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.

Early differences in Yellow Spot (YS) infection were evident at seedling/tillering stage, infection was greatest in the susceptible variety Yitpi; however, seasonal weather conditions and WSMV infection reduced any further impact from fungal leaf disease. Wheat streak mosaic virus (WSMV) and High Plains Virus (HPV) caused yellowing and stunting of plants across the trial with >75% WSMV infection evident in all plots, differences between varieties in incidence of infection were not significant. However, yield was greatest in varieties with lowest incidence of WSMV infection. WSMV and drought stresses severely reduced yield and as such results are not conclusive for nitrogen and fungicide applications in wheat on wheat systems. Similar DAFWA research in Northern Region (having no WSMV) reported that wheat with sub-optimal nitrogen and no fungicide application is more vulnerable to fungal leaf spot diseases, particularly in a susceptible variety, and may suffer yield losses (compared to optimal N and fungicide) in wheat on wheat systems. Further collaborative work will be planned in 2013 to determine the value of nitrogen and fungicide on the profitability of new wheat varieties with different disease resistances in wheat on wheat system.

Carbon is generating plenty of interest at present and the project aims to answer questions around increasing organic carbon in agricultural soils through the addition of carbon source. It would be expected that the results will show minimal impact on soil carbon levels in the first year of trialling however will to be tested by the Facey Group in continuance to the project. Harvest results however require further investigation with such variance between the remainder of the paddock and the treatments within the trial.

• In 2013 there was no evidence of changes in soil condition or organic carbon associated with the application of compost at up to 3 t/ha in 2012. Potential changes in soil organic carbon and other soil properties will be determined in February 2014.
• This trial will be continued in 2014 to assess changes in soil condition and future production.

Visually the germination in the control (not crushed) was significantly less than the crushed area, given the ability for the airseeder to create a seed bed and bury the seed. The return on investment from the rock crushing treatment applied shows that it would require approximately 3 years to provide a return on investment for this trial.

Each eDemonstration site has a weather station and soil moisture probe and is a place where growers, consultants and industry can gather to learn about and compare all of the decision support tools, systems and technologies available for on farm decision making. Events are organised to ensure a large variety of tools can be evaluated by growers.

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.

In summary, the TOS1 showed a greater variance overall between grazing treatments and the frost events of 2016 seemed to have a greater impact on this section of the trial. Results from TOS2 did not vary greatly between treatments and the effects of frost damage were not as prevalent. This indicates that grazing early sown cereals can have a great effect on yields and provide an excellent source of feed to livestock and the grazing of later sown crops in a season like 2016 does not impact yields or quality

Overall, moderate grazing up to Z25-Z30 and clip grazing at and after Z25-Z30 had little to no significant impacts on yield. However,assessing the value of grazing to the farm system is complicated as grazing can affect time of flowering and frost impacts. It can also increase water use efficiency, allow pasture paddocks to be deferred, reduce the need for supplementation and allow increased stock numbers and/or crop area.

• Moderate grazing up to Z30 and clip grazing after Z30 did not appear to have significant impacts on yield in 2012 when compared to early sown crops.
• However, assessing the value of grazing to the farm systems is complicated as grazing can affect time of flowering and frost impacts. It can also increase water use efficiency, allow pasture paddocks to be deferred, reduce the need for supplementation and allow for increased stock numbers and/or crop area.

• Lime application rate had the greatest influence on soil pH in the year of application.
• The highest lime application of 6 t/ha in combination with spading resulted in the greatest increase in pH across the trial, although at depths of 20-30cm and 30-40cm, 2t/ha, 4t/ha and 6t/ha of lime sand produced similar increases in pH.
• Higher rates of lime application rate did not increase germination, biomass or grain yield of the cereal crops trialed in the experiment.
• Deep ripping, followed closely by spading, increased grain yield compared to top-dressing in 2020.

- Lentil production was impacted by soil acidity and limited local knowledge of lentil production.

- Weed burdens were higher in lentil treatments compared to wheat treatments

- Lentil grain quality was unable to be assessed due to low biomass and low seed formation

Light grazing was shown to leave most of the crop residue horizontal and detached but there were similar amounts of residue to the ungrazed plots. Grazing over summer and winter reduced crop yield at one site and further work on this may be required.

The value of starter P for early crop vigour was clearly demonstrated in 2014 by the decreased growth of wheat plants when P fertiliser was omitted. This effect continued through the grain development stages and was very evident in the final grain yield differences. If P application over the previous four years averaged 12 kg/ha or less, there is a good value return from applying P.  Although the highest yield was seen at 24 kg P applied in 2014, looking at historical trends shows that continual application of P at greater than 12kg/ha can provide yield gains but little or no margin and should not be considered unless low P application history, confirmed by soil P tests associated with P binding capacity, has resulted in low soil P levels. Results indicate a P recommendation of greater than 6 kg/ha to be appropriate for soils and conditions in the vicinity of the trial site, pushing up to 10-12 kg/ha if the input cost is affordable.

The occurrence of frost and subsequent frost damage to grain crops is a complex phenomenon. The factors affecting frost damage in wheat crop include seasonal conditions (temperature, humidity, and wind), soils characteristics (topography, soil type), variety (maturity and flowering window) and agronomic management (sowing date, row spacing, and seed and fertiliser inputs). In 2012, frost had significantly damaged and reduced the grain yield for all varieties at two different sowing dates at Wickepin. On average the later sowings (8 June) yielded 1 t/ha greater than the earlier sowings (18 May). Comparatively longer season varieties such as Magenta and Calingiri flowered late, avoided some of frost damage and yielded the highest at both sowings. Preliminary results indicate varieties differed in their relative performance and resilience (i.e. ability to yield) in response to stresses of radiant frosts in both time of sowings. More comprehensive results on variety performance and frost damage will be available after measuring grain quality and sterility estimates.

In high yielding environment with yield potential around 5 t/ha, Cobra (AH) yielded similar to Mace (AH) in both May and June sowings. New variety Trojan (quality grade not yet known in WA) outyielded Mace by 8% across both time of sowings. Selecting two or three varieties with different traits should help to manage production risks and to achieve yield stability.

Insufficient frost events occurred at Wickepin during the susceptible windows in 2014 to cause significant frost damage. Temperature results demonstrated that low in the landscape retained stubble increased the severity of the frost in one of the 10 frost events, but also increased the duration of frost events. Results from 2014 were not conclusive at Wickepin to demonstrate whether retaining stubble increases the incidence or severity of frost.

Although the Wickepin site did not experience damaging frost events in 2013, results show that the severity (minimum temperature) and duration (hrs <0°C) of frost increased at positions lower in the landscape and was less severe under cultivation. Standing stubble treatments also showed colder temperatures than removed stubble treatments. These results also supported the two other trials conducted in Western Australia during 2013 that showed stubble can have an influence on crop canopy temperature.

Temperature results from both sites have demonstrated that stubble loads above 2t/ha increased the severity and duration of some frost events. Analysis of results on yield and frost damage is ongoing and will be presented.

Temperature results from both sites have demonstrated that stubble loads above 2t/ha increased the severity and duration of some frost events. Analysis of results on yield and frost damage is ongoing and will be presented.

Tedera did not have enough biomass to take in any of the two samples in August and November, which was due to frost damage.Balansa and Serradella produced the same amount of biomass, and both were more productive than ryegrass. However, it was observed that ryegrass was severely grazed by kangaroos, so samples were not reflective of what the true biomass would normally be.

The trial showed that the various grain qualities did not vary greatly in relation to each seeding rate, although these variations small but they can be significant when applied to oat receival standards, with the grain quality differences having the potential to change the grade from Oat1 to Oat2, an average difference of $40/tonne.

Due to the oat crop severely lodging, harvest results were unable to give any determined yield for each seeding rate.

• 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 degree of soil water repellence.
• Delaying sowing providing an opportunity to get a knockdown of weeds was important on water repellent soils where staggered weed germination, and reduced herbicide activity, reduces efficacy of in-crop and pre-emergent applications.
• In these trials soil wetting agents did not consistently improve wheat establishment and despite some evidence of benefits to vegetative growth this generally did not translate into a grain yield benefit.

• Both N and K have influenced wheat growth at the site, to varying degrees.
• Summit’s complex soil test interpretation model recommended 90 kg N for a 3 T/ha wheat crop based on the soil sample analyses at this site. With a growing season rainfall of 300 mm and the responses in this trial, an N recommendation of 80 kg/ha appears appropriate.
• Potassium recommendations from the Summit model were 20 kg K for a 3 T/ha wheat crop. Potassium recommendations will be much more dependent on soil characteristics and laboratory test results, but even on the duplex soil at the site, 10 to 20 kg K/ha looks to be of benefit in helping plants to maximise the potential growth benefits from top-up nitrogen applications.
• Mace wheat utilises N nutrition for yield, on the whole, but protein does increase somewhat with increasing N application and targeting higher delivery grades is possible if desired.