Barley trials

To assess the growth and yield of barley and wheat growing in a range of different established perennial pasture species.

To determine the effect grazing barley has on grain yield.

To demonstrate if there are any benefits of applying biochar to increase crop and pasture production in the West Midlands

To compare different clay spreading and tillage methods for the amelioration of water repellent soils.

• To evaluate early foliar disease suppression of soil applied fungicides.
• To compare early soil disease control to a foliar only strategy.
• To compare efficacy of different foliar fungicides on yield at a ~Z31 and Z39 applications.
• To compare seed treatment and Aviator Xpro foliar for SFNB.

To assess amelioration of subsoil acidity using a range of tillage methods for incorporating surface applied lime into acidic subsoils and the impacts of tillage and lime on crop productivity.

Crop safety and yield of barley grown from seed treated with EverGol Prime compared to Dividend and Vibrance for the control of rhizoctonia. The trial was conducted to

• To compare efficacy of EverGol Prime compared to Dividend and Vibrance for rhizoctonia control.
• To compare barley covered smut control of EverGol Prime to current standards.

To answer the quesitons:

• Does in-furrow application of fungicide using liquid banding improve control of Rhizoctonia solani compared to the untreated control or seed treatment?
• Does in-furrow application of fungicide using liquid banding improve control of Rhizoctonia solani compared to coating of granular fertiliser?
• Does an integrated approach incorporating cultivation, seed treatment and in-furrow fungicide application improve control of Rhizoctonia solani compared to the untreated control and all other individual treatments?

To demonstrate the effect of seeder type and operation on the efficacy and safety of pre-emergent herbicides in barley.

• To compare EverGol Prime, Vibrance and Tripower to Baytan T for loose smut control.
• To compare EverGol Prime compared to triazole seed treatments for rhizoctonia suppression.

To evaluate the performance of crops (barley in 2009) when pasture cropped over different perennial species established on deep pale sands.

To determine the impact that grazing of crops in winter had on subsequent grain yield and quality, production factors such as weeds, disease and nutrition, and livestock carrying capacity.

To compare Fortune, Wyalkatchem, Wedgetail wheat and Baudin barley as grazing crops.

Demonstration to evaluate new forage options against commonly used graze and grain options.

Evaluate Lokomotive as an in season foliar potassium source for correcting potassium deficiency and compare to muriate of potash (MOP).

To determine how soil inversion and banded surfactants change the availability of soil nutrients.

To assess the impact of mouldboard ploughing and clay spreading on soil water repellence and grain yield.

To improve understanding of the range of tillage implements and techniques available to incorporate lime into acidic soils, their respective costs and benefits.

To test increasing the economic viability of deep ripping using controlled traffic and the addition of topsoil and ameliorants to the subsoil.

To evaluate banded wetting agent (SACOA ‘Irrigator’) for crop establishment and yield on non-wetting soils in the West Midlands.

To assess the impact of region and powdery mildew pathotype on field response of varieties with a range of resistance rankings to powdery mildew within the Western Australian barley producing zones.

• To evaluate yield and competition with weeds of new wheat cultivars selected by recurrent selection for early vigour compared to common commercial cereal cultivars. 
• To evaluate current commercial wheat varieties for their ability to suppress weed seed set and to yield under high weed pressure.

To investigate potassium and lime responses and effects on lime and potassium requirements.

To demonstrate Scope barley and the performance of Clearfield herbicides on brome grass in a non-wetting scenario, and to investigate the benefit of soil wetter and pre-emergence herbicides in improving this performance.

To evaluate the performance of perennial grass and crops (Barley in 2013) when pasture cropped over different perennial species established on deep pale sands.

• Serradella is a useful pasture species on the sandy soils of the West Midlands. But it has two major weaknesses: weed control (particularly radish and capeweed) and a lack of early biomass production. By sowing serradella with a Clearfield Barley variety (Scope or Spartacus) and using Clearfield (Imidazolinone) herbicides both of these weaknesses can be overcome.
• The aim of this demonstration was to highlight the pro’s and con’s of using Clearfield Barley as a cover crop when sowing serradella pastures.

Demonstrate variable rate technology on farm and how it can be applied to manage fertiliser use and to minimise nutrient enrichment or depletion that leads to poor soil health.

Evaluate yield and quality response of long season wheat and barley to sowing time.

To assess the whole farm implementation of water repellence management strategies.

To evaluate the performance of annual crops when pasture cropped over different perennial species.  

The main aims of this demonstration are to:

• Increase farmer knowledge about the N2O emissions made from fertiliser and legumes;  
• Reveal options available to reduce N20 emissions; and
• Provide information about nutrient use efficiency to maximise productivity.

To report on outcomes of the Upper North Water Use Efficiency Project.

The demonstrate issues key to the current GRDC funded Stubble Initiative Project.

GRDC has funded a programme to address this issue and one of the projects within this programme is developing an improved understanding and implementation of management practices for brassica and pulse crops, pastures and other options to reduce the risk of crop failure and improve whole farm profitability in low rainfall south-east Australia.

The purpose of the trial was to compare growth rates and dry matter production of alternative pastures with traditional medic pastures

To investigate the possible advantages of varying nitrogen rates over different soil types on a field in the Upper North region.

To investigate amelioration options for sands that have low water holding capacity, low organic matter, low nutrient availability, compaction, non wetting and high risk for wind erosion.

The aim of this project is to improve the capacity of growers to identify and manage subsurface acidity on the Northern Yorke Peninsula. Soil testing and pH mapping for acidity has become common practice in the district. However, this sampling and mapping has focused on the top 0-10 cm of soil. Recent reports and preliminary work have confirmed an acidic band of soil is often occurring at the 5-15 cm depth and beyond in certain soil types.

There are two main components to this project:

• Spatially identifying subsurface acidity by validating the relationship between soil pH and EC (electrical conductivity).
• Develop best management practices for lime amelioration to manage subsurface acidity.

This project aims to establish field sites which demonstrate amelioration techniques that growers can use to address the specific sandy soil constraints for their local landscape type and where in the landscape different tactics are best deployed.  

Trial 1: Lime comparison trial 
The use of new pH mapping technologies has increased the awareness and identification of soil acidity in many districts. However, there are several aspects of soil acidity management which remain a problem for growers. This trial aimed to investigate a range of lime and acidity management factors outlined in the three key areas below. 

• Lime source 
• Lime rate and particle size 
• Decline of soil pH from sulphur applications 

Trial 2: Comparison of lime incorporation techniques 

Acidic layers of soil are increasingly being identified in the topsoil (0-10 cm) and subsurface soil (10-30 cm) of no-till farming systems. Stratified low pH soil layers need appropriate lime treatment to maintain and prevent the decline of soil pH further. Surface application of lime alone is unlikely to raise the pH in subsurface layers quickly. Recent work has reported lime movement as little as 1 cm – 2.5 cm per year (Fleming et al. 2020, Burns et al 2017). Given the slow movement of lime, incorporation and mixing of surface applied lime to depth is expected to accelerate the movement of lime.

There are a range of machinery options that can provide different levels of lime incorporation and to different depths, such as cultivation, deep ripping with or without inclusion plates, spading and combinations of these. This trial was designed to investigate which of these are most effective on a sandy soil with stratified soil acidity at Bute.

There are a range of machinery options that can provide different levels of lime incorporation such as spading. However, research to date on rotary spaders has shown soil/amendment mixing is not uniform due to the cyclical process, and the mixing quality reduces significantly at faster speed (Ucgul et al. 2019). This trial aimed to understand how the uniformity of soil-lime mixing by spading affected crop response and soil pH. 

To compare three legume crops in farmer scale seeding strip trials at three locations in the Albany Port Zone. Demonstrations will compare several legume crops in different soil types in different micro-environments. The same trial sites will be monitored in 2019 to determine the effects (positive or negative) of the legume break crop on the subsequent barley/wheat crop and soil nitrogen status. The legume demonstration trials will provide growers with current agronomic information for pulses/legumes as a break crop in farming systems for the Albany Port Zone. Information from both the legume demonstration and effect on the subsequent crop will complement the Crop Sequence Calculator Workshops to be run concurrently by Farmanco.  

The objective of the four small plot trials is to provide statistically sound data that will inform farmer and consultant decision making in years of early waterlogging, where they are considering late sown cereals as an option. The trials will be professionally implemented and managed by industry best practice standards to ensure the data is reliable. The implementation of four trial sites also ensures the data generated is locally relevant to farmers right along the South Coast of WA.  

GRDC Project Outcome:

By March 2024, All Western Region growers and advisers will have access to trial information on late winter to early spring sown cereals (wheat and barley) on the south coast of WA to assist in making educated decisions to sow at this time when waterlogging presents and cereal crops cannot be sown at the traditional time or for other reasons that may present for a later sowing opportunity such as weed issues or poor crop establishment.

This investment aimed to locally validate previous R&D investment relating to spring sown crops (albeit include newer crop types and varieties where suitable), building local grower and adviser knowledge to inform decisions when managing excess soil moisture. It aimed to provide production and economic information from both farm-scale demonstrations and a small plot trial to inform good business decisions in regard to spring/summer sown crops.

The trials evaluated the crop performance on a range of metrics to provide a thorough assessment of summer crops, and the role they can play in agronomic systems, and the potential they have to reduce the waterlogging risk.

GRDC Outcome:

By February 2023, 20% of Western Region Growers who farm in areas with a medium to high-risk of regular waterlogging will have built the knowledge and confidence to profitably sow a crop in spring or summer on paddocks were winter crops/pastures have failed due to excessive waterlogging or where soil moisture levels permit in future years.

To achieve this outcome, Stirlings to Coast Farmers (SCF) worked with a number of other Grower Groups to ensure the key learnings of the trial were broadly and successfully extended to growers in the Great Southern Region of WA.

The trial aimed to address the lack of long-term lime trials taking place in the Albany Port Zone. 

The aim was to evaluate five different lime sources from the southwest to determine were differences in their effect on soil pH and yields. 

By 2023, growers will have increased the value of the cropping phase in the HRZ farming system by 10% by addressing both crop yield potential and the gap between potential and realised yields.

This trial aims to explore ways to optimise crop production in the HRZ. 
This trial looks at verity types, deep ripping and sowing times as ways to maximise yields in the HRZ. 

This trial aims to assess different treatments and there effectiveness in maximising water limited yield potentials.  

By 2023, growers will have increased the value of the cropping phase in the HRZ farming system by 10% by addressing both crop yield potential and the gap between potential and realised yields.

This project looked at the long-term effect of P rates on crop production in the APZ. 

The aim of this trial is to evaluate and analyse the effect of deep ripping with inclusion plates on moving surface-applied lime into acidic sub-soil of deep sandy duplex. Additionally, this trial tested farm-sourced lime against commercial grade lime. 

To evaluate the grain yield and economic benefit of soil amelioration and controlled traffic practices on a broader range of soil types across the grain growing region of WA.

This trial aims to increase the knowldege and adpotion of deep ripping techniques and controlled traffic to allieviate non-wetting soils, compaction and waterlogging. 

The trial aimed to look at the long term effects of ripping on crop yields by monitoring crop performance of the treated plots for three seasons post-ripping. 

The trial aims to raise awareness amoung growers around the decline in the effectivness of ripping over time, and the risk of re-compaction if controlled traffic is not properly implmented.