RECORDING low screenings and premium protein levels, new durum variety DBA-Aurora will be a popular choice come seeding time.
Subscribe now for unlimited access to all our agricultural news
across the nation
or signup to continue reading
Brothers Nick and Simon May continuously crop 2100 hectares south of Balaklava.
![TOP CROP: Brother Nick and Simon May are the fourth generation on-farm south of Balaklava. They grew DBA-Aurora durum for the first time in 2015, which achieved low screenings and test weights despite the dry end to the season. TOP CROP: Brother Nick and Simon May are the fourth generation on-farm south of Balaklava. They grew DBA-Aurora durum for the first time in 2015, which achieved low screenings and test weights despite the dry end to the season.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/3AVQXXVxehY6aUCkmGUt6Z2/5958c63c-abf6-4c5c-9626-1964d3dd82ca.jpg/r421_622_4331_2778_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
In 2015, this consisted of 800ha of Cobra and Grenade wheat, 400ha of Aurora and Saintly durum, 600ha Hurricane lentils, 200ha export oaten hay and 100ha canola.
They grew 150ha of Aurora for the first time this season, alongside 250ha of Saintly durum, on two different soil types and were thrilled with the performance of Aurora.
“Aurora performed better in both trials, in screenings and test weights,” Nick said.
“There wasn’t a lot of yield variance – with Aurora at 3.1 tonnes/ha compared to 3t/ha for Saintly. If we had a damp and cool finish, I think the yield difference would be more dramatic.
“In an ideal growing season, being a high yielding variety, more nitrogen would be needed to maintain protein and yield for Aurora.”
Nick said considering the limited rain and unseasonal hot weather towards the end of the season, they still achieved good yields.
“Aurora also had screenings at 3.6pc, compared to 7-8pc with Saintly,” he said.
“All the Aurora went durum 1 classification, while Saintly was classified durum 1, but with high screenings.”
The protein levels were also higher at about 14.5pc, while Saintly was 1pc less.
“We aim for a minimum 13pc, maximum 15pc protein,” Nick said.
The Mays have been growing durum for the past 25 years.
The durum is generally sown into lentil stubbles because of higher nitrogen levels in the soil and benefits from the organic matter. “There is too much disease potential if we plant into wheat stubbles,” he said.
A wheat or hay crop then follows, depending on ryegrass levels, before lentils are again sown.
Nick said they preferred to grow durum on their Mallee loam and red brown earth soil types.
“They seem to do better in these soil types, whereas they don’t finish so well on the heavy clay types,” he said.
This year’s 1300t of durum were contracted to a buyer for San Remo – the major end user in SA. “We were really happy with their prices and have been utilising hectare-based contracts, which minimises the risk to the grower,” Nick said.
“It also helps us with our cash flow forecasting.”
It was surprisingly a good season for the Mays, with their Hurricane lentils achieving above budget, mainly due to strong pricing, and their oaten hay made the top export grades.