A good season and some crop management strategies are being credited for a record maize crop grown at Tocumwal.
The maize grown on the property of Pate Agricultural has achieved an Australian record-breaking yield of 23.27 tonnes/ha.
Nathan Pate grew a crop of Pioneer Hybrid P0937, which was yield tested at 23.27 tonnes/ha.
Mr Pate said while the record yield was from just a measured section of the crop, he was even happier that the average across the whole crop was also very high.
His regular cropping program includes wheat, canola, corn and rice. He’s been growing maize for about nine years.
The winning crop was planted on October 18, 2023 and harvested on March 28 this year.
The previous highest yielding crop was in 2022 and was 21.47 tonne/ha.
It was grown using a pivoting lateral with 6.5 Ml/ha of irrigation water supplied throughout the summer.
This resulted in a water use efficiency of 2.74 tonnes/Ml when rainfall was factored in.
The crop was sown following a 16-month fallow.
AGnVET crop adviser James Murray said the fertility of the paddock was very good with a deep nitrogen soil test confirming 212kg/ha of soil nitrogen (0-60cm soil).
A recent soil test measured a satisfactory soil pH of 5.7 CaCl 2, along with healthy 60 mg/kg phosphorus (Colwell) in 0-20cm of topsoil.
The field has had a history of robust inputs, along with soil amendments such as lime, gypsum and chicken litter.
Maize and canola have been two of the mainstay crop choices over the past five years.
The previous corn residue was maintained from the 2021-22 summer.
Mr Pate observed this to be a critical step to improving soil water infiltration after recent study tours in Texas, saying groundcover is king.
The Pioneer Hybrid P0937 was sown at a rate of 96,000 seeds/ha on 30 inch (76.2cm) spacings and emerged uniformly.
Nitrogen was spread at the rate of 125kg/ha and 40kg/ha of sulphur was broadcast on October 2, 2023 ahead of forecast rain.
About 80mm of rainfall fell on October 4, 2023 to fully charge the soil profile with moisture.
It took a further two weeks for the field to get to the correct soil temperature for planting to occur.
P0937, an elite 109 CRM feed grain maize hybrid, was planted on October 18, 2023, along with 40 litre/ha of Corn Popup Starter fertiliser in-row.
The willingness of Mr Pate’s manager Daniel Phelan to go the extra mile with this impressive crop was evident when he co-ordinated a final nitrogen application on New Year’s Day when many others would have been holidaying.
Heliothis were treated twice during the season and the first insecticide application occurred about mid-December.
Mr Murray and Mr Pate agreed the season had been a kind one for maize, with good early rainfall in November/December/January to set up a healthy yield potential.
The weather was relatively mild either side of pollination and this helped maximise kernel numbers.