The 2021-2022 harvest was good for some and a shocker for many. The Autumn Cultivar Evaluation booklet outlines how a range of wheat and barley cultivars performed across the country.
2021 autumn sowing conditions were generally dry and warm, with all regions experiencing average or above average temperatures combined with below average rainfall. Following the warmest winter on record, mild temperatures continued into spring with above average temperatures recorded across nearly all of the North Island and a majority of the South Island. Weather events hampered production in a number of areas. For instance, a significant rainfall event in Canterbury at the end of May flooded newly established crops and made re-sowing difficult. December and February also brought heavy rain, including two tropical cyclones, and flooding to parts of the upper South Island and lower North Island.
The unusually wet summer conditions promoted late season disease and delayed harvest, which ultimately affected grain quality and yield in many locations in the lower North Island and Canterbury. Overall, falling numbers were down 10% in irrigated May-sown milling wheats in Canterbury, whereas protein levels were 0.7% higher. Yields were also back 2.5 tonne/hectare (t/ha) when compared to the 4-year mean from last season. Irrigated feed wheat crops in Canterbury fared no better, with yields across the CPT sites 1 t/ha lower than the 4-year mean.
The wet December did favour dryland feed wheat crops however, with a 1 t/ha improvement on the 4-year mean from last season. It was a similar scenario for autumn sown barley yields in Canterbury, with the average yield at the irrigated site back by just over a tonne and the dryland site matching the 4-year mean. Feed wheat yields in the Manawatu were back 2 t/ha on the 4-year mean from last season. Grains were lighter and test weights and protein values increased. In Southland, autumn sown barley and feed wheat yielded around 1 t/ha higher than the 4-year mean, with favourable weather conditions resulting in a timely harvest.