Using long season wheats for increases in profits and grazing opportunities

There is growing interest from growers in southern Western Australia around the opportunities that long season wheats can provide them in a mixed or 100% cropping farming enterprise. The primary objective of this project is to demonstrate to growers the agronomic and enterprise fit and associated benefits of including a long season wheat into their rotation and to encourage the adoption through the farmer scale demonstrations and economic analysisThe project will demonstrate time of sowing, best available varieties suited to the areas of the demonstration sites and season permitting, the opportunity for grazing without yield penalty. It is worth noting the 2020 season did not allow the opportunity to graze any of the demonstrations. The project will also provide practical guidelines or agronomic packages for production of long season wheat in the medium to high rainfall zones of South Western Australia. The key outcomes of this project are:Demonstrate the yield potential of different long season wheat varieties relative to spring wheat varieties with an early sowing windowDevelop economic analysis comparing long season and spring wheat varieties and time of sowing regarding yield to assist producers in making informed decisionsBegin the development of an agronomic package on growing long season wheats, time of sowing, seeding rates and fertiliser application and timing will be examined within this project.Develop protocols around the importance of time of sowing for long season wheat varieties that are best suited to different areas within southern Western AustraliaWhere seasonal conditions allow, demonstrate the ability of sowing long season wheats to manage the feed gap in Autumn and winter through crop grazing with having minimal yield penalty