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

Trinexapac-ethyl, either one or two applications, and Prosaro resulted in yield increases over the control.

Good performance from Oxford and a few of the newer varities not that commonly grown. Spartacus CL is a definite improvement over Scope CL.

The wet winter and subsequent waterlogged conditions through June and July resulted in reduced tillering, particularly in the earlier maturing varities, and overall yield performance was reduced.

• Applications of gypsum and lime did not increase canola emergence in 2015.
• This result was expected as May rainfall was not sufficient to induce slaking of the soil.

Establishment was highest where stubble was removed, however sufficient plants were established for a commercial crop where stubble remained standing rather than laying on the ground.

Conditions post spreading of the seed were perfect for establishment - seed spread onto moist soil, 30 mm of rain and cool temperates post rainfall - and a similar level of success may not be achievable evry season.

No product or timing had significant effects on crop height.

Conventionals and RRs were the highest yielders.

Conventionals and RRs were the highest yielders.

Crop was sown as part of a rotational trial, examining the effects of Group B residues on the following maize crop.

DBA Vittaroi had higher grain protein than DBA Aurora under similar N management

Both varieties lodged where a PGR was not applied

Sowing rate did not affect yield or grains per head.

Graind per head averaged 2.1g or 2.1 t/ha per 100 heads/m2

High yielding, but failed to make the required protein levels. The PGR was the only treatment to be statistically different due to the lodging in almost all other treatments.

Data was highly variable so results should be viewed with caution.

A combination of fertiliser inputs and irrigation can rapidly breakdownincorporated cereal stubble and allow sowing 4 weeks later. Getting the balance of fertiliser, in particular N rates, to ensure rapid breakdown, but creating neither N deficiency or excessive N remains elusive.

Measuring soil organic carbon following incorporation is giving mixed results as to the ability to increase soil OC via incorporation with fertiliser

Burning the stubble gave greater yield and oil content

Either moly treatments had any increase in yield or nodulation. Tisue tests aso showed increase moly levels but the control was above deficiency threshhold.

No product had significant effects on crop height.

A plant population of 25 plants/m2 yielded higher than 15 plants/m2.

7.5 inch rows yielded higher than 15 inch rows.

Samira continues to be the best released variety.

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

Despite the wet year, little folir disease was detected in the trial, therefore the foliar fingicides tested had no effect on yield.

No fungicide treatment gave any yield benefit or extension of “green-ness” of the canopy.

The dry early winter and spring resulted in low disease pressure.

Variety response to the fungicides tested differed, with Commander having increased yields, but no yield increase with LaTrobe.

Know the disease rating of the varieties you grow.

Preparing a Nitrogen Budget is essential, but there are two key factors, estimates of yield and mineralisation, that do affect the risk of achieving DR1

Nitrogen management is the key. Understanding the mineralisation contribution to the N budget, N required per tonne of grain and accurate yield estimates has been the key to successfully growing irrigated DR1 durum wheat.

Later sowing did not affect yield and improved grain protein.

The key influences on profitability are commodity prices, cost of water and proximity to market.

DR1 quality can be achieved under irrigated conditions, but N supply must meet crop requirement to do so

Yields were not significantly different between the lines and varieties tested but there was differences in lodging resistance

Response in barley seems to be variety dependent.

Early plant height reduction was noted in all varieties treated with Moddus Evo but had no effect on lodging.

Commander barley saw a yield increase with the use of Moddus Evo, but LatTrobe did not respond.

Off label high rates of triazole fungicides have to produced any PGR effects to date.

Trial average was 6.3 t/ha

The trial ws affected by lodging as a result of 50 mm of rain and high winds in mid September

Spartacus CL was the highest yielding variety at 7.65 t/ha

The trial did not receive a fungicide application, and did have high levels of leaf disease (SFNB and to a lesser degree scald). However higher levels of leaf disease  and loss of green leaf did not necessarily result in yield loss.

• An unregistered product was found that reduced plant height and lodging but did so at the cost of yield.
• Rates of the PGR need to be tested to determine if lower rates can achieve a crop height reduction with no impact on yield.
• Timing of a PGR application appears to be at green bud stage for the effective reduction in plant height.

• Wider row spacing will decrease yield but the decrease was not significant until large changes were made.
• Canola yields prove to be stable despite different plant populations but seasonal differences could change the outcome.

• Trial yields averaged 4.03 t/ha
• The performance of the various herbicide groups ranged from 3.2 t/ha  for the triazine tolerant varieties, 4.5 t/ha for the Clearfields, 4.6 t/ha for the conventionals and 4.8 t/ha for the Roundup Ready varieties.
• The early-mid to mid maturity varieties tended to be the highest yielding from an April 18th sowing.

Irrigated durum wheat can meet DR1 specification

The nitrogen requirement is approximately 50 kg N/t 

Growing durum wheat on a pulse stubble has both disease and nitrogen management benefits

No PGR tested had any effect at reducing lodging

Excessive vegetative growth and rainfall resulted in all plots lodging, making measurement of plant height impossible without causing damage to the plants.

 

Bannister had the highest grain yields with 9.00 t/ha.

Grazing did impact on yield in Bannister, but not Durack or Yallara.

Additional N above the control did not increase grain yields. Based on the trial results, Bannister nitrogen requirement was 25 kg N/t, whereas Yallara and Durack required 35 kg N/t.

Dry matter harvested (simulated grazing) at around GS31 ranged between 0.81 and 0.99 t/ha (NS)

Population had no effect on yield. Populations as low as 130 plants/m2 had similar yields to that of 180 plants/m2.

Plant establishment varies greatly with conditions post sowing. The long term average for cereals at the ICC Trial Block is 70%, but colder soil temperatures and soil moisture can see establishment fall to 50%.

Irrigation in spring did not improve yield or grain quality of the chickpea and lentil varieties tested

Drainage was the key to preventing crop damage rather than irrigation timing

 

Drainage rather and irrigation technology was the key to maximising yields

Drainage is the key to successful irrigated pulses. The subsurface drip irrigation without beds resulted in prolonged soil waterlogging which impacted establishment and plant survival in spring.

Fertiliser treatments aimed at increasing phosphorus efficiency did not improve yield but the trial site is not responsive to P.

Added potassium did not see any increase in yield, once again the site has adequate K supply (> 600 ppm Kcolwell).

Copper applied as a foliar spray at booting resulted in decreased yields demonstrating the potential toxic effects an excessive supply of a particular trace element can create.

Trial yields averaged 8.5 t/ha

LPB Trojan was the highest yielding variety at 10.25 t/ha.

Mid-late maturity was the predominant maturity in the top 20 highest yielding varieties.

Late (Z39+) application of N resulted in yield and protein increase over the control.

There is a difference between maximising biomass and the optimal biomass for maximum yield in a particular environment.

Maximising biomass creates agronomic problems such as increased foliar disease and early weed competition.

Irrigation can supply moisture during grain fill but cannot control the temperature - many of the winter wheats mature too late to avoid heat stress during grain fill. 

There is a difference between maximising biomass and the optimal biomass for maximum yield in a particular environment.

Maximising biomass creates agronomic problems such as increased foliar disease and early weed competition.

Irrigation can supply moisture during grain fill but cannot control the temperature - many of the winter wheats mature too late to avoid heat stress during grain fill. 

Bannister was the highest yileding variety from either sowing date.

The theoretical N contribution from faba stubbles is 20 kg N/tonne of stubble. However this assumes all residue is mineralised. 

Stubble retained on the soil surface is broken down more slowly than residues present in the soil.

A 6 t/ha bean crop resulted in approximately 140 kg N/ha being released for the following season. 

The faba crop contributed a significant amount of N, resulting in less symptoms of waterlogging during winter, reduced N applied through the season but insignificant yield effects and changes to barley grain quality.

Increased rates of N resulted in increased biomass, but the relationship between stubble N content and applied N was poor.

Higher applied  N resulted in higher Harvest Index

Harvest Index ranged from 0.45 to 0.47. 

Adding 70 kgN/ha prior to stubble incorporation addressed in crop N tie-up.

No fertiliser had any effect at any rate on the establishment of canola when watered up.

Lodging was reduced in scout wheat with the application of Moddus Evo at GS31, but yield was not affected.

 

The PGR trinexapac ethyl reduced plant height and improved lodging resistance but no PGR influenced yield.

Only the Chlormequat + Tebuconazole treatment reduced crop height (100 mm). No lodging, yield or grain quality differences where significant.

No PGR had any effect on plant hieght, lodging or yield.

Trinexapac-ethyl resulted in shorter crop height and higher screenings from th late application. There were no effects on yield or crop lodging.

The high rate of gypsum (3.0 t/ha) was the best ameliorant, with all other ameliorants and rates performing better than the control (no ameliorant).

• The ameliorants were applied in 2014, where 3.0 t/ha of gypsum proved to be the most effective in increasing establishment.
• However all treatments have had no effect in subsequent seasons.

Fungicides had no effect on grain yield.

No treatment resulted in any yield effects. No disease was detected on the controls throughout the season.

Consistent performance from Cobra, Beaufort and Scout.

The wet winter and subsequent waterlogged conditions through June and July resulted in reduced tillering, particularly in the earlier maturing varities, and overall yield performance was reduced.

Early sowing resulted in excessive vegetattive growth and also provided excelelnt conditions for ryegrass that proved difficult to control.

No treatment resulted in any yield effects. No disease was detected on the controls throughout the season.

The Plant Growth Regulator trinexapac-ethyl (Moddus Evo) has been shown in previous trials to increase yield in irrigated barley, but not necessarliy due to reduced lodging. This trial appears to indicate that the PGR resulted  increased tiller survival in lower plant populations of certain varieties. 

Some varities have shown no yield response to PGR application.

Selection of a variety that is not prone to lodging may be a better choice than applying a PGR.