RockStar wheat is set to be the headline act for Bool Lagoon grower Bruce McLean in his 2022 wheat program following a rocking finish to his bulk-up crop in 2021.
Wheat is an integral part of the cropping rotation at the McLean 3800 hectare program in the South East, with consistent returns across the years.
This season half the cropping area is planned for wheat, with the remainder sown to canola, faba beans and persian clover.
Given their wheat focus and the yield potentials on offer in the limestone coast's high rainfall cropping zone, variety selection is critical.
Last season Mr McLean was very impressed with how 54ha of InterGrain variety RockStar performed in a season that began with a standard break followed by a very wet winter.
"RockStar yielded exceptionally well, averaging 9.06t/ha and had we received one last rain event in November, I'm sure it would have cracked 10t/ha as it had the head numbers to do it," he said.
"The top end yield from a spring wheat was very surprising.
"It just kept falling in the header box and it all achieved H2, helped by feeding it well with 400kg/ha Urea through the season."
Mr McLean said they had previously been using Trojan as their main spring wheat but, with only an APW classification, they could not access a premium for meeting a higher grade, while Rockstar did offer a hard wheat market premium for quality.
Last year the McLeans sowed RockStar at 88kg/ha in the second week of June, hoping for 600 heads per square metre.
RELATED READING:
Despite being sown outside its ideal window, RockStar tillered well.
"It had excellent early vigour which is what we were looking for, particularly when sown later in the program, to help get through the winter period," Mr McLean said.
"Water logging and a sharp spring finish once we've grown a big bulky crop are the biggest challenges in this area. RockStar handled isolated water logging really well in 2021."
Mr McLean said they managed to make it through the season with just two fungicide sprays.
InterGrain's South Australian territory manager Josh Reichstein said RockStar provided growers with a variety ideally suited to sowing from late April to mid-May.
"RockStar has consistently performed across a range of environments and sowing dates in growers' paddocks and in National Variety Trials and our own InterGrain trials," he said.
"It is the highest yielding mid-slow wheat in the early season NVT*, highlighting its broad yield adaptability."