Genetically modified canola has already been a big winner for Corrigin district producer, Wes Baker who has kept a close eye on varieties being tested on his 2200 hectare property.
Mr Baker, who farms with his wife Meg and son Travis, is hosting Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC)-funded canola National Variety Trials (NVT) and is quick to take up top performing varieties.
“We found a 20 per cent yield increase over and above the Triazine Tolerant (TT) varieties which was excellent but I would like to get a lot more than that if I can and I believe the newer varieties that we’re using now are going to do that, particularly the Scorpion variety,” he said.
Mr Baker says he enjoys following NVTs in the district and even more so on his own farm.
“You can go to another trial site and see a variety which you like, bring it back to your property and find it doesn’t quite work,” he says.
“I monitor the variety trials very closely and take a lot of notice of what is growing on here and the new varieties that they are testing.
“We grow it straight away if we think it is going to be a good fit in our system.”
The property is 85 per cent dedicated to cropping, while the Bakers run a cereal pasture rotation on a few paddocks close to the shearing shed.
The NVTs run on the Baker’s property include TT, Clearfield and GM canola varieties.
“This is where you get a good comparison between the different types and systems which fit into your farming operation,” Mr Baker said.
“Out of those three systems there are varieties which do fit our system.
“What stands out for me is that you have all these varieties side by side in a trial site and you can make a visual comparison.”
These comparisons have already been beneficial for the Corrigin operation, with a couple of varieties already being commercially grown on the farm.
“We’ve already picked up a TT canola and put that into our system this year and I’m closely following the GM varieties,” Mr Baker said.
“I’ve picked out a new GM variety that was trialled last year and that is the one we are growing this year.
“I think it is fantastic we now have the option of GM canola as I’ve been waiting for this opportunity to grow GM crops for some time.
“I believe it’s the best thing to ever happen to our grain industry in WA.”
Mr Baker does however still have some concerns about the slow implementation of GM technology in WA.
“Even in the GM canola variety we used last year, which yielded 20 per cent better than TT canola, was really old technology and hopefully the one this year is far better but it is still not the latest and greatest technology,” he said.
“They have still got a long way to go but at least it is a start and it opens up the doors for all different types of crops.”
However, the Barkers aren’t going to solely rely on the new technology as they are extremely concerned about herbicide resistance.
They see the importance of having a number of different types of systems for weed management.
“’We need to keep rotating our chemical types so these three different systems allow you to do that,” Mr Baker said.
“I’m not sure how much longer we are going to be allowed to use Atrazine, so we have got be keep using that one for as long as we can.
“I’ll make sure we have a mixture of TT and GM canola on this property and Clearfield may be used now and again but it is only in there for a certain fit.”
The Bakers have been using controlled traffic farming for six years and have run GPS guidance for several years.
“We have had major success with controlled traffic farming and I believe it has saved us a lot of money and has paid for itself,” Mr Baker said.
“We’ve found there is far less overlap in terms of seeding and spraying operations and even at harvesting you are getting full efficiency out of your header.”
One of the benefits of the control traffic system is better yields because of less compaction in the soil.
When the family drives across the paddocks they can now feel the wheel ruts in the controlled traffic tram lines.
They have also been yield mapping since 1996 using colour maps and examined variable rate technology, with some trial work conducted with the help of the GRDC as part of the Corrigin Farm Improvement group project.
“We had about seven farmers involved in broadacre trials, where we conducted a variable rate system across three production zones and we applied varying rates of nutrients,” Mr Baker said.
“They applied less than what we normally do, normal farmer practice and double the rates we would normally apply.
“We found that over the years the most economical way of doing it was the current farmer practice.”
In the future the inputs which the Baker family may examine varying are nitrogen, potash and lime.
They also feel a more economical way of applying lime is to select areas of a paddock which requires it rather the spreading it across the whole paddock.
For more information, visit www.grdc.com.au.
