2019 trials

Regional specific agronomy has been identified as a need by growers in RCSN Open Local Forums, in particular in using regional specific agronomy demonstrations to assist decision making of growers.

The aim of this project was to use best district practice to examine if newer varieties respond differently to increasing nutritional inputs and whether this can be exploited by growers.

This was done by measuring crop performance with different sowings times and nutrition regimes, representing different decision-making scenario's depending on budget and seasonal rainfall.

This information should then assist grower’s decisions with variety specific agronomic management.

Farmers in the Kimba area have been producing oaten hay for export for several years. The industry has been expanding, with dedicated storage facilities established in recent years on the outskirts of Kimba. To maximise production and quality, the Buckleboo Farm Improvement Group wanted to identify the best current oaten hay variety for the Kimba area.

In 2019, field experiments were conducted across 10 sites in the northern grains region (NGR) to determine the influence of phenology on grain yield responses for a diverse set of wheat genotypes.

To compare the performance of a range of pulse varieties and sowing dates in two contrasting soil types in North Central Victoria.

To compare the performance of a range of pulse varieties and sowing dates in two contrasting soil types in North Central Victoria.

To evaluate the effects of different seeding systems, which alter seed bed utilization on vetch biomass production.

To promote early vigour to improve biomass and yield partitioning in vetch.

To evaluate time of sowing and disease management programs on the establishment, biomass development and grain yield of different vetch in comparison with faba bean and field pea.

To evaluate the effects of time of sowing and varieties on disease management, biomass production and grain yield in vetch.

To evaluate effect of time of sowing and fungicides on diseases, biomass and yields of vetch varieties.

To determine environmental triggers and time of day vegetable beetles and slaters are active.

Variety resistance has little effect on ascospore production by wheat pathogens Zymoseptoria tritici (STB) and Pyrenophra tritici-repentis (YLS)

The primary purpose of this project was to provide additional data from a range of different agricultural scenarios (climate, soil type, management practices) in the Western Region to validate and enhance the ability of the BlacklegCM app to more accurately determine the return on investment various management decisions may provide to a grower in any given year. The secondary purpose of this investment is to increase the grower and advisor confidence in the use of decision-making tools to manage disease in canola in the Western Region, in particular increase the awareness and use of the BlacklegCM app.

To determine if a soil wetter, such as SE14, improves plant establishment in years with a dry start.

To compare and showcase the broad range of strategic tillage options for amelioration of yellow sandplain soils and to assess their effectiveness at overcoming a range of soil constraints including non-wetting soil surface, compaction and subsoil acidity and increasing crop productivity.

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. 

This research aims to investigate the effect of wheat time of sowing and seeding rate, on the effectiveness and degradation of pre-emergent herbicides commonly used to control annual ryegrass in no tillage farming systems.

The objective of this study is to determine the optimal combinations of canola cultivar, seeding rate and seed size on annual ryegrass seed production and canola growth and yield.

This study was conducted to determine the effect of factorial combinations of seeding rate, row spacing and pollination type on canola yield and wild radish fecundity.  

The objective of this study is to determine the optimal combinations of canola cultivar, seeding rate and row spacing on annual ryegrass seed production and canola growth and yield.

Trials located at Miling and Kojonup in the grainbelt of Western Australia investigated combinations of canola variety (hybrid or open pollinated), canola seeding rate (20, 35 or 50 plants/m2) and canola seed size (<1.8, >2.0mm diameter) on ARG management.

This trial was located at Cunderdin in the grainbelt of Western Australia and investigated combinations of canola variety (Hybrid or open pollinated), crop row spacing (25 or 50cm) and canola seeding rate (20, 35 or 50 plants/m2) on wild radish (WR) competitiveness and seed production.

The trials located at Miling and Kojonup in the grainbelt of Western Australia investigated combinations of canola variety (hybrid or open pollinated), crop row spacing (25 or 50cm) and canola seeding rate (20, 35 or 50 plants/m2). The average seedbank at the Miling and Kojonup sites were 3,630 seeds/m2 and 23,240 seeds/m2 respectively.  Annual ryegrass (ARG) establishment was reduced in hybrid canola treatments seeded at narrower 25 cm row spacing. Decreasing crop row spacing (from 50 to 25cm) and increasing canola seeding rate (from 20 to 50 plants/m2) was found to reduce ARG establishment in the absence of herbicides. At the Kojonup site, ARG seed production was reduced by hybrid varieties (Trophy) and higher plant densities (50 plants/m2). However due to the low rainfall at the Miling site, no interactions were identified. Canola yield in this study was increased in hybrid variety (Trophy) treatments especially at higher seeding rates (50 plants/m2). Interestingly, however, canola seeded at the wider row spacing (50cm) consistently out yielded the corresponding variety and seeding rate combination at the narrower 25cm row spacing. This study conducted two trials in 2018 (Mingenew and Cunderdin) and 2019 (Miling and Kojonup). Multi- environment trial analysis for the combined 2018 and 2019 data to be completed.

This experiment was designed to determine the response of six canola varieties with diverse phenology and breeding (hybrid or open-pollinated (OP)) to varying stored soil water levels across two sowing dates.

The effect of combinations of crop row spacing, seedbed utilisation and preemergence herbicides on ryegrass management in barley

Investigate the influence of barley row spacing, seedbed utilisation and herbicides on ryegrass management.

To investigate the cost-effectiveness of on-farm lime for ameliorating soil acidity in Kwinana East Port Zone and to validate the iLime application (developed by DPIRD and Desiree Futures with funding from GRDC) by comparing simulations with field trial results.

This trial was located in York in the grainbelt of Western Australia and investigated combinations of UAN (Urea Ammonium Nitrate) Placement (streamed or broadcast), UAN rate (low and high input) and UAN timing (early or late in the crop growth) for management of ARG.

This study determines the effect of N fertilizer placement, N fertiliser rate and N application timing on the competitive ability of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) in dryland no-tillage cropping system in the Western Australian grainbelt.

These trials tested the repellence of some products being promoted or anecdotally observed to repel snails in broad acre crops. These products have no supporting data nor are they registered for snail repellence in crops.

There are three non-burning and non-mechanical techniques most commonly employed in harvest weed seed control (HWSC) systems: chaff dumping, chaff lining and chaff tram-lining. The highest adoption of HWSC is in the GRDC western region with an estimated 67% of all farmers undertaking at least one HWSC strategy in 2014.

Chaff dumping is the collection of the chaff fraction using a cart towed behind the harvester. The chaff in the cart is then dumped, usually in piles in the paddock. The chaff is then either burnt, grazed or left to decompose.

For chaff lining, the chaff and weed seeds are confined to a row directly behind the harvester using a narrow chute. The chaff and weed seeds are then left to decompose over time. To promote decomposition, the chaff lines need to be placed in the same location year after year by running the harvester on a controlled traffic system (CTF).

Chaff tramlining is a similar concept to chaff lining, but the chaff fraction is diverted from the chaff deck onto permanent wheel tracks in a CTF system. Wheel traffic creates a hostile environment that inhibits weed seed germination.

There has been a recent system change with more growers opting for leaving chaff in-situ to rot, whether in dumps or in lines, rather than burning. This investigation aimed to better understand invertebrate species and mice associated with these HWSC systems, which to date are poorly understood, in each of the five port zones: Albany, Esperance, Geraldton, Kwinana’s East and West.

Barley grass is now one of the top 10 weeds of Australian cropping in terms of area infested, crop yield loss and revenue loss (Llewellyn et al. 2016). Barley grass has several biological traits that make it difficult for growers to manage it in the low rainfall zone, so it is not surprising that it is becoming more prevalent in field crops in SA and WA.

Through recent GRDC investment, the research project ‘Demonstrating and validating the implementation of integrated weed management strategies to control barley grass in the low rainfall zone farming systems’ (hereby referred to as GRDC Low Rainfall Barley Grass) has commenced. An initial grower survey of current practice and attitudes towards barley grass was undertaken in 2019 to be used as the baseline to assess changes in grower attitudes and any change in practices after the completion of the three-year project.

100% of Albany and Esperance port zone growers who frequently experience waterlogging will know if ripping and/or summer/cover crops are viable tools to improve crop establishment, crop rooting depth, and yield in a waterlogging year on their property.

This GRDC investment aims to look at the impact of summer cropping on waterlogged winter soils and the resultant impact on crop growth and yield in the next winter growing season. Stirlings to Coast Farmers member Steve Lynch has been growing summer crops for the sole purpose of drying his soil profile in the summer to reduce the risk of waterlogging in the winter-time. Without livestock to benefit from the summer feed, Steve still believes the reduced risk of water-logging is a tangible benefit to his winter crop yields as well as providing diversity into the cropping system. Simon Harding’s (Williams demonstration host) intentions with the summer crop was to reduce his waterlogged areas within his farming practice. The area chosen suffers severe winter waterlogging that impacts on winter crop production and profitability.

This paper reports the results from a field experiment conducted at Condobolin in 2019 that evaluated the influence of three sowing dates on phenology and grain yield of 12 barley varieties.

This paper reports the findings of a field experiment conducted at Condobolin in 2019, where the phenology, yield and quality responses of 32 wheat varieties were evaluated across three sowing dates from late April to late May.

This experiment was designed to increase the understanding of:
• canola yield potential in the high yielding irrigated zone of southern NSW
• the effect of climatic stress at different canola growth stages.

This project will demonstrate to growers the most profitable tyned seeding system for improved cereal crop establishment on medium to heavy textured soils in the eastern wheatbelt. This will be achieved by establishing a trial site to assess a range of furrow closing options (4) and down force pressures (2) over two years to account for varying seasonal conditions. The results will be compared to standard practice of growers within the region.

To determine the carryover benefit of seed dressings for soilborne diseases in the eastern wheatbelt.     

This paper presents results from a genotype screening experiment conducted in 2019 at Grogan in southern NSW for identifying wheat
genotypes and traits linked to sodicity tolerance under field conditions with subsoil sodicity.

Russian Wheat Aphid (RWA) was first reported in 2016 in South Australia (SA), and has since been detected widely throughout Victoria, and in New South Wales (NSW) as far north as Coonamble and as far east as Tamworth.  It has not been detected in Queensland or Western Australia.

As part of the GRDC investment “Russian Wheat Aphid Risk Assessment and Regional Thresholds”, field trials were run at Minnipa for the second year through the Minnipa Agricultural Centre team. The purpose of these trials was to look into the level of natural infestation of cereal crops, and the effect of high RWA populations (obtained through artificial inoculation) on aphid and symptom dynamics and yield loss. This trial was one of a suite of trials undertaken in SA, Victoria, Tasmania, and NSW over 2018 and 2019, and contributes to a larger dataset.

The aim of the trial reported here was to determine the risk of RWA infestation in cereal crops in the Minnipa area in 2019 and observe the effect of high aphid numbers achieved through artificial inoculation on crop development and yield.

To identify the optimum plant populations for the grain maize Pioneer Hybrid 1756 at 500 and 750mm row spacing for grain yield.

To investigate the impact of crop row spacing on fallow efficiency.

To quantify wheat yield loss in response to root lesion nematode (Pratylenchus quasitereoides) population size, by using a unique population gradient which has been set up as a result of host-crop varieties and nitrogen treatments over the 2018 and 2019 growing seasons.

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. 

This project aims to establish 4 demonstration sites in the Esperance Port Zone that are used by growers to increase their knowledge and adoption of deep ripping and controlled traffic farming to alleviate non-wetting soils, compaction and waterlogging on different soil types in the port zone to improve crop production.

To do so the project will measure the grain yield and gross margin outcome of each soil ameliorant treatment at each site.

Rice variety V071 compared with Reiziq

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.

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.