With grain harvest now underway in SW Victoria, it’s a great opportunity to consider what wheat and barley varieties will form part of your cropping program for 2020. Here is a short list of wheat and barley varieties showing strong performances throughout the high rainfall zone of Victoria.

WHEAT

RGT Accroc (Seed Force): This wheat has taken high market share in France and is performing really well in the HRZ. It’s proving to be the main feed/dual purpose wheat variety for South West Vic. It can be grazed during winter and it has high grain yield potential and good grain quality. It is best suited to late April/early May sowing. Stem rust MR, stripe rust R, leaf rust S, yellow leaf spot MRMS, Septoria MRMS.

LRPB Beaufort (Grain Search): Mid-season maturity spring wheat well suited to medium to high rainfall environments of South West Vic. It has good straw strength and has proved to be a high grain yielder under dryer spring conditions compared to other feed red wheats.  It has a high level of resistance to both leaf and stripe rust, however, shows susceptibility to stem rust.

LRPB Trojan (Pacific Seeds): Has been in most wheat cropping programs since 2013, has shown a really good resistance profile particularly to Septoria tritici. It has a large grain, low screenings and high-test weight. One strong advantage of Trojan over the years has been its adaptability to a range of seasons and environments. 2019 season has thrown a new challenge for Trojan with a new strain of stripe rust likely to take resistance profile form MR to MS/S. Talk to your Western AG agronomist about management going forward

RGT Calabro New (Seed Force): This variety is worth mentioning given its strong performance since its Australian release in 2018. Feed quality bearded, medium-long growing season winter wheat with potential for high yields in the medium and high rainfall zone.  Star performer at the 2017 GRDC-funded hyper yielding cereals project in Tasmania which averaged nearly 17t/ha in trial! Also topped the 2018 Streatham long season wheat NVT trial ahead of Revenue, Adagio & Accroc. Stem rust MRMS, stripe rust R, leaf rust MS, yellow leaf spot MRMS and Septoria MRMS.