Barley varieties and agronomy - Southern NSW 2010

 

 

 

 

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.  

 

 

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 southern NSW, with smaller areas of Baudin. 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. 

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.

 

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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).

Fairview is a proprietary malting variety grown under contract to Malteurop for supply to the malt plant at Geelong. It has similar maturity to Gairdner with improved straw strength, leaf rust resistance and competitive yield under favourable conditions. It was the outstanding variety in irrigated trials in southern NSW in 2008 and performed well again in 2009.

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.

 

Yield results for selected varieties from southern NSW NVT trials in 2009 are shown in Table 1 and plump grain (retention) results in Table 2. There was a limited number of successful trials and yields were well below long term averages. 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 equalled Schooner at Quandialla but was inferior at Lockhart. 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 I&I NSW Winter Crop Variety Sowing Guide.

 

 

 

Southern Barley Agronomy Project

 

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.

 

 

 

 

 

Barley has not been a traditional irrigation crop, probably because of its susceptibility to water-logging on older irrigation systems. These constraints have been reduced by widespread changes to irrigation layouts, particularly improved structures, laser-levelling, permanent beds and better drainage systems. In 2009, an irrigated variety trial was conducted near Griffith and a variety by seeding rate trial at Coleambally. Variety results are shown in Table 3.

 

Capstan, a long-season feed variety of short stature and excellent lodging resistance yielded well. Fairview was the highest yielding of the limited set at Coleambally; it also shows good lodging resistance despite being quite tall. Gairdner yields were disappointing, and Hindmarsh yields were low. The very quick development pattern of Hindmarsh may limit yield yields under full irrigation although this may be partly overcome by higher seeding rates.

 

 

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.

  

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.

  

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.

 

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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Flowering time is the most important factor in adapting a crop to an environment. Many barley varieties respond to day length 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 4 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 its 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.

 

 

 

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

 

 

DAN0104 - Southern Barley Agronomy