Dual-purpose cereal variety performance in NSW farming systems

Call to action / take home messages

• Cereal varieties differ in their forage production; growers need to balance this against grain yield recovery and maximum grain quality (based on varietal grade classification).
• Matching a variety’s flowering time and maturity to the local growing environment is important for maximising grain yield recovery following grazing of a dual purpose variety.
• Selecting a suitable variety based on the region, an appropriate sowing time, grazing management and crop nutrition are the main parameters for growing a successful dual-purpose crop.
• The newly released wheat varieties LRPB Kittyhawk and Longsword are suited for use as dual-purpose grazing crops across NSW and have performed comparably with the industry benchmark EGA Wedgetail.

Introduction

Mixed farming systems in NSW including dual-purpose grazing crops have a long history. In recent years dual-purpose cropping systems have attracted more consideration because of greater profitability and sustainability.

Dual-purpose grazing crops give growers an opportunity to produce additional forage in key periods of the year when pasture systems might not be able to meet livestock requirements. They can be substituted for grain-only crops or, in more intensive livestock operations, for forage-only crop types. Selecting the right crop type, variety and then managing them properly can boost returns across both the livestock and grain production units in the farm business. The most common crops used in mixed farming and dual-purpose cropping are cereals. A jointly funded project between the NSW Department of Primary Industries (NSW DPI) and the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) has been evaluating new cereal varieties for suitability as dual-purpose types across NSW for the past four years. This paper presents some of the results of this project.

Methods

The project included a series of grazing cereal trials across NSW in 2016 and 2017. The trials were sown from the first week of April to the first week of May in 2016, and from the last week of March to the first week of April in 2017.

Key measurements recorded at all sites included dry matter (DM) production through the season at key periods – mid tillering and then before stem elongation i.e. growth stage (GS)31 on the Zadoks scale (Zadoks et al. 1974). The experiments are then grazed by livestock following DM measurement and allowed to recover for either further DM assessment or carried through to grain production. Growth stages were also recorded for all varieties when DM measurements were taken. Grain yield and the grain quality parameters such as grain protein, screenings, grain size and test weight were also measured at harvest.

At Wagga Wagga, the core research site, as well as measuring variety performance, also assessed the influence of sowing time on DM production by varieties, and the time of flowering response by varieties of wheat and triticale. Additional plant measurements such as flowering time, number of tillers and leaf area on a core group of varieties were recorded at the Wagga Wagga site to better understand how the different varieties accumulate DM and then recover for grain production.

Results and discussion

Seasonal overview

The results discussed in this paper are from the 2016 and 2017 seasons. The 2016 season was one of above-average rainfall compared with 2017. 2017 was dominated by below-average rainfall through winter and early spring (Table 1), with seasonally late frosts throughout NSW. The growing season rainfall (April–November) for the sites in 2016 was 24–75% above the long-term average (LTA) for the sites, whilst 2017 was 9–68% below LTA. When viewing the results, the distribution and amount of rainfall needs to be considered, as this significantly affected the early forage production and then the opportunity for varieties to recover and produce grain.

Table 1.a and 1.b Monthly rainfall (mm) for trial sites in NSW for 2016, 2017 and the long-term average (LTA; mm) rainfall for the closest Bureau of Meteorology weather station.

Wheat, triticale and barley variety evaluation

In recent years breeding companies have increased investment in evaluating and releasing cereal varieties that are potentially suitable for grazing and grain production. The newer releases now offer growers a wider choice of maturity compared with EGA Wedgetail, which has been the industry benchmark for over a decade. These newer varieties not only offer differences in maturity and flowering time, grain quality and disease tolerance, they have different lengths of vegetative and reproductive phases, which allows growers to more closely match their local growing conditions to maximise forage production and grain yield.

The project evaluated 48 wheat, triticale and barley entries in 2016 and 36 in 2017, of which over half were new or late stage breeding lines from various companies across Australia.

In this paper, only the dry matter and grain yield results are presented; the full seasonal report for 2016 is available on the NSW DPI website and includes grain quality for the wheat, triticale and barley lines, dual-purpose oat evaluation and a brief economic comparison of the varieties at selected sites.

When comparing individual varieties, not only look at the difference in dry matter and grain yield, but also the stability of rank across the various trials as an indicator of reliable performance.

There are significant difference between early dry matter production by varieties (Tables 2 and 3), with the slower winter types being less vigorous compared with the fast–medium winter types and the mid-season spring types. These differences were not as significant for the second dry matter reading following grazing (Tables 4 and 5). The impact of grazing on a variety’s ability to recover is also shown in Tables 4 and 5. The shorter season varieties such as Tuckerbox and EGA Gregory which had high initial dry matter production, showed poor dry matter production at the second measurement as the plants were damaged (loss of growing points) compared with the more prostrate later developing varieties.

Grain yield recovery (Tables 6 and 7) was driven in both seasons by rainfall following grazing, with the later-maturing varieties taking advantage of the wet spring in 2016. In 2017 it was combination of the late rain and frosts that affected a variety’s ability to perform. Varieties in 2017 that were less developed at the time of the frost events avoided damage and also matured later, so were able to take advantage of the rain in October and early November.

Recently released and evaluated lines include:

• Cartwheel – A long-season dual-purpose triticale that is suitable for an early March to early April sowing. A stripe rust resistant replacement for Tobruk. Straw strength is good and has shorter stature than Tobruk. In each of the 2016 and 2017 multi-environment trial(MET) analyses, there was no significant difference in dry matter production compared with Tobruk. Grain yield after grazing was also equivalent to Tobruk.
• Kowari – A new triticale variety registered in 2016. This longer season variety is a tip-awned, dense grained triticale that suits early sowing and grazing. Limited testing in 2016 only at Wagga Wagga, more widely tested in 2017. Kowari showed no difference in DM1 compared with Tobruk, but significantly lower dry matter production at DM2 in the across sites MET analysis. Grain yield was significantly lower than Tobruk.
• Longsword – A fast-maturing winter wheat, derived from Mace, most suited to April sowings. Longsword is a true winter wheat and has three winter genes and is relatively quick to mature. This earlier flowering and quicker maturity provides growers in medium–low rainfall environments a more suitable variety for their growing environment then EGA-Wedgetail or similar mid-winter types. Longsword’s DM1 and grain yield in the across site MET analysis for 2016 and 2017 was not significantly different from EGA_Wedgetail. In 2016 DM2 compared across all sites was significantly higher than EGA_Wedgetail.
• LRPB Kittyhawk – A winter wheat, with a similar maturity and planting window to EGA Wedgetail. Has improved stripe rust resistance and grain quality over EGA Wedgetail. Dry matter production and grain yield from the MET analysis across all sites in 2016 was not significantly different from EGA Wedgetail. In 2017 across all sites LRPB Kittyhawk had lower dry matter production at the first grazing, but DM2 and grain yield were not significantly different from EGA Wedgetail.
• RGT Accroc – A red winter wheat of feed grain quality, suited to the higher rainfall zones. Suitable for sowing late February to early April for early grazing. Good stand ability. Flowering time and maturity is later than EGA Wedgetail. RGT Accroc’s performance compared with EGA Wedgetail, has been variable with consistently higher grain yield following grazing in 2016, but not significantly different in the 2017 season. Dry matter production has been consistently lower than EGA Wedgetail at the first grazing.
• Sunlamb – An awnless, long-season spring wheat suited to early April plantings, with strong photoperiod sensitivity. Suited to grazing and grain recovery across NSW. Similar flowering time to EGA Wedgetail, and a few days earlier than Naparoo (Matthews et al. 2017). Grain yield performance has been variable across seasons, with equivalent grain yield in 2016, but significantly lower grain yield in the 2017 season. Dry matter production was significantly lower in both 2016 and 2017 seasons for the first and second grazing.

Table 2. Dry matter (DM1) (kg/ha) for wheat, triticale and barley varieties across NSW in 2016. Each varieties rank in the respective trial is shown, 2016. (Note: only released varieties are reported).

Table 3. Dry matter (DM1) (kg/ha) for wheat, triticale and barley varieties across NSW in 2017. Each varieties rank in the respective trial is shown, 2017. (Note: only released varieties are reported).

Table 4. Dry matter (DM2) (kg/ha) for wheat, triticale and barley varieties across NSW in 2016. Each varieties rank in the respective trial is shown, 2016. (Note: only released varieties are reported).

Table 5. Dry matter (DM2) (kg/ha) for wheat, triticale and barley varieties across NSW in 2017. Each varieties rank in the respective trial is shown, 2017. (Note: only released varieties are reported).

Table 6. Grain yield (GY) (kg/ha) for wheat, triticale and barley varieties across NSW in 2016. Each varieties rank in the respective trial is shown, 2016. (Note: only released varieties are reported).

Table 7. Grain yield (GY) (kg/ha) for wheat, triticale and barley varieties across NSW in 2017. Each varieties rank in the respective trial is shown, 2017. (Note: only released varieties are reported).