Corn trialed under pivot at Dabinetts

Wade and Nick Dabinett, Longtrail Farms, hosted a crop tour through their irrigated corn as part of a Mallee Sustainable Farming forum on Tuesday.

The crop is not a common sight in the Mallee, but Nick said they decided to sow four varieties of corn in early November after potatoes were no longer profitable to grow.

"Horticulture had been a real focus of our business the past 20 years, but we got the point where we were losing money growing potatoes," he said.

"So as a remaining grain and livestock business, we looked into how we could maximise our irrigation and livestock was where we thought we would get the biggest benefit.

"And corn was the first crop that we thought of - it is one of the most water-efficient crops, it's grown throughout the world, and the agronomy support package from Pioneer to grow it meant failure was less likely.

"Corn also has unbelievable properties for both silage and grain to feed livestock. It will help our livestock nutrition, potentially increase our carrying capacity and possibly facilitate more feedlotting."

RELATED READING: Dabinetts make headway on watered areas

Nick said they planned to take this year's 140-hectare crop to grain, with some sold and some kept within the business, while some could be chopped for silage depending on the rest of the season.

"But we plan to harvest the crop for grain, with the rest of the dry matter left in the paddock to build up organic matter in the soil," he said.

Pioneer representatives on the day estimated the crop would yield about 15 tonnes/ha, with harvest expected to begin at the end of April.

"We have given the crop enough water and nutrition to yield up to 18t/ha, but we do have variable soils types, so to average 15t/ha would be a great result as a first year trial," Nick said.

Nick said corn would definitely be part of the rotation next summer.

"We will just have to work through which varieties best suit our environment," he said.

"We may also adjust the sowing time to slightly earlier, reevaulate what crops we sow before it to not compromise its sowing time and possibly commit to growing some of it for silage as we further evolve from a horticulture business to a strictly grain and livestock-focused business."