Investment

In western areas of NSW, a proportion of the growing seasons are set up for early sowing, however, the available range of winter barley and wheat types often experience significant heat and moisture stress in their critical growth period substantially reducing grain yield outcomes. Where growers utilise main season barley and wheat types, they experience a high risk of frost damage. There is a clear need for longer season spring types to fit with the early sowing opportunity and the avoidance of frost and heat stress events. This investment looks at focusing on the opportunity for early sowings in western NSW that have a high probability of experiencing early frost and later heat and moisture stress. The diversity of longer seasons but new fast finishing wheat and barley cultivars offers growers new prospects to take advantage of early sowing rain opportunities as opposed to growing traditional winter growth types, that have a disadvantage of late maturity. The aim of this investment is to better inform growers of the advanages and disadvatages of longer season spring types compared with winter and early spring types for westrern NSW.