared to the control (Data being held at Melbourne University).

The reduced yield output from the pulse trials reflects the drier spring and late rains, but also appears to fit with what would have been expected from experiences elsewhere over time. Lupins and beans respond to early sowing, with yields and growth showing a drop off with the delayed sowing. Nura beans yielded significantly more when sown early (2.88t/ha vs 1.57t/ha), whilst the Farah in this trial did
not show a significant response to sowing date. Peas and chickpeas need to be sown later, and in 2007 the time of sowing differences between June and July was relatively small. Bundi peas sown at both timings yield highest at 3.44t/ha and 3.19t/ha respectively, while Kaspas did not show a significant difference in yield. The trials have therefore adequately demonstrated that pulses can be grown in the district if variety choice, best management practices and optimum sowing dates for the crop are used.

• Jenabillup performed well across the state in 2009.
• This variety has good resistance to black pod syndrome which is thought to be associated with bean yellow mosaic virus.
• Jenabillup has only moderate resistance to anthracnose and tolerance to metribuzin so should be used with caution if sowing in high rainfall blue lupin areas or in paddocks suspect of having large broadleaf weed seed banks.
• This detracts from Jenabillup in the NAR as broadleaf weeds and blue lupins are the staple for many paddocks.

• A regenerated medic pasture in conjunction with a sown forage crop provided the production to sustain a 1000 DSE flock on 200 hectares in 2009.

• The study has shown benefits from the medic as a break crop and a high quality forage source.
• There was no wheat quality loss in 2010 as a result of high soil N from 2009 medic production.

In 2003 at the Berriwillock site, higher seeding rates resulted in higher yields (2.6 to 2.9t/ha) but had no affect on screenings (all sowing treatments less than 3%).
Numerous BCG-WFS seeding rate trials since 1997 have found that higher seeding rates often resulted in higher yields and better quality, never resulted in lower yields or reduced quality and always resulted in more competitive crops (fewer weeds).

• Nitrogen fertilisers significantly contribute to on-farm emissions.
• Emissions vary depending on fertiliser type, yields, previous crop and region.
   

• The nitrogen status of the sites was captured prior to the treatments being implemented as a baseline for the nitrogen impact of the treatments in the second year crop.
• The groundcover impact of each of the treatments has been assessed in December 2015 and February 2016.
• The data already indicates that a number of the treatment will not be viable as they resulted in a less than 50 % groundcover which will increase the risk of erosion of Mallee sand to an unacceptable level.
• At this stage the only viable options that reduce chemical usage are the cutting for hay and the use of a blade plough to terminate the crop and associated weeds.

• Despite the drought conditions which prevailed at this site in 1997 (yields from 0.3-0.8 t/ha), zinc deficiency was very severe. Grain yields of the very zinc sensitive variety, Yallaroi, were more than doubled by the most effective treatment.
• Seed dressings were effective at treating zinc deficiency. This is a particularly encouraging result for croppers because these products are generally quite cheap and easy to apply. For growers who are not certain if zinc deficiency is a problem in their paddocks they represent a good insurance policy.
• By far the best treatment in last year’s trial was the combination of a seed dressing and a mid season foliar spray.
• Soil applications were less effective than normal, perhaps because the soil was often so dry that the crop may have been denied access to zinc in the soil for long periods. The zinc-enriched fertilisers may have done better because they were drilled into the seed row where most roots occur.

• The trial did re-iterate that early sowing provides more opportunity to ‘play the season’ and alter N management to significantly impact on crop yield outcomes compared with the late sown crops which, in the truncated 2010 season, provided little opportunity for changing N management.  This suggests that focusing on getting the N management of the earlier sown crops sown right for a given season is a good investment of time. Further testing will give a clearer picture as to whether Yield Prophet adds significant value to helping make these decisions. 
• Although the Farmer group were original concerned about the Yield Prophet N budget, tt appears that the model has utilized deep soil test data to reasonably assess the supply of soil N to plants and the movement of soil and applied N through the profile. From this point of view, with the addition of an accurately characterized soil profile, the model may allow growers to better account for and manage nitrogen supply and losses from below the 0-10cm zone.
• Although yields from the Farmer strategy tended to be higher than the Yield Prophet strategy (although not significant), returns per hectare (net of Nitrogen and application costs) were very similar due to the increased costs associated with the Farmer strategy. With further soil characterization and ‘ground proofing’ a tool such as Yield Prophet may be a useful way to reduce the risks and more accurately quantify the benefits associated with applying in-crop nitrogen.
• This trial will be repeated in 2011, and with a more accurate soil characterization it is expected that Yield Prophet will be more accurately assessed.

• Seeding rate had a bigger impact on wheat establishment than soil wetting agents
• High seeding rates on soils with low yield potential were sometimes a disadvantage; optimal seeding rates would need to account for yield potential as well as the degress of soil water repellence.
• Delaying sowing providing an opprtunity to get a knockdown of weeds was important on water repellent soils where staggered weed germination and reduced herbicide activity, reduces the efficacy of in-crop and pre-emergent applications. 

• Addition of clay-rich subsoil improved crop establishment at this site in 2010.
• There was a very dry finish to the growing season with <15 mm in total for September and October so those cultivation and claying treatments with increased biomass and higher yield potential would have been more prone to haying off.
• Poor incorporation of surface applied clay-rich subsoil can also hold more moisture near the surface which is then subject to evaporation and competes with the roots for water with small rainfall events.
• Despite these factors cultivation with or without the addition of clay-rich subsoil did increase grain yields from <700 kg/ha in the uncultivated situation to an average yield of 1.3 t/ha for the rotary hoe and rotary spaded treatments combined.
• Ongoing monitoring of this trial will be required to see the longer-term benefits of these cultivation and clay incorporation treatments on establishment and yield in seasons with a better finish.

• More moderate clay rich subsoil application rates of 100-150 t/ha are less costly to apply, can be easily incorporated, can still improve crop establishment and productivity and importantly can reduce some of the risks associated with crops haying off due to water shortage during grain filling in dry seasons.
• Clay spreading is likely to be more beneficial in higher rainfall, longer season environments and in wetter seasons where the risk of water shortage at grain fill and haying off is reduced.

There was a visual response to P applied at sowing and up until after Z31. This did not translate into yield at harvest. There was an inital response to varying seeding rate but this was not obvious at Z31 and did not translate into a yield response. The results may have been a reflection of the dry spring and the time of application. The addition of P therefore resulted in the loss of money. There was no visual response to applying N in the N rich strip in either zone. DSN results and yield targets assessed using weather prediction and the French and Schultz model were therefore used to determine a single rate of N for all plots in both zones of 3.5 t/ha. The harvest results showed no response in the N rich strip but as these were only 80 metres wide and had additional N at Z31, the result may not be a reliable guide to whether there was a response at the site. There was no response to N at harvest. Overall the yield was disappointing and well below the target and the quality was also below the target.

• Natural enemies (predators and parasitoids) found within the crop were diverse, but had variable distribution.

• The abundance of natural enemies increased with time, which was probably related to an increase in pest pressure as well as temperature.

• Growers might be able to use more targeted sprays to control pests.

• Seed treatments appeared to have no long-term effects on natural enemy abundance.
 

• Deep ripping and spading increased yield between 68% and 107% at this site.
• Combining deep ripping and spading can ameliorate multiple soil constraints.
• Leaving untreated control strips can be used to quantify the yield differences of the treatment.

With no significant difference in yield across this trial (Table 4-11) it appears that the high soil nitrogen and variable season may have been too influential to repeat previous years’ results. Findings from this trial should still be reviewed, but not used solely to make strategic nitrogen management decisions in the future. Possibly one key finding may be that high N paddocks need little if any follow up N past crop emergence, depending on paddock history and seasonal outlook. Late leaf rust was present throughout this trial,
however it is not known if this was influential in determining yield outcomes. 

FARMER COMMENTS

Usability of Yield Prophet

·         High input requirement to get detailed data out, but once it is setup the online format is easy to use and generates good reports.

·         Easy to use once you are familiar with the program.

Usefulness of Yield Prophet set-up process

·         Farmers commented that the exercise of opening up a deep soil pit was on one the most informative and useful aspects of the Yield Prophet process.

·         Good training with a consultant on how to use the tool was vital as well.

Yield Prophet reports

·         Farmers had mixed comments about the reports with each having their favorite report- one farmer chose to use only the crop report to make his decisions.

·         One farmer found the profit comparison report the most useful where as another found it the least useful report commenting ‘it is pretty obvious through the comparison report if the is likely to be a financial response, the seasonal risk is too great to compare nitrogen profitability to the last dollar.’

·         Farmers found the climate and weather aspects to the crop report of interest, specifically the breakdown of chances of certain weather characteristics influencing yield, however in reality this didn’t really clarify decision making.

·         The reports reference the Southern Oscillation Index (SOI) which is generally considered irrelevant to the Western Australia.

·         Growth stages of crops were very accurate for all sites.

Other aspects that limited yield

·         Three of the four sites experienced a three week dry spell that was accompanied by warm, weather at the beginning of September. The yield prophet crop reports at all three sites did not indicate that crop was experiencing moisture stress or heat shock. The three farmers commented separately that this dry spell had impacted the crop yield.

·         One of the potential issues is the assumption of root growth and rooting depth. If there is low soil nutrition at depth it is likely that the roots are "lazy" during the growing season and don't go as deep as the model suggests. This would then affect the modeling of water use down the profile and water stress on the plant.

·         One farmer generated a report on 26 September which indicated the crop was under moisture stress, however this did not convert to yield penalty in the crop report.

 

Future of Yield Prophet in West Midlands region

The low water holding capacity of sands in the West Midlands region means that the effect of short term dry spells has greater significance than total rainfall on production- this seems to be difficult to simulate in Yield Prophet.

Simulated yield on two out of the four sites was far from what would be considered an acceptable level of variation (1 t/ha for yellow sand and 1.85 t/ha for shallow loamy duplex). However the other two sites simulated yield very well.

Typical farm paddock of 60-70ha within the West Midlands region has multiple soil types present. At this stage Yield Prophet only allows the user to simulate one soil type per paddock. There is the ability to separately log each soil type however this requires a great deal of information input and the user has to pay a ‘paddock’ subscription for each soil type.

Unfortunately, there are very few soils classified in the West Midlands region, to WMG’s knowledge the five soils classified as part of this project are the only fully characterized soils in the West Midlands region. This project has estimated that the cost of fully classifying a soil is $3,000. When there is so few soil types classified in the West Midlands region coupled with farmers having multiple soil types (sometimes more than a dozen) on their farm this cost is the key barrier to adoption of this tool in the West Midlands region.

• Deep ripping provided a 260kg/ha yield increase in barley in 2016,
• Deeper ripping and the use of inclusion plates did not improve barley yield at this site,

• Subsurface soil compaction has been shown to be a major constraint to crop production and its removal of this compaction via deep ripping can lead to large yield increases.
• Assessing yield responses on different soil types will guide where future deep ripping work is carried out, with priority given to those soils with the greatest yield increases.

• Assessing yield responses on different soil types will guide where future deep ripping work is carried out, with priority given to those soils with the greatest yield increases.

• The high ryegrass burden, particularly on the TOS1 plots impacted on the usefulness of the yield prophet tool for this time of sowing as it does not take into account other yield limiting factors.
• High rye grass burden on TOS1 had significant impact on yield (approx 1.2-1.3 t/ha).  As such we have learnt that site selection (most especially with herbicide resistant weeds) is critical in order to conduct meaningful trials.
• No difference in Yield Prophet forecasts between the two cultivars Mace and Bonnie Rock. This was also expressed in the harvest results, in direct contrast to the very dry, early finishing 2010 season, where Mace out yielded Bonnie Rock in all treatments.

• The optimum agronomic sowing window for field pea coincided with high blackspot risk in many districts of South Australia in 2015.
• Under such high disease risk situations, growers in low rainfall areas may be best suited to choose alternative break crop options to field pea to avoid significant yield losses through delayed sowing or disease infection.
• Experimental fungicide treatments with greater efficacy than Mancozeb showed improved blackspot control and significant yield increases over the Nil and Mancozeb treatments in 2015. Further assessment and application approval is still required.

 

• The optimum agronomic sowing window for field pea coincided with high blackspot in many districts of South Australia in 2015.
• Under such high disease risk situations, growers in low rainfall areas may be best suited to choose alternative break crop options to field pea to avoid significant yield losses through delayed sowing or disease infection.
• Experimental fungicide treatments with greater efficacy than mancozeb showed improved blackspot control and significant yield increases over the nil and mancozeb treatments in 2015. Further assessment and application approval is still required.

• Early application of foliar zinc at the 2-3 leaf stage and at a rate of 4kg/ha significantly reduced yellow leaf spot infection.
• The 4 kg/ha zinc sulphate treatment also had higher tissue zinc (20.7ppm) but this was still marginal as were all other treatments.
• No significant changes were observed in copper or manganese tissue concentrations across treatments.
• Due to relatively low levels of infection the zinc or stubble treatments did not ultimately influence yield.

• Yields and protein were generally low across the trial.
• Addition of granular starter had a significant effect on yield vs the untreated for all treatments except treatments 2 and 5.

Small ryegrass (less than 4 leaves) was controlled by Atrizine with oil in crop.

• A review of soil fertility and fertiliser requirements of different Australian soils.
• Covers each nutrient separately, including micronutrients.
• Gives a good historical perspective on the development of agriculture and crop nutrition.
• Includes details of deficiencies and toxicities for both crop and animal systems.
• Includes maps showing soil nutritional problems in different regions.
• Covers the whole country.

• Summer weed control is proven to increase yield, but is becoming a major cost and some summer weeds are difficult to control.
• Cost savings of 20-90% were achieved across 20 paddocks using the WEEDit™.
• Amajor benefit of using spot spraying technology was the ability to use high rates of chemical targeted onhard-to-kill weeds such as Stinkweed.

• Cereal stubble contributes only a small percentage of the nitrogen requirement for a following cereal crop (2 to 11% of N from 2014 wheat stubble was taken up by 2015 and 2016 crops).
• Urea fertiliser nitrogen use efficiency of the 2014 wheat crop was 35%.
• The 2015 drought reduced the influence of stubble management treatments on nitrogen cycling, yield and carry over effects on microbial activity.

Prevention of bacterial blight (BB):

• In frost prone areas, sow field pea varieties that have some resistance against BB
• Use seed that was harvested from a crop that was free of BB
• Do not apply herbicides to the crop if there is a risk of frost as this can increase the
• risk of BB

If bacterial blight infects a crop:

• Do not drive over the paddock as bacteria will spread on wheels of vehicle
• Harvest the infected pea crop after uninfected crops, to prevent spread of bacteria
• through the harvester to other pea seed
• Do not spread stubble or hay from the infected crop to other paddocks as bacteria
• will survive in the stubble
• Do not keep pea seed for next years’ crop
• No sprays or seed dressings can control BB effectively

• The site became very wet in October and the controlled traffic and flat ground was inundated for at least 48 hours.
• However, the water was moving at all times and very little crop damage occurred due to waterlogging.
• The raised beds were above the waterline at all times. 
• For further comments please see the attached trial report.

• There was no difference between the treatments in terms of crop standability.
• The crop lodged quite badly with approximatelly 50% of the plants less than 45 degrees to the horizontal across all treatments.
• For further discussion, please see the attached trial report.

• In the 2012 season, barley variety and nitrogen rate had a greater impact on yield and grain quality than plant population
• There was no significant increase in grain yield from increasing the N rate beyond a 5t/ha yield potential in this season. Any additional applications did not increase the yield enough to justify the cost of the fertiliser.
• All varieties displayed significant positive responses to the increasing rates of N
• The 62 kg N/ha rate (for 5t/ha crop) gave us the maximum grain yield return.
• Optimum plant populations for grain yield were 200plants/m2. In 2012 although increasing plant densities tended to reduce grain quality but they still made malting quality.

• Crop establishment was not affected by row spacing, regardless of barley variety or row width.
• Barley grain yield and quality were unresponsive to row spacing at Hart in 2009.

• Annual ryegrass did not affect crop establishment, but did reduce grain yield.
• Increasing the seed rate from 80 seeds/m2 to 150 seeds/m2 had no significant impact on grain yield, however, increasing the seeding rate to 220seeds/m2 significantly reduced grain yield, by 13%.
• At 220 seeds/m2 25% of the annual ryegrass survived, compared to 45% at 80 seeds/m2.

• 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.  

With the crop under severe water stress for much of the growing season the yields were very low - 1 t/ha or less.

For results and discussion please see the attached trial report.

• The ungrazed paddock yielded 1.2t/ha more than the grazed paddock.
•  The grazed paddock was grazed intensively to approximately 1-2 cm in height where only the white stems could be seen, the green foliage had all been removed. It was observed that after sheep were removed from the paddock, the barley crop re-grew rapidly and out competed the radish that was also recovering from the grazing.
• It was also observed in the demonstration that the grazing delayed the maturity of the cereal with the grazed paddock haying off later than the ungrazed paddock.
• The quality of the grain from both treatments has not been tested for quality but it has been observed that the grain from the grazed paddock is a better colour than the ungrazed paddock.

• In 1997 it was not safe to use the knockdown Gramozone at the half leaf stage on wheat or barley (this has been a relatively safe practice in previous years).
• The crop did not recover from the spray due to the dry conditions.

There were no differences in grass weed numbers in paddock N7/8 between cereal crop treatments imposed of Sakura, East West and North South sowing, cross sowing and ‘15 cm nudge’.

• Weed seeds were found in narrow windrows and chaff dumps, ryegrass was more prevalent than barley grass which is more prone to shedding seed early.
• Burning reduced the viable ryegrass and self-sown cereal seed density by 85%, reducing the overall weed seed bank, but results for barley grass were lower at 38%.
• Conditions (i.e. temperature and humidity) and timing of burn were shown to strongly influence the effectivenessof this cultural management tactic.
• Burning windrows resulted in fewer weed seeds returning to the weed seed bank.
• There is a cost associated with windrow harvesting due to lower harvesting height requiring reducing the harvest speed with larger throughput of straw.
• A better understanding of burning and the weather conditions needed to sterilise barley grass seed is needed.