Spring-sown barley research trials planted as part of an initiative to maximise crop productivity in Tasmania will be the focus of a field day next week.
Tasmanian growers are being offered an opportunity to view the trials and hear from industry experts during the 2020 Hyper Yielding Crops Field Day at Hagley on Thursday, December 10.
Located at the Tasmania Crop Technology Centre, the trials are an important focus of the Grains Research and Development Corporation's Hyper Yielding Crops national investment.
The four-year HYC investment spans five states - Tasmania, Victoria, South Australia, New South Wales and Western Australia - and aims to push the economically attainable yield boundaries of wheat, barley and canola.
The initiative involves five research centres of excellence and attached to each of these are focus farm paddock trials and an innovative grower network charged with taking research and development from small plot to paddock scale.
Field Applied Research Australia project leader Nick Poole said the initiative built on the success of the GRDC's four-year Hyper Yielding Cereals project in Tasmania, which demonstrated it is possible to more than double yields in some situations with the right cultivars and tailored management strategies.
The Hyper Yielding Cereals project generated significant attention from mainland growers.
Mr Poole said spring-sown barley had the strongest fit with irrigated cropping rotations in Tasmania - more so than anywhere else in Australia.
"Not only does it offer greater opportunities for integration with winter fodder crops grown for livestock, it is invariably cheaper to grow than autumn-sown barley and allows more flexibility in controlling herbicide-resistant grass weeds," Mr Poole said.
"Through the HYC project, the aim is to look at the ideal combinations of germplasm, phenology and management in order to turn this crop into a reliable 10 tonne [per] hectare option under irrigation."
Joining Mr Poole in presenting at the field day will be FAR Australia's senior field research officer, Darcy Warren, who will explain the research programs including the nutrition and disease management elements.
HYC extension co-ordinator Jon Midwood, of TechCrop Services, will discuss HYC focus farms and the awards scheme which has been established to underpin a 'whole community of interest' concept.
To register and for more information, visit grdc.com.au or phone 0428 843 456.
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