BCG’s 2015 research program got underway early this month with a GRDC-funded field trial, investigating the impact of planting wheat early, sown at Berriwillock.
Working with CSIRO researcher James Hunt, BCG will look at how the time of sowing (TOS) influences the growth, quality and yield of wheat varieties with varying maturity. Additionally, the investigation will seek to understand if plant density is impacted by sowing rate and weeds.
The trial was established on April 10 with nine wheat varieties sown at the Berriwillock trial site, including winter wheat, slow and mid spring maturing types. The wheat varieties will be sown again within the traditional late April to early May sowing window so that researchers can get a clearer picture about the pros and cons of sowing earlier than normal.
The motivation for this research was a notable decline in autumn rainfall in recent years, more frequent early (February/March) rainfalls which create early sowing opportunities and increasing farm sizes which present logistical challenges for farmers.
It was also suggested that early-sown slow maturing wheat varieties may capture more resources leading to yield gains, and by including them in the rotation farmers could ensure more area of crop flowered on time, potentially increasing average farm yield.
A similar trial conducted last year found that winter wheat sown early produced more dry matter for grazing than spring wheats sown in May, and reducing plant density to 50 plants/m2 did not reduce the ability of winter wheats to compete with a simulated weed population (tame oats) when sown on April 1 (BCG 2014 Season Research Results pp. 65).
From this year’s trial researchers are hoping to understand if this was a consequence of last year’s climatic conditions, or if it was sowing time that had the biggest influence on crop growth and development.
The early sown wheat investigation is the first of approximately 100 field-trials being managed by BCG this year.
The BCG trials team is currently forging ahead with its extensive research program that will feature investigations into crop nutrition, crop varieties, stubble management, frost, weed management, agronomics, crop disease and mixed farming systems.
While many of these investigations will occur at BCG’s 2015 main research site at Berriwillock, trials will also be sown at Wemen, Quambatook, Horsham, Nhill, Hopetoun, Beulah, Birchip, Kalkee, Rupanyup, Pira and Kaniva.
BCG research manager Claire Browne said BCG was looking forward to the season ahead and bringing another batch of useful research results to Victorian farmers.
For results from this trial can be found here.
