‘Mr Barley’ gives varietal advice

Press, 21 May 1982, Page 10

‘Mr Barley’ gives varietal advice

For general all round performance growers should select from Georgie, Kaniere, Hassan and Mata barley varieties for next season, according to Mr J. P. Malcolm, introduced to the Lincoln College Farmers’ Conference this week as Canterbury’s “Mr Barley.” Manapou would be the preferred barley to be grown in a dry year, if such a season could be predicted, and the high-yielding Gwylan, Goldmarker, Magnum and Ark Royal if extra care is taken and good conditions prevail. Mr Malcolm gave a paper to the conference entitled “making money from barley.” He considered barley under several headings including place in rotation, choice of cultivar, sowing time, sowing rate, fertilisers, weed control, disease control, harvesting and storage. With regard to cultivars Mr Malcolm said Gwylan topped the yield potential list in Canterbury but it produced thin grain and very high screenings under moisture stress. “Goldmarker is another top yield ranker but it inherently has smallish grain which may give high screenings unless well grown,” he said. “The straw can lodge a little compared with Gwylan which has a very short strong straw.

“The other top yielder is Magnum, which normally produces plump grain with low screenings, but its late maturing habit may be a disadvantage in some circumstances. “Ark Royal can be a high yielder but it is not recommended for light land and it is also a later maturing cultivar and often produces high screenings unless irrigated.” Mr Malcolm grouped Georgie, Kaniere and Makareta as consistent yielding barleys with plump grain. He said. Manapou was mainly, a barley for this region because it maintains a good yield in dry seasons when other cultivars have a greater yield depression without water. “Hassan and Mata are both well-tried, consistently good barleys for yield, plump grain, maturity and most other important aspects,” he said. On sowing time Mr Malcolm said, that this may extend from late August on free draining soils near the coast to early November on poorly drained soils or in higher altitude inland districts with colder soil in the spring. “The general rule is to drill when soil temperatures are high enough to initiate the spring flush of pasture growth and a suitable seed bed has been prepared. “Within these limits, the earlier sowing the better the result, to get barley established and through the vital growth and development stages before summer moisture stress.” He said a low sowing rate of 80kg per hectare was indicated in areas where an early sowing date was pos-

sible, as the crops had time to grow and produce more tillers per plant. “Similarly • a low rate is employed on very light land which cannot support a very dense crop, especially through the grain developing and filling stages. “On the other hand late sowing in November or even December means that the crops have to hurry through their early development stages and produce only one or two tillers per plant and extra seed at up to 170 kg per hectare compensates for this. “Extensive fertiliser trials many years ago showed that 120 kg per hectare of superphosphate or equivalent gave a payable yield increase. “Soils with a high yield potential for barley may show an economic response in yield with up to 250 kg per hectare of superphosphate. “Barley is an easy crop to thresh if grain and straw are in a fit condition. The grain should be undamaged, rubbed entirely from the head and the awns rubbed off. “To avoid grain damage always opt for the slowest drum speed that will do the job. "Set the concave close enough to the drum to achieve a slow firm rubbing action similar to threshing a head with the heel of one hand in the palm of another, as we sometimes do to assess the fitness of a crop. “In marginally fit cases I have set headers with the slowest possible drum speed (pea speed) and the drumconcave clearance as close as possible (clover clearance) to achieve clean threshing with no grain damage,” said Mr Malcolm.

Farmers should aim to produce lambs in the heavyweight grade with lean carcases, Mr R. A. Barton, reader in sheep husbandry at Massey University, told a field day hosted by the Canterbury Suffolk Breeders’ Club at Ashburton recently. The photograph shows Mr Barton (left), assisted by Mr Kevin Harmer (Little River), using a Suffolk cross lamb carcase to demonstrate Wat cover and muscling. The selection of sires with a lean carcase was crucial to overcome the problem of excess fat, said Mr Barton. Signs of excess fat were a deep, broad chest, wide, flat loins, thick flanks, and a well-filled, deep crutch. When farmers killed meat for their

own use they should observe the live animal and then study the carcase as it was cut up, said Mr Barton. Pens of lambs from D. M and J. D. Stowell (Methven) filled the first two places in a fat lamb competition held in as part of the field day. Forty-eight pens of three Suffolk cross lambs were entered. W. Bell (Ashburton) was third, A. Wright (Hinds) fourth, and D. J. Smyth (Lowcliffe) fifth. A line of Suffolk cross lambs bred by Mr Smyth and killed at the Fairton freezing works during the field day killed out at an average weight of 19.74 kilograms and an average price of $29.45. Forty-five lambs were in the PX heavyweight grade and 39 in the PHH (prime extra heavy) grade.