The Elders team on the Eyre Peninsula recently held an information day at their new broadacre trial site, which was well attended by growers.
The Lock trial site, which was sown in May, aims to investigate a range of broadacre crop protection and nutrition strategies.
Elders agronomists across the Eyre Peninsula have come together over the past few months to work on the site, and were keen to demonstrate some of the key activities to local growers.
The information day gave farmers an opportunity to see the work being done first-hand. Trials at the Lock site cover pre-emergent weed control in wheat, pre- and post-emergent medic and vetch control in lentils, lentil variety trials in sandy soils, barley variety trials, herbicide tolerance in canola, ryegrass control in canola, new and old nutrition strategies in canola, and a fence line spray trial.
Growers were able to head off on a crop walk, and get together afterwards with the agronomy team for a barbeque lunch to talk further. Representatives from key suppliers including Bayer, Corteva and BASF were also in attendance.
Elders Cummins agronomist Jonno Forrest was heavily involved in the planning phases of the site, and is now one of the site’s leading researchers. He explained that the site is intentionally varied in its approach.
“I really wanted it to be a one-stop-shop for our growers,” he said.
“The site has been set up in a way that anyone from across the Eyre Peninsula can extract value. It was quite tricky to establish because there are a lot of moving parts, but now, the result is great and that has made it all worthwhile.
“We want to see the best results for our growers. I believe that all starts with plot trials, and that’s what we have done here.”
Elders Eyre Peninsula area manager David Fleming said the benefits of the site for the local farming community are clear.
“We are pleased that we can help contribute to ongoing improvement in farming systems and give our customers exposure to opportunities,” he said.
“By attending the crop walk, our clients have been able to see first-hand how plants react to applications of different herbicides and potentially new seed varieties. It is a great opportunity for farmers across the Peninsula.”
Meet the team
