Growers and advisers across Australia can now use the latest results on the performance of different grain varieties – incorporating results from the 2023 harvest – to help them choose the best variety for their situation.
The Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) National Variety Trials (NVT) Harvest Reports contain yield, disease resistance/susceptibility and grain quality results.
Among the reports, which contain the past five years of results for every NVT across Australia and allow growers to assess varietal performance across different years and seasonal conditions, is one for Eyre Peninsula.
GRDC NVT northern regional manager Laurie Fitzgerald said the reports contained accurate, consistent, independent and timely information about existing and newly released commercial varieties.
“The reports help accelerate the adoption of new and superior varieties, ensuring growers can stay at the top of their game and remain profitable,” he said.
“They’re an essential tool to help growers find a variety that suits their farming system and local climate conditions, while delivering the best likely outcome under forecasted weather.”
Mr Fitzgerald said the NVT was conducted to a set of predetermined protocols.
Trial service providers sow and manage trials to reflect local best practice such as sowing time, fertiliser application, weed management, pest/disease control and fungicide application.
“Data from successful 2023 NVT trials have been fed into a multi-year, multi-environment trial variety performance analysis,” Mr Fitzgerald said.
“These multi-year datasets for all crops and growing regions provide the most valuable information to support decision making around what to sow each year.”
Mr Fitzgerald also acknowledged the support of growers, who contribute and assist with the management of NVT trial sites on their properties.
The NVT harnesses data from more than 650 trials across 300 sites Australia-wide for 10 crop species: wheat, barley, canola, chickpea, faba bean, field pea, lentil, lupin, oat and sorghum.
