Southern Farming Systems trials

To investigate how nutrition can help mitigate waterlogging losses in wheat, canol and faba beans after a wet winter

To help to build a strong database of knowledge for targeted variety management, which will give advisors and growers confidence to try new varieties as they become available.

Developing new varieties that are high yielding with a manageable level of resistance to the major fungal diseases and with quality suited to the major markets, particularly the Middle East.

To assess the potential of non-commercial later maturing canola lines for the HRZ of southern Australia.

To improve grower productivity and industry sustainability through new management techniques and cultivars.

To understand the potential impact of these factors and whether this tendency can be controlled with the use of plant growth regulators (PGRs).

To answer the question: Can incorporation of lime speed up yield response?

To test the differences between faba bean varieties.

To investigate the drivers for yield loss under grazing with a view to make grazing crops less risky.

To test differences between conventional varieties of canola.

To assess cultural control practices in combination with pre-emergent herbicides for the management resistant ARG at the Lake Bolac research site.

To identify additional lines with maturity between the spring and winter types by evaluating new canola lines not commercially available to growers which were supplied by six seed companies.

To show differences in performance of varieties across South West Victoria.

To answer the question: choosing lime - what you need to know to make better decisions

To report on what you need to know to make better liming decisions.

To expand knowledge on pulses and increase the use of them in the southern region

To compare two nozzles, a 90 degree vs a 45 degree spary angle nozzle, in their efficacy in controlling ARG in canola. The 90 degree angled nozzle was tested at two droplet sizes, (i) medium and (ii) very coarse. 

To answer the question: how fast is lime moving and is it treating acidity at depth?

To look at the significance of the cultivar difference with regard to management strategy.

To take a step back and look at how important rainfall and variety choice are in grazing crops to maintain grain yield.

• To see if soil nutrient levels constrain production in the Victorian high rainfall zone.
• To formulate tools which predict the production, economic response and risk of applying inputs to wheat and canola crops within the south-eastern high rainfall zones.

To assess the effectiveness and applicability of cultural control practices in combination with pre-emergent herbicides for the management of herbicide resistant annual ryegrass in the high rainfall zone of Victoria.

To test and develop farming systems where retained stubble is managed in the HRZ without a reduction in profitability for the grower

• To determine if grazing alone can reduce Septoria tritici blotch (STB) disease pressure.
• To determine how long flutriafol, applied to the fertiliser, can control STB into the season.
• To assess the efficacy of the preliminary SDHI seed treatment to control STB.
• To assess whether the effectiveness of early control with grazing or seed treatments is improved with a foliar application of the foliar fungicide Opera (pryaclostrobin and epoxiconazole) at GS39 (flag leaf emergence).

To report on the SFS seeder demonstration.

To investigate the feasibility of utilising image data, collected using UAVs, to make timely management decisions relating to slug damage in emerging canola.

To help understand the yield penalties we can expect if good pH levels are not maintained and how
frequently lime needs to be applied.

To report on the outcomes of the 2014 Rural Finance Crop Challenge.

To investigate options for pasture and fodder break crops for southern Victoria with an emphasis on weed control.

To investigate options for pasture and fodder break crops for southern Victoria with an emphasis on weed control.

To improve grower productivity and industry sustainability through the successful adoption of improved barley cultivars through the development of improved agronomy practices and packages for new and current varietal releases and by aligning production with market and industry requirements. 
 

To investigate the effect of nutrition and disease management on canola yield and quality at Westmere in 2014.
 

To investigate variety specific responses to applied N.
 

To compare pre-emergent herbicides in the control of problem weeds in wheat.

To determine what impact delaying the timing of N applications after growth stage 32 will have on wheat yield and protein, and whether there is an advantage of using solid or liquid fertiliser.

To provide an evaluation of the conventional, Clearfield and TT varieties that are available. 

To see how new varieties fared at different sowing dates compared with varieties suited to those dates.
 

To compare new hybrid and open pollinated (OP) varieties in the mid to late maturity groups suited to the 2.0 to 4.0 t/ha environments and evaluate them statistically, head to head, across all five herbicide technologies.

To evaluate the performance of new and existing field pea and lupin varieties in the HRZ at our Hamilton and Westmere sites.
 

To evaluate the performance of new and existing field pea and lupin varieties in the HRZ at our Hamilton and Westmere sites.
 

To report on sowing times on heads of spring-sown canola and wheat.

 To further test the response of different wheat varieties to varying rates and timings of Nitrogen applications. 

A series of trials were set up in 2013 at our Inverleigh and Westmere sites to evaluate a range of commercially available varieties of barley that are either grown for malt, grown for feed or varieties that have the potential to be grown for yield but could still be accepted as malt at receivals.

To investigate the potential of new chickpea and lentil varieties in the high rainfall zone of Victoria.
 

To re-examine the effect of N rate and application timing on canola yield, seed oil and protein content, and apparent N fertiliser efficiencies.