The 2009 trials revealed delayed sowing costs farmers. It shows a reduction in yield of 18kg/ ha/day delay in sowing for 36 varieties of wheat, and 16 kg/ha/day reduction in sowing for 30 varieties of barley.

Based on the first sowing date being April 27, this equated to a loss of about $3.25/ha for each day delay for hard wheat, and $2.40/ha for each day delay for feed barley.

“Put in context, if a grower sows 1000ha of wheat, and on average the crop goes in the ground two weeks late, the loss in income would be $45,000,” I&I NSW agronomist, Rohan Brill said.

“With the cost of sowing being roughly the same, regardless of whether it is early or late, the money lost each day could have been allocated purely to business profit.”

With the season having a hot and dry finish in the Trangie area, the dates when yield was maximised for cereals in 2009 may have been earlier than in a more average year.

“Despite this, producers who consistently sow earlier than recommended will come out in front compared with consistently sowing later than recommended, and quite often in front of sowing on time,” said Mr Brill.

From an agronomist’s perspective in western cropping environments, time of sowing is the most elementary of the three main water use efficiency (WUE) factors, but quite often the factor that most limits yield.

Crop rotation and fallow management are the other two key factors.

Many growers have made excellent WUE gains with no-till farming and crop rotation in the past decade, according to Mr Brill.

He said top producers sowed on time or often early, they rotated cereal crops with pulses, oilseeds, summer crops and pastures, and they conserved fallow moisture for subsequent crop use.

“Early sowing gives crop roots a chance to access deep moisture and enables plants to flower early, often in cooler and relatively wetter conditions.

“The trade off is that the risk of frost is higher for early flowering, and the crop runs the risk of using up stored moisture before critical grain fill periods.

“Sowing a lighter seed rate is one practice that producers have implemented to reduce excessive water use, and this has proved especially successful when crops are sown into a good moisture profile but the spring turns hot and dry.”

“However, there still appears to be significant room for improvement,” he said.