After winning the Narrabri P and A Society Field Wheat Competition, first time wheat growers Gerald, Troy and Sally Clarke of Clarke Ag continued their success by taking out second place in the Northern Region of the ASC/Suncorp Bank Dryland Field Wheat Competition.
“Their crop of Sunzell wheat grown on “Denally” was sown on May 5 at a seeding rate of 40 kg/ha” the judges reported.
“No fertiliser was applied to the crop at sowing or during the season as the soil tests done prior to sowing indicated that there were adequate
nutrients available for the crop. The wheat crop followed four crops of forage oats which were grown to supplement the beef fattening enterprise carried out by Clarke Ag.”
Judge of the regional finals for the statewide competition, Paul Parker, Young, commented that the crop was very dense and had virtually no weeds present in the paddock.
A very low level of crown rot infection was observed in the crop but Mr Parker commented that this had not impacted on its yield potential which was estimated to be 4.7 t/ha.
“This was an excellent yield given the difficult seasonal conditions that the crop grew under with only 161 mm of rainfall being recorded during the growing season” Mr Parker said.
First place in the Northern Region of the competition was awarded to David Quast “Domang” Crooble with a crop of Gregory which was estimated to yield 4.9 t/ha. Third place went to a crop of Gregory grown by David Carter “Wilgaree” Nyngan with a yield estimate of 4.3 t/ha.
An awards dinner will be held on December 17 in Forbes for presentation to winners and presentation of an ‘award of excellence.’