May 2005: A 9.9 tonnes per hectare plot of MR-Buster, planted by Neil and Geoff Barwick, has been declared the winner of the 2005 Premer Shield.

Winning the Premer Shield was a fitting way for the Barwicks to mark nearly 40 years of growing grain sorghum on the Liverpool Plains.

Over this time the Barwicks have been at the forefront of trialling new varieties and new soil management practices.

They have been planting Buster, now their main variety, since its release in 1991.

“Initially we grew it on a trial basis,” Neil Barwick said.

“It didn’t take us too long to realise it was the most outstanding variety at the time, and continues to be one of the best.”

The Barwicks have been conducting Pacific Seeds’ trials on their Yarrabah property for around 30 years.

“Obviously the varieties weren’t as high yielding back then, and initially everyone was experimenting with all maturities from quick to long season,” he said.

“In the latter years we discovered that in good areas, like the Liverpool Plains, mid-late maturity varieties consistently provide the best yields.”

Conducting trials over such an extended period on the property has given the Barwicks a unique insight into the advances made not only with plant breeding but also with farm management techniques.

“Lodging was a big problem for sorghum in the old day,” Neil said.

“Midge was also a serious problem and you had to spray often, but now if you plant at the right time you may never have to spray.”

“Midge isn’t really an issue any more.”

These agronomic, as well as yield advantages, of varieties such as MR-Buster have been a boon to the grain sorghum industry in the area.

The Barwicks were among the first growers in the area to utilise zero till and traffic minimisation techniques, a practice which is now widespread for its soil and moisture conservation values.

“We did a bit of pioneering work in the area by configuring our planter to put out a lot of fertiliser as we planted,” he said.

“One of the absolute, major benefits we noticed straight away was that zero-till helps combat erosion, particularly sheet erosion.”

“Within 18 months we also had a huge increase in yield.”

“Because soil compaction has been eliminated, it allowed the crop roots to forage deeper for moisture and nutrients, and we had yield increases of up to an extra 50 percent.”

After 15 years of practicing these methods, Mr Barwick said they don’t see ponding of water after heavy rain anymore.

“The infiltration rate following heavy rain is excellent,” he said.

“Another benefit has been increased soil organic carbon and the return of earth worms, which makes the soils healthier and more friable.”

Ensuring they remain at the forefront of new technologies in the industry is helped by the fact they continue to host grain sorghum trials on the property, giving them the opportunity to see first hand how new varieties perform in the area.

“This year we hosted a tremendous trial,” he said.

There were three advanced PAC Seeds' experimental varieties in the trial, one of which performed exceptionally well.

“This outstanding one was PAC 2420, with huge sized red grain and yielding about 10 tonnes/hectare,” he said. “We’ll definitely keep an eye out for it in the future.”

While the Barwicks have their finger on the pulse of new technologies in the area, they continue to plant varieties which offer reliability and top end yield, and MR-Buster remains their major planting variety.

Caption: Neil and Geoff Barwick with the Premer Shield for 2005.