Farmers and agronomists from across the state turned out in droves to the Crop Establishment Showcase run by the GRDC in the Mallee on Wednesday.
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Held at Andrew Thomas' Wynarka property, topics on the day included time of sowing, dry sowing, seed quality, seeder set-ups, deep sowing, incoming long coleoptile genetics, emergence and what the dry autumn meant for establishment.
CSIRO Farming System reseracher Kenton Porker went through the canola trials on-farm, going into how much rain is really needed for establishment, impact from temperatures and depth of sowing, the definitions of emergence, soil types and their moisture holding capacity, and the best time for canopy closure.
He was followed by UniSA senior agricultural research engineer Jack Desboilles, who went through the different impacts of press wheels and seeders on establishment.
At a second cereals trial location, CSIRO research scientist Therese McBeath also went into different openers and seeders, and best fertiliser placement at seeding, while CSIRO chief research scientist Greg Rebetzke went through the evolution of wheat varieties and some of the new long coleoptile genetics coming in to better access moisture deep in the profile.
Other guest speakers included consultant Barry Mudge, who went through the risks of some seeding decisions this season, while SARDI principal scientist Peter Hayman explained weather patterns and this season's potential.
More to come.
Alisha Fogden
Journalist at Australian Community Media newspapers since 2007.
Journalist at Australian Community Media newspapers since 2007.
