Key Points
- Most farmers are not achieving target populations
- On average, increasing sowing rate by 6% or 5000 plants/ha would achieve target populations and increase gross margin by $80/ha
- Under good growing conditions, yield and profit was greater at 110,000 plants/ha than at 88,000 plants/ha
- Increasing populations in poor paddocks doesn’t increase yield or profit
- At high populations, kernel size and stem diameter will decrease, and in poor paddocks bulk density is likely to be reduced
- No grain yield benefit or increased profitability was seen from reduced row spacings. However, other benefits, e.g. weed competition, would provide significant yield benefits to some growers