FIRST-TIME entry in a field wheat competition and first-season variety Sunlamb has cleanly swept past all entries to become the Central Zone finals winner of the Suncorp Bank/Agricultural Societies Council (NSW) 2016 Dryland Field Wheat competition.
What’s more, it has happened in the first year of new ownership of one of the state’s well known grazing properties, Tongy Station, Cassilis, and a yield predicted to be in excess of eight tonnes per hectare.
Purchased last year by Victorian pastoralist and Sydney investment banker, Marshall Baillieu, Tongy Station has begun a new phase of protein production through increased lucerne pasture together with beef cattle and a composite sheep crossbreeding programs.
After the final four-plus years of two 80 hectare lucerne stands, a cereal crop of grazing wheat sown late is finishing with a huge potential yield.
Tongy manager, Will Shepherd, said the crop was sown on June 16 at 50 kilograms of seed per ha with Croplift 15 starter fertiliser at 50kg/ha after seed treatment with Vibrance.
“We normally sow in April/May, but there was no moisture at that time,” he said.
“We always intended to grow this crop for seed recovery for future crops in years to come.”
Young-based agronomist and state finals judge, Paul Parker, said Mr Shepherd had kept the paddocks basically weed free with a good winter cleaning weed control program including knockdown and residual herbicide.
“That’s important in terms of disease and weed control in crop,” Mr Parker said.
“The business is mainly oriented towards stock so the cropping is a means of cleaning paddocks or preparing them for pasture again.”
Mr Shephard said deep end soil tests showed that after the long period of lucerne there was no need for any additional nitrogen to be applied.
The paddock was offset disced on January 15 and scarified on February 15.
This was not only to kill the lucerne, but also to open the soil up from the compaction from grazing livestock.
One broadleaf spray was applied on August 10.
Growing season rain tallied 579 millimetres from April to November with more rain since.
Mr Parker said the crop was still quite green at judging, so any November rain would be of additional benefit.
“It was a dense crop and very even in type and this sets the crop up for excellent yield potential,” he said.
“There was only a small hint of stripe rust but not enough to cause any yield loss.
“If it finishes fully to its potential I would expect it yield in excess of 8t/ha.”
Second place went to Connamara Partnership of Ian and Harry Carter, Pine Ridge, growing Wallop expected to yield 7.1t/ha.
Third place went to Ben and Tom Johnstone, Illinois Farms Pty Ltd, Between Woodstock and Cowra, with a paddock of Bolac variety estimated to yield 6.9t/ha.
The competition is co-sponsored by Lowes Petroleum, Stoller Australia, and The Land.