Break crops and pastures
The project conducted several trials and activities exploring the success of break crops or pastures and/or their effect on cereal crop productivity:
- high value pulses trial at Grass Patch near Esperance to investigate the effect on cereal yields through disease and weed control and increased nitrogen availability
- compilation of 15 case studies of growers' experiences growing faba beans on the south coast
- investigating effect of legume pastures and serradella on subsequent cereal crops in the northern wheatbelt.
Publications
- 2019 GRDC Grains Research Updates: Growing wheat and barley after serradella, does extra nitrogen help?
- Growing faba beans on the south coast of Western Australia (DPIRD, 2021)
Crop agronomy and weed management
The agronomy team collaborated with growers, grower groups and researchers to add value to research on frost, integrated weed management, summer weed control and local variety validation, including:
- collaborating with GRDC frost project DAW00227 in evaluation of frost sensitivity of barley, wheat and oat varieties in relation to sowing date
- conducting local validation of wheat varieties in the eastern wheatbelt with Merredin and Districts Farm Improvement Group
- exploring options for managing matricaria in the eastern wheatbelt
- continued monitoring of ryegrass management in 27 long-term focus paddocks, work initiated by agronomist Peter Newman in 2000
- investigating harvest weed seed management in the Geraldton and Albany port zones where trials were established to assess the efficacy of control methods.
- implementing summer weed time of removal trials following a widespread summer rainfall event in March 2017.
Publications
- 2017 GRDC Research Updates: Myth busting the frost tolerance of oats
- 2018 GRDC Research Updates: Yardstick trial - A grower group’s solution to reducing wheat and barley selection risk for their low rainfall farming system
- Harvest weed seed control shows continued success in controlling resistant weeds
- Summer weed time of removal trials, 2017
Addressing soil constraints
Project participants conducted trials across the grainbelt to manage soil constraints such as acidity, compaction and non-wetting. They tested DPIRD decision- support tools aimed at prioritising soil constraints and assessing the potential benefit of liming on soil pH. Work included:
- In the Kwinana East port zone, the value of using on-farm lime sources was investigated through a series of small plot trials, large-scale demonstrations, field days, decision-support tools and workshops. Results from the trials and feedback from the workshops were incorporated into DPIRD’s iLime app.
- assisted in testing the ROSA (Ranking Options for Soil Amelioration) decision support tool
- overcoming subsoil constraints on a range of soil types.
Publications
- Where are on-farm lime sources more cost effective than coastal limesand in the Kwinana East Port Zone?
- 2019 GRDC Grains Research Updates: Yield benefits and economics of crushing sheet laterite soils
- Deep ripping deep white sands
Trial protocols
The project has compiled useful protocol documents to aid with planning and implementing research trials for people new to agricultural research. Contact Megan Abrahams if you would like a copy.