Australia
October 10, 2014
While wheat growing can be a tough business, it can also be very rewarding when your variety of choice toughs out the highs and lows of the season to come good at the business end.
Such seems to be the case this season for South Australian grower Rob Gerschwitz, who chose to plant 200 hectares of Emu Rock, InterGrain’s short season wheat variety, after bulking up 20ha last year.
At the end of September he was confidently expecting a three tonne per hectare average yield across the four paddocks he sowed from early to late May at 85kg/ha, with a DAP-Sulphur compound fertiliser, plus Zinc and Copper.
“This quite high seeding rate, to achieve optimal plant density, is necessary due to Emu Rock’s large grain size,” Rob said.
Rob farms ‘Steinhaven’, just south of Maitland on SA’s Yorke Peninsula, where he crops about 1400 hectares, comprising Mace and Kord wheats, Hindmarsh barley, lentils and vetch.
“We mostly grow wheat after a legume, followed by durum or straight after canola.
“Our 2014 season got off to an early start, followed by good rains from May to July, but August and September were very light on, receiving only 30 millimetres over the two months,” he said.
Rob is delighted with how Emu Rock has done on his shallow soil types and given the tight finish. ‘Steinhaven’ has a range of soils, from deep clays to shallow sands, to grey loam.
His Emu Rock is currently at full grain fill and will finish with reasonable quality due to the excellent grain size. The other varieties in his program are behind in terms of maturity and will need rain for quality to be maintained.
Rob said Emu Rock’s disease package is a real plus, as it has good stem and stripe rust (MR-MS) and moderate yellow leaf spot resistance (MS).
Emu Rock’s breeder, Chris Moore of InterGrain, noted preliminary trial results indicated Emu Rock offered reasonable resistance to Eye Spot, which is causing some growers grief in the lower Eyre Peninsula and SA’s mid-north.
Dr Moore said growers should consider a variety such as Emu Rock to diversify their portfolio for effective disease and risk management.
“On the risk management front, Emu Rock has a great fit when growers approach the end of their programs, as it has a lower tendency to produce screenings,” he said.
Dr Moore cautioned growers to be aware that Emu Rock was susceptible to cereal cyst nematode, but this could be managed with appropriate rotations.
InterGrain Marketing Manager, Ash Brooks, said SA wheat growers, especially those farming marginal country, know profitable growing is about managing risk, adapting to seasonal demands and selecting and planting the right variety at the right time.
This is where InterGrain’s high yielding, short season, Australian Hard variety, Emu Rock, comes into its own, relishing medium to low yield environments.
Emu Rock is also considered an excellent varietal complement to InterGrain’s recently released AH wheat, Cosmick, ideally suited to the medium to high rainfall areas.
Emu Rock is available from local resellers, InterGrain Seedclub members or can be purchased via farmer to farmer trading this harvest.
For further information, visit InterGrain’s website www.intergrain.com
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