• The following observations were made on the same farm using similar management, but it was not possible to conclude exactly what factors were responsible for the differences observed (since this has not been statistically compared).
• Grain maize following a terminated faba bean crop planted into the previous maize residues generated higher dry matter offtakes and grain yields than leaving the land fallow over winter and spring.
• Grain maize yielded 21.13 t/ha (14% moisture) following the terminated faba beans and 19.29t/ha following winter fallow (recorded from hand harvested quadrats which are typically higher yielding than machine harvested plots).

• In 2022, a cooler and wetter than average year, higher intensity of management (through increased nitrogen supply and fungicide use) significantly increased yields.
• RGT Planet was the highest yielding variety at both sites, yielding 5.85 t/ha at Nullawil (BCG) and 6.16 t/ha at Hart (HART).
• Higher average yields were achieved by all cultivars at a later May sowing at the Nullawil site whereas Cyclops and Leabrook averaged higher yields at an earlier time of sowing when grown at the Hart site. This highlights the importance of matching variety and sow date to the critical period to achieve actual yields closer to potential yield.
• Neither site saw a yield response to the application of plant growth regulators (PGRs), however Hart did see a yield increase to simulated grazing.

Barley Waterlogging Damage: What can we learn?
 Water logging during late stem elongation (the critical period) reduced grain number significantly in early sown Planet barley and severe stress resulted in complete crop failure.
 6 row slower developing winter barley had more viable stems and more grains per spike making recovery better from waterlogging.
 6 row winter barley achieved 9.9t/ha in the absence of significant water logging and 3.1t/ha under severe water logging stress.
 RGT Planet yielded 7.8t/ha in the absence of significant water logging and 0.3t/ha under severe water logging stress.
 Apart from sowing earlier and using slower developing genetics, there was little evidence of genetic differences in field waterlogging tolerance.
 Water logging was more detrimental to barley than wheat on site.
 Little evidence to suggest more N recovered yield from water logging and/or later sowing, the lowest N treatment (10 units of N) yielded 5.65, 50 Units of N yielded 7.11 and the highest N treatment (290 units of N) yielded 6.32t/ha.

• Seed yield (3.90 t/ha) was maximised when 240kg N/ha was applied as a two split application and although yield increased up to 320kg N/ha the advantage in seed yield was not statistically significant.
• There was no significant effect on seed oil content (45.9 – 48.3%) across the different rates of nitrogen fertiliser applied.
• When no nitrogen was applied the test weight was significantly lower (62.4 kg/hl) than all the other nitrogen applications (63.3 – 64.1 kg/hl).
• There was no significant difference in harvest index (HI) although values varied from 23 -31% with the N rates applied.
• Seed yield showed little relationship with dry matter content of the crop at 80% flowering.
• No removed in the crop canopy at flowering revealed a soil N supply of approximately 70kgN/ha in the absence of fertiliser applied.
• At 200kg N/ha applied fertiliser and below more N was removed in dry matter at flowering with N doses of 200kg N/ha and below.
• When applied fertiliser was 240kg /ha N or greater less N was removed in dry matter at flowering than was applied.

• Seed yield was not significantly different across the treatments receiving 120 kg N/ha or higher.
• Plant biomass and accumulated N differences were beginning to show at early flowering (4.89t/ha mean) and significantly less N in the unfertilised plots (75.5kg N/ha).
• Optimum yield of 4.19t/ha was produced from a crop canopy of 16.8t/ha biomass that had an N content of 245kg N/ha.
• Applying a rate of 120 kg N/ha or higher had no additional effect on harvest biomass or accumulated N content of the canopy.
• Application N fertiliser had no influence on oil content and test weight.
• While there was variation in the Harvest Index from 0.26 to 0.22, the differences were not statistically different.
• Water use efficiency was 9.7 kg/mm. Nitrogen use efficiency was 58.5kg N/t of grain.

• Different N timing strategies had no significant effect on yield irrespective of N rate applied (80, 160, 240 kg N/ha)
• Applied N fertiliser (based on urea 46% N) significantly increased yield over the unfertilised crop up to the highest rate of 240 kg N/ha.
• Dry matter production at 80% flowering significantly increased over the unfertilised crop when N fertiliser was applied at the early timing (Post sow pre-emergence (PSPE)/6 leaf).
• Nitrogen removal at 80% flowering was significantly increased compared to the unfertilised crop when N fertiliser was applied at the early timings (PSPE/6leaf), however N removal at the later timing (green bud/yellow bud) was only increased at the highest rate of N fertiliser (240 Kg N/ha).
• Oilseed test weight was significantly higher when Nitrogen application was delayed until 6 leaf/green bud (62.8 kg/hl) or green bud/yellow bud (63.0 kg/hl) compared to PSPE/6 leaf application (62.2 kg/hl)
• Grain oil content decreased as N application and yield increased.

• There was no interaction between N rate and N timing in this trial on the RR hybrid 45Y28 indicating that yield responses to N rate were the same irrespective of timing.
• Accumulated N in the canopy at harvest indicated that optimum yields were achieved with crop canopies containing no more 268 kg N/ha. The unfertilised contained 180N.

• Higher applied N rates (240N) produced N crop canopy contents of 300kg N/ha at harvest but significantly more N in the canopy was not associated with more seed.
• Yield of 4.3 t/ha was achieved by applying 80 kg N/ha. Increasing N rates above this level did not result in higher seed yields.
• Timing of N application had no influence on yield or grain quality (oil and test weight).
• Water use efficiency was 10.6 kg/mm and nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) was 59.9 kg N/t.

 

• There was no significant interaction between seeding rate and cultivar with both varieties lower yielding at plant populations of between 15-20plants/m2.
• However, the yield effect of the lower plant population in 45Y28 was less pronounced (0.25-0.3t/ha compared to the optimum than with Trophy (0.45 – 0.8t/ha).
• Plant populations above 35 plants/m2 (60 seeds/m2) and above 30 plants/m2 with 45Y28RR produced the highest yields.
• Plant establishment rate for the trial averaged 75% and there was no significant detrimental yield effect from the highest plant populations in either cultivar, just an additional seed cost that was not cost effective.
• There were differences in biomass (dry matter) at green bud, with the trend to lower biomass at lower seeding rates and resultant plant populations.
• There was no additional biomass response to sowing seeding rates higher than 40 seeds/m2 when assessed at early flower (GS62) or at harvest with crop canopies of 14.5-15t/ha producing the highest yields.
• Oil content was significantly different between varieties but not between seeding rates with higher oil content in the RR hybrid.
• While there was variation in the Harvest Index (HI) from 0.32 to 0.24, the trend was for higher HI at the lower planting populations.
• Water use efficiency was 10.0 kg/mm.

• Monarch was more responsive to fungicide strategies than Genesis 090 and gave significant yield increases of 0.42 t/ha (cheaper programme) and 1.72 t/ha (more expensive programme) which represented a 168 & 508% increase in yield over the untreated.
• Disease levels, principally Ascochyta (Ascochyta rabiei) at pre flower (V19) were low (<1% leaf area infected LAI) but increased later in the season with nearly 70% crop canopy infection in late October.
• The fungicide strategy based on more expensive chemistry containing SDHI (group 7) and QoI (Group 11) chemistry gave significantly better disease control and significantly higher yields than strategies based on chlorothalonil but only with PBA Monarch.
• Genesis 090 gave a yield increase to the more expensive strategy but the advantage over the cheaper chlorothalonil programme was not statistically significant.
• Both fungicide strategies gave significant improvements in control of ascochyta at 13 days after the final application compared to nil control treatment and produced significant improvements in grain yield.

• There was no disease infection observed at any point in the growing season
• With no disease pressure, there was no yield response to fungicide application with yields averaging 1.69t/ha from this spring sown chickpea trial.

• Chickpeas had not been grown in the trial location and inoculation did result in improved nodulation of the chickpeas.
• Nodulation did not increase with higher rates of granular inoculum.
• Yield and harvest biomass were not influenced by the trial treatments. However grain size was improved with either inoculating the seed or applying 40 kg N/ha at sowing.
• WUE was 12.8 kg/mm

• Chickpeas sown under overhead irrigation gave yields of between 2.09 – 2.63 t/ha (cv Genesis 090) and 2.06 – 2.37 t/ha (cv PBA Royal), twice that of the identical trial sown under overhead.
• A grain yield of 2.4 t/ha was achieved with an established population of 19-21 plants/m2, this was significantly higher than the 2.07 t/ha achieved at 11 plants/m2 (average of both cultivars).
• Increasing the plant population up to 29 plants/m2 gave higher yields, although the advantage over 19-21 plants was not statistically significant.
• There were no significant differences in grain yield due to cultivar.
• No significant interactions were observed between plant population and cultivar on dry matter (DM) production at early flowering; Genesis 090 maximised DM production at 19 plants/m2 whilst PBA Royal maximised DM production at a lower plant population (29 plants/m2).
• Dry matter production at early flowering was maximised with an established population of 19-21 plants/m2(2.96 t/ha), this was significantly higher than the 1.72 t/ha achieved at 11 plants/m2.
• There were no significant differences in DM at harvest with an average of 8.73t/ha and a harvest index of 25.5% (data not shown).
• Harvest index was twice that observed in the identical trial sown under overhead irrigation (13 vs 25% HI).

• Chickpeas yielded poorly in 2021 compared to the 2020 performance on the same research site. Chickpeas sown 27 April in 2020 under overhead irrigation gave yields of between 3.1 – 3.58t/ha (cv Genesis 090) and 3.0 – 3.35t/ha (cv PBA Royal).
• Sown at similar time in 2021 Chickpeas sown under overhead irrigation gave yields of between 0.78 – 1.22 t/ha (cv Genesis 090) and 1.12 – 1.20 t/ha (cv PBA Royal).
• There were no significant differences in grain yield due to cultivar.
• Significant interactions were observed between plant population and cultivar on dry matter (DM) production at early flowering; however both Genesis 090 maximised DM and PBA Royal maximised DM production at similar plant populations (21 - 23 plants/m2).
• An interaction between varieties and seed rate was observed in dry matter offtake at flowering, PBA maximised dry matter with 23 plants/m2 and Genesis 090 maximised dry matter production at 21 plants/m2.
• There were no significant interactions in DM at harvest however PBA Royal (7.86 t/ha) had significantly more dry matter than Genesis 090 (6.95 t/ha).
• Harvest index was very low (13.2%) in 2021, with no significant differences between variety or plant population (not shown).

• Although July rainfall was average, the rain fell on 18 days for the month. This resulted in Ascochyta rabei development in early August on the untreated plots. August and September saw dry conditions less favourable for foliar disease.
• PBA Monarch suffered a higher degree of leaf loss than Genesis 090 across all treatments from Ascochyta blight.
• This leaf loss was reflected in reduced yields and smaller grain, with PBA Monarch suffering the greatest yield reduction due to disease.
• PBA Monarch saw a yield benefit in response to the ‘Expensive’ strategy based on SDHI and QoI chemistry over the “Cheap” and untreated strategies.
• Genesis 090 saw a yield improvement with the ‘Cheap’ strategy over the Untreated but no benefit from the ‘Expensive’ strategy.
• Random plants across the trial did succumb to root rot prior to irrigation before flowering.

• Establishment was reduced in the first Time of Sowing due to dry conditions post sowing.
• Time of Sowing 2 (18 May) saw no yield improvement by increasing seeding rates above 35 seeds/m2 (25 plants/m2).
• Time of Sowing 1 saw a similar trend but analysis was complicated by interaction between the cultivar and seeding rate.
• There appears to be no advantage in sowing earlier than mid-May.

• Overall yields were lower than expected due to waterlogging experienced on site.
• Yields ranged from 3.73t/ha to 6.22t/ha, with highest yield achieved by RGT Planet.
• There were no yield gains from applying higher rates of N (156kg N/ha soil supply). A fertile farming system is the key to reducing in crop N applications.
• Higher N rates resulted in higher grain protein, but lower test weight and higher screenings.

 Grain yield of 45Y28 RR increased by 0.92t/ha from nil fungicide to where four separate fungicides were used, including seed, 6-leaf, 20% bloom and 50% bloom. However there were treatments that incorporated fewer fungicide applications that yielded similarly to where four applications were used. The highest of these was where Maxim XL was applied to the seed
and a single application of Miravis Star was applied at 20% bloom.
 It was difficult to ascertain which disease was responsible for the yield loss. Sclerotinia levels were low with only 1.5% plants infected in the untreated control. Crown canker infection (% of cross section of basal stem) was reduced by fungicide but was not observed in high levels. Upper canopy blackleg infection on the main stem was also reduced by fungicide but was also
only present at low levels. Pod Upper canopy blackleg was present at higher levels than 2021, it was reduced best by the treatment that included a 20 and 50% bloom spray.
 There was no statistical benefit of fungicide on HyTTec Trifecta. Upper canopy blackleg infection was generally lower than 45Y28 RR. Sclerotinia levels were also low in HyTTec Trifecta with infection on 2.5% of plants in the untreated control.
 There was no effect of fungicide on any grain quality parameter in either cultivar.

 Grain yield increased by 0.78t/ha from nil fungicide to where an intensive fungicide program was applied, including Saltro Duo on seed, Prosaro at 6-leaf, Aviator Xpro at 20% bloom and Veritas at 50% bloom.
 Highest yields were generally achieved with Seed and 6-leaf fungicide (Maxim XL f.b. Aviator Xpro of Saltro Duo f.b. Prosaro) followed by an application of fungicide (either Prosaro or Aviator Xpro) at 20% bloom. This suggests the response was due to the control of multiple diseases.
 All treatments (except for Maxim XL followed by Miravis Star) were higher yielding than the untreated control.
 There was no effect of fungicide treatment on oil concentration.
 It was difficult to ascertain the reasons for the yield response to fungicide as blackleg (upper
canopy and crown) and sclerotinia infection levels were low.

 Blackleg crown canker (measured as stem cross-section blackleg) was generally highest (in both trials) where no seed or 6-leaf (seedling) fungicide was used, however there was no effect of fungicide management on grain yield.
 There was minimum upper canopy blackleg and sclerotinia disease in both trials.
 Oil content difference was minimum between the fungicide treatments.

 Hyola Feast CL was badly lodged in this trial; therefore, it is difficult to make any major conclusions from it.
 There was no significant difference in grain yield between fungicide treatments.
 There was disease present in the trial, primarily powdery mildew as the dense, lodged canopy created a humid micro-environment for the disease. Powdery mildew infection was lowest in the treatment that included a Prosaro application at 50% bloom stage. This treatment also had the lowest level of sclerotinia stem rot.
 Sclerotinia stem rot and powdery mildew were present at higher levels than in either of the spring disease management trials.

 There was no effect of fungicide management on grain yield of the winter canola cultivar Hyola Feast CL. Trial average yield was 4.19t/ha.
 Sowing winter canola early combines the best of blackleg resistance (effective Group H) and cultural management, avoiding blackleg spore showers on seedling canola.
 Levels of all diseases were low, including blackleg crown canker, upper canopy blackleg and sclerotinia stem rot.

 The Roundup Ready cultivar 45Y28 RR was consistently higher yielding than the TT cultivar HyTTec Trifecta.
 Hyperyielding Crops don’t always need a lot of fungicide:
o A two-spray strategy of Miravis Star at 20% Bloom followed by Prosaro at 50% Bloom yielded 0.3 t/ha more than the untreated control. At a cost >$100/ha, the profitability of this fungicide program would have been approximately break-even.
 Resistant cultivars are useful to reduce disease infection, in this case for Upper Canopy Blackleg:
o In this trial however the yield potential of 45Y28 RR outweighed the resistance benefit of HyTTec Trifecta which has major gene resistance still effective.

 The Roundup Ready cultivar 45Y28 RR was consistently higher yielding than the TT cultivar HyTTec Trifecta.
 Disease levels were low overall, with only low-level blackleg observed. Although 45Y28 RR does not have effective major gene blackleg resistance, it did not have more blackleg infection than HyTTec Trifecta.
 Aviator Xpro and Miravis Star at 20% bloom, both followed by Prosaro at 50% bloom, were higher yielding than the untreated control, but by less than 0.25 t/ha which would have not been profitable.

 There was no effect of fungicide treatment on grain yield of either cultivar.
 Like other trials, 45Y93 CL was higher yielding than HyTTec Trifecta.
 There was no interaction between fungicide management and cultivar choice, effectively showing that there was no difference advantage of having a cultivar with effective major gene blackleg resistance compared with a cultivar with ineffective resistance.
 While sclerotinia, blackleg and Alternaria were present on site all disease where are low levels 45Y93 had a significantly higher incidence of sclerotinia infect in comparison to HyTTec Trifecta. However, disease pressure was not high enough to separate fungicide treatment effects.
 A disease management trial will be completed again in 2021 and will include a winter cultivar and early season (seed and 6-leaf) fungicide treatments.

• Low levels of stripe rust at mid flowering GS65 (less than 10% flag leaf infection) did not significantly increase grain yield in this variable trial.
• The stripe rust control data indicated that 2 units of fungicide either applied as two foliar sprays at GS31 & GS39 or flutriafol with a follow up foliar spray at flag leaf provided effective protection for DBA Vittaroi.
• There was a very small advantage for stripe rust control from using two foliar fungicides but differences were extremely small.
• Systiva at sowing with a follow up foliar spray gave less effective stripe rust control than flutriafol and Jockey with a flag leaf follow up.
• Fungicide application had no significant effect on grain quality in this trial.

• Stripe rust was present in the trial in the untreated plots but little to no infection was observed in the fungicide treated plots.
• Fungicide strategy did not affect yield or grain quality when compared to the untreated control.
• This result contrasts with the results of the sister trial D21-07-2 located at the same site where fungicide application did result in improved yields over the untreated control.

• DBA Vittaroi developed higher levels of stripe rust infection than DBA Aurora but levels at mid flower were still below 5% on the flag leaf (3.5% v less than 1% on flag leaf at mid flower).
• The low levels of stripe rust infection did not generate any significant yield increases (p=0.3) when controlled with different fungicide strategies.
• The trend with DBA Vittaroi was non-significant yield increases associated with fungicide application with increases of 0.24 – 0.59t/ha with the two spray approach being the most reliable for yield and stripe rust control.
• Fungicide strategy had no significant effect on grain protein (range 14.3-15.0%) which averaged 14.7% (not shown)
• DBA Aurora at 13.9% had significantly less grain protein than DBA Vittaroi at 15.5% (not shown) but was significantly higher yielding than DBA Vittaroi at (8.04 vs 6.46 t/ha).
• The GS31 fungicide was very important to reduce initial infection but there was little additional value of Systiva seed treatment in this trial.

• Stripe rust was present in the trial in late August just prior to flag leaf emergence.
Infection/green leaf loss was higher in DBA Vittaroi than DBA Aurora.
• Multiple fungicide application strategies improved yields over single spray strategies.
• Despite little green leaf loss, foliar fungicides did improve the yields in the MR for stripe rust rated DBA Aurora.
• Three units of fungicide, either 3 foliar sprays or Systiva plus two foliar sprays produced the highest yields when both cultivars were considered.
• The yield increases of the fungicide treatments diluted the grain protein such that the untreated crop produced the highest grain protein.

• Neither previous chickpea sowing rate or pre-sowing stubble management had any significant effect on the following durum wheat yields or grain protein.
• Calculated stubble residues showed no difference as a result of variable chickpea seeding rates.
• NDVI measurements demonstrated that there was little influence on canopy development from either previous seeding rate or pre-sowing preparation.
• Durum wheat has a considerable requirement for N to achieve DR1 quality and so the contribution from the chickpea stubble is a relatively small part of the total N budget.
• Water use efficiency was 17.8 kg/mm.

• There were no significant advantage in grain yield of durum following the cultivation of faba bean stubble from the year previous, however cultivation did result in significantly higher grain proteins where faba bean stubble were incorporated.
• Prior to this trial area being established in durum it grew four different plant populations of faba beans in 2020.
• In the previous year higher seed rates of faba beans led to higher plant populations and higher NDVI measurements but did not result in higher yield (range 16 – 23 plants/m2).
• With the following durum crop there was no significant effect of the different faba bean populations on durum wheat yields.
• Speed tilling to incorporate faba bean stubble in autumn 2021 (resulted in a trend to slightly lower plant establishment of 135 plants/m2 of durum compared to 144 plants/m2 where the residues were left on the surface and the durum was direct drilled into a firm seedbed.
• NDVI measurements taken in the durum at early tillering (GS21) showed a higher reading for the plots where the stubble was incorporated, however this may have been due to stubble interfering with the reflectance measurements. By stem elongation and crop ground cover the differences in NDVI had dissipated.
• There were no differences in dry matter recorded at flowering at a result of cultivating the previous years faba stubbles (not shown).
• Incorporating the faba residues resulted in significantly higher grain protein (15.5%) than where the durum crop was direct drilled plots (14.9%).
• There was a trend to lower grain protein at higher plant populations of the previous faba bean crop when the durum was direct drilled, although this was not statistically significant.

• A number of PGR strategies based on Moddus Evo (trinexapac ethyl), Errex (chlormequat) and a coded PGR were noted to significantly reduce lodging in irrigated DBA Aurora.
• Reduction in lodging whilst significant did not significantly impact yield relative to the untreated control, since lodging occurred late in grain fill (GS87 late dough).

• Grazing twice at tillering and at pseudo stem erect (GS22 &30) prevented lodging and was as effective as a number of PGR programmes, however it significantly reduced yield relative to the control.
• Grazing durum plots produced lower grain protein (12.3%) compared to the PGR treatments (13.2-13.9%)
• At the earlier time of sowing, a single application of Moddus Evo and Errex at GS31 recorded a reduction in lodging when followed by an application of FAR PGR 20/01 at GS39 compared to the single application alone. This late PGR treatment also had an increase in grain protein (13.9%) compared to the untreated (12.9%)
• There was no difference in grain protein in any of the treatments in the later time of sowing.
• Applying trace elements and potassium had no impact gave no improvement in lodging control or yield in comparison to plant growth regulation.

• Grazing was effective in reducing crop height, but resulting grain yield was lowest in the trial, although it was not significantly different to the untreated control.
• Treatments did vary in their effect on lodging, but increased lodging did not necessarily result in decreased yield.
• Highest yield was from treatment 3 (split application of Errex 750 @ 0.65 l/ha + Moddus Evo @ 0.1 l/ha applied at GS30 and GS32) which was also the most effective treatment for reducing lodging.
• The application of the micronutrients manganese and copper had no effect on lodging.
• All PGR treatments did not influence grain protein, screenings or test weight.

• Following the wet winter soil N cores in late August revealed only 47kg N/ha in the 90cm profile with approximately 30kg N/ha in the top 30cm.
• As a result, all N fertilised plots were significantly higher yielding than the unfertilised control which yielded 4.87t/ha at 10.3% protein with a total N offtake of 138kg N/ha at harvest.
• The indication from the unfertilised plots were that the soil mineralised an additional 80kg N/ha on top of the 46kg N/ha available in the soil in late August.
• In N fertilised plots there were no significant differences in yield between 100 – 350kg N/ha applied with a yield range covered by 0.34t/ha.
• In contrast, grain protein levels continued to increase as the applied N fertiliser increased with over 13% achieved with 200kg N/ha, 150 N applied producing 12.5% protein.
• The highest grain proteins were achieved with 350 kg N/ha applied at 16.3%.
• N offtakes in the crop at harvest ranged from 137 – 300 kg N/ha but there was no significant difference in N offtake between 150-300kg N/ha fertiliser N applied with a range of 263 – 307kg N/ha.
• Applied fertiliser N had no significant impact on harvest index or dry matter and averaged only 35%.
• Durum grew similar amounts of dry matter at harvest compared to 2020, approximately 16-17t/ha but in 2021 harvest index was 35% as opposed to 43% and yields were peaked at 6.74t/ha compared 7.43t/ha in 2020.
• At high levels of applied N fertiliser (300, 350kg N/ha) there was no benefit to splitting the N three times, however at lower N fertiliser inputs (see Trial 4 – N timing) this is not the case.

• A grain yield of 8.98 t/ha was achieved with an application of 250 kg/ha of nitrogen (N).
• There was no significant difference in yield for nitrogen applications ranging from 250 – 350 kg N/ha.

• Applying 200 kg/ha of nitrogen was enough to raise the grain protein above the 10.5% required to achieve APW1 compared to the lower N application rates that only achieved ASW1.
• An additional 50 kg N/ha (250 total) pushed the protein above 11.5% and achieved a bin grade of H2, the highest quality achieved in this trial.
• The highest gross margin was achieved with 250 kg N/ha applied as urea 46% N.
• There was little difference in final harvest biomass between 100 and 350 kg N/ha applied with a range of 16.7 – 19.0 t/ha. When no nitrogen was applied final biomass was significantly lower at 14.2 t/ha and a grain yield of 6.55t/ha.

• With 47kg N/ha available in the soil profile (0-90cm) in early spring there was no effect of N timing (50:50 split applications) on grain yield.
• At the different N timings grain yield increased significantly up to a N rate of 200kg N/ha.
• Grain protein in contrast was significantly increased by N rates up to 300kg N/ha and applying N at a later timing split (GS32 and GS39) also significantly increased protein compared to earlier timings
• Later N timings under irrigation are more efficient with applied N, since N removed in the grain was greater with later timings in comparison to earlier timings.
• Grain yields were optimised with DR1 protein levels (13% or higher) at N rates of 100 to 200kg N/ha.
• In 2020 with much higher soil N reserves at sowing (232kg N/ha 0-90cm) it was noted that increasing applied nitrogen fertiliser had no negative yield effects when applied later in stem elongation compared to earlier N timings of the same amounts.

• With 66kg N/ha available in the soil profile (0-90cm) pre sowing there was an effect of N timing (50:50 split applications) on grain yield where the earlier (PSPE & GS30) and later (GS32 & GS37) applications were significantly lower yielding than the intermediate application timing (GS30 & GS32).
• Head numbers were also significantly higher with the GS30/32 timing than both the early or late N timings.
• At the different N timings grain yield increased significantly up to an N rate of 200kg N/ha with no additional response at 300kg N/ha.
• There was a significant interaction between N timing and N rate on grain protein.
• With the earlier application timings (GS00 /GS30 & GS30/GS32) grain protein was maximised with 300 kg N/ha while in the late application timing (GS32/GS37) grain protein was maximised at 200 kg N/ha.
• 200kg N/ha applied in a 50:50 split generated the best margin after N cost and quality considerations were taken into account.
• The highest gross margin was achieved with 200 kg N/ha applied as urea (46% N) split at GS30 and GS32.

• Biomass at harvest was no different between the N timing strategies. However, the higher N rates did result in more biomass and higher heads/m2.
• The later the N was applied the greater the N accumulation in the crop canopy at harvest, however this was only apparent at the higher N rates applied (i.e. greater N efficiency of applied N).
• Delayed application of nitrogen did not result in yield reduction, but lower N rates did.
• Grain protein meeting DR1 specification was only achieved by applying 300 kg N/ha at either of the later split N timings either GS30/GS32 or GS32/GS39.
• Harvest index averaged 0.40 and was higher at the lower N rates as was observed in Trial 3.

• In a first wheat scenario following faba beans durum wheat yielded on average 7.55t/ha DBA Aurora and 6.07t/ha for DBA Vittaroi. The difference in predicted yield was statistically significant (p=0.01).
• With 20 May sowing date there was no difference in yield due to plant population when it varied 125 – 300 plants/m2, although 150 - 200 plants/m2 were associated with the highest yields in both varieties.
• Plant populations below 100 plants/m2 had significantly lower dry matter at harvest and as a result lower yields.
• No significant differences in lodging were recorded due to variety or population in contrast to 2020 when Aurora lodged at higher plant populations.
• There were significantly more tillers per unit area at the highest plant populations tested (440 tillers/m2) but it had no additional yield benefit over lower tiller densities irrespective of cultivar.
• DBA Aurora with a longer tillering period and longer season phenology recorded more tillers per unit (419/m2) than DBA Vittaroi (284/m2) at stem elongation.
• In both varieties there was a significant increase in head numbers as a result of increasing plant population with a maximum of 385 heads/m2 (mean of two cultivars- Aurora 412 and DBA Vittaroi 358).
• Although increasing plant population significantly increased dry matter production at pseudo stem erect (GS31) lower plant populations had compensated such that there was no difference when assessed at harvest, apart from plant populations below 100 plants/m2.
• Plant population had no significant effect on grain protein (range 14.4-15.1%) which averaged 14.7%
• DBA Aurora at 14.1% produced significantly lower grain protein than DBA Vittaroi at 15.4% as result of the higher yields in the former.

• Yield was below expectations which appears to be due to inadequate soil moisture in late winter, with irrigation not possible due to the irrigation season being closed.

• Establishment rate for the trial averaged 76% but was lower at the highest populations.
• There were differences in biomass at GS30, with the trend to lower biomass at lower • seeding rates and this was reflected in shoot numbers.
• Yield was not influenced by seeding rate in either variety, although plant populations below 100plants/m2 tended to be the lowest yielding, however there was little or no difference in grain yield between 150 – 240plants/m2.
• Yield was below expectations which appears to be due to inadequate soil moisture in late winter, with irrigation not possible due to the irrigation season being closed.
• Winter drought is a risk that is greater under overhead irrigation as the soil profile is unlikely to be full at the beginning of winter as is the case under flood irrigated circumstances.
• Water use efficiency was 16.1 kg/mm

• In an identical trial to Trial 1 under surface irrigation DBA Aurora lodged more and was significantly higher yielding than DBA Vittaroi.
• Though not statistically comparable (separate trials based on same site, same sowing date & management) yields were higher under overhead than surface irrigation but lodging at harvest was noted to be more severe where surface irrigation was used.
• Higher plant populations were associated with higher plant, tiller and head numbers, although this did not relate to higher yield.
• Lower plant populations were associated with lower dry matter production at early stem elongation (GS31) but later in the growing season there were no significant differences.
• Plant population had no significant effect on grain protein (range 14.2-14.4%) which averaged 14.3%
• DBA Aurora at 13.2% had significantly less grain protein than DBA Vittaroi at 15.3%.

 No BYDV was observed in the trial and as a result there were no significant yield differences due to BYDV control recorded in either Manning (tolerant) or Revenue (non BYDV tolerant) cultivars.
 Omitting the GS31 fungicide however (treatment 7 & 8) had a significant impact on grain yield with both Manning (minus 2.13t/ha) and Revenue (minus 2.34t/ha).
 Adding azoxystrobin to the first fungicide application at GS31 over and above the experimental fungicide increased yield with Manning but not with Revenue.
 The additional application of Dominex Duo along with the experimental fungicide (as opposed to Opus 250mL/ha) at GS31 significantly increased the yield of the non BYDV tolerant cultivar Revenue but the yield of Manning was unaffected.
 The “Revenue BYDV tolerant bred line” with no insecticide input was the highest yielding treatment of Revenue and not significantly different from the best Manning treatment that received azoxystrobin at GS31.

• The long season UK wheat RGT Relay out yielded Manning but none of the treatments of insecticide or fungicide produced any significant difference in grain yield.
• There were clear indications that symptoms of BYDV were present in the RGT Relay that were not present in the BYDV tolerant variety Manning, but these differences did not result in a yield effect.
• BYDV like symptoms became more apparent in the canopy as the crop began to grain fill with less BYDV observed in the insecticide treated plots in RGT Relay (non-tolerant).
• Little or no BYDV like symptoms were observed in the Manning.
• There was no significant expression of erect heads in this trial or significant differences in erect head numbers.
• ELISA testing confirmed Cereal yellow dwarf virus (CYDV-prv) presence but not Barley yellow dwarf virus (BYDV-pav).

• There were small visual differences in BYDV control recorded in this trial (which were variable in effect) but no differences were assessed in erect heads at harvest.
• As a consequence, there were no differences in yield due to insecticide management in the BYDV tolerant (Manning) and non-tolerant variety (Anapurna) in this trial.
• There was a significant yield increase associated with the application of the GS31 experimental fungicide application.
• The effect of the fungicide had no impact on erect heads observed in the trial and was primarily associated with superior STB control compared to the other four treatments that received no GS31 fungicide.
• There was no advantage from the addition of azoxystrobin at GS31 added to the experimental fungicide.
• It should be noted that two more fungicides were applied to all treatments at flag leaf emergence (GS39) and head emergence (GS59) (see Table 3).

• There were significant yield increases in both BYDV non-tolerant (Anapurna) and assumed tolerant germplasm (DS Bennett) due to insecticide management.
• The application of insecticide for BYDV control produced a significant reduction in the level of BYDV (4% plot affected – mean of two varieties).
• There was no significant difference amongst the insecticide strategies in terms of BYDV control with an application of neonicotinoid seed treatment (Gaucho) generating the same level of control and yield response as multiple insecticide applications.

• No fungicide strategy resulted in higher yields than the untreated crop.
• The fungicide strategies did result in reduced disease pressure (as measured by loss of green leaf) but this was not reflected in grain yield at harvest.

• PBA Amberley had lower disease incidence than Fiesta VF but levels of disease were very low.
• The maximum response to foliar disease in faba beans under surface irrigation was 0.09t/ha with the more disease resistant cultivar PBA Amberley. In contrast with Fiesta VF the yield increase was 0.15t/ha, neither variety producing a significant yield increase to fungicide application.
• Crop canopy infection of chocolate spot caused by the pathogens Botrytis fabae and Botryris cinerea was approximately 10% just pre flower in Fiesta VF and less than 2% in PBA Amberley.
• The disease did not appear to develop with drier conditions prevailing in spring post flower up to November. Early the levels of disease control with tebuconazole and Veritas were relatively poor no more than 50%.
• Although the expensive fungicide strategy based on DMIs, SDHIs and QoIs was higher yielding than the tebuconazole/chlorothalonil programme it was lost money relative to the untreated (data not shown).

• There was no disease infection observed at any point in the growing season.
• With no disease pressure, there was no yield response to fungicide application with an average yield of 2.04t/ha from spring sown faba beans.

• Faba grain yield was not influenced by either seeding rate (plant population 10-32plants/m2) or PGR strategy in this trial.
• Plant height was reduced by the application of experimental PGR, with the two-application strategy being most effective. Seeding rate and resultant plant population did not affect plant height.
• Faba bean lodging was influenced by both seeding rate (plant population) and PGR application. As a general observation, increasing plant population increased lodging while PGR application reduced lodging but yields were not significantly affected.
• Lodging was eliminated in the low seeding rate coupled with an experimental two spray application PGR strategy.

• Experimental PGR application in irrigated faba beans gave no significant yield effects although application did influence crop height at harvest.
• Applying a single experimental PGR (FAR PGR 1) application at the start of flowering had a significant effect on plant height at harvest.
• Sequencing this earlier treatment with FAR PGR 2 at the end of flowering had no further effect on crop height.
• Reducing plant population to 9 plants/m2 reduced yield significantly compared to 22 and 32 plants/m2, increasing the population to 32 plants/m2 was significantly higher yielding than 22 plants/m2 leading to grain yields over 7t/ha.
• Reducing plant population had no significant effect on final crop height at harvest.
• Increasing plant populations resulted in a trend for higher lodging which was controlled by the single application of PGR, although differences were not statistically significant.
• Applying a single experimental PGR (FAR PGR 1) applications at the start of flowering led to a significant reduction in lodging and an eight cm reduction in crop height.

• Applying Nodulator granular inoculant at recommended rates led to a significant increase in nodulation, compared to the untreated plots, but did not increase yield.
• Increasing the rate of Nodulator to double or triple the recommended rate had no additional effect on nodulation, compared to the standard rate.
• Applying nitrogen fertiliser (40kg N/ha) at sowing had no negative effect on subsequent nodulation and increased grain yield by 0.96 - 1.39 t/ha compared to treatments where no nitrogen was applied, however the more variable nature of the trial meant that the
advantage not statistically significant.
• Applying nitrogen at pod set increased grain yield by 0.22 – 0.65 t/ha compared to treatments where no nitrogen was applied, however again this yield advantage was not statistically significant.
• Although there were no significant differences between dry matter and nitrogen offtake at flowering, there was a trend for more dry matter and nitrogen in the dry matter at flowering where nitrogen had been applied at sowing.

• The grain yield of Fiesta VF was 5% higher than PBA Amberley under overhead irrigation.
• Seed rate had a significant impact on grain yield with yield maximised at the highest plant populations, although there was little yield advantage above approximately 25-30 plants/m2 with either cultivar.
• If plant population fell to 12 plants/m2 the yield reduction was approximately 1.2 with Fiesta VF and 1.8t/ha with PBA Amberley.
• There were no significant differences in harvest dry matter due to plant population with all cultivars and populations achieving approximately 12-14t/ha.
• There was no significant difference in pod number due to plant population with all populations including the thinnest producing approximately 500 pods/m2.
• Significantly lower plant populations being lower yielding due to less beans per pod or smaller thousand seed weight.
• Increasing plant populations significantly increased stem number per m2 and height to first pod with stem number over 65 stems/m2 being associated with the highest yields.
• Plant population had no significant on dry matter production at harvest.

• Both cultivars showed a similar yield response to increasing plant population with no advantage in yield from plant populations above approximately 20 plants/m2, but significant reductions in yield associated with populations of 15 plants/m2.
• Establishment rate for the different seed rates in the trial averaged 77% with 10-36 seeds/m2 producing 8 – 27 plants/m2
• Fiesta had slightly higher biomass at early flowering but moisture stress had begun to affect the trial. Optimum yields were associated with crop canopy harvest dry matters of 11-12t/ha.
• Water use efficiency was 16.1 kg/mm

• The grain yield of Fiesta VF was 5% higher than PBA Amberley under overhead irrigation.
• Seed rate had a significant impact on grain yield with yield maximised at the highest plant populations, although there was little yield advantage above approximately 25-30 plants/m2 with either cultivar.
• If plant population fell to 12 plants/m2 the yield reduction was approximately 1.2 with Fiesta VF and 1.8t/ha with PBA Amberley.
• There were no significant differences in harvest dry matter due to plant population with all cultivars and populations achieving approximately 12-14t/ha.
• There was no significant difference in pod number due to plant population with all populations including the thinnest producing approximately 500 pods/m2.
• Significantly lower plant populations being lower yielding due to less beans per pod or smaller thousand seed weight.
• Increasing plant populations significantly increased stem number per m2 and height to first pod with stem number over 65 stems/m2 being associated with the highest yields.
• Plant population had no significant on dry matter production at harvest.

• Under surface irrigation faba yields exceeded 7t/ha with a significant interaction between plant population (seedrate) and cultivar.
• Fiesta achieved its highest yields at only 17plants/m2 whereas PBA Amberley had an optimum of 27 plants/m2.
• However, the results indicate more severe consequences of dropping too low (15-20 plants or below) with plant population in faba beans vs higher plant populations 25-30 plants/m2. irrespective of cultivar.
• Establishment rate for the trial averaged 89% with decreasing establishment at higher seed rates.
• Biomass increased as seeding rate increased at early flowering, but there was no influence on harvest biomass from plant population.

• A seeding rate of 18 seeds/m2 (17 plants/m2) was sufficient to achieve the highest yield with
Fiesta .
• Water use efficiency was 14.1 kg/mm

• Foliar application of a micronutrient mixes failed to provide in any yield improvement over and above the standard nutrition adopted.
• Tissue testing prior to, and at tasselling, revealed no micro or macro nutrient deficiencies, and no response to the additional nutrient applications..

• With an average grain yield of 16.51t/ha there were no significant differences in header grain yield from varying nitrogen rate or applying liquid potassium products.
• Applying Calcium Nitrate Ca (NO3)2 caused a decrease in yield when it was combined with an additional application of pre drill 90 kg/ha of nitrogen.
• There was evidence that additional nutrients significantly interacted (p=0.044) with the overall level of N fertiliser applied with liquid calcium nitrate giving greater benefits with 230N (applied as fertigation than when N was application was increased to 320kg N/ha (predrill urea = fertigation).

• Application of different DMI (triazoles) and QoI (strobilurins) fungicides at either 8 leaf (V8) or tasselling (VT) resulted in no yield response over the untreated crop.
• There was no observed effects of a fungicide application on green leaf retention post application.

• There were no significant yield effects of fungicide application at either V9 (9 leaf) or VT (Tasselling) development stages.
• Low levels of disease were observed in the trial but there was little evidence to suggest that fungicides improved green leaf retention when assessed at R4.
• Late infection of Common rust (Puccinia sorghi) was detected in upper canopy

Plant height varied from 59cm in Minotaur to 95cm in Crescendo.
Data highlights the increased lodging incidence in Laureate and this will need to be managed.
Shorter cultivars in this trial were also less prone to lodging.
The incidence of brackling was less in 2021 than 2020.
Lodging and brackling were not always correlated suggesting they are genetically independent
and may require different management solutions.
These data highlight plant heights lower than 80cm, lodging and brackling can all be reduced
with genetic solutions.
Spring lines such as Laureate, and Crescendo developed later than Planet.
Laperouse and Rosalind developed earlier than Planet.

New spring introductions such as Laureate and Fatima offered slower developing alternatives to RGT Planet, while Rosalind was the quickest cultivar.
There was a larger gap in the development speed of spring cultivars and winter cultivars in WA compared to the eastern states.
The incidence of disease was very low in 2021 at this site and there were minimal differences between cultivars.
A number of these cultivars were evaluated for yield in stage 2 elite screen presented below.

 Stripe rust (Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici) was the most destructive disease in the untreated screen, severely affecting Catapult, Rockstar, and Trojan (93%, 65%, and 35% plot infection respectively).
 From sampling carried out the 239 pathotype was the dominant pathotype on site with lower levels of the 198 pathotype (the dominant pathotype in 2020).
 Septoria tritici blotch (STB) caused by the pathogen Zymoseptoria tritici was more significant in 2021 in terms of green leaf area lost, with up to 75% plot infection in Scepter. Other notable infections include V12167-048, Coota, and L13070-027 (70%-39% plot infection).
 The following varieties AGFWH004418, AGFWH004618, Big Red (AGFWH004718) and AGFWH004818 had similar phenology, and as good as or better disease resistance and standing power (straw strength) than the highest yielding feed wheats on the research site RGT Accroc, Anapurna and RGT Cesario (see trials 2 – 4).
 

 Using RGT Accroc and Trojan (not coloured) as controls and comparisons to Trial 2 cultivars of interest were LPB16-0598 (which has potential quality) but was stiff strawed and moderately affected by Septoria tritici blotch (STB).
 Big Red and its sister AGF lines also looked interesting, particularly AGFWH004618 (see trial 2), however Big Red was probably still the pick of the four.
 AGTW005 has looked interesting for the second year with intermediate maturity, good standing power and good resistance to STB.
 The more northern European wheat cultivars Reflection, Graham, Savello, Shabras displayed much later maturity than the cultivars of greater interest Big Red, RGT Cesario and RGT Accroc.
 Rockstar was slower through stem elongation and slightly later to develop than Scepter, stiff strawed with intermediate disease resistance.
 Looking at lodging and straw stiffness Manning was the weakest strawed variety tested.

The following 1st HYC stage screen was amalgamated with the SARDI untreated nursery to evaluate phenology for HYC and disease for NVT in the absence of fungicide protection.
 To give a guide to suitable phenology for this site sown in April, the high yielding feed wheats Anapurna and RGT Accroc give good indications of flowering windows, however it should be noted that RGT Accroc was earlier than normal for the research
site this season.
 The European lines Reflection and Tabasco that gave the highest yields on the research site in 2021 (12.74 & 12.5t/ha) are typically too long season for the lower SE environment, however in 2021 the mild conditions during November and
December allowed these lines to finish.
 The AGF lines including 4618, 4818 and Big Red were also high yielding and again had phenology similar to Anapurna which has performed strongly over the last four years at SA Crop Technology Centre.

 For mid-April sowing dates at the SA Crop Technology Centre (CTC) barley has been under consistent pressure from disease and lodging.
 New spring introductions all have improved net form net blotch resistance compared to the current control RGT Planet but are weaker for Scald (referenced in table 2)
 Leaf rust was evident in high yielding European introductions Laureate and Sanette
 Winter barley reference in table 2 (shaded in light red) had superior disease packages compared to spring barley.
 Head loss, brackling and lodging was a major constraint in 2020 at this location and the winter barleys were inferior to spring barley for head retention.
 Some of these lines were also assessed for yield at the same sowing date in the HYC Elite Screen trial (Trial 2 – next write up).

 For mid-May sowing dates at the SA Crop Technology Centre (CTC) barley has been under consistent pressure from disease and lodging.
 The levels of NFNB were less in the current control RGT Planet at the second sowing date suggesting delaying sowing date is a viable solution to reducing NFNB pressure.
 European introductions Laureate and Sanette were clean for disease at this sowing date compared to Australian cultivars.
 Crop development speed rankings changed at this sowing date compared to the earlier sowing date. There is a suite of new spring introductions more suited to the long season environment with improved disease resistance package compared to RGT Planet. This presents an exciting opportunity for subsequent HYC trials.
 Some of these lines were also assessed for yield at the same sowing date in the HYC Elite
Screen trial (Trial 2).

 Disease pressure and lodging were high at the VIC Crop Technology Centre (CTC) in 2020
 New spring introductions all have improved net form net blotch resistance compared to the current control RGT Planet but are weaker for Scald
 Head loss and lodging was a major constraint in 2020 at this location and the winter barleys were inferior to spring barley for head retention.
 New spring introductions were slower to develop than current controls RGT Planet, and winter cultivars flowered during the optimum period for Gnarwarre.
 Some of these lines were also assessed for yield at the same sowing date in the HYC Elite Screen trial (Trial 2)

 New spring introductions offered slower developing alternatives to RGT Planet, while Rosalind was the quickest cultivar
 There was a larger gap in the development speed of spring cultivars and winter cultivars in WA compared to the eastern states.
 The incidence of disease was very low in 2020 at this site and there were minimal differences between cultivars.
 These cultivars were evaluated for yield in stage 2 screen presented below

 The variation in crop development highlighted the difference between the European and Australian spring germplasm suitability to spring sown conditions.
 Photoperiod (daylength) responsive cultivars progressed to heading too quickly for spring sown conditions, these examples include Rosalind, Fathom, IGB1844, and Laperouse.
 Photoperiod sensitive cultivars in the range from RGT Planet, Laureate, and Westminster developed slower and are likely to be more suited to spring planting
 Lodging and brackling responses varied across cultivars, however all introduced cultivars had lower levels of lodging than the lodging control Compass under irrigated conditions
 These lines progressed to yield evaluation in the next experiment

• For mid-April sowing dates at the SA Crop Technology Centre (CTC) Anapurna has been one of the most consistent varieties grown over the last three years.
• In the following tables varieties with similar phenology (Table 1) and better disease resistance and standing power compared to Anapurna (Table 2) have been referenced.
• The other controls were based on Scepter (spring), Trojan (spring), RGT Accroc (winter) and Nighthawk (facultative).
• Of those lines which had similar phenology to Anapurna and equivalent or better than disease resistance and standing power it was AGF codes, SFR codes, GS-18-105-W, BA26.35 and AGT004 that looked most promising.
• Some of these lines were also assessed for yield at the same sowing date in the HYC Elite Screen trial (Trial 2).

• Cultivars performed similarly at the second sowing date but lower disease pressure resulted in more screened cultivars looking to be potential candidates (those with less than 10% plot infection and no or little lodging issues (less than lodging index score of 50).
• GSUQ-19-48-W, LPB16-0582 and V13079-049 showed STB infection below 10% in addition to those cultivars outlined as more disease resistant in the April sowing screen.

• On 4 September wheat development varied from first node (GS31) to the end of booting (GS49) with Trojan being the most advanced of those wheats tested.
• A number of varieties looked promising in terms of straw strength/standing power and disease resistance to Septoria tritici blotch (STB) and rust.
• Unfortunately, many of the northern European lines were too long for the southern Victorian HRZ environment. These included Graham, Reflection, Shabras and Savello, although the disease resistant cultivar Reflection performed well in the yielded trial (Trial 2).
• Promising lines were represented by SFR86-092, LPB16-0598, AGFWH004618, AGFWH004718 and some of AGT codes 003 & 005. (See trial 2 – Yielded screen entries).

• Stripe rust (Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici) was the most destructive disease in the untreated screen, severely affecting Trojan and LPB17-4713 (95% and 75% plot infection respectively).
• Septoria tritici blotch (STB) caused by the pathogen Zymoseptoria tritici was notable in terms of green leaf area lost, with between 15-20% infection severity in GSUQ-19-48-W, IGW6563, IGW6496 and V12069-076.
• Powdery Mildew (Blumeria graminis f. sp. tritici) was only evident in Nighthawk.
• Since Anapurna and RGT Accroc produced the highest yields in the germplasm management trial (GEM Trial 2) the following varieties had similar phenology and as good as or better than disease resistance and standing power (straw strength). Of the varieties were V13079-049, BX7932-074, BX7932-039 and SFR86-090 codes.

Yields ranged from 2.75 to 6.16t/ha under different disease management strategies.

The addition of an SDHI to fungicide program had the largest impact on yield in Planet.

The application of Systiva on the seed under high disease pressure in this example suggests it is still having good efficacy in the lower SE.

Quality results also were affected, disease managed plots had higher grain screenings than unmanaged plots.

There was no significant response to fungicide for grain yield or grain quality from spring sowing (table 1 and table 2).
Disease levels were low, but despite up to 20% of the leaf area affected with net form of net blotch and scald there was no yield response (figure 1).
Spring sown barley is incredibly robust, the canopy develops rapidly and disease develops later and has less impact on grain yield.

This is a similar finding to 2020, and demonstrates intensive fungicide inputs, and more expensive SDHI chemistries may not be required to the same degree as autumn sown systems (see Millicent results 2021).

Fungicide management had little to no influence on grain quality and yield in Planet in 2021 despite low levels of disease in the plots.
These data is in contrast to cool longer season HRZ environments where the addition of an SDHI or more robust chemistry is providing large yield increases.
Caution should be taken when interpreting single site data. Planet is very susceptible to disease and single site data needs to be combined with other sites and environments to determine where and when we are most likely to achieve a yield response to increased
fungicide inputs.

 The feed winter wheats RGT Accroc, Anapurna and RGT Cesario significantly out yielded all other cultivars at all three levels of fungicide input and achieved over 10t/ha with fungicide input.
 There was a significant interaction between cultivar and fungicide management with the stripe rust susceptible cultivars Trojan and Catapult giving yield responses of 1.09 and 3.58t/ha to a single flag leaf fungicide compared to less than a 1t/ha with the majority of cultivars.
 Septoria tritici blotch (STB) was the principal disease in untreated crops of Scepter and Beckom, whilst stripe rust (pathotype 239 dominant with 198 pathotype also present) was the main disease in Trojan, RGT Accroc and Catapult. Other cultivars were subject to low levels of both stripe rust and STB disease pressure.
 Only Trojan and Catapult gave significant yield increases to the application of more than one fungicide unit while only Trojan gave a significant yield increase to four units of fungicide (seed treatment and three foliar fungicides).
 The significant interaction observed in grain yields was also apparent in the grain quality (protein, test weights and screenings) and the resulting wheat grade.
 Highest return on investment with fungicide was seen in the spring wheat cultivars Trojan, Beckom and Catapult due to both higher grain yield and better grain quality.

Increasing fungicide input across seven cultivars of wheat produced significant interactions in both grain yield and quality (protein, test weight and screenings) (Tables 1 – 5). The influence of treatment on net margin, cost benefit ratios ($ earnt for $ spent) and gross margins are presented in Tables 6-8. The disease recorded in the trials was principally Septoria tritici blotch (STB), stripe rust
and leaf rust, levels of which are presented.

 Yields of 14t/ha and above were achieved with three varieties of wheat - Big Red, RGT Cesario and RGT Accroc with untreated plots of RGT Cesario and Big Red yielding 13.52 and 13.68t/ha.
 Although the untreated crops of RGT Cesario and Big Red were lower yielding than treated plots there was no statistically significant yield response to fungicides in these varieties with a maximum 0.5t/ha response in Cesario and 0.7t/ha response in Big Red.
 These responses to fungicides compared to the more susceptible RGT Accroc giving a maximum of 3t/ha to fungicide, intermediate susceptibility of Anapurna giving a maximum of 2.57t/ha.
 These larger responses to fungicides were the result of higher infection levels of Septoria tritici blotch (STB) and late leaf rust infection which were far less significant in Cesario and Big Red.
 The response to four units of fungicide in Revenue, the most susceptible cultivar for both STB and leaf rust was almost 4t/ha and the yield penalty for dropping to 2 units of fungicide was a minimum of 0.7t/ha.
 With RGT Cesario the yield increase associated with moving from a single flag spray to 4 units of fungicide was only 0.22t/ha (not significant) valued at $66/ha at $300/t, which was approximately the cost of the extra fungicide units (seed treatment and two foliars) and their application.
 With Big Red two units of fungicides (IDM 2-unit approach – GS31 and GS39) gave a 0.28t/ha advantage (not significant) over one spray at flag leaf (GS39).
 Where leaf rust was more severe than early STB the 2-spray straddle approach of a later first and second spray (GS33 & GS55-59) were more successful than the 2 spray IDM approach which had earlier spray timings GS31 and GS39.

 Fungicide management significantly increased yield in all varieties except RGT Cesario.
 The maximum yield response to fungicides was as follows: RGT Accroc (3.81t/ha) > Revenue 3.39t/ha) > RGT Calabro (2.42t/ha), Anapurna (2.2t/ha), Trojan (1.25t/ha) > Big Red (0.97t/ha) > Scepter (0.91t/ha) and RGT Cesario (0.71t/ha).
 At $300/t the value of even the lowest response to fungicide was $213/ha.
 Anapurna and RGT Cesario both generated 11t/ha but in both cases only two fungicide units was required to achieve these yields, whereas with RGT Accroc it was necessary to use 4 units of fungicide to maximise yield.
 Maximum yield response was achieved with 4 units of fungicide in RGT Calabro, Revenue, Trojan and Big Red.
 With Scepter there was little yield difference (0.14t/ha) between 2 and 4 units of fungicide.
 The impact of fungicide application was noted in grain quality with all fungicide strategies showing lower screenings, although the impact on screenings was clearly related to the size of yield increase, such that with Revenue there was a large difference in screenings (4%) between management approaches and only 1% with RGT Cesario.

 Yields were severely curtailed by waterlogging in this trial but results mirror what was observed in disease levels at other HYC research sites.
 Waterlogging compressed the yield impact of fungicide application, but the influence of genetic resistance was still apparent in the results.
 As observed at other centres Revenue gave a significantly greater response (maximum 2.61t/ha) to a disease management package than the higher yielding cultivars such as RGT Cesario and Anapurna where the maximum response to fungicide was 0.51t/ha and 0.55t/ha respectively.
 These larger responses to fungicides were the result of higher infection levels of Septoria tritici blotch (STB) and late leaf rust infection which were far less significant in Cesario and Big Red.
 The other aspect of the yield results that is more noticeable is that with the more disease resistant lines there is much less difference in whether it was 1, 2 or 4 units of fungicide.

 The fungicide treatments were effective in reducing the incidence of foliar disease, however yield responses to fungicide were not significant at this site in 2020.
 Hv8 Nitro had greater infection of Spot Form Net Blotch (SFNB) than Planet, The addition of the seed treatment Systiva combined with a 2-spray foliar fungicide program reduced the infection levels of SFNB on Nitro. In the absence of a seed treatment the additional fungicide at GS39 had little effect on SNFB control suggest GS31 treatments are more effective.
 RGT Planet is more susceptible than HV8 Nitro to NFNB, greater control of infection was achieved in Planet with two foliar sprays compared to one application and untreated, while Nitro achieved similar control with one application at GS31. In this season the addition of Systiva as a seed treatment did not further improve control in Planet, or Nitro.
 Grain quality responses were significant and disease control enabled Planet to achieve malting specification. All fungicide treatments improved test weight by more than 1kg/hl and increased grain plumpness by between 4 – 6% larger.

 Compared to the untreated control a single application of fungicide did not improve yields despite reducing the incidence of NFNB in Planet, and Scald in HV8 Nitro.
 The movement to a two spray fungicide strategy with the first timing at GS31 followed by the second timing at GS39 – 49 increased yield by 0.9 and 1t/ha respectively compared to the untreated control or single unit application.
 The inclusion of an SDHI seed dressing Systiva did not improve yields relative to the two unit fungicide strategy.
 These findings suggest the second timing of GS39-49 is providing the majority of the yield improvement observed at this experiment in 2020, this finding is also true for the level of disease infection expressed
 The use of fungicides applied at GS39 – 49 are consistently improving grain quality and the frequency in which malting quality is achieved even in the absence of a yield response and should not be ignored
 The lack of yield response to seed dressings, and early applications of fungicide suggest that the disease is developing later in the canopy from this sowing date. Subsequent work will follow up this observation in 2021.

 The fungicide treatments were effective in reducing the incidence of foliar disease (namely Scald and Net From Net Blotch), prolonging green leaf area and significantly increasing yield at this site in 2020.
 In two susceptible cultivars a single spray application of Prosaro at GS31 increased grain yield on average by 0.62t/ha and shifting to a two-spray strategy with the addition of Radial at GS39-49 increased yield by 1.5t/ha. The addition of the seed treatment Systiva at sowing to this treatment did not further reduce disease infection levels or increase grain yield. These results highlight the later follow up application is likely to be more effective and important than fungicide usage prior to GS31.
 The yield responses observed from the two foliar spray strategies are correlated to both a reduction in Scald and Net Form Net Blotch but also an increase in green leaf area.
 Grain quality responses were significant, noticeably the later fungicide application increased test weight by 2kg/hL in RGT Planet.
 The benefits of maintaining a green leaf during grain fill are influencing grain quality in malting barley consistently across the high rainfall zone and even in the absence of a yield response should not be overlooked.

 There was limited visual disease symptoms at this site in 2020, however a significant yield response to fungicide was measured. Untreated achieved an average yield of 5.51t/ha.
 A single application of Folicur at GS31 increased yield by 0.35t/ha, and an additional application of Opus at GS39 – 49 did not offer any additional yield benefit.
 The treatment combining Systiva seed dressing, Folicur at GS31 and Radial at GS39-49 yielding 0.58t/ha higher than the untreated control but not significantly greater than the single application.
 The benefits of maintaining a green leaf during grain fill even in the absence of significant disease required further investigation.
 Later fungicide timings are consistently influencing grain quality in malting barley across the high rainfall zone and even in the absence of a yield response should not be overlooked.

 A low seed density of 100 seeds/m2 yielded 0.5 t/ha less than the current recommended rate for spring sown barley (300 seeds/m2)
 Seeding rates greater than 200 seeds/m2 up until 500 seeds/m2 did not result in additional yield or quality responses.
 Lodging was not exacerbated by higher seeding densities
 These results confirm growers can continue to target current recommended seed densities of 300 seeds/m2 for spring sown barley

• There was a significant interaction between variety and fungicide management on grain yield indicating that varieties responded differently to the application of fungicide.
• The more disease resistant winter feed wheats Tabasco, Anapurna and SFR86-090 were significantly higher yielding than other cultivars when left untreated with fungicide or when treated with only one unit of fungicide at flag leaf.
• In addition, the margin return with each of these varieties were maximised with one unit of fungicide applied at GS39 as opposed to four units of fungicide applied at seeding, GS31, GS39 and GS61.
• The dominant disease in the trial was Septoria tritici blotch (STB) with leaf rust also present through much of the season as a result of the earlier mid-April sowing.
• RGT Accroc suffered the greatest yield reduction when left untreated with fungicide with a 3.81t/ha yield reduction, in large part due to the leaf rust pressure.
• Much of the effect of fungicide application is observed in green leaf retention at flowering and grain fill (Figure 1 – 4) whether measured subjectively or using crop reflectance (NDVI).
• There is evidence that leaf rust susceptible cultivars such as RGT Accroc may have lost yield to leaf rust post flowering as at flowering (GS65) the flag leaf already showed 5% infection in the treatment that had four units of fungicide applied.
• The significance of late leaf rust development in a warmer November cannot be understated and may have taken yield from the more susceptible varieties in the GEM trial (Trial 3).

• The feed winter wheats SF Adagio, RGT Accroc and Anapurna were the only cultivars to break through the 9t/ha threshold.
• SF Adagio at 9.67 t/ha was significantly superior to all other cultivars with one fungicide applied (GS39 flag leaf emergence spray).
• There was a significant interaction between cultivar and fungicide management with the stripe rust and Septoria tritici blotch (STB) susceptible cultivars giving large yield responses to high input fungicide input (e.g. Trojan had a 6.83 t/ha response to controlling stripe rust, Revenue a 2.87 t/ha response to fungicide as a result of STB and leaf rust control).
• In contrast, the STB resistant varieties SF Adagio, Tabasco and Nighthawk gave less than 1 t/ha response to 4 units of fungicide over the untreated with no statistical yield difference between 1 and 4 fungicide units. STB levels at flag leaf were observed to be less than 5%.
• STB was the principal disease in the majority of varieties with the more resistant cultivars SF Adagio and Anapurna being the only varieties to deliver over 8t/ha when untreated with fungicide, however all cultivars including these two generated significantly more yield with fungicide.
• Unfortunately, Tabasco’s excellent STB resistance is combined with a phenology that is generally too long for a southern HRZ mainland environment.

• Systiva was less effective against Septoria (75% control) than stripe rust infection when assessed at flag leaf (GS39) but control was not complete.

• The feed winter wheats RGT Accroc and Anapurna significantly out yielded all other cultivars at all three levels of disease management and achieved over 10t/ha with fungicide input.
• There was a significant interaction between cultivar and fungicide management with the stripe rust susceptible cultivars Trojan and DS Bennett giving yield responses of 5.27 and 3.07 t/ha to a single flag leaf fungicide compared to less than a 1t/ha with the majority of cultivars.
• Septoria tritici blotch (STB) was the principal disease in untreated crops of Scepter and Beckom, whilst stripe rust was the main disease in Trojan, DS Bennett, Coolah, RGT Accroc and Catapult. Other cultivars were subject to low levels of both stripe rust and STB disease pressure.
• Only Trojan, Catapult, Coolah and DS Bennett gave significant yield increases to the application of four units of fungicide (seed treatment and three foliar fungicides) over a single flag spray.
• It was noted that compared to lower altitude locations stripe rust infection was relatively later at the Wallendbeen, NSW location (540m above sea level).
• Note of caution. At the southern Victorian location at Gnarwarre Trojan was almost completely defoliated in the lower canopy under the one spray regime compared to Wallendbeen and the 1 spray approach was little better than the untreated (both approaches yielding under 3t/ha).
• The significant interaction observed in grain yields was also apparent in the grain quality (test weights and screenings).

Maximum yields achieved in early sown spring cultivars was 8.24 and 7.77t/ha in high rainfall control cultivars RGT Planet and Rosalind, and other experimental spring lines topped 8.49t/ha.

Pixel a 6 row winter barley achieved 10.5t/ha, and 2 row winter cultivars achieved 9.2 and 9.4t/ha.  Defoliation to delay development did not improve yield in Rosalind and Planet.

Grain quality (table 3) of high yielding winter lines achieved malt specifications, whereas spring cultivars had lower test weights and higher grain screenings.
This is an exciting development in earlier sowing barley systems to achieve yields >10t/ha and suggests this sowing date is unsuited to current and experimental spring barley cultivars.

Head loss and lodging was minimal in this experiment.

RGT Planet and Rosalind both yielded 7.85 and 8.02t/ha respectively.

Minotaur and IGB1844 were the highest yield cultivars yielding 9.03t/ha and 9.33t/ha respectively.

Cultivars that had superior head retention yielded higher such as the erect plant type observed in IGB1844.

Water logging tolerant Planet yielded similar to Planet under non water logged conditions suggesting it has similar yield potential.

Fandaga barley yielded less than all other cultivars and appears unsuited to the peat soils around Millicent for the second season in a row.

Winter cultivars Cassiopee and Pixel yielded 6.73t/ha and 6.14t/ha respectively less than the best performing spring cultivars.

Cultivars differed in quality, protein levels were all above 11.8% and other grain quality parameters were within malt quality receival standards.

The highest yielding cultivar was RGT Planet at 10.84t/ha while many other spring cultivars yielded similarly including Rosalind.
Day length sensitive cultivars such as Laperouse and Minotaur yielded 8.24 and 9.65t/ha respectively.
The older cultivar Westminster 8.65t/ha is now significantly outclassed.
Laureate’s performance was lower than 2020 at 9.93t/ha in 2021, however this was likely due to increased Nitrogen and lodging which will be discussed in the G*E*M trial.
Other new variety commercial releases such as Fandaga yielded competitive with Planet.
Grain protein levels were all above 11% except for AGTB0244.

Significant variability in yields were likely due to frost events around flowering and some head loss.
Evidence of early flowering and grain fill cold stress is reflected in lower test weights.
Yields ranged from 5.5-7t/ha more exploration into the variability needs to be conducted and reliable conclusions cannot be established from the data.
Similar yields achieved between early and late flowering cultivars.

 RGT Accroc (13.4t/ha) continues to be the high yielding feed wheat to beat being statistically higher yielding than all other wheats except Beaufort (spring feed), GS-18-105-W, AGFWH004618 and Big Red.
 Amongst white wheats with potential quality LPB16-0598 is the standout cultivar going forward. Rockstar did not feature at this HYC location but was in Trial 1 for the first year and will feature in HYC Elite trials in 2022.
 SFR86-085 is the other variety worthy of note as a high yielding winter white wheat which progressed from HYC 1st stage screening last season to the Elite Screen in 2022. It has good disease resistance and standing power (see 2020 HYC wheat).

 The highest yielding spring cultivar at 9.76t/ha yielded similar to the control RGT Planet at 8.72t/ha while Rosalind was lower yield at 8.35t/ha
 The highest yielding 2 row and 6 row winter barley was Newton at 7.13t/ha and Pixel 7.43t/ha respectively (shaded green in table below).
 Proteins were in the range for malting however test weights were low suggesting some weather damage these ranged from 63.3 – 68.3 in spring cultivars, and 60.4 – 67.7 in winter cultivars.
 The phenology responses range from the earliest flowering in the spring cultivars Rosalind on the 11th September and Planet on the 19th September.
 Winter cultivars developed slower with the fastest winter being Urambie flowering on the 30 September through to the 17th October in Newton
 Despite flowering at a more optimum time for Millicent yields were lower from later flowering. This was due to a combination of reduced light limiting potential yield and head loss and lodging were the major causes of yield loss in the winter cultivars.

 The highest yielding spring cultivar was Laureate at 9.83t/ha yielded similar to the control RGT Planet at 9.58t/ha while Rosalind yielded 8.98 respectively.
 Despite being sown later the winter cultivar Cassiopee achieved 7.33t/ha
 Proteins were in the range for malting.
 Importantly test weights were higher at the second sowing date suggesting barley is better adapted to this position in the rotation. Testweights ranged from 64.5 – 70.7 all in the range for malting.
 In general yields were higher from the second sowing date. The data demonstrates that there are now cultivars capable of achieving similar yields to Planet with improved disease resistance (when combined with the disease data from stage 1 screen)

 Similar yields were achieved between the highest yielding spring and winter cultivars despite flowering a month apart and at a more optimum time for Gnarwarre. We postulate higher yields were not achieved from later flowering due to a combination of reduced light in October limiting potential yield (biomass) and increased incidence of lodging in the winter cultivars.
 The highest yielding spring cultivar was the quick spring cultivar control Rosalind at 8.33t/ha, while RGT Planet yielded 7.88t/ha.
 The highest yielding 2 row and 6 row winter barley was Newton at 8.37/ha and Pixel 8.48t/ha respectively (shaded green in table below).
 Proteins were in the range for malting however test weights were low particularly in the six row winter cultivars consistent with other sites. Test weights ranged from 63.6 – 68.0 in spring cultivars, and 55.8 – 67.4 in winter cultivars.

 Spring cultivars were significantly higher yielding than winter cultivars at this site in 2020. This was due to a dry winter and increased heat during grain fill relative to other hyper yielding environments. Fast spring cultivars achieved higher yields by accumulating more biomass and a higher harvest index
 The highest yielding spring cultivar was Laperouse a new release at 4.96t/ha and similar to the quick spring cultivar control Rosalind at 4.83 t/ha, while the other quick – mid control RGT Planet yielded similar at 4.63t/ha.
 The highest yielding winter barley was Urambie at 3.69 t/ha compared to slower developing winters all yielding less than 3t/ha. This suggests faster winter types are required for WA and will require a targeted breeding effort.
 Proteins were in the range for malting however test weights were less than 60 in all winter cultivars particularly in the six row winter cultivars consistent with other sites.

 The highest yielding spring cultivar in this experiment was Laureate at 11.42t/ha compared to the quick spring cultivar control Rosalind at 9.27 t/ha and RGT Planet yielded 10.43 t/ha.
 Yields achieved at this site were the highest across the hyper yielding program and shows the adaptation of barley to spring sown conditions in Tasmania. The long sunny days and cool grain fill conditions allowed for greater biomass accumulation and maintenance of grain weight.
 Alestar, Fathom, IGB1844, Laperouse, Rosalind and other photoperiod responsive cultivars yielded significantly lower (less than 9.5 t/ha) than the cultivars without a strong photoperiod requirement such as RGT Planet, Laureate, Hv8 Nitro, and the AGTB0244 line
 Grain proteins were greater than 12% and outside of malt specification, while testweight varied and in general the faster developing cultivars trended lower.
 At the time of this report final dry matters have yet to be calculated.