One of the most important and financially rewarding agronomic decisions you can make is what varieties you should be growing on your farm. Now that harvest has begun it is a great opportunity to assess how the varieties you are running with have stacked up to both existing and new varieties specific to your area. A great source for this information is the online National Variety trials (NVT) website (https://www.nvtonline.com.au).

 

Below is a list of the best performing canola and pulse varieties for HRZ compiled from NVT data and local information.

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CANOLA

Conventional

Quartz (Nuseed): Mid Maturity hybrid of a medium height and is good replacement for AV Garnet. Suited to the high rainfall zone with a blackleg rating of R. This variety has a strong yield advantage over Garnet and other conventional varieties. This variety has been performing very well and shown to be high yielding.

 

Triazine Tolerant Hybrid (TT)

HyTTec Trophy (Nuseed): Early to mid-maturing hybrid variety with a medium to tall plant height. It has a blackleg rating of R-MR and is showing to be the top performer in the NVT trials since its release in 2017. Its earlier maturity makes it a good candidate for pre windrow spray topping.

 

Ignite (Seed Force): Mid Maturing hybrid well suited to the high rainfall zone in the western district. Has been one of the highest yielders in the local NVT trails and is a medium plant height. It has a blackleg rating of MR. Released 2016

 

Triazine Tolerant Open Pollinated (TT)

Wahoo (Nuseed): This long season variety still ranks no. 1 for yield in the open pollinated TT canola category in the HRZ thanks to its mid maturity that compensates well with late season rainfall.  It has a medium plant height and although the blackleg rating is only MS it is still yielding well when managed properly with a good fungicide strategy.

 

Clearfield Hybrid (CL)

45Y93 (Pioneer): The highest yielding spring CL canola in the HRZ. Early flowering time and a blackleg rating of R-MR with a medium plant height. Released in 2018.

 

Roundup Ready Hybrid (RR)

45Y28 (Pioneer): New benchmark variety in the roundup ready segment. This variety is a replacement of 45Y25 with good lifts in both yield and oil. Can be sown early in April awaiting opening rains and will show good early vigour while the soil is warm. Mid maturity with a R-MR medium – tall height.

 

FABA BEANS

Amberley (PBA): A new PBA variety being released for 2020. It is the first variety with moderate resistance to choc spot and is mid flowering, mid maturity. It has resistance to pathotype 1 & 2 of ascochyta blight and has good standing ability and lower level of necking. It has a yield advantage over Zahras making it the highest yielding variety in the HRZ. One thing to consider is the smaller grain size compared to Zahras which would make sowing the right number of plants/m2 easier.

 

Bendoc (PBA): A new variety released in 2018 that is the first bean line that has improved tolerance to some group B herbicides which allows improved broadleaf (radish) control and also means they can be sown into group B residue. Although not the highest yielding variety down south it is not far from the top performing varieties (Amberley and Zahra) making it a strong option. It has a medium sized bean and is resistant to moderately resistant to both ascochyta blight pathotype, chocolate spot S, cercospora leaf spot S and Rust S.

 

Zahra (PBA): In the longer season environment down south this variety has been a strong option since its release in 2016. It’s a late maturity variety with a large seed making it suitable for the middle east markets. Overall it has good tolerance to fungal disease.

 

NARROW LEAF LUPINS

Bateman (PBA): This variety was released in 2017 and has a yield advantage over Mandelups in the HRZ. There is an improved virus resistance in this variety compared to industry standards.

 

Please consult with your local Western AG agronomist today to discuss what canola and pulse variety options may suit your cropping program for season 2020.