The main sowing program is underway for SFS!

April has arrived with some rainfall, most of the rain for the month fell in the first couple of days of April, perfect timing to kick off the main sowing operations.

As the team shift gears from 2023 into the 2024 season, many staff will move from the office to the shed which becomes a hive of activity over the next couple of months. There is a huge amount of preparation and attention to detail that goes into the sowing program, starting well before the seed is in the ground.  Trials are designed and trial layout maps completed, seed is ordered, Target Grain Weight’s and germination information is collected to determine sowing rates, then each individual plot is labelled and packed.

For anyone who has been to SFS’ sites you will know the number of trials and individual plots you see across the sites, seed packing and sowing preparations are a complex process and one that needs a high attention to detail to ensure plots are packed and sown correctly. To assist the team with these operations, we welcome back Rob who joined the team this time last year as well, and two new casuals Camille and Theo.

Sowing started at the Streatham site with trials that have multiple times of sowing and early season wheats. The team will then move into the main canola program this week across Inverleigh, Streatham and Hamilton and the early season NVT wheat trial at Hamilton.  Along with sowing, the usual operations that go with it will also continue such as cultivating, spraying, rolling and baiting.

By Ashley Amourgis, SFS Manager

Images:

1. Rob packing canola trials.
2. Seeder sowing at Streatham.  Source: A Amourgis, SFS.