Barley variety update 2013

Jason Eglinton¹ and Rob Wheeler^2
1 Barley Program Leader, School of Agriculture, Food & Wine, University of Adelaide
² Leader, New Variety Agronomy, SARDI, Waite Campus

Keywords: barley, new variety performance, National Variety Trials, variety adoption

Take Home Messages:

• Fathom leads barley yield results
• Commander and Buloke remain the highest yielding malting varieties
• European type varieties falter

The 2012 Season

The area sown to barley in South Australia increased from last season to 960,000 hectares in 2012/13 which is below the long term average of over 1.1 million hectares. Barley production is estimated at 1.7 million tonnes for 2012/13 with a state wide average yield of 1.80 t/ha (ABARES 2012). The changes in barley yield in South Australia are illustrated in Figure 1 which shows the five year rolling mean since 1970. Grain yield doubled in the period from 1970 to 2000 but in more recent years production was significantly affected by drought conditions in 2007 and 2008 and the ‘millennium drought’ of 2006. The five year average has only now recovered to a similar value to that of 2000, but it can reasonably be expected to return to the long term trend line in Figure 1. Continued adoption of new high yield varieties and at least average rainfall distribution in 2013 supporting production of 2.4 t/ha (compared to production in 2010 of 2.67 t/ha) would see the five year mean reach 2.2 t/ha and return to the trend line set between 1970 and 2000. The trends in variety adoption seen over the past few years continued in 2012 with Hindmarsh increasing to 23% of production and Commander increasing to 19% to be the two dominant varieties in the state. Buloke increased more modestly from 10% to 12% while Fleet is the other major variety accounting for 16% of SA barley production. The older varieties Schooner, Barque, Maritime, Gairdner and Flagship have dropped to each being only 3% of production while the Sloop varieties dropped from 23% in 2009 to just 2% of production in 2012. The feed variety Keel also continues to trend down but still accounted for over 6% of barley deliveries to Viterra from the 2012 season.

Figure 1. Trends in barley productivity (t/ha) in South Australia shown as the 5 year mean of state grain yield (Source ABARES).

Seasonal conditions in 2012/13 were highly variable across the state and combined with a wide range of sowing dates resulted in significant variability in crop performance. Winter temperatures were below average which contributed to the reduced incidence and severity of fungal disease infection in barley. The low levels of leaf rust were a particular contrast to recent seasons. Generally mild conditions during grain filling offset below average spring rainfall to some degree, although crops on shallow or heavier soils suffered significant moisture stress. Several frosts were recorded in September and widespread frost events occurred during early October. Despite the challenging seasonal conditions barley production and physical grain quality was generally good. Based on deliveries to Viterra, Commander achieved the highest proportion within malting specification while Schooner achieved the lowest. Downgrades were predominantly due to high screenings or protein levels being either too high or more commonly too low.

2012 NVT Results

Seeding dates for National Variety Trials ranged from 14^th May at Cummins to 15^th June at Turretfield and were evenly distributed over the one month period. All trials returned statistically acceptable results. Site mean yield ranged from 1.74 t/ha at Streaky Bay up to 5.3 t/ha at Bordertown with an average across the 20 trials of 3.34 t/ha. A total of 41 barley varieties and advanced breeding lines were evaluated in the 2012 NVT trial series. Unfortunately seed quality issues resulted in the new varieties Navigator and Skipper being removed from trial analysis. 2012 was the first year barley NVT included fungicide management of foliar diseases. Although disease pressure was generally low there was infection by leaf rust and net form of net blotch in some trials but these were effectively controlled and are not factors to be considered in interpreting 2012 season trial results.

The relative performance of named varieties in 2012 NVT is summarised in Table 1. The grain yield for each variety is expressed as a percentage of the regional mean yield. The mean values are a reasonable guide to the general performance of varieties across the state.  However, results in individual trials do vary. In the previous two seasons the feed variety Oxford has dominated grain yield results in most regions of SA but in 2012 the lack of late spring rain and absence of leaf rust did not suit the variety. Oxford was competitive in the high yielding trials at Bordertown and Cummins but was no better than Gairdner at all other locations. Capstan was the leading performer at both of these high yielding sites.

The absence of leaf rust infection and the early finish to the season suited the early maturity of Keel, which in recent years has struggled to match the regional mean yield values. Despite the better suited seasonal conditions the trial results show the newer feed varieties offer significantly higher grain yield. Hindmarsh performed strongly in the Mid North, Yorke Peninsula and Upper Eyre Peninsula trials while Fleet was more consistent with strong results in these regions and also in the Murray Mallee and Lower Eyre Peninsula trials. The new feed variety Fathom has been in NVT for three years and has demonstrated consistently high grain yield, offers a range of positive agronomic features and will be considered as an option to upgrade from established varieties in most districts.

Table 1. Mean grain yield for named varieties in 2012 NVT as a function of the district mean is shown for each region. The highest yielding malting and feed variety in each region are highlighted in bold and underlined.

In addition to the general trends shown in Table 1 there were also some notable results from individual trials. Maritime was the highest yielding variety at Warooka where its manganese efficiency is expected to provide greatest advantage and it was also highest at Lameroo in the Mallee where the benchmark early vigour of Maritime has been considered important. On Lower Eyre Peninsula the herbicide tolerant variety Scope returned an impressive average yield however this was largely due to the result from Wanilla where it topped the trial exceeding Buloke by 16% (0.62 t/ha). This trial followed a 2011 canola crop which received 40g/ha of On-Duty® and although subsequent summer rainfall suggested a low risk of herbicide residue the trial results indicate this should be considered as part of interpreting variety performance.

Navigator and Bass were awarded malting accreditation by Barley Australia during 2012. Bass was included in all SA NVT sites after only being evaluated in the South East in 2011. SloopSA is retained in the malting section of the table even though it is no longer segregated by Viterra.  However, it remains an accredited malting variety and other organisations may accumulate SloopSA for malting markets. The grain yield results for the malting barley varieties were generally consistent with recent years with Commander and Buloke exhibiting a significant advantage over other varieties. Commander was particularly dominant in the Murray Mallee where it matched the leading feed varieties. Buloke performed relatively better than in 2011 and exceeded Commander for grain yield in the South East and Lower Eyre Peninsula.

Table 1 includes grain yield results for seven varieties undergoing malting accreditation. These varieties are mid to late maturing and are generally targeted to current Gairdner production areas. In 2011 all of these varieties exhibited significant advantages over Gairdner in at least some trials however results from 2012 were more modest. The best performance was from Henley in the South East which matched the yield of Capstan, while Grange was also competitive in the Murray Mallee and Lower Eyre Peninsula. There are a total of 14 breeding lines and varieties undergoing malting accreditation by Barley Australia as detailed in Table 2. Scope, Henley, Grange, Westminster and Macquarie are due to have their commercial malting and brewing results reviewed by the MBIBTC and Barley Australia in March 2013 to determine final accreditation outcomes. Details on the accreditation process and updates on the progress of lines under evaluation are available at http://www.barleyaustralia.com.au

Table 2. Varieties and breeding lines undergoing malting accreditation by Barley Australia.

Table 3. Mean physical grain quality for named varieties in 2012 NVT. Only varieties tested in all trials are included. * denotes accredited malting barley varieties

The physical grain quality from 2012 NVT trials is summarised in Table 3 as mean values from all SA trials. Only data for varieties evaluated in all trials is included. Individual trial results for all characteristics are available from www.nvtonline.com.au. The mean values in Table 3 indicate generally good physical grain quality across the state however individual trial results range from excellent to poor, particularly for grain plumpness. Maritime continues to set the benchmark for grainsize but was closely followed by Fathom and Fleet.  The worst values for grainsize were from Darke Peak, Minnipa, Port Clinton and Turretfield where no malting varieties achieved the 70% grain plumpness requirement and at Minnipa the only varieties to achieve Feed1 screenings levels were Fathom, Fleet, Maritime and Commander. Table 3 shows Buloke and Flagship have grainsize inferior to Schooner, which is consistent with their long term performance, while the new variety Bass has excellent physical grain quality including good test weight. The new varieties only evaluated in higher rainfall areas generally showed better grainsize than Gairdner but were inferior to Bass and Commander. Grain protein levels also varied widely between trials and ranged from an average of 8.0% at Elliston to 16.5% at Port Clinton. The lower grain protein content of Commander and to a lesser extent Buloke is evident in the state wide average values. The thousand kernel weight values in Table 3 show the typical high grain weight of Fleet and Fathom, which should be considered when calculating sowing rates to achieve target plant densities.

Barley Variety Herbicide Tolerance Update

Within herbicide by varietal tolerance trials conducted in the Kybunga district over many seasons, barley varieties have generally not shown herbicide intolerance (measured by yield loss) to the extent of that seen in wheat varieties. However the herbicides Cadence®, Banvel®, Tigrex® and Bromoxynil/MCPA have commonly caused some yield loss and as Table 4 highlights, Cadence® on Buloke, Tigrex® on Fleet and Tigrex® and Bromoxinyl/MCPA on Keel have been some of the more sensitive combinations over time.

These data can be used to identify herbicide by variety combinations which minimise yield loss and best suit individual farming practices, primarily to obtain weed and herbicide resistance control. Information on varieties which have been tested in one year only should be treated with caution pending further trials. This research aims to evaluate all new varieties in the NVT program. For more extensive information please visit NVT Online www.nvtonline.com.au or contact project officer, Michael Zerner SARDI on ph (08) 83039479.

Table 4. Long-term summary of safety rating and potential % yield loss for barley varieties to various herbicides and tank mixes. (SA data from Kybunga district)

Contact Details:

Jason Eglinton

University of Adelaide, Waite Campus

(08) 8313 6553

Jason.Eglinton@adelaide.edu.au

Rob Wheeler

SARDI, Waite Campus.

(08) 83139480

Wheeler.Rob@sa.gov.au