Growers of dryland rice and soybean crops near Lismore in Northern NSW will soon have a better idea of what species of cover crops they can plant, and then terminate with a roller crimper.
Southern Queensland and Northern NSW Innovation Hub Lismore Node extension officer, Gavin Tinning, said planting in a two-hectare trial site was finally completed recently, after delays last year when it was too wet.
“The seeds from a variety of winter crops have now germinated,” he said.
“The question we are hoping to answer is, ‘Which cover crops (such as black oats, field pea, ryecorn, vetch) will best suit being terminated in late spring with a roller crimper?’
“We have a bit of an idea, but roller crimping cover crop trials haven’t been run in higher rainfall sub-tropical regions.
“Roller crimping could be a good alternative to using an expensive selective herbicide to manage grass competition in rice crops.
“This also improves the soil health and farm productivity, and provides nitrogen where a legume is used in the cover crop.”
This replicated trial is a component added by Hub funding, to an AgriFutures and Australian Research Council-funded rice breeding and weed management project run by Southern Cross University, and partnering with Natural Rice Co.
SCU researcher Dr Szabolcs Lehoczki-Krsjak is selecting varieties of high value black rice for drought, cold and disease tolerance characteristics.
This will extend the planting window to provide more options to growers, create crop rotation opportunities and manage climate variability.