Yallara, the new replacement for Euro, was the outstanding performer in South Australian NVT and National Oat Breeding trials in 2008. In a year where seasonal rains favoured hay production, Yallara, Mitika and Possum were equally outstanding for grain yield when averaged across all sites.
Yallara’s superior grain quality however saw it jump ahead of the others in the finish. It was the only variety tested to average less than 10 percent screenings in a tough finishing year.
Good rains in late April had many farmers sowing without a weed kill to get their crop in early. Rains continued through May until August and it even got too wet to apply post sowing herbicides until the last two weeks of August.
At the beginning of September the season was poised to be the best for some years in most districts even though the total amount of rain received was similar to 2007 up to this point.
Unfortunately western EP, the Upper North and Mallee missed out on many of these rains and maintained low soil moisture levels. This resulted in crop failures for the Minnipa, Lowbanks and Bordertown trials. Greenpatch on the other hand did yield well however the site was highly variable and therefore results are not presented for this trial.
The cold wet winter caused a lot of nutrient deficiency and leaf diseases started to make their presence felt by early September. Red leather leaf in particular was widespread in the mid North.
Two fungicide trials conducted by Rural Directions showed no control of this fungus by a range of fungicides. Bacterial blight and ring spot were present in some areas and one case of stem rust was reported. However, none of these limited yield due to the season ending for some by mid September with the mercury rising past 30 degrees on a number of occasions.
Lack of rain in October, while a bonus for hay producers, either limited or finished off grain crops depending on the region. For those crops able to get through this period, rains in November helped improve quality and while yields were good for those areas that received winter rains, quality and in particular screenings percent was poor due to the lack of spring rain.
Following is a summary of how each variety performed in the South Australian National Variety Trials (NVT) conducted by the SARDI New Variety Agronomy Group and the National Oat Breeding Program trials in 2008. Factors such as grain quality, disease resistance and maturity as well as grain yield should be considered before selecting the variety best suited to your district and end use. The sowing guide published in the October/November 2008 edition of the Grain Business magazine or on the SARDI website (www.sardi.sa.gov.au) provides comprehensive notes on each variety and is your best guide to choosing oat varieties for both grain and hay production.
The new potential milling variety Yallara is a backcross line which combines Euro’s yield and premium milling grain quality with stem and leaf rust resistance from a North Dakota breeder’s line.
Yallara has bright grain and high grain digestibility making it suitable for the horse racing industry. It is slightly earlier than Euro and slightly taller. Like Euro it is resistant to cereal eelworm but intolerant.
It is also susceptible and intolerant of stem nematode. Yallara had higher grain yield compared to Euro at all locations except Paskeville in 2008 and was 7 percent higher yielding than Euro when averaged across all sites. It’s grain quality was excellent in the tough finish and Yallara averaged 1.9 kg/hl higher hectolitre weight, 0.7g larger grain weight and 7.2 percent lower screenings compared to Euro. As previously stated, it had the best grain quality of any of the varieties tested and was the only variety to average less than 10 percent screenings.
The dwarf milling quality variety Mitika yielded well above its long term average at all locations in 2008 except Pinery. Mitika’s early maturity will see it finish off quickly in a tough finish and not take advantage of late rains. Despite this it was the equal highest yielding variety along with Yallara and Possum.
Test weight in 2008 was similar to Euro with a slightly smaller grain size but 1.3 percent less screenings. Mitika is an early maturing variety suited to all rainfall districts due to its improved foliar disease resistance spectrum1.
However, it is intolerant and susceptible to cereal eelworm and is not suitable for areas where this is a problem. Mitika has low husk lignin and good grain protein and digestibility making it an excellent option for feed. Seed of Mitika is available from Plant Tech Pty Ltd.
Like Mitika, Possum is a milling quality dwarf oat susceptible and intolerant to cereal eelworm. And like Mitika, Possum performed above its long term average compared to Echidna and was equal top in yield with Mitika and Yallara when averaged across all locations. It did well at Nunjikompita and Turretfield.
Grain quality for this variety, like Mitika, is exceptional. In 2008 Possum had similar test weights and grain size to Mitika with slightly lower screenings. Possum’s maturity is similar to Echidna and it is more suited to medium to high rainfall areas where cereal eelworm is not a constraint. It also has an improved foliar disease resistance spectrum1 compared to Echidna. Seed of Possum is available from AWB Seeds.
The WA bred oat variety Kojonup is a dwarf milling variety. It is mid season maturity and very susceptible and intolerant of cereal eelworm. It is moderately susceptible to septoria and susceptible to other foliar diseases1. Averaged across all sites, Kojonup was equivalent to its long term yield in 2008 but it performed poorly at Pinery and Turretfield. Its later maturity saw it suffer in the tough finish. Hectolitre weight was comparable to other milling types but screenings percentage was the highest of all milling varieties tested. Kojonup is not currently recommended in South Australia.
Euro averaged 8 percent higher than its long term average relative to Echidna across all locations. Test weight in 2008 was slightly lower than Mitika and screenings percent higher. However, grain size was larger and second only to Yallara. Euro is a short tall milling quality variety with resistance but intolerance to cereal eelworm. It is also very susceptible to stem rust and requires monitoring and applications of fungicides in years when stem rust is likely to be a problem. In contrast to 2007, Echidna was out yielded in 2008 trials by the new varieties Mitika, Possum and Yallara. It has been surpassed for grain quality by Yallara, Mitika and Possum but is better than Potoroo. This was again the case in 2008. Potoroo is an early maturing dwarf feed variety with resistance and tolerance to cereal eelworm. It is the only variety tested in these trials suited to areas where cereal eelworm is a problem. Potoroo yielded well in 2008 at all locations except Pinery. However, indicative of its feed status, it had the lowest average test weight and the highest average screenings percentage of all varieties tested. Watch out for new dwarf varieties soon to be released by the breeding program with eelworm resistance and tolerance combined with improved grain quality. Quoll was not included in NVT trials in 2008.
• Refer to the October/November 2008 edition of the Grain Business magazine, SARDI website or variety brochures for a more comprehensive listing of the foliar disease resistances for each variety.
