Choosing Break Crops - South
Published: 3 Mar 2011
In the past decade many growers have tightened their rotation, with continuous wheat or cereals being common, especially in drier regions. While growing continuous cereals might seem initially to be the best, easiest or safest option, over time this can lead to production limitations.
Many factors including poor cereal prices are encouraging growers to review their break crop options. Newer pulse and oilseed varieties, improved farming systems and better production knowledge are now also assisting the adoption of break crops. Varieties are now suited to specific regions and have better disease resistance profiles. Also, disease control strategies are better understood.
Introducing a broadleaf crop, either a pulse or an oilseed, can help spread market risk and can offer benefits in terms of disease and weed control, nutrient supply, water use efficiency and improving soil health and biology. Yet, selecting a break crop is not a simple task as many of these factors interact across the crop sequence.
When making break crop choices there are two sides to the decision – the short versus long-term economic issues and the agronomic limitations that the introduction of the break aims to alleviate. Latest research has identified that break crop choice and the specific varieties chosen need to take into account their optimum sowing date in relation to the timing of the opening rain.
Region: South
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