New crop varieties for growers to consider in 2023

As harvest continues across NSW and growers’ minds are now considering which new crop varieties should be considered which may have the potential to improve yield or provide better disease resistance.

The Crop variety update - newer varieties and potential releases for 2023 has the latest grain yield and disease ratings for new varieties released over the last few seasons for wheat, barley, oat, canola, chickpea, field pea, faba bean and lupins to support farmers in these decisions.

NSW Department of Primary Industries (NSW DPI) Technical Specialist Grain Services, Peter Matthews said that when considering a new variety growers need to compare the variety’s performance with the best locally adapted variety grown.

“This update draws information from the network of National Variety Trials (NVT) throughout NSW cropping regions, including 38 trial sites undertaken by NSW DPI on behalf of the Grains Research Development Corporation (GRDC),” said Mr Matthews.

“These trials provide invaluable information to growers, who can look at how a variety performs in the local region to see if there is a yield improvement and if the variety offers a stable yield increase across seasons.”

Mr Matthews said the 2022 season has highlighted the importance of selecting varieties with resistance to key diseases such as stripe rust in wheat.

“Growers must ensure they understand what additional in-crop management is required when choosing a variety with a lower resistance rating,” said Mr Matthews.

“Although foliar fungicides do offer an in-crop management option for some diseases, the wet conditions this year have prevented timely fungicide application due to untrafficable paddock conditions, resulting in yield losses.

“To complement the 26 new varieties released for the 2022 season, crop breeding companies have released a further eight wheat, three barley, one oat, one lupin and 14 canola varieties for the 2023 season that have adaptations for NSW, all covered within the Update.”

Growers should seek advice from local agronomists if they are not sure whether a variety is suited to their farming system, with some varieties only suited to certain production regions.

The Crop variety update - newer varieties and potential releases for 2023 is available online at https://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/agriculture/broadacre-crops/guides/publications/winter-crop-variety-sowing-guide