Abstract
In mixed cropping and livestock dryland farming systems in southern Australia, grazing of cereals during their vegetative growth stages (typically during winter) can provide a valuable contribution of high-quality feed during a period of low pasture growth. This paper reports results from a series of experiments investigating the impact of defoliation on the grain production of cereals in the Eyre Peninsula region of South Australia. The comparative dry matter production and grain yield of wheat, barley and oats cultivars, with and without defoliation, at a range of growth stages were measured in four experiments over three growing seasons, two of which were water-deficient. The barley varieties evaluated produced up to twice the dry matter of the wheat or oats cultivars to the time of defoliation. Mowing following stem elongation more than halved grain yield (1.9 to 0.9 t ha–1) relative to no defoliation in an early-maturing variety, but with less reduction in later maturing varieties. Defoliation before stem elongation in two seasons of very low growing-season rainfall (<100 mm) caused no or very little loss in grain yields, which were generally <1 t ha–1. A long-season winter wheat produced similar grain yields irrespective of defoliation and timing, but with no yield advantage over the defoliated spring cereals. The results suggest opportunities to incorporate the grazing of cereals to fill a winter feed-gap in the low-rainfall zone of southern Australia.
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Claims 7
Claim · model-written summary
Barley varieties produced up to twice the dry matter of wheat or oats cultivars before defoliation.
- Taxon
- barley
.jpg?width=60)
Hordeum vulgaree0 - Outcome
- dry mattere0
- Direction
- up to twicee0
- Value
- up to twicee0
- Comparator
- wheat or oats cultivarse0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
.jpg?width=500)
Verbatim
e0“The barley varieties evaluated produced up to twice the dry matter of the wheat or oats cultivars to the time of defoliation.”
Claim · model-written summary
Mowing after stem elongation more than halved early maturing grain yield relative to no defoliation.
Verbatim
e0“Mowing following stem elongation more than halved grain yield (1.9 to 0.9 t ha–1) relative to no defoliation in an early-maturing variety”
t0“spring cereal genotypes”
e1“but with no yield advantage over the defoliated spring cereals”
Claim · model-written summary
Later maturing varieties had less grain yield loss from mowing after stem elongation.
Verbatim
e0“but with less reduction in later maturing varieties”
t0“spring cereal genotypes”
e1“but with no yield advantage over the defoliated spring cereals”
e2“Mowing following stem elongation more than halved grain yield (1.9 to 0.9 t ha–1) relative to no defoliation in an early-maturing variety”
Claim · model-written summary
Defoliation before stem elongation caused little or no grain yield loss during two very dry seasons.
- Taxon
- cerealse1
- Treatment
- Defoliation before stem elongatione0
- Outcome
- grain yieldse0
- Direction
- no or very little losse0
- Value
- <1 t ha–1e0
- Qualifier
- very low growing-season rainfall (<100 mm)e0
Not reportedComparator
Verbatim
e0“Defoliation before stem elongation in two seasons of very low growing-season rainfall (<100 mm) caused no or very little loss in grain yields, which were generally <1 t ha–1.”
t0“spring cereal genotypes”
e1“but with no yield advantage over the defoliated spring cereals”
Claim · model-written summary
Long-season winter wheat grain yield was similar across defoliation timings.
- Taxon
- wheat
Triticum aestivume0 - Material
- long-season winter wheate0
- Treatment
- defoliation and timinge0
- Outcome
- grain yieldse0
- Direction
- similare0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“A long-season winter wheat produced similar grain yields irrespective of defoliation and timing”
Claim · model-written summary
Winter wheat had no yield advantage over defoliated spring cereals.
- Taxon
- wheatTriticum aestivume1
- Outcome
- yield advantagee0
- Direction
- no yield advantagee0
- Comparator
- defoliated spring cerealse0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“but with no yield advantage over the defoliated spring cereals”
e1“A long-season winter wheat”
Claim · model-written summary
The authors suggest grazing cereals for winter feed in the low rainfall zone.
Verbatim
e0“opportunities to incorporate the grazing of cereals to fill a winter feed-gap in the low-rainfall zone of southern Australia”
The same questions in other papers
pruning · yield · Triticum aestivum (wheat)Positive and negative results
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See all 93 papers →Claims are grouped by organism, treatment and what was measured or targeted. A paper counts as positive when any of its claims in the group is positive.