Western Australian barley update 2016 Blakely Paynter, DAFWA, Northam 29 February 2016 - Perth

Key Messages Malt / food barley – sow at 120 or 150 plants/m2 with target changing with malt / food variety Feed barley – sow at 180 plants/m2 Think plants/m2, use kernel weight to convert to kg/ha Rosalind is the new yield benchmark Spartacus CL is the new Scope CL Watch out for changing virulence in NTNB and powdery mildew

Western Australian barley update Part 1 Seed rate

What does increasing seed rate do to barley? ↑ number of plants established ↑ biomass at 6 WAS ↓ plant height has no effect on lodging risk ↑ grain yield before plateauing ↓ kernel weight ↓ hectolitre weight ↑ screenings ↓ grain protein concentration before plateauing ↓ grain brightness

All sounds bad……., so lets put it in context Seed rate study – 2012 and 2013 10 varieties Bass, Baudin, Buloke, Commander, Flinders, Granger, Hindmarsh, La Trobe, Vlamingh and Wimmera 4 seed rates 50, 100, 200 and 400 plants/m2 8 locations per year 4 locations had two dates of seeding Nitrogen x seed rate study – 2012-2014 6 varieties Bass, Buloke, Commander, Granger, La Trobe and Wimmera 3 N rates 0, 30 and 90 kg N/ha 3 seed rates 75, 150 and 300 plants/m2 3 locations per year

Plant height (cm, base of ear) Lodging score at harvest (9-0) ∆ = no change V x SR interaction – 29% trials V x SR interaction – 22% trials Source: Blakely Paynter, Andrea Hills and Raj Malik, DAFWA, 24 V x SR trials (2012-2013)

V x SR interaction – 17% trials V x SR interaction – 46% trials Grain yield (t/ha) Kernel weight (mg, db) ∆ = 2 mg ∆ = 15 % V x SR interaction – 17% trials V x SR interaction – 46% trials Source: Blakely Paynter, Andrea Hills and Raj Malik, DAFWA, 24 V x SR trials (2012-2013)

Hectolitre weight (kg/hL) Screenings (% < 2.5 mm) ∆ = 2.5 % V x SR interaction – 50% trials V x SR interaction – 58% trials Source: Blakely Paynter, Andrea Hills and Raj Malik, DAFWA, 24 V x SR trials (2012-2013)

Grain brightness (Minolta ‘L*’) Grain protein (%, db) Grain brightness (Minolta ‘L*’) ∆ = 0.3 ‘L*’ ∆ = 0.4 % V x SR interaction – 13% trials V x SR interaction – 38% trials Source: Blakely Paynter, Andrea Hills and Raj Malik, DAFWA, 24 V x SR trials (2012-2013)

“Receivability” interacted with variety Source: Blakely Paynter, Andrea Hills and Raj Malik, DAFWA, 24 V x SR trials (2012-2013)

What did we learn from seed rate studies? 1 Varieties react similarly to increasing seed rate for grain yield 2 Impact of seed rate on grain quality is small with the impact influenced by variety 3 How a variety responds to increasing seed rate cannot be predicted by knowing how they respond to increasing N 4 The target seed rate for malt / food barley varies by variety

What is the recommended seed rate? Suggested seed rate for barley is 120 – 150 plants/m2 The optimum density (Popt) for grain yield: 137 ± 9 plants/m2 – V x SR series (24 trials) 154 ± 20 plants/m2 – V x N x SR series (9 trials – at 30 N) What about when you include grain quality? 41 plants/m2 99 plants/m2 220 plants/m2 377 plants/m2 Source: Blakely Paynter, Andrea Hills and Raj Malik, DAFWA, 24 V x SR trials (2012-2013) and 9 V x N x SR trials (2012-2014)

V x N x SR series (9 trials, 30 N) V x SR series (24 trials) V x N x SR series (9 trials, 30 N) Group 1 – Bass, Flinders, Hindmarsh, La Trobe Group 2 – Baudin, Buloke, Commander, Granger Group 1 – Bass, La Trobe Group 2 – Buloke, Commander, Granger Source: Blakely Paynter, Andrea Hills and Raj Malik, DAFWA, 24 V x SR trials (2012-2013) and 9 V x N x SR trials (2012-2014)

What target density do we suggest? MALT / FOOD 120 plants/m2 Baudin Commander Granger Scope CL 150 plants/m2 Bass Flinders Hindmarsh La Trobe FEED 180 plants/m2 Compass Fathom Oxford Rosalind Spartacus CL ………. In medium to high rainfall environments with a yield potential above 1.5 t/ha

What is this density in kg/ha? Use kernel weight to calculate seed rate in kg/ha Likely seed rates in kg/ha (varies with kernel weight): 60-75 kg/ha Baudin, Commander and Granger 65-80 kg/ha Scope CL 75-90 kg/ha Flinders, Hindmarsh and La Trobe 80-95 kg/ha Bass 80-115 kg/ha Feed barley varieties

Where to get more information? Details of our recent seed rate research can be found in the four papers written for this GRDC Research Updates.

Western Australian barley update Part 2 Variety

Barley variety menu for 2016 Rosalind, Oxford and Spartacus CL Baudin and Commander Flinders, Granger and Hindmarsh Bass, La Trobe and Scope CL Nibbles Appetiser Entrée Mains

What did we learn from 2015 barley NVT? New feed barley Rosalind was the highest ranked variety 2 La Trobe was the highest ranked malt variety 3 Flinders = Granger but < La Trobe in 58% and 53% trials 4 New imi-feed barley Spartacus CL > Scope CL in 84% trials 5 La Trobe had most trials meet malt spec of all malt varieties Source: NVT Online

What is the longer term data telling us? Source: NVT Online

What is the longer term data telling us? Source: NVT Online

Notes on newer malt barley varieties Bass Powdery mildew and barley leaf rust require fungicide management Selection rate as malt higher than any other malt variety Flinders Small segregation at Cranbrook to be used for international market development A positive outlook from Australian maltsters Flinders and Granger competing to replace Bass and Baudin, with both having better powdery mildew and leaf rust resistance than Bass and Baudin Granger Strong agronomic credentials including durable mlo resistance to powdery mildew No tonnage to date for international market development from WA Volume needed in 2016 to ensure segregations to allow market development La Trobe Will start to take over Hindmarsh’s role as most popular variety in WA in 2016 Smut and STNB are major issues requiring good management International markets starting to recognise La Trobe as a malt barley

Notes on newer feed barley varieties Compass Malt accreditation delayed another year, earliest now 2018 Economics don’t support growing in 2016 as it doesn’t regularly out-yield La Trobe Rosalind (tested as IGB1302) Has 2 – 9% yield advantage over La Trobe across Agzones Yield advantage almost enough to justify growing, do the numbers for your area Oxford Increased virulence of NTNB on Oxford barley (& others) detected, more spraying?? CCDM suggesting virulence to Ml(St) mildew gene, may need to spray?? Spartacus CL (tested as IGB1334T) Registered for use with Intervix® in 2016 Has 15 – 17% yield advantage over Scope CL (except Agzone 3) Treat seed with a good quality smuticide and watch for STNB Being assessed for its potential as a malt barley, accreditation target is 2018

Want an April sowing wheat – try barley! Barley was 1.5+ t/ha higher yielding than wheat with mid-April planting Barley varieties tested – Bass, Baudin, Compass, Flinders, Granger, Lockyer, La Trobe, Maltstar, Oxford, Rosalind, Scope CL and Urambie Wheat varieties tested – ADV08.0065, Bremer, Calingiri, Cutlass, Harper, LPB11-1728, Mace, Magenta, Trojan, Whistler, Yitpi and Zen Source: Brenda Shackley, Blakely Paynter, Christine Zaicou, Jeremy Curry and Raj Malik, DAFWA

Where to get more information? DAFWA-GRDC sowing guide, MyCrop Barley app, NVT Online and SAGI all provide interpretations of the available NVT data. Yield ranking by Agzone Phenology Agronomic traits PV-PLUS graphs Disease resistance Market demand Variety fact sheets Herbicide tolerance

Key Messages Since kernel weight changes so should kg/ha seed rate Seed rate to optimise return varies by variety High seed rates are not your enemy, but low are Look out for powdery mildew on Oxford and increased NTNB virulence in barley on south coast Rosalind and Spartacus CL will have an impact La Trobe is replacing Hindmarsh

DAFWA barley agronomy team Northam: Blakely Paynter, Georgia Trainor, Sue Cartledge Katanning: Raj Malik, Rod Bowey Esperance: Jeremy Curry, Rachel Brunt Our research is supported by DAFWA with co-funding from the GRDC (DAW00224) Barley NVTs are supported by the GRDC