Australia
December 12, 2012
After 40 plus years as a broadacre grain grower and the past 20 as a registered seed grower, Ian Lea, owner of Superior Seed Company in Deniliquin, NSW, sure knows wheat from chaff.
Having seen plenty of wheat varieties come and go over the years, some good and some not so good, he knows a good wheat is one that does its job during the growing season and then at the business end of the season delivers on its promise when banked in the silo.
Such was the case this harvest when Emu Rock, InterGrain’s new high yielding, short season wheat, classified Australian Hard (AH) in southern NSW and Victoria, yielded 2.30 tonne/Ha from a 2012 growing season rainfall of only 142 mm, exceeding the farm’s 10 year yield average for wheat of 2.06 tonne/Ha.
As one of the first farmers/seed processors in eastern Australia to grow Emu Rock, Mr Lea was impressed with the variety all season and will be confidently recommending it and selling seed next season.
“Emu Rock is certainly quick to maturity, we were able to harvest all night at 11.3 per cent moisture, it’s easy to thresh and straw didn’t present any problems on a cold night,” he said.
It also had very good test weight (82) and only two and a half per cent screenings
Emu Rock proved versatile, enhancing its reputation as a reliable short season variety.
“It was the first wheat we harvested this year after what was a worrying growing season, having planted it, along with other varieties mid-May, but not receiving our first substantial rains until mid-July, when we had 27mm over five days,” Mr Lea said.
He described Emu Rock as a good main season sowing variety, but also very suitable for that additional paddock or when seasons get short and tough, as seems to increasingly happen.
On the disease front, it boasts an adequate disease package, offering growers suitable stripe rust resistance (MR-MS rating), with its resistance based on a number of genes.
Emu Rock also offers a useful level of Crown Rot resistance (MS-S), similar to one of its parents, Kukri. A Crown Rot resistance rating of MS-S is considered among the highest of commercially available varieties. While this level of resistance does not solve any Crown Rot problems, it certainly provides better resistance than other VS varieties.
In southern NSW, Emu Rock is an alternative variety choice to H45, Lincoln, Livingston, Crusader, Ventura and Spitfire.
In Victoria, Emu Rock is an alternative choice to Gladius, Correll, Axe, Lincoln and Young.
InterGrain Marketing Manager, Ash Brooks, was pleased to report that there was anecdotal evidence that Emu Rock was consistently achieving good protein levels, potentially improving the likelihood of it meeting AH grade requirements at receival.
“With InterGrain breeders, Robin Wilson and Chris Moore and their team bringing together high performing parents Westonia, Kukri, Perenjori and Ajana, Emu Rock has very robust genetics, complemented by a comprehensive agronomic package, which will make it very appealing to wheat growers when they’re making informed sowing choices,” she said.
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