Key Messages:

• Summit Vigour® (10, 12,12) is a fully granulated Muriate of Potash based fertiliser with Cu (0.1%) and Zn (0.2%).
• The Vixen wheat yielded very well across the entire trial.
• The higher rate of Vigour® supported a statistically better yield and optimised profit.

Project Summary:

A farm-scale trial was established with Vixen wheat and three rates of Vigour and four replicates of each. All other treatments were the same. The paddock was loamy sand, with no salinity issues, freely draining, good pH, Low N & P, and no trace deficiencies. Annual rainfall for the location was 378mm. Crop establishment was similar across the trial sites.

All phosphorus supplied to the crop was from the Vigour® and the improved crop response could be considered a phosphorus response, although the total applications of 9.6 kg/ha, 12.0 kg/ha and 14.4 kg/ha should not have been limiting. Phosphorus availability was not limited due to PBI. The grain was all delivered as ASW1 with no differences in the protein or hectolitre weight which is sometimes a concern with high-yielding conditions.

There was a significant impact of the fertiliser rate; the 120 kg/ha rate yielded higher than the other fertiliser rates but there was no difference between the 100 kg/ha or the 80 kg/ha. We assumed the sale value of the ASW1 wheat at $350/T and only considered this input when calculating the gross profit as all other inputs were the same.

Table: Rate of Vigour Fertiliser, Average Yield, & Average Gross Income.

Lower case letters denote significant difference where letters are different.

Implications: 

Vixen performed above its Long Term Multi Environment Trial (MET) Predicted Yield of 4.84 t/ha for the Yealering area in the highest fertiliser application rate during this trial. This was partially a result of the good rainfall throughout the season as well as the fertiliser regime.  In a season where marginal or dry finish may occur, it might suit to hold the extra Vigour quantity, then apply it as part of the in-season fertiliser applications if the conditions warrant. This will ensure the fertiliser budget is appropriate to the conditions.

Links:

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