In recent years a wider range of cereals have been released to cater for dual purpose and grazing only winter crops.
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Some of these have a longer winter habit, which means they stay in the more palatable and nutritious leafy stage longer. They also retain the ability to yield high for grain, but mainly for higher rainfall areas and or seasons.
Other crops with an important role for dual purpose or only winter grazing have also been more appreciated with also a greater choice of varieties. These include canola and a wider range of other brassica species. Also being more widely explored is the role of mixed species sowing for winter feed, as well as for grain recovery.
This article mainly covers developments in cereal varieties. Especially valuable have been the release of a good range of winter wheat varieties with an extended period of winter habit. These tend to suit late summer early autumn sowing and have a longer winter habit period before they commence their reproductive phase and begin to run to head.
If grain is a major aim, they tend to be less suitable to areas more prone to dry springs, but can be reliable grain producers in areas with mainly good springs.
Varieties with the longest winter habit include Anapurna, RGT Accroc, RGT Cesario, RGT Waugh.
A further group with more winter habit that traditional moderately quicker maturing winter habit varieties, but not as much as the list above, include Big Red, DS Bennett, and Severn.
A third group of winter wheats is the quicker maturing types, popular in the central wheat areas where they are used for a month or two of grazing, and then closed for grain around the end of July. Varieties include Illabo, Kittyhawk and older varieties, EGA Wedgetail, Naparoo and Marombi.
More comprehensive details of these varieties is available in the NSW DPI document Winter Crop Variety sowing Guide, 2024. Yield data, commonly based on few early sown dual purpose trials, in the main has shown several of these are capable of very high grain yield, provided they are not grazed beyond their period of winter habit, and in areas where good spring conditions has favoured high yields.
It is also important to check these varieties for their disease ratings, especially against diseases like stripe rust, stem rust leaf rust septoria and yellow leaf spot.
Early sowing tends to emphasise the importance of these diseases should mild, moist winters/early springs occur. Several of the varieties have good levels of resistance to some of these diseases, some have a poor disease resistance profile.
Where a variety is chosen with a low disease resistance rating, for example stripe rust, it is important to have an effective back up strategy, especially timely use of appropriate fungicides.
Also important when choosing one of these varieties is grain quality. Some are red wheats; some are white more traditional types but quality can vary from feed (all current red wheats plus some whites) to various milling grades.
Other important features to assess for and consider include height, bearded or non-bearded.
Barley has a new dual purpose variety, Newton, to join the present only barley variety with winter habit, Urambie. Newton is a little later in maturity than Urambie, and is likely to provide a longer grazing option when sown early.
Because of our acid soils, including commonly also in the subsoil, this is the second year we have grown the winter habit dual purpose triticale variety Kokoda. An advantage it has over dual purpose oat varieties, like Eurabbie, which is a great variety, is good resistance to rust.
Winter habit is between that of quicker types like Illabo and DS Bennett wheat.
Oat varieties with winter habit include Eurabbie, Blackbutt, and Bimbil. A multitude of oat varieties, with regular new releases, don't have winter habit but are mainly slower maturing spring habit types. These are widely promoted for winter grazing, and can provide useful grain recovery in years with good springs. Varieties without winter habit tend to run to head mid-winter if sown very early.
Regardless of species or variety chosen, winter feed production is normally closely related to soil fertility and level of stored soil water. How early one can sow is a vexed question.
Earlier sowing increases sowing options, important in years with little autumn rain. Depending on absence of late heat waves, many farmers, including ourselves, are successfully sowing earlier than was suggested not that long ago.
- Next week: Assessing the range of dual purpose winter cereals.
- Bob Freebairn is an agricultural consultant based at Coonabarabran. Email robert.freebairn@bigpond.com or contact (0428) 752 149.
