Response of current and future wheat varieties to three planting times at Tamworth in 2012

Abstract

Key findings • In 2012 the optimum sowing window appeared to shift forward 10 days compared to the traditional flowering window between 20th of September to October 5th. This shift in date resulted in the better performance of shorter season varieties from earlier planting times. • Suntop[PBR] and Sunguard[PBR] behaved similarly to EGA Gregory[PBR] in terms of maturity, while Suntop[PBR] had comparable yield across all planting times. • Longreach Dart[PBR] provides a quick option that was faster than any other variety examined with the main season planting time (TOS 2). Despite the quick time to reach anthesis, Longreach Dart[PBR] does not reach physical maturity any quicker than Longreach Spitfire[PBR], which suggests that it has a longer grain filling period. • Late season rainfall meant that longer season varieties were able to gain a yield advantage over quick maturing varieties from a late planting time (TOS 3).