The GRDC has invested in a Summer Cropping project led by Stirlings to Coast Farmers and collaborating with the Southern Dirt, Fitzgerald Biosphere and Facey grower groups. Nutrien Ag Solutions are also partners in the project and will grow and manage a small-plot research trial at Green Range.

Project Background:

The demonstration is aimed at exploring the effectiveness of spring cropping options as a management strategy for waterlogging.

Spring sown grain crops are also profitable when planted into soils at field capacity, which they were for much of the 2021 growing season in Southern WA. This new investment will be conducted in the medium to high rainfall zones of the lower Central Wheatbelt, Great Southern and South Coastal Region of WA. It will locally validate previous R&D investment relating to spring-sown crops (albeit including newer crop types and varieties), building local grower and adviser knowledge to inform decisions when managing excess soil moisture. It will focus on the critical management aspects raised by growers at the 2021 winter National Grower Network meetings. The key elements include weed, pest and erosion control in waterlogged areas, utilising excess water to produce additional grain or forage and understanding impacts on the following winter crop. Factors affecting the next winter crop may be soil moisture or salt levels, root architecture, soil nutrients and distribution.

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