Australia
March 4, 2014
Bayer CropScience was awarded the highest wheat yield, highest gross margin and best grain marketing for its participation in the Dirt to $ Cropping Challenge.
The results of the first round of the competition were announced at a gala dinner last month in Kojonup, Western Australia to growers, nutrition consultants and crop protection specialists.
Craig White, Technical Advisor at Bayer CropScience and Team Captain for the Bayer CropScience team, said a strong strategy was the key to obtaining the impressive results..jpg)
“From the very beginning our focus was on establishing strong crop vigor by minimising disease, pest and weed impacts with Bayer seed treatments EverGol®Prime, Gaucho® and pre-emergence herbicide Sakura®. We then used Precept® to control any broadleaf weeds that appeared in the crop,” said Craig.
“In addition to this, attention to crop nutrition and grain marketing strategy were also important factors,” Craig added.
The Bayer team recorded a 4.1 tonne yield per hectare and an impressive gross margin of $645.78 per hectare. The range of yields and gross margins in the competition were from 2.71 tonnes per hectare and from $360.63 per hectare.
“We put together a great team and were very organised, this allowed us to focus on producing effective results from start to finish,” Craig added.
Bayer’s team also included Glen Bergersen, David Peake of Bayer CropScience, Mike O’Dea from Emerald Grain, prominent local grower David Robinson and Keith Gundill of CSBP.
The competition was convened by Grower Group “Southern DIRT”, with 10 teams including farmers, agriculture businesses and secondary education agricultural colleges.
Graydn Wilcox, Southern DIRT Chairman said, “Congratulations to Bayer who recruited an amazing team and were able to set a strong standard for other teams to follow this year.”
In the next stage of the cropping challenge, competitors will grow canola crops. Results are expected to be announced after harvest in November and December. Bayer CopScience plans to grow one of their Australian bred Hybrid Canola varieties, focusing on establishing strong crop vigor by minimising disease, pest, weed impacts and using a good nutrition package.
“The first phase of the competition exceeded our expectations and we expect to see bigger and better results from all teams involved over the next two years,” Graydn added.
EverGol ®, Gaucho®and Precept® are Registered Trademarks of the Bayer Group.
Sakura® is a Registered Trademark of Kumiai Chemical Industries Co. Limited.
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