Incorporating perennial wheat into a mixed grazing/cropping program has long been on the 'to-do' list for farmers, and the breeding of suitable varieties for Australian conditions has been the object of research during the past decade.
Along with agronomists, they have been taking a keen interest in research progress at the NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI) Cowra Agricultural Research and Advisory Station, and the latest results from trials have been welcomed by the industry.
Grassroots Agronomy, Junee director, Greg Condon said he has been aware of the research into perennial wheat and the potential the species offers mixed-farmers for many years.
But at this stage of research, he said the crop has only the possibility of commercial long-term cropping and grazing prospects.
“It has been around for a while, and certainly perennial wheat could fit into many farmers cropping options especially as it has grazing value,” he said.
“We are seeing other dual-purpose varieties like Wegetail prove their worth, but we are yet to see how any variety of perennial wheat will perform until such time as there is sufficient seed available for commercial use.”
Nevertheless, Mr Condon did make the point a suitable variety of perennial wheat could offer further flexibility for farmers striving to increase returns from their operations.
He welcomed the latest briefing from the DPI announcing their collaboration with researchers in the USA where study has been ongoing for some time.
“Every trial is bringing the species closer to being made available to Australian farmers,” he said.
Research into the suitability of perennial wheat has been led by NSW DPI researcher, Matthew Newell, and he has returned from the USA with 18 new lines of wheat to support the 20 existing lines currently being trialed at Cowra.
The introduced varieties were bred at The Land Institute (TLI), a non-profit research organisation in Kansas,
“DPI evaluation trials demonstrated perennial cereal crops could be produced in Australia with the potential to boost sustainability,” Mr Newell said. “Now with 18 new TLI-bred lines, 10 of which are registered Kernza® lines, we aim to expand our research and focus on developing robust perennial wheat suited to grazing and grain production under Australian conditions.”
Mr Newell said the aim is to develop perennial cereals as dual purpose crops to better integrate livestock and cropping enterprises.
“Perennial wheat has high energy and digestibility levels for grazing stock, with the added bonus of producing high protein grain,” he said.
