BCG’s sowing program is all but complete, with just a few trials remaining for late time of sowing projects. May rainfall has meant some delays due to limited paddock access – not that we are complaining – the sowing conditions have been some of the best seen in years.
High levels of soil moisture have contributed to good establishment at trial sites across the Mallee and Wimmera. The Main Field Day site at Curyo is looking fantastic in the lead up to the Main Field Day in September.
As usual the list of BCG trials for 2017 are very diverse. New research includes a GRDC heat stress project, investigating the tolerance of later sown varieties to heat stress. The final time of sowing for this trial will be 1 July. Another trial will examine performance of late sown cereals at the main site. These trials will compare fast maturing wheat, barley and durum varieties at different sowing rates to help assess crop options for later in the sowing program.
Even with sowing almost finished at BCG, there is still plenty to do with assessments, inspections, mouse bait spreading and weed and insect control all underway. Mouse damage has been unavoidable at some trial sites, despite regular baiting.
BCG staff are conducting emergence counts and scores plus measurements of NDVI (greenness) differences in trials using the Green Seeker® or via drone flights. The drone is proving to be a useful piece of technology which allows us to take regular measurements of NDVI across large sites (and multiple trials at once) to identify differences between treatments at different times.
One trial which is already showing in-crop visual differences is the barley phosphorous rate x seed source x sowing rate trial. This trial is looking at differences in seed source (small versus large seed size), P rates and different sowing rates (seed size versus plant density). Assessments on this are designed to identify differences in plant establishment and early growth. Emergence counts have recently been conducted and further NDVI measurements at Z21 and Z30 will identify differences in growth between treatments.
The video below shows the first four plots of this trial, with no added P. There is little visible difference between the first two plots, showing sowing rate measured by plant density for small and large seed size respectively. However, when sowing rate is calculated by the kg, as opposed to 1000 seed weight, there is a visible difference in establishment as seen in the next two plots. The small seeded plot has more grains to the kg and so has higher establishment. The large seeded variety however has fewer grains to the kg, resulting in visibly lower establishment.
This trial will continue to be monitored and will provide insight into the influence of seed size when calculating sowing rate.
BCG’s Future Farmers Expo is fast approaching, and will include a presentation from Research Manager Claire Browne. The BCG Technical Bulletin will go live with an on stage presentation highlighting what farmers are facing this season. Head along to the Birchip P-12 School, 5 July from 11am. Entry is free for BCG members and $50 for non-members. A tapas style dinner will follow the event from 6pm at the Birchip Hotel, tickets are $30 per person and can be purchased by phoning BCG on (03) 5492 2787 or visiting www.bcg.org.au – RSVP is essential by 30 June.
