Department of Agriculture and Food (Western Australia) trials

Measure yield improvement in varieties from the Lupin breeding program.

To determine the role of stubble management on frost severity and its effects on the grain yield of wheat 

This paper assesses the economic benefits of green manuring and the potential costs. It also investigates the circumstances in which green manuring will be profitable and those that result in losses to growers.

To compare an opportunistic break crop against fallow and wheat to better define the pros and cons of fallowing.

To compare an opportunistic break crop against fallow and wheat to better define the pros and cons of fallowing.

To improve crop production by determining the effect of sowing time and sowing rate on crop yield and grain quality risks of new wheat varieties.

To compare the effect of delayed seeding and seeding rates on the yield and quality performance of wheat varieties.

To assess amelioration options for water repellent sandplain soils.

To assess what clay rich subsoil application rates are required for overcoming soil water repellence and how this interacts with method of incorporation.

To assess the performance of newly released canola varieties in the West Midlands.

To assess the performance of newly released canola varieties in the West Midlands.

To evaluate the performance of the historical lupin varieties in the West Midlands.

To compare commercial seeding machines that have specifically been set up to sow sub-tropical grasses.

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 assess comparative effect of anthracnose on yield and seed infection in a range of varieties and advanced lupin breeding lines.

To determine how mouldboard ploughing (soil inversion), rotary spading and banded wetting agent affect the availability of soil nutrients.

To assess the impact of different seeding systems on crop establishment in water repellent soil.

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

To identify suitable options for managing soil water repellence on sandy gravels.

Detailed measurement of soil properties and plant productivity over time following amelioration with one-off deep tillage.

To conduct a field evaluation of the stage 3 lupin cultivars and breeding lines.

To determine value of agronomic management (sowing rate and nitrogen) on production of quality grain for profitable wheat systems.

This paper aims to summarise the grain yield response and weed control achieved by a one-off soil inversion.

To assess water repellent soil amelioration options and to determine whether a one-way plough can be used to ameliorate non-wetting sand for much lower cost than mouldboard ploughing or rotary spading.

Deep placement of organic matter and impact on lupin establishment.

To look at the following soil amelioration treatments on water repellent pale sand:

• no amendment (nil);
• 3t/ha limesand; and
• 150 t/ha clay rich (31% clay) subsoil spread with a multi-spreader

To assess the second year impact of mouldboard ploughing on wetting up of water repellent soil and on lupin establishment and yield.

To evaluate effectiveness of ‘summer sowing’ hard-seeded serradella pod into established perennial grass pastures.

To evaluate the effectiveness of establishing annual legumes into established perennial grass-based pastures by 'summer' sowing of hard-seeded serradella pod.

To independently compare a range of agricultural foliar products on wheat at Badgingarra in a replicated trial.

To support growers with agronomic decisions such as sowing time and variety selection to enhance industry profitability through improved wheat yields and grain quality.

To characterise the residual value of different P sources and changes in soil fertility (SOC, CEC, pH, nutrient supply, non-wetting, compaction) after 30 plus years, using soil measurements and bioassay cropping.

To evaluate yields and quality of new and existing wheat and barley varieties and their response to N.

To assess the effects of physical, chemical and biological soil manipulation (or inputs) on soil organic carbon in relation to changes in long term crop yields and quality.

To investigate the nitrogen rate and time of application response of canola varieties to yield and oil content of Triazine Tolerant (TT) and Roundup Ready (RR) hybrids in comparison with open-pollinated (OP) types to:

1. Provide growers in lower rainfall environments with guidelines on times of application to maximise grain and oil yields.
2. Determine if the management of hybrid canola nutrition is different to that of OP varieties due to different responses to N rates and timing.

To compare two methods for the establishment of pasture legumes (i) summer sowing where dormant hard-seed is drill sown into the paddock after the crop is harvested; and (ii) traditional sowing where scarified seed is drill sown after the break of the season and knockdown weed control.

The focus of this project is to better determine the NRM impacts of immerging precision agricultural systems in WA, with particular reference to surface water management and sol health issues.  The project will be implemented by one of the leading farming systems groups in Australia in the field of precision agriculture.

The focus of this project is to better determine the NRM impacts of immerging precision agricultural systems in WA, with particular reference to surface water management and sol health issues.  The project will be implemented by one of the leading farming systems groups in Australia in the field of precision agriculture.

To evaluate the effectiveness of two bolt-on attachments to a deep ripping tine at lime incorporation.

To further investigate rotary spading and other soil amelioration techniques on the yellow sand-plain soils west of Moora.

To compare and assess the effectiveness of one-off tillage treatments on soil water repellence, water infiltration, crop establishment and productivity on a water repellent gravel.

The objective of this research is to determine the value of agronomic management (plant density and nitrogen) on production of quality grain for profitable wheat systems. Increasing plant density is a useful tool to increase the competitiveness of a crop against weeds, however, how will this influence grain yield and quality for the new wheat varieties.

To identify the optimum sowing time for establishment of sub-tropical grasses to the east of Eneabba.

To investigate the plant density response to yield and oil content of TT and RR hybrid canola in comparison with open-pollinated canola.

Barley grass is becoming an increasingly problematic weed in Western Australia. A GRDC funded project sought to increase adoption of integrated weed management tactics for barley grass, by working with grower groups to develop regionally appropriate rotations for optimal control. A survey indicated that in southwest Australia, many growers thought their barley grass was resistant to grass selective herbicides and may have developed late germination to avoid pre-seeding herbicides. In this area barley grass was a major problem in pastures, and often in break crops too.

A three year trial aimed to investigate pre-emergent herbicides and autumn tickle in wheat in 2019, pre-emergent herbicides and crop density in barley in 2020 and grass selective herbicides and crop topping in pasture in 2021.

Growers in medium to low rainfall regions are keen to grow oats as a break crop, either for hay or as a profitable grain crop; however, there is a need to identify management inputs and varieties that consistently meet quality specifications. Currently there is considerable interest in the high yielding milling oat varieties Bannister and Williams but they have not been adequately evaluated in lower rainfall environments in WA. Oat agronomy trials conducted in 2014 suggested that the grain quality of Banister and Williams was more sensitive to nitrogen inputs than established varieties like Carrolup in lower rainfall regions (Troup et al. 2015) but these trials were only sown in late May at the end of the ‘modern oat grower’ sowing window for milling oats.
The aims of this study are to:

• 1. quantify the impact of delayed seeding and N inputs on the yield and quality of hay and grain production,
• 2. evaluate the responsiveness of Bannister and Williams oat varieties to applied nitrogen,
• 3. determine if Bannister and Williams are suitable milling oat varieties for lower rainfall regions.

To assess the impact of rotary spading non-wetting sandplain soil on soil properties, crop growth and productivity.

• To evaluate the responsiveness of Bannister and Williams oats to increasing plant density.
• To quantify the effect that plant density has on oat grain quality if a crop is sown early versus late.
• To determine if Bannister and Williams oats are suitable for lower rainfall regions.

To investigate the plant density response to yield and oil content of TT and RR hybrid canola in comparison with open-pollinated canola

Compare the yield responses of canola varieties sown at three sowing dates (9 April, 23 April and 12 May).