Experts share nutrient knowledge at BCG Trials Review

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Farmers grappling with decisions around crop nutrition management should get to the BCG Trials Review Day this Friday, February 17.

In a bid to ensure farmers could get the most from their annual fertiliser investment, BCG conducted a number of field trials last season investigating how wheat and barley respond to a range of nutrition regimes.

These results, and more, will be presented to farmers by BCG’s research team at the Trials Review Day.

One of the trials BCG conducted in 2016 specifically looked at how different barley varieties respond to varying rates of nitrogen applied at sowing.

BCG project manager, Louisa Ferrier will share the results of this trial and discuss how they compare with findings from similar trials conducted in previous years.

Sebastian Ie will add to the discussion when he discusses the results from research that looked at the performance of wheat sown after a failed barley crop and which varying rates of fertiliser had been applied in 2015.

The aim of this research was to see the impact of residual or unused nitrogen inputs (in a failed season) on a subsequent crop and to determine effective nitrogen management in paddocks where crops ‘hayed off’ in the previous season. 

Later in the day more crop nutrition research will be presented by BCG extension manager Ciara Cullen.

Ms Cullen will present the findings from a 2016 field trial conducted at Warmur that investigated the yield response and economic return from varying rates of nitrogen, phosphorous, sulphur and zinc applied to wheat at sowing and in-season.

The crop nutrition presentations feature among a full program which includes discussions about the performance of wheat, barley, canola, oat and pulse varieties; the results from trials investigating plant growth regulators (PGRs) and gibberellic acid; the seasonal climate update; and presentations about variable rate technology, precision agriculture, Yield Prophet®, the PodGuard® trait in canola and weed control in oats.   

Two facilitated discussions will bookend the day with farmers Tim Rethus and Nev Reilly reviewing the 2016 season in the morning and agronomists Simon Craig and Simon Severin finishing the day with tips on preparing and planning for the season ahead.

The day will also see the launch of the 2016 edition of the 232-page BCG Season Research Results, which contains the results from more than 50 field trials conducted in the Wimmera and Mallee last year.

The BCG Trials Review Day is for BCG members. Entry is free and includes lunch and refreshments. Non-BCG members can purchase memberships prior to, or on the day. For more details, or to RSVP, log on at www.bcg.org.au or phone (03) 5492 2787.

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