Nuseed is establishing dozens of commercial scale trials to test the performance of a range of new canola and sorghum hybrid seed varieties on farm.
The national Crop Agronomy Trial (CAT) program will give growers the opportunity to see how new hybrids perform in their growing conditions before they are commercially released.
Nuseed is working closely with resellers and agronomists to select growers to trial the latest varieties and those still in development in large-scale plots next to existing Nuseed varieties or competitor varieties of similar maturity.
The CAT program recognises that local, on-farm trials often gave growers the best information about the performance of seed varieties in their area. Nuseed has added the comprehensive on-farm demonstration trial program to its existing trial and development program and will continue to be involved in the National Variety Trials (NVT).
The CAT program is a great opportunity for growers to obtain up-to-date varietal information about yield and other crop characteristics and assess how the latest Nuseed technology performs in their own backyard. We will be measuring and recording key information like sowing rates and dates, inputs and seasonal conditions, the condition of the crop during the season and the yield and grain quality at harvest. Growers would be able to use the information to compare the profitability of different seed varieties.
CAT trials will collect valuable information to add to findings from Nuseed’s extensive three stage development process and NVT work to further validate the benefits of new varieties. The Nuseed R & D process involves three stages of commercial trial work before varieties were submitted to the NVT program for two years of testing. The CAT program is added in the final year of NVT testing to build knowledge of how new varieties perform in a range of local growing conditions.
The Nuseed CAT program delivers meaningful, decision-making information to more growers. The CAT program means the results of each on-farm demonstration will be shared with local growers so everyone can benefit.
