Optimising Plant Establishment 2018 Skipton Canola Experiment

Data from the 2018 crop establishment trial at Skipton, VIC. The trial compared the establishment of Wahoo canola at different densities, under a conventional seeder (Vaderstad Seed Hawk) and under a precision seeder (Vaderstad Tempo), and at two row spacings (a narrow row spacing of 250mm, and a wide row spacing of 500mm). The experiment was run under the UOA1803-009RTX GRDC research project led by the University of Adelaide, with the experimental trial and local data collection managed by Southern Farming Systems (SFS).

Files:2018 SFS Canola.xlsx

Experiment setup:Experiment managed locally by Southern Farming Systems (SFS). The trial was organised as a split plot with 2 main plot treatments (the precision Tempo seeder vs the conventional Seed Hawk seeder) and 4 subplot treatments (two different row spacings 250mm vs 500mm, and two different target plant densities 25 and 35 plants/m2), arranged spatially in 4 ranges across 6 replicates, for 48 plots total. Wahoo canola was used as the variety.

Variables recorded:establishment count (plants/m2), soil moisture (%), establishment score (0-10), peak biomass dry weight (kg/ha), uncorrected yield (t/ha), test weight (kg/hL), moisture (%), protein (%), oil (%), corrected yield at 8% moisture (t/ha)

Data collection and assessment:The trial was sown on 02/05/2018 for the precision Tempo seeder, and on 03/05/2018 for the conventional Seed Hawk seeder. Plant establishment counts were made on 3m lengths at specified plots together with the soil moisture measurements, and these were counted on 22/05/2018 and 30/05/2018. During the establishment counts slug damage to many of the plots became apparent, and these have been noted in the trial map included in the dataset. The crop establishment was scored at each plot on 25/06/2018. Peak biomass dry matter was recorded for specified plots. The canola crop was harvested on 20/12/2018, and the yield (t/ha), moisture content, protein content and oil content were assessed.