RASQ crop competition at Toowoomba Royal Show features bumper yields

Wheat entries tipped the scales at 10 tonnes per hectare, cotton crops were jumping over the 17 bales/ha mark and sorghum samples were hovering around 10t/ha at the recent Toowoomba Royal Show.

The annual event showcases the best summer and winter crops grown in both dryland and irrigated conditions on the Darling Downs, including corn, sorghum, sunflower, cotton, wheat, barley, canary, triticale and chickpea.

Competition judge Andrew Speed said while entries were down this year, the crops on show were a high standard.

"Entry numbers were down again this year, with COVID and harvest weather pressure to blame," Mr Speed said.

"The winning crop was an amazing crop of irrigated wheat, yielding just shy of 10t/ha, beating the previous ceiling yield by over 1t/ha."

Dalby's Ulster Farming took out this year's field wheat competition with a crop of Borlaug 100 which yielded 6.67t/ha, while Dalgliesh Grain and Grazing of Chinchilla scored top prize in the field barley, scoring 4.73t/ha with their sample of Leabrook.

Billmac Farming, Felton, was awarded first place in the dryland sorghum for a crop of Pioneer A75, which yielded 9.59 tonnes per hectare.

Second place was awarded to Ashley and Helen Gillam, Clifton, for their crop of Sentinel IG, which clocked 8.33t/ha.

Pallathorpe Pty Ltd, Macalister, took home third for a crop of Resolute which yielded 7.44t/ha.

In the dryland maize section, Melrose Station at Warwick scored top prize with a crop of Pioneer P1315IT which produced 8.69t/ha.

Coming in second place was STP Farming, Allora, with a 7.87t/ha crop of Pioneer P1756.

Rounding out the category in third was Adelong Holdings, Warwick, for a crop of Pioneer P1315IT that yielded 6.73t/ha.

Adelong also won the dryland sunflower category with their Ausigold 62 sunflowers producing 1.51t/ha.

Dryland cotton was taken out by Bray Farms, Ellangowan, for a 10 bales/ha crop.

In second was LG and MJ Brimblecomb of Forest Hill for their 5.25 bales/ha crop of cotton.

Graincott, Dalby, won third for their cotton crop, which produced 5 bales/ha.

In the irrigated sorghum category, Ted and Kerri Shooter of Allora took first place for their crop of Sentinel IG, which yielded 10.81t/ha.

Charles Farming Co, Cambooya, took out second and third for their crops of MR-Buster, which yielded 10.12 and 9.96t/ha respectively.

Irrigated maize was won by Tyunga Farms, Brookstead, for their crop of Pioneer P1756 yielding 13.82t/ha.

Old Talgai Enterprises at Warwick took second for their Pioneer P1315IT corn, which produced 12.12t/ha.

STP Farming from Allora came in third for a crop of Pioneer P1756, yielding 12.11t/ha.

The irrigated fibre crops category was hotly contested, with Dalby operation Simmich Farming scoring top spot for their 17.24 bales/ha cotton crop.

Just behind them was New Leaf Ag at Condamine, which managed to produce a cotton crop yielding 16.95 bales/ha.

In third place was a 16.8 bales/ha crop of cotton, produced by Graincott of Dalby.

In the irrigated wheat, barley, triticale, canary and chickpea category, wheat was the dominant crop, taking all three places.

In first place was Derryck Mickelborough, Glenesk Farming, Dalby with a 9.997t/ha crop of Borlaug 100 wheat.

The Bligh Family Trust of Condamine Plains then cleaned up second and third prizes for their Borlaug 100 and Reliant crops, which yielded 7.83 and 6.89t/ha respectively.

Moving on to the RASQ champion crop, Glenesk Farming at Dalby won with their 9.997t/ha crop of Borlaug 100 wheat.

Also from Dalby, Simmich Farming took out reserve champion crop for their 17.24 bales/ha crop of cotton.

More news

Want daily news highlights delivered to your inbox? Sign up to the Queensland Country Life newsletter below.