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The 17th annual YP AG Farmer Technology Day was held near Thomas Plains last Wednesday, August 24.
Just more than 100 people were in attendance to inspect the latest innovations and trial work from YP AG agronomists and the industry’s leading presenters.
YP AG research agronomist Alex Burbury welcomed everyone to the super site and thanked the Harris family for allowing YP AG to hold the event on their property.
Alex was grateful for the help of YP AG graduate agronomist Brianna Schaefer throughout the season with the site, as well as the suppliers who had contributed to the trials.
The first trial was the disc versus tine trial where YP AG agriservices agronomist Darryn Schilling, of Bute, gave information about how pre-emergent herbicides affected wheat under the two very different seeding systems.
Maximising the establishment of your crop is paramount to optimising the yield potential of the crop, so it is important to understand how pre-emergent herbicides interact using different seeding systems, and what this means for crop effect.
Growers got an insight into how pre-emergent herbicides work differently in different seasons according to the soil moisture conditions and how much rain falls at what intensity.
A lot of treatments had very visual differences in both crop effect and annual ryegrass control, depending on the mobility and solubility of the herbicide.
YP AG agriservices agronomist Chris Davey, of Kadina, ran the group through the broadleaf weed control in lentils trial.
There is a plethora of different mixes used across the peninsula for controlling broadleaf weeds in lentils, with many growers having different pre-emergent mixes for different paddocks, or even different varieties.
The trial was split into those treatments currently available to growers, and those which may be in the pipeline for weed control or lentil varietal herbicide tolerance.
After a filling lunch, Alex presented information on the options available to control ryegrass in lentils.
This trial demonstrated the importance of new pre-emergent herbicides which provide farmers with a different mode of action to control ryegrass on Yorke Peninsula.
Some of the new herbicides trialled have the added benefit of broadleaf weed control also, an added bonus for local growers.
A collaborative presentation from Dom Meaney, YP AG Maitland, and Troy Johnson, YP AG Yorketown, looked into how lentil nutrition and disease management can be fine-tuned.
Some treatments assessed the response of biological seeding products which may aid the lentil with a better root system to take up more nutrients, as well as better defend against diseases like ascochyta.
Dom mentioned how fungicides should be treated similarly to herbicides, by rotating the mode of action groups in lentil crops.
This led directly into the variety trials where Larn McMurray, GIA, and Nat Lloyd, YP AG Kadina, ran through the new lentil varieties available to growers.
Better disease resistance, higher yields and novel herbicide tolerance traits were all on display.
Yorketown YP AG branch agronomist Ryley Newbold spoke at the cereal variety trial where various old and new varieties were grown side-by-side for comparison.
Calibre wheat from AGT gained a lot of interest from the audience, as did Brumby wheat from Intergrain.
Brumby is the first new wheat variety released in a long while with resistance to powdery mildew, a problematic disease on northern Yorke Peninsula.
Ryley handed over to Nick Wells-Smith from Sipcam who talked about a new herbicide tolerant barley variety called Titan AX.
Titan AX has been bred in partnership with AGT to tolerate Aggressor herbicide, which contains the group A fop active ingredient, quizalofop.
Titan AX may be an alternative to growing Imi-tolerant barley varieties, giving farmers a chance to control volunteer wheat, and susceptible brome grass and barley grass in their barley.
Alex concluded the day by thanking farming co-operators, the Harris family, guest speakers, suppliers, YP AG agronomy presenters, and YP AG staff who had assisted in making the day such a success with setting up and cooking the barbecue.
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