Survey of farm management practices of the northern wheat belt of New South Wales

1988 ◽  
Vol 28 (4) ◽  
pp. 499 ◽  
Author(s):  
RJ Martin ◽  
MG McMillan ◽  
JB Cook

A survey of management practices on wheat farms in northern New South Wales was carried out on 50 farms between 1983 and 1985 and was supplemented by a questionnaire mailed to 750 growers in 1985. Information was collected on crop rotation, tillage practice, fertiliser use and weed control practices. Data were collected from 1 paddock on each farm and included: wheat grain yield and quality, available soil water and nutrients at sowing, wild oat density, and incidence of soil-borne diseases. The 3-year average grain yield in survey paddocks was 2.2 t/ha. Multiple regression analysis was used to identify factors affecting grain yield and protein in 1985. Of the variation in wheat grain yield, 74% was explained by variation in available soil water at sowing, available soil nitrate at sowing, sowing date and wild oat density. Grain protein content declined with increasing available soil water and phosphate at sowing and with earlier sowing, but increased with available nitrate at sowing. Agronomic practices aimed at maximising wheat grain yield, in the presence of a deficiency ofavailable soil nitrate, are likely to result in a reduction of grain protein content. Likewise, responses to application of nitrogenous fertiliser are likely to be inversely related to available soil water at sowing. The mean gross margin for 1984 and 1985, based on $100/t of wheat grain, was $128. The mean gross margin for the least profitable 20% of paddocks was $37, and $253 for the top 20%. New varieties of wheat and herbicides were readily adopted by farmers. On the other hand, adoption of nitrogenous fertiliser use was slow, considering the widespread and long-standing deficiencies of nitrogen in cropping soils of the region. Crop rotation and tillage practices have changed only marginally since the late 1940s. The results of this survey indicate that the usefulness of soil testing for predicting fertiliser requirements could be improved by taking into account levels of available soil water, weed competition and sowing date and by using multiple regression analysis.

1992 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 383 ◽  
Author(s):  
AD Doyle ◽  
CC Leckie

Grain yield, protein, and nitrogen uptake responses are reported for 6 wheat fertiliser experiments in northern New South Wales which were representative of sites that were highly responsive, moderately responsive, and non-responsive to nitrogen (N) fertiliser applied at sowing. Apparent recoveries of applied N of 33-57% in the grain were recorded where grain yield was steeply increasing in response to additional applied N. Where yield increases were smaller in response to increments of N fertiliser, N recovery was 22-3096, but where further N application increased grain protein content but not grain yield, apparent recovery of additional fertiliser N fell below 20%. Apparent recovery was less than 10% in experiments where there was no yield response to N fertiliser. The implications for fertiliser recommendations are discussed relative to potential premium payment for wheat protein levels. It was concluded that established premium payments are too low to make N application an economic proposition to increase grain protein levels in the absence of grain yield responses.


2002 ◽  
Vol 53 (5) ◽  
pp. 587 ◽  
Author(s):  
Víctor Sadras ◽  
David Roget ◽  
Garry O'Leary

The responses of wheat grain yield to soil properties, weather, root diseases, and management practices were investigated in 75 grower-managed crops in the Mallee region of South Australia, Victoria, and New South Wales during 3 growing seasons. Fourteen cultivars were represented in the sampled crops, with Frame being the most common (56%). The most widespread crop sequence was wheat after pasture (43% of wheat crops), followed by wheat after fallow or cereal (both about 20%); 12% of the wheat was sown after legumes. Wheat after cereal was more common in drier sites, and wheat after fallow in wetter sites. Wheat yield was proportional to Fischer’s photothermal coefficient around flowering, and ranged from nil to 4.7 t/ha. On average, wheat crops sown after cereals yielded 0.4 t/ha less than their counterparts sown after fallow, and 0.7 t/ha less than those after legumes. Sowing date ranged from 24 April to 21 July; yield declined with delayed sowing at an average rate of 17 kg/ha.day. Growing season rainfall (April–October) ranged from 111 to 266 mm, and accounted for 27% of the variation in grain yield. Soil water content at sowing (0–1 m) ranged from 32 to 330 mm; yield increased with initial soil water at an average rate of 6 kg/ha.mm. Grain yield per unit growing season rainfall was generally low, with 75% of crops producing <12 kg grain/ha.mm; the maximum ratio was 21 kg/ha.mm. Soil constraints, including sodicity, alkalinity, salinity, and boron toxicity, reduced yield in part by reducing availability of stored soil water. Owing to severity of chemical constraints increasing with soil depth, grain yield and yield per unit growing season rainfall were both inversely related to the proportion of water stored deeper in the soil (0.5–1 m). Yield was unrelated to nitrogen, both initial and applied. Larger amounts of nitrogen accumulated in soils with more severe constraints partially accounted for the lack of association between yield and nitrogen.


2019 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-27
Author(s):  
Erlei Melo Reis ◽  
Mateus Zanatta ◽  
Carlos Alberto Forcelini

ABSTRACT Wheat leaf blights caused by Drechslera siccans, D. tritici-repentis, especially D. tritici-repentis, are difficult to be controlled by site-specific fungicide mixtures. Due to development of resistance, the use of double site-specific mixtures has shown control inferior to 50%. In an experiment conducted in the field with the wheat cultivar Jadeite 11, in 3 x 6 m plots and four replicates, the effect of a muli-site fungicide added to fungicide mixtures on the control of leaf blights was evaluated. The effect of the following mixtures was evaluated: picoxystrobin + cyproconazole, kresoxim-methyl + epoxiconazole, azoxystrobin + cyproconazole, pyraclostrobin + epoxiconazole, pyraclostrobin + fluxapyroxad, trifloxystrobin + prothioconazole and azoxystrobin + propiconazole, added of five mancozeb levels, 0; 1.5; 2.0; 2.5 and 3.0 kg/ha. The first application occurred after 30% leaf incidence, and the remaining two occurred at 15 and 18-day intervals. The fungicides were applied with a backpack sprayer pressurized by CO2, delivering 180 L/ha. Leaf blights severity was quantified, control was calculated, the percentage of chlorophyll in flag leaves was determined, and grain yield was assessed. The mean control of leaf blights by the mixtures without addition of the multi-site fungicide was 44%. The disease severity reduced as a function of the addition of mancozeb levels for all treatments. Control superior to 80% was obtained with the mixtures kresoxim methyl + epoxiconazole and pyraclostrobin + epoxiconazole, both added at least 2.0 kg/ha mancozeb. There was a positive reflex on the increase in wheat grain yield as a function of control, varying from 3005 kg/ha for the best treatment to 2026 kg/ha for control.


1989 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 215
Author(s):  
RJ Martin ◽  
WL Felton ◽  
AJ Somervaille

Three field trials and a glasshouse experiment were carried out in northern New South Wales to determine the effects of reduced mechanical incorporation and the presence of crop residues on the efficacy of liquid and granular formulations of triallate [S-(2,3,3-trichioroallyl) diisopropylthiocarbamate] for control of wild oats (Avena fatua and A. sterilis ssp. ludoviciana) in wheat. In field experiments, fallow management practices with surface crop residues ranging from nil to complete retention from the previous wheat crop, did not affect the performance of tri-allate (incorporated by sowing) in terms of control of wild oats and wheat grain yield response. Application of a granular formulation resulted in lower than expected wheat grain yields in 2 of the field experiments and phytotoxicity to the crop was suspected as the reason. Although soil incorporation improved the performance of tri-allate at the recommended rate of 0.8 kg/ha, satisfactory control of wild oats and profitable increases in wheat grain yield were obtained with tri-allate at 1.2 kg/ha when incorporated by sowing into seedbeds containing up to 2 t/ha of crop residue. We conclude that tri-allate as the liquid formulation at 1.2 kg/ha gives economic control of wild oats in no-tillage and stubble-mulched seedbeds when incorporated by sowing provided that the weed-free wheat grain yield potential is not less than 1.5 t/ha. Results from the glasshouse experiment, farmer experience and published literature support the practice of incorporating tri-allate into dry soil with subsequent activation by sowing rain. The potential use of the granular formulation is limited by the greater risk of crop damage compared with the liquid formulation.


2016 ◽  
Vol 67 (1) ◽  
pp. 117 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lindsay W. Bell ◽  
Julianne M. Lilley ◽  
James R. Hunt ◽  
John A. Kirkegaard

Interest is growing in the potential to expand cropping into Australia's high-rainfall zone (HRZ). Dual-purpose crops are suited to the longer growing seasons in these environments to provide both early grazing for livestock and later regrow to produce grain. Grain yield and grazing potential of wheats of four different maturity types were simulated over 50 years at 13 locations across Australia's HRZ, and sowing date, nitrogen (N) availability and crop density effects were explored. Potential grazing days on wheat were obtained by simulating sheep grazing crops to Zadoks growth stage Z30 at 25 dry sheep equivalents (DSE)/ha. Optimal sowing dates for each maturity type at each location were matched to the flowering window during which risk of frost and heat stress was lowest. Overall, we found significant national potential for dual-purpose use of winter wheat cultivars across Australia's HRZ, with opportunities identified in all regions. Simulated mean wheat yields exceeded 6t/ha at most locations, with highest mean grain yields (8–10t/ha) in southern Victoria, and lower yields (5–7t/ha) in the south-west of Western Australia (WA) and central and northern New South Wales (NSW). Highest grazing days were from winter cultivars sown early (March–mid-April), which could provide 1700–3000 DSE-days/ha of grazing across HRZ locations; this was 2–3 times higher than could be obtained from grazing spring cultivars (200–800 DSE-days/ha). Sowing date was critical to maximise both grazing and grain yield potential from winter cultivars; each 1-week delay in sowing after 8 March reduced grazing by 200–250 DSE-days/ha and grain yield by 0.45t/ha. However, in Mediterranean climates, a lower frequency of early sowing opportunities before mid-April (


Soil Research ◽  
1974 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 45 ◽  
Author(s):  
GW Ford ◽  
RS Jessop ◽  
JJ Martin

In two experiments the growth and grain yield of wheat were compared on calcareous grey and brown clay soils, and related to seasonal changes in soil water, mineral nitrogen and labile (mineralizable) nitrogen. The soils occurred at the sites either as a mosaic (experiment 1) or as topographically distinct areas in the same paddock (experiment 2). Soil type did not affect grain yield in either experiment, although the more favourable seasonal conditions in 1971 (experiment 2) resulted in substantially higher yields. In experiment 2, grain protein content was highest on the grey clay, and was associated with a lower lability of organic nitrogen in the brown clay. In both experiments mineral nitrogen was predominantly nitrate. It declined during crop growth to very low levels by flowering; increases during grain ripening were small. The net decline in mineral nitrogen closely approximated plant uptake in both experiments. Losses due to leaching and denitrification appear to be small. Labile nitrogen increased during crop growth, probably as a result of the 'rhizosphere effect'. Soil type affected the depletion of soil water by the crop; consumption was higher in both grey clays, partly due to lower depletion from the subsoils of the brown clays. In experiment 2 this was associated with restricted root development in this zone. In both experiments the crops had depleted soil water to below the - 15 bar level by flowering; stress during grain filling was greatest in experiment 1, and higher on the brown clays.


1986 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 493 ◽  
Author(s):  
H Marcellos ◽  
GA Constable

The effects of varying plant density and sowing date on grain yield of faba beans (Vicia faba L.) were determined in 6 experiments at Tamworth and Narrabri in northern New South Wales. The graph of grain yield rose to an asymptote as plant density was increased. Under conditions favouring high yields, a plant density of 20 m-2 gave near maximum grain yields, but for a wider range of circumstances a plant density of 30-35 m-2 was appropriate. If sowing was delayed after the end of April, grain yield was reduced as was dry matter yield and the duration of pod-filling. Late sowing also lowered the height of the first pod above ground, and increased the likelihood of yield loss through foliar disease.


1987 ◽  
Vol 27 (5) ◽  
pp. 661 ◽  
Author(s):  
GK McDonald ◽  
WK Gardner

Two experiments were conducted in 1983 and 1984 in the Hamilton district in south-western Victoria, which examined, in 1983, the interaction of cultivars of different maturity with sowing date and, in 1984, the interaction of soil waterlogging with anthesis date. In the first experiment the grain yield of Isis and Condor were not significantly (P = 0.05) affected when sowing was delayed from 18 April to 13 May despite greater DM yield at anthesis of the April sown crops (44% with Isis and 8 1 % with Condor). Early sowing resulted in early flowering and in Condor 25% fewer grains per ear. When the effect of anthesis date on grain yield was examined in 1984 at a poorly drained site (Hamilton) and a nearby better drained site (Tabor), it was found that early flowering caused yield reductions of 46 and 25%, respectively. The reduced yield at Hamilton was caused by fewer grains per ear and a lower kernel weight. Grain yield was found to be associated with the severity of waterlogging during the 30 days before anthesis. For each 1% decline in the mean air-filled porosity of the surface soil at this time, yield was reduced by 0.29 t/ha (r2 = 0.83; P< 0.05). When the soils became waterlogged, nitrogen concentrations in the plant tops declined to low levels between stem elongation and anthesis. The need to avoid waterlogging damage during stem elongation in spring may necessitate anthesis being delayed beyond the time currently recommended for the district.


1993 ◽  
Vol 120 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Hadjichristodoulou

SUMMARYThe edge effect (calculated as the mean of the two outer rows as a percentage of the mean of the four central rows of 6-row plots) was measured in ten comparative trials conducted in Cyprus during 1987–90, with two cultivars each of rapeseed, safflower and sunflower, and one cultivar each of barley and durum wheat. Grain, straw and total biological yields obtained from the outer rows were usually higher than those obtained from the central rows by 1–384%. In one trial with sunflower, the grain yield of the outer rows was only 64% of that of the central rows, which could not be explained, considering all the other data. Differences in edge effects between species and trials were significant. Grain yield estimated from the central rows was on average 53% of that estimated from whole plots, and this varied with species and season. Therefore, in comparative trials, the outer rows should be removed before harvesting. There was no significant edge effect on the oil content of the oilseed crops. Edge effects on harvest index, volume weight, 1000-grain weight and nitrogen content were generally smaller than those on yield, and on average ranged from 100 to 113, thus the values computed from the outer rows were only 0–13% higher than from the central rows.


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