This wheat calculator helps growers identify nitrogen (N) and irrigation (I) needs for wheat crops.
Key points:
- The Sirius Wheat Calculator is a computer programme that helps growers identify nitrogen (N) and irrigation (I) needs for wheat crops.
- It uses current and historical weather data to estimate yield, and has scenarios to look at the impact on yield of a dry or wet season.
- The programme is interactive and allows growers to see the impacts of changing the amounts and timings of N & I.
- Graphs help the user see when N and water levels are low, the impact this has on the canopy and crop yield and whether their management is influencing leaching and residual N levels.
- Wheat growth stages and margins over N & I input costs are also presented.
- The program has been tested on farm for four seasons & has recently been made available to all wheat growers through a series of workshops.