AGT Seeding has begun on the Candeloro Farms' 13,500ha Toodyay farm

The 35 hectare paddock on the Candeloro Farms' 13,500ha Toodyay farm will soon be filled with trials for a range of different new plant varieties, hopefully one of which will eventually make its way onto the market.

Out of tens of thousands of genotypes there is a chance that one will be successful, and AGT wheat breeder Dion Bennett is hopeful one of the trial patches in front of him will be commercialised in the coming years.

While the AGT seeder may operate similarly, with coulters, flutes and tynes, it definitely doesn't look like the conventional machine you would find across the Wheatbelt.

Stepping inside what could only be called the seeder cab, lines of little pots filled with seeds sit ready to be placed into the seeding mechanism.

The individual containers of seeds are placed within a holder, then flipped upside down, and an operator stands within the seeding cab - manually loading seeds.

After a trial plot is finished, the seeding operator jumps out the cab and places a post with the information for the plot - including the name of the genotype and a scannable code.

It's slow work, and makes you appreciate the broadacre seeders that cover large ground and don't need sign posts to identify plots.

The team was hoping to start seeding after the traditional Anzac Day window, but this was postponed due to dry soil conditions.

Mr Bennett said he preferred to seed into moisture, or with a good rainfall event on the radar, as a marginal rainfall event could result in patchy trials.

"When you need to manage trials, that has a huge effect on data - so we tend to wait for good conditions so the trials are nice," Mr Bennett said.

The Toodyay site is home for AGT's wheat program, but also has a fair portion of barley plots.

Every genotype in the WA breeding program will have a plot at the site, so AGT can have access for note taking, yield trials, characterising maturity and making sure there are pure seeds of those genotypes.

"The ones that survived to the next generation, this will be the seed source for the trials around the State, so we put all the effort into here to make sure everything's nice and clean," Mr Bennett said.

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Mr Bennett said Candeloro Farms had been extremely accommodating with rotations.

"They have been accommodating to help prepare the sites with their big gear - with cereals it ends up being a 35 hectare site - and with our little tiny tractors, it's a fair bit of work to prepare something like that," Mr Bennett said.

"So they're really good and help us out."

Mr Bennett said the paddock was perfect for trials, as it was in a reliable rainfall area with a low frost risk and typical sandy loam, which was more representative of the Wheatbelt than the atypical heavier soils found in the Avon Valley.

The Candeloro site is one of many farms that AGT has trials on, with farms reaching from Geraldton to Corrigin.

"We have great co-operators who let us use their paddocks, we're working with their rotations and they have a drive around and make sure that we've got the area we need to be testing," he said.

Included in the trial patches were seed increases for advanced lines, which Mr Bennett was excited about, as AGT was planning on releasing these varieties in two or three years time.

By bulking up seed, when these varieties do get released, AGT can comfortably supply to farmers who are interested in trying the new variations.

"We're growing maybe between half a hectare and a couple of hectares to produce those tonnes as we get closer to release.

AGT is trialling a range of different grains, from soft wheat for the Asian market to long season and grazing wheat, and has recently announced two new lupin varieties (see story, Page 18).