BARLEY VARIETIES AND AGRONOMY - CENTRAL NSW 2010

| Date: 16 Sep 2010

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Background

Barley continues to play an important role in central NSW farming systems, helped by the release of higher-yielding varieties, concerns about leaf diseases in wheat, the requirement for weed competitive crops in managing herbicide resistance, and a desire to reduce risk by crop diversification. Barley can be valuable as a rotation crop with wheat, particularly in no-till and stubble retention systems, as it is not a host for most wheat foliar diseases. Its vigorous early growth allows it to compete well with weeds, needing lower herbicide inputs and restricting weed seed set. 

Barley Varieties

Growers now have access to a number of new feed and malt varieties which have a range of improvements in yield, disease resistance and malting quality over older varieties. When choosing a variety they need to consider the available markets as well as agronomic performance. Market deregulation and the emergence of the container trade have led to a wider range of variety and marketing options for growers in NSW. 

Schooner and Gairdner  have been the preferred malting barley varieties in central NSW, with smaller areas of Baudin  and some Fitzroy  in the north. They have now been joined by Buloke  and Commander . Of the feed varieties, Hindmarsh  continues to perform well, particularly under drier conditions, while Fleet  is a taller alternative but can lodge under favourable conditions. Shepherd  is the latest addition to this list and may replace Grout  in more northern areas. 

Buloke

Now a fully-accredited malting variety suited to the export market, the area sown to Buloke  is expected to increase. It continues to perform well in mid-lower rainfall areas and as a later sown option in wetter areas.

Shepherd 

Shepherd  is a relatively early maturing feed variety, with good straw strength, yield and grainsize compared to established northern region varieties. Shepherd  is resistant to powdery mildew and moderately resistant to leaf rust but is susceptible to scald and spot form net blotch.

Commander

Commander  is a mid maturing malting variety with yield potential rivalling current feed varieties and excellent grain size in terms of both screenings and retention. It is likely to suit domestic breweries and some export markets. Initial seed sales have targeted northern NSW but seed availability should increase for the remainder of NSW in 2010. It is later to flower than Schooner and Buloke  (see later) and appears to perform best under higher-yielding conditions (e.g. > 3 t/ha).

Yield results for selected varieties from central NSW NVT trials in 2009 are shown in Table 1 and plump grain (retention) results in Table 2. Of the feed varieties, Hindmarsh  was outstanding across the region and Fleet  also performed well. For malting, Commander  gave good yields and high retention percentages. Buloke  out-yielded Schooner at Quandialla but unfortunately was not included in the other sites. These results are only from one year, and in deciding on varieties for 2010, growers should consider the across season results available shortly on the NVT website and in the 2010 NSW DPI Winter Crop Variety Sowing Guide.

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Southern and Northern Barley Agronomy Projects

Southern Barley Agronomy, a tri-state initiative supported by GRDC and SAGIT, has been established to provide variety specific management advice for newly released barley varieties.  Research partners include I&I NSW, Birchip Cropping Group, Southern Farming Systems and SARDI. A complimentary Northern Project is conducted by I&I NSW and QDPI&F. A major focus is on the suitability of varieties for no-till farming systems, and the differences between varieties in terms of weed competitiveness, herbicide tolerance and nitrogen and row spacing responses. Some initial results from 2009 are presented here, but at the time of writing (Jan 2010) detailed statistical analyses and grain quality measurements have not been completed.

1. Seeding depth responses

An ability to establish well under a range of seedbed conditions is desirable in cereal varieties. Moisture-seeking, heavy stubble residues, rain between seeding and emergence and the need to avoid pre-emergent herbicides can result in the need for plants to emerge from greater than ideal depth.

Twelve barley varieties were sown at three depths (44, 87, and 112 mm of soil above the seed) at Condobolin in 2008, using seed from a common 2007 site. Seed was graded into three sizes and was untreated except for one lot of medium-size seed which was treated with the higher registered rate of triadimenol.  Emergence results are shown in Figure 1.

Deeper sowing reduced emergence in all varieties. At 87 mm, the reduction was greatest in Buloke , Gairdner  and Fitzroy  (average 57% emergence) and least for Fleet  and Commander  (73%). At 112 mm, there was a similar pattern with Buloke , Gairdner , Fitzroy  and Hindmarsh  the poorest (40%) and Fleet  the best (64%). Emergence was related to coleoptile length and not to plant height. Buloke , a tall variety, has a short coleoptile and emerged poorly from depth whereas Baudin , a semi-dwarf variety, emerged well from depth.

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The experiment was repeated in 2009, using seed from a common 2008 site, but without the three seed size treatments. Sowing depths (thickness of soil above the seed) were 52, 77 and 101 mm, and soil moisture content remained high (with no crusting) through out the establishment period. Emergence results are shown in Figure 2. Deeper sowing reduced emergence in most comparisons, although the reductions were generally less than in 2008, possibly because the sowing depths were closer together. At both 77 and 101 mm, Fleet  showed the least reduction in emergence, followed by Buloke , Commander  and Schooner. Hindmarsh  and Grout  showed the poorest emergence, particularly from 101 mm. The variety responses were generally similar to 2008 with the exception of Buloke , which performed much better in 2010. 

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Seed treatment with triadimenol suppressed emergence in all varieties in 2008 (Figure 3), particularly at deeper sowing depths, in line with its known effect of shortening coleoptile length. The effect of triadimenol was greatest where varieties with short coleoptiles were sown at 87 or 112 mm, resulting in emergence values only 20-40% of those for untreated seed.

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Triadimenol also reduced emergence in 2009, but the effect was much smaller than in 2008, particularly with deeper sowing (Figure 4). Averaged over 12 varieties, triadimenol reduced emergence by 11% at the two shallower depths and 19% with deep sowing.

Overall, these results emphasise the need to sow varieties that have short coleoptiles at shallow depths and to take care with seed grading and the use of seed dressings.

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One reason for deeper sowing is to allow the timely establishment of crops earlier in the sowing window. Figure 5 compares deep sowing (120 mm) barley earlier in the sowing window compared to delaying sowing until sufficient moisture is available for establishment without moisture seeking (50 mm). Even though the plant population was halved with deep sowing compared to the shallower depth the yield from the early sowing was 0.8 t/ha higher than where sowing was delayed until later in the season.

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2. Phenology

Flowering time is the most important factor in adapting a crop to an environment. Many barley varieties respond to daylength as well as to temperature, and so their maturity rankings can change with latitude. Development pattern also has a strong influence on grain number per ear in two row barleys. Table 3 shows anthesis dates for 17 barley varieties sown on three dates at Condobolin in 2009.

The warm, dry conditions in 2009 hastened development, particularly from the later sowing dates. Hindmarsh  was the quickest commercial variety to flower from all sowing dates; Grout , Shepherd , Buloke  and Schooner were also relatively quick. Commander , Fitzroy , Tantangara and Tulla  were consistently in the mid-flowering group. Gairdner  became progressively later with later sowings, reinforcing the need to sow this variety early. In contrast, Urambie  was by far the latest to flower with early sowing, a result of it’s vernalisation requirement, but became relatively quicker with later sowings. The ideal ear emergence date will vary with season, being a balance between achieving sufficient biomass (but not excessive water use) by flowering and the risk of frost.

Yield and quality data from the sowing time trials is not available at the time of writing but will be presented at the Update.

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Contact details

Dr Neil Fettell
Industry & Investment NSW
Condobolin Agricultural Research Station
PO Box 300, Condobolin NSW 2877
Ph:  02 6895 2099
Fax; 02 68 952688
Email:  neil.fettell@dpi.nsw.gov.au

GRDC Project Code: DAN0104 - Southern B,