Wheatacre's sorghum win

The winning crop was entered by the Bowler/Stirling partnership, Wheatacres, Bithramere. They took the day with a score of 172 points, including 20 points per tonne for an estimated yield of 4.3 tonnes a hectare.

The judges were NSW Department of Primary Industry's Loretta Serafin and Pursehouse Rural's agronomist, Lucy Powell.

The Wheatacres crop also scored 10/10 for weed management, 9/10 for insect management and 11/15 for crop establishment and plant population.

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Pre-sowing the paddock had an application of 400kg of sulphate of ammonia and then 75kg/ha of Granulock at planting. Pre-emergent applications of Atrazine and Dual Gold were followed up by a post-sowing treatment of Terbyne, Starane, and Garlon. The crop enjoyed falls of rain totalling 195mm during its growing period, with harvest expected to occur at the end of March.

Murray Stirling said it was the second time they'd used Resolute with a crop that produced good results last season, which had yielded between four and 5 t/ha. "It's given us some good results, and we've stuck with it," he said.

Wheatacres also won the Ag Bureau's canola competition last October.

In second place was Tom Chaffey, Fitzroy Farming Company, Bithramere, whose crop of Resolute was equal top-scorer in crop establishment and plant population, with 13/15 contributing to his score of 165 points.

Mr Chaffey's no-till crop was planted in one-metre row widths and had a plant population of 68,000/ha. Inputs included 220kg of urea and 60 litres/ha of kickstart. Pre-planting, an application of Atrazine and Dual Gold was followed up by a post-sowing treatment of Starane, Garlon and Terbyne.

Third place went to Gareth Rogers with a crop of Buster that was sown in late October 2022 with 24cm spacings using a John Deere disc air seeder. The crop received an application of 350kg/ha of sulphate of ammonia with 100kg of urea at planting.

The crop received the equal top score for crop establishment and plant population of 13/15 but a final score of 153 points.

Mr Chaffey and Mr Rogers shared equal third place in the Ag Bureau's canola competition last October.

Fourth place went to Bede Burke and his family-run operation Glenwarrie Farms, who sowed Taurus sorghum in the first week of November 2022.

Planted with a Gyral Penetrator at 30 cm rows, the crop was sown at 2.3 kilograms a hectare with 40kg/ha of DAP.

Mr Burke said he was hoping for a population of between 60,000 to 65,000 plants/ha, but the impact of a fall of 40mm of rain right after planting heavily impacted the germination of the crop.

However, he said the size of the grain heads was impressive, and he was optimistic for a yield of around four tonne/ha. The crop was treated with Atrazine and Dual Gold; no insect control measures were needed.

Before the paddock was planted with sorghum, a wheat crop was grown and harvested in 2021, with a long-fallow period before the November planting. After the sorghum harvest, the paddock will be long-fallowed before planting wheat, Mr Burke said.

He said in-crop rainfall had been helpful with two falls of 40mm, one of 20mm and another of 15mm, with the crop planted on a complete moisture profile after the wet spring.

Mark Walters, Glenallen, Winton was another entrant in the competition, with his 30ha of Buster sorghum.

It was planted at a rate of 2.5kg/ha and a 30cm row spacing. The crop was grown on a long fallow after wheat was grown and harvested in 2022.

Mr Walters said the early emergence of the crop was impacted by a fall of 70mm the day after it was planted.