Oat trial yields big results
Elders declares Boss oats strong performer
❝The Boss has produced high quality hay and has been very well received by cattle and horse producers alike. — Maree Crawford
Trial location: Cnr Brimblecombe Rd and Gowrie Mountain School Rd
Tim Durre, of T Durre Hay Sales and Contracting, is a valued client and friend of the team at Elders Toowoomba and has worked closely with the team over the years with trial crops, so choosing him to help with a new Elders Boss oat variety was a no-brainer.
Tim was impressed with the claims on Boss oats and, wanting a high-yielding soft hay variety, we commenced the trial.
Tim pre-fertilised four weeks prior to planting with urea at 200kg/ha in 4m rows.
The Boss oats were planted at the start of May on fallow ground over five paddocks, at 50kg/ha along with 40kg/ha of Starter in 4m rows.
Irrigation followed, with 50mm at planting, another 50mm six weeks later, and then was followed up with favourable rainfall.
Tim found the Boss to be a little more late maturing than first thought and was impressed with the rust resistance of the variety.
The growth and quality of the leaf was impressive.
Baling commenced in early October, with mostly large squares and round bales coming off and some small bales as well.
Yields over four paddocks varied from 10.92t/ha to 8.37t/ha.
A small paddock of 4ha that had significantly reduced irrigation yielded the least at 6.1t/ha.
Overall, even including the worst performing paddock, the Boss oats yielded an average of 8.79t/ha over the 34ha.
The Boss has produced high quality hay and has been well received by cattle and
horse producers alike.
All the hay sold quickly and was all sold between Toowoomba and the Cooper Basin.
The hay is soft, has a fine stem with plenty of leaf and
would also make excellent chaff.
Overall Tim and his clients are impressed with the Boss oat variety and would highly recommend to anyone wanting to plant for a high yielding,
high quality hay.
In addition to Boss, Elders has a new oat variety, Graza 53, which is commercially available this season.
Graza 53 is a late maturing variety which displays a
semi-erect growth habit and a medium/quick speed to initial grazing.
Importantly it also carries a leaf rust rating of 9 (highly resistant, forage yield unlikely to be reduced).