Broader range of application with Optimum GLY®

The Pekin family produce barley, beans and canola, and run crossbred ewes on 1500 hectares of pasture.

With the support of Pioneer® brand Seeds Territory Sales Manager Ashleigh Byrne and Farm Services Consultant Dave Hogan, the Pekins planted a side-by-side trial of PY422G Optimum GLY® herbicide tolerance trait canola this year.

“Overall, it's looking really good and we’re looking forward to seeing the results,” Nick says.

“It'll get a fungicide when the weather allows in the next couple of weeks ... to achieve those max yields… but overall it’s pretty good.”

Western Ag Horsham agronomist Sam Gabbe works alongside the Pekin family to help them get the best results.

“We’ve had few opportunities to get on the paddocks,” Sam says.

“But if you miss those opportunities ... up your sleeve you've got that salvage spray, you know, timing, if it starts drying out, we can come out and put it on.

“Whereas with your older traditional Roundup Ready ... you’re stuck to that, as soon as you start seeing bud you’re cornered.

“Optimum GLY just gives that bit of opportunity and bit of a safety net, I suppose.”

In terms of pre-emergence weed control Sam says the only concern at the Pekin farm was some young ryegrass, which they targeted with Paraquat.

“After emergence we applied Clethodim and glyphosate around the one or two-leaf stage and then, and then went back, probably three or four weeks later, with a second hit of glyphosate to knock out the few remaining radish plants and a bit of rye.”

Sam’s impressed with Optimum GLY’s broader range of application, something he says works well on the Pekin farm, where it had been wet since mid-May.

As part of positive stewardship over the trait technology it developed, Corteva Agriscience requires growers to submit a technology user agreement before planting Optimum GLY.

Sam says the process for signing up to the Optimum GLY technology user agreement was straightforward enough.

“There's plenty of plenty of technologies that we've had to do them for ... and they're all roughly the same sort of process,” he says.

“It's a pretty easy process. Like most things, probably the hardest thing to get ourselves and growers to do is paperwork, and if it's easy to do, well it makes life a lot easier, so it gets done.”

Overall Optimum GLY® herbicide tolerance trait offers growers three key features.

The canola exhibits robust and efficacious glyphosate tolerance without crop injury.

Optimum GLY hybrids enable a broader range of glyphosate application rates. This range increases the spectrum of weeds that can be controlled.

The hybrid also features a broad application window from emergence to 10% flowering.

Community support

When they’re not working, Sam and Nick coordinate the Arapiles South Ag group, an informal support network that meets semi-regularly to share farming knowledge and encourage stronger, more meaningful social interactions.

“It's more of a mental health [thing] these days,” Nick says.

“You can just get together and have a yarn. Have a barbie and what not and just to see how each other and everyone's doing.

“With trials like this, many people may not know that we’re even doing this, so it's good to get out and about and have a look.”

According to Sam, many farmers aged in their twenties to forties need a bit of additional support now and then.

“It's pretty isolated [on farms] and especially now that farms are getting bigger, there's less houses and less community in some areas.”

Image above (L-R): Young Tex Pekin joins his father Nick as they inspect the family's PY422G Optimum GLY®  with Pioneer Seeds Territory Sales Manager Ashleigh Byrne and Western Ag Horsham agronomist  Sam Gabbe.

Above (L-R): Tex Pekin, Western Ag Horsham agronomist Sam Gabbe and grower Nick Pekin at his family's property in Kanagulk, Victoria, about 380 km north-west of Melbourne.

Pioneer® brand canola hybrids offer you a choice of standalone or combined herbicide tolerant systems such as Clearfield®, Triazine and Roundup Ready®.

New Optimum GLY® herbicide tolerant hybrid canola will be offered commercially by Pioneer in Australia from 2024.

For more information about Pioneer® brand Seeds hybrid canola, visit the product page on the website or contact your local Pioneer representative.