32 IREC Farmers' Newsletter No. 199 — Autumn 2018 Irrigation specific guidelines A range of high-yielding cereal and canola varieties for irrigated systems were trialed so that the best varieties under irrigation were identified and growers could select the best variety for their location and irrigation system. The importance of correct variety selection is well documented for dryland crops but the same depth of information had not existed for irrigated crops. Identifying the best varieties for irrigated systems is essential to achieving high yields. Further, compared with dryland agriculture, irrigated agriculture has the added pressure of uncertain water allocation and water cost, which creates the need for irrigated crops to produce ‘more crop per drop’. Variety selection and variety-specific management are critical to using irrigation water efficiently and getting the best return possible on resources invested in a crop. Crop production information from Southern Irrigated Cereal and Canola Achieving Target Yields Grower manuals Two manuals outlining best management practices are available on the GRDC website Irrigated canola in southern cropping systems Irrigated wheat in southern cropping systems Variety specific agronomy packages Variety specific agronomy packages were produced for locations where research was conducted. At the time of publication, packages were available for the Lachlan and Murrumbidgee valleys. Farmers’ Newsletter articles Throughout the project, seasonal research was reported in the IREC Farmers’ Newsletter No. 191, Spring 2014, pp 36–37, $1.2 million boost to irrigated cereal & canola research No.192, Autumn 2015, pp 10–13, Achieving 10 tonnes of irrigated wheat in the Murrumbidgee No.192, Autumn 2015, pp 14–15, Achieving four tonnes of irrigated canola in the Murrumbidgee No.194 Autumn 2016, pp 8–11, Lifting irrigated wheat yields No.194 Autumn 2016, pp 13–17, Lifting irrigated canola yields No. 196 Spring 2016, pp 28–31, Optimising nitrogen for irrigated canola No. 197 Autumn 2017, pp 12–15, Nitrogen for high-yielding irrigated canola No. 197 Autumn 2017, pp16–19, Optimum plant population for irrigated wheat Wealth of information Project leader, Tony Napier who is the Research and Development Agronomist with NSW DPI at Yanco Agricultural Institute, said the project has produced a wealth of information for crop producers in the irrigated areas of southern Australia. “Critically, the project has helped identify the varieties of wheat and canola that will perform best under irrigation,” said Tony. Variety choice proved a key factor in producing high yielding irrigated wheat crops over the trial period. l  LongReach Cobrap was a standout variety in the Leeton and Coleambally experiments, and highest yielding in 2015 and 2016. Other varieties that had consistent high yields included: l LongReach Trojanp l Suntopp l Charap l Corackp . The highest yielding canola varieties over the three years at the Leeton and Coleambally sites were: l  Pioneer® 45Y88 (CL) l  Nuseed® Diamond l  Hyola® 50 l AV-Garnet l  Hyola 577 CL l  Hyola 575 CL l  Pioneer 45Y25 RR. The best yielding conventional varieties and Clearfield® (CL) and Roundup Ready® (RR) canola varieties consistently out-yielded the best yielding triazine tolerant (TT) varieties. Growers should only consider using the TT varieties if needed for weed control options as TT varieties consistently yielded 10–20% less than the overall best yielding varieties. “However, variety is just one part of the system. Other aspects of crop production must also be right from irrigation layout and time of sowing, to rates and timing of nitrogen topdressings,” said Tony. Industry research before the project estimated that if yields of irrigated crops increased to best trial levels, the farm gate value of cereals and canola had the potential to double.