Key points
- Match canola variety to environment and production system
- Keep up to date on blackleg resistance packages
- Fine-tune harvest procedures
- Consider long-term fertility of production system
It has gone down in history as a triumph of ‘bold science meeting excellent agronomy and brave farming to push the envelope’, but what can other growers learn from the production of a record 7.16-tonne-per-hectare canola crop?
The crop was produced at the Hawkins’ family farm ‘Mayfield’ at Oberon in the Central Tablelands of New South Wales working with James Cheetham from Delta Agribusiness, who has been providing agronomic advice to farm manager Peter Brooks for many years.
The pair also have a long-standing working relationship with Dr John Kirkegaard and his team from CSIRO, who have pioneered practices to graze dual-purpose canola, which was the approach used for this crop.
“Dr Kirkegaard’s approach to systems management is visionary and will become more relevant to growers’ enterprises as we see spiralling fertiliser costs and a push for more-sustainable production systems,” Mr Cheetham says.
The record-achieving canola yield was harvested in 2020, a year which received 889 millimetres of rainfall in a region that averages 708mm. The farm is on fertile basalt soils at quite high elevation and in 2020 incurred no frost damage and a very mild finish to the season.
The dual-purpose canola variety Hyola 970CL was sown on 28 February into a paddock with no cropping history; in fact, it had been used as an intensive cattle feedlot, so it had high soil fertility.
Eighty kilograms per hectare of monoammonium phosphate (MAP) was applied at sowing and the crop was top-dressed in September with 200kg/ha of urea. Grazing occurred in late April when dry matter yields were about 4000 to 5000kg per hectare for 59 days (27 April to 25 June) with 20 Merino lambs per hectare giving 1180 dry sheep equivalents per hectare.
Keys to success
Mr Cheetham says there are risks associated with growing dual-purpose canola in a high-rainfall environment such as Oberon and there is often more at stake as it can be expensive to grow.
There is the risk of waterlogging in wet winters and the risk of frosts during the critical flowering and grain fill periods. The risks can, however, be offset by supplementary income from the grazing component of the crop.
The choice of variety is really important – not only to match it to your production environment but also to the particular purpose.
“Hyola 970CL is a longer-season winter type, well-suited to this high-rainfall, long-season environment and particularly for early sowing and grazing. It is Clearfield herbicide-tolerant to aid weed management and also has a very good disease package.
Regular crop inspections for disease are imperative, especially for a high-yielding crop and this crop was sprayed for blackleg during flowering.
“With a large crop like this, windrowing and harvest was a huge job and had to be done slowly and carefully, so patience is a priority. Taking a long-term view to your business is key, considering both crop sequences and the fertility of your whole-farm system.”
Pastures are still the basis of many farms in the NSW Central and Southern Tablelands and building crops into the sequence aids weed and disease management. The pasture legume content aids in building soil nitrogen levels, which can be utilised in the cropping phase.
“For this region, dual-purpose canola is a boon,” Mr Cheetham says. “We have high-rainfall, mixed-farming systems and land prices that are rocketing. Many growers are really focusing on increasing the productivity and sustainability of what land they have, and this is where dual-purpose canola fits the bill.”
More information: James Cheetham, 0427 403 437, jcheetham@deltaag.com.au