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Proven grain sorghum hybrid performs across dryland and irrigated

Phillip Coggan grows several hundred hectares of grain sorghum near Westmar, about 70 km north of the Qld–NSW border between St George and Moonie.

Westmar grower Phillip Coggan looks to Pioneer's A66 grain sorghum for its reliability and toughness on the Western Downs. Westmar grower Phillip Coggan looks to Pioneer's A66 grain sorghum for its reliability and toughness on the Western Downs.

He’s been planting Pioneer ® brand A66 grain sorghum for several years and has come to rely on the performance of the tough hybrid across both dryland and irrigated paddocks.

“Last year we grew the A66 in 12-inch row spacings,” Mr Coggan said.

This year he grew his Pioneer brand ® A66 from late January, double cropping usually.

When it came to harvest time, he said the A66 came home strongly.

“All good grain size and good standability,” he said.

“The A66 has been pretty reliable. Last year was one of the biggest harvests we’ve ever had.”

“Next year, we’ll be growing it in ten-inch rows because we have a new planter that can handle stubble.”

He was particularly pleased not to have any issues with ergot, despite planting late in the season.

Caused by the fungus, Claviceps Africana, ergot reduces sorghum yield through poor seed set and can cause harvesting difficulties due to a sticky honeydew that forms on the heads of infected plants.

Ergot management generally relies on good agronomic practices and the selection of proven hybrid grain sorghum seed.

Even flowering helps to ensure there are large quantities of viable pollen during flowering, and flowers fertilised by pollen are resistant to infection by the ergot spores.

[If you want to know more about how to reduce the risk of ergot infection, Pioneer have compiled a concise guide for growers which is available in the Pioneer brand seeds resource centre.]

As of July 2023, recent rainfall had improved the moisture profile across Mr Coggan’s Westmar property, so he said he was likely to plant a larger area of wheat this year, on the back of earlier sown winter crops which are now up out of the ground.

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