Northern Darling Downs, Burnett & Wide Bay - QLD

Territory Manager:
Maree Crawford

Early sorghum lifts paddock averages

Growers who took the punt and planted their sorghum in early September are reaping the benefits in a big way at present with reported paddock averages ranging from 7.6t/ha to 10.4 t/ha.

Headers and silos are groaning under the weight of the grain coming off, however the weather conditions have not been favorable for everyone  and this harvest has bought a new set of problems.

Harvest of our trials has also been a logistical nightmare but we are slowly grinding our way through them and the results will be winging your way in a completed trial booklet in a few months’ time.

The new MR-Striker has got a few runs on the board this season in commercial paddocks, with impressive results coming in also from MR-Buster, MR-Maxi and Pacific MR43.

The big thing we are noticing is the hectolitre weights of these varieties are consistently up in the 79 -81 range and that is what our breeding program is focusing on.

We believe that yield improvements are going to come from genetics that are selected for this trait.  After all, that is what farmers get paid on… weight in the bin

There is a lot of sprouted grain coming in to depots due to the prolonged wet periods. This will certainly take the shine off some of the yield expectations and I guess the only saving factor is the high price of new sorghum crop at present sitting around the $250 mark.

Winter crop is looming

The rain has given us plenty of options for winter crop this season which is something of a rare phenomenon for us here in the south eastern QLD corner. With our major acquisition last November in a majority share of LongReach Plant Breeders and their wheat program, we will be offering a new wheat variety for the market this season called Crusader.

Crusader is a quick maturity comparable with H45 and has achieved an APH classification in Northern NSW.

The current situation of around $10 tonne difference between APH and AH makes the high yielding AH varieties from our new wheat program very attractive. These varieties, particularly EGA Gregory and EGA Wylie will certainly suit our local farming situations particularly their stripe rust and root lesion nematode resistance status.

Winter forage options and beating the rust…..

Every year we run out of oat seed and this season we have produced even more to try to cater for the industry needs. Still, it’s not enough so, if you are contemplating what oats you need I would suggest you get in touch with your agent soon to organise your seed to avoid not being able to secure your variety of choice.

This winter we will have two oat varieties available  (Taipan and Drover)  that will provide good feed value.  The new leaf rust resistant variety Drover made its mark last season with fantastic yields and performance in the paddock.  

In a paddock at Gympie, the Drover had three feet of water over it twice and still did not succumb to leaf rust.

The grower baled it for use on farm.

Taipan growers still believe it is the one to beat and for that reason we have continued with the variety.

Managing rust can be as simple as ensuring stocking rates are adequate to keep ahead of the feed.

If it looks like getting away from you the best option is to bale or ensile it to maximise feed production from the paddock.

Planting on wider rows also assists as the crop canopy has a better chance of drying out from heavy dew and moisture, therefore the environment is less conducive to rust infection.

The best option though is to plant leaf rust resistant varieties such as Drover.

Regards,

Maree

Last Updated: 22 April, 2008 .