Sand over gravel trials

To investigate the benefits of Kelpak, seaweed extract containing high concentrations of auxin, a plant growth hormone.

This project sought to maximise the profitability of barley in the northern Geraldton Port Zone by providing information to growers to allow them to make informed decisions around barley variety choice, sowing time, in season management and management of their rotations in order to maximise barley productivity and improve the overall profitability of their farming business.

The project sort to answer specific questions of -

Do barley’s have specific adaptation which can be exploited.

Can varieties attain malt quality in the Geraldton Port zone.

Do variety maturity and planting times influence yield and grain quality, particularly with early sowing opportunities.

Does barley out yield wheat, sown early, or sown late.

Was barley profitable compared to wheat.

Can early sowing of short season varieties provide a maturity window and low risk option to avoid late season hot/dry finishes and produce a profitable yield.

To gather data on barley performance when late sowing on ameliorated soils. Can barley provide a more profitable option than wheat for late sowing on ameliorated soils?

Gain a better understanding of nitrogen management with different rotations or soil types (including soil amelioration) for barley yield with feed quality and for malt production.

Did barleys differ in their response to nitrogen.

Can early sowing and fertilising for high yield feed deliveries be more profitable than wheat.

Did project sample an adequate range of seasons.

To assess the yield and quality of a number of barley varieties in the medium rainfall zone.

To conduct a barley variety trial.

To determine the most effective way to apply nutrients (granular, banded, top dressed or liquid) on non-wetting soils after amelioration, in the Geraldton Port Zone.

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

To compare yield and quality of new and existing canola varieties in a paddock scale demonstration trial.

To determine if yield differences can be achieved between a crop seeded in a north-south direction compared to an east-west direction.

To determine if various farm management techniques improve the storage of out-of-season rainfall and whether this leads to improvements in yield.

To improve grain production by ameliorating subsurface compaction and subsurface acidity.

To demonstrate more efficient deep ripping of a dry compact sandy soil and to assess any benefits of improved rain infiltration and crop yield.

To test the interaction between wheat variety and seed size on the ability to emerge from deep sowing.

To compare and evaluate the yield effect from cultivation, before seeding versus a full cut system in a wheat crop.

To determine the suitability of a range of sub-tropical perennial grasses to the medium rainfall zone of the NAR.

To measure the persistence and seasonal production in terms of both quantity and quality for a range of sub-tropical perennial grasses and legumes

To compare returns for wheat and barley in their different segregations to determine the most profitable return for farmers.

To assess the effect of different rates of CalSap® applied in-furrow on an acidic sand over gravel.

• To better understand the trade-offs between lupin yield and weed management when lupins are sown using different strategies; dry sowing vs delayed sowing.
• To investigate if shielded spraying can effectively control the large weed populations that often arise after dry sowing.

To determine which knockdown herbicide is best for small grass.

To conduct a long season wheat variety trial.

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

Discover alternative herbicide options for wild radish, annual ryegrass and doublegee control in lupins.

GRDC are providing funding to attempt to discover alternative herbicides for wild radish control in lupins. So far we have found no new herbicides for this purpose but we have had some success with improving wild radish control with currently registered herbicides. Mandelup lupins appear to be tolerant of metribuzin pre-sowing of lupin. This data (along with other trial data) will be submitted to the APVMA with the aim of registering metribuzin for use pre-sowing of lupin.

To demonstrate and compare nitrogen and phosphorus responses in wheat and canola side by side.

To evaluate benefits and penalties of cropping traffic on deep ripping.

To compare N x K applications and in-furrow fungicides for wheat.

To evaluate the effects of different nitrogen rates over a two year period on a broadacre scale and to assess if lower N inputs depletes the soil of plant available nitrogen.

To evaluate new fodder shrubs on poor performing areas.

To evaluate new fodder shrubs on poor performing areas.

To compare potassium (K) strategies over 3 years.

To evaluate the effectiveness of skip row spacing of lupins in a medium to low rainfall environment

To investigate herbicide control options for Slender Iceplant (Mesembryanthemum nodiflorum). The focus is on finding possible herbicide options that may allow for legume and grass pastures between bluebush or saltbush.

To establish if the current wheat yield could reach potential yield by extra N fertilisation and to identify potential constraints of 8 Satellite Sites throughout the Liebe area

The aim was to assess the impacts of delayed sowing and radish infestation on lupin yield. By doing this we can better understand the extra weed control required to make delayed sowing profitable

To assess the benefits and possible crop damage effects of deep-ripping post-seeding.

The key aim was to compare the rate of lime movement down the soil profile and the change in pH down to a depth of 30cm.

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 investigate the response to changing the nitrogen rate and changing the time of application.  Canola yield and oil will be measured and RR hybrids will be compared with open-pollinated TT types (OP TT).

To assess and demonstrate the benefits of varying fertiliser inputs across a range of productivity zones from a poor performing shallow gravel to a good performing loamy earth.

To examine the effect of increasing inputs to four commonly grown wheat varieties on profitability for growers.

To compare three different sowing rates (in a low rainfall zone) in a farmer sized trial and monitor these plots throughout the growing season.

To assess the potential of new and existing wheat varieties east of Buntine.

To determine the yield and quality performance of different wheat varieties when sown on a small paddock scale using farmer equipment.

To determine yield and quality of three new wheat varieties, sown using farmer equipment.