Wheat and barley fact sheets help growers maximise profits
Wheat and barley fact sheets released by the Department of Agriculture and Food will help growers maximise their profits this season by supplementing current Variety Sowing Guides and providing up-to-date independent crop management information.
The fact sheets are supported by the Grains Research and Development Corporation.
Department Grain Agronomy Development Officer Georgia Trainor said the fact sheets provided a one-stop-shop on yield and agronomic information from research conducted across the State in an easy-to-read format.
The Barley variety fact sheets for Western Australia 2017 complement the Barley Variety Sowing Guide for Western Australia 2017 and provide information on market use, frost tolerance, disease resistance and seed access.
The variety fact sheets can be easily used by growers to assess the disease resistance traits and important management characteristics of their chosen variety this season.
In addition, Research Officer Daniel Huberli has contributed new information on potential yield losses from crown rot, and commentary is included on the topical issues of straw strength and head loss risk.
Ms Trainor said the Wheat variety fact sheets for Western Australia 2017 provided a new way for growers to access wheat variety information and a quick reference guide for wheat management decisions.
“We developed wheat fact sheets, the first to be issued, because growers needed WA-specific information on wheat varieties and their management,” she said.
The resulting fact sheets, which will be supplemented by the wheat variety sowing guide - scheduled to be published in spring - include information on the 21 wheat varieties most commonly grown in the State, or recently released, and the yield of each, compared to Mace.
Information is included on the varieties’ adaptation and yield performance, disease resistance ratings, herbicide tolerance and agronomic traits – including coleoptile length, potential yield loss to crown rot and maturity.
Other details covered include the area sown over time of the top eight varieties ranked to identify changing adoption pattern of wheat varieties.
Information in the wheat and barley fact sheets has been collated from multiple sources, including National Variety Trials and department wheat and barley agronomy research projects.
Observations on variety performance have been provided by department researchers involved in wheat and barley trials throughout the State.
More information can be found on the department’s grains research and development page.