The site was established in the 1990s and has been utilised for both research and demonstration purposes on a range of crops including cereals, canola, grain legumes and pasture.
Local Corteva territory account manager, Hugh Mayo, says the site had experienced below average rainfall in the first six months of the year but benefited from good falls in July.
He says the field day was an excellent opportunity to train agronomists on the different Corteva products available in the region.
This year included products from Corteva’s crop protection range, their plant performance range (previously Stoller) and Pioneer Seeds.
Products focused on maximising crop health, emergence, vigour, yield and quality were showcased to agronomists and farmers from different regions of South Australia.
Corteva customer technology specialist, Justin Mercy, says biologicals were the next bastion in nutrition in Australia and around the world.
He says Corteva partners with biological development organisations around the world discovering breakthrough natural solutions to farmer challenges.
They work together to thoroughly test and scale up ideas for a global market to benefit farmers everywhere.
This model, which will also be combined with research and development efforts at Corteva, is helping drive faster development and availability of high-quality biological products.
One of the first products available in Australia is Utrisha N, a nutrient efficiency biostimulant which captures and utilises nitrogen from the air.
“The holy grail for cereals and non-legume plants is to somehow tap into atmospheric nitrogen,” Justin says.
“Utrisha N is a bacterium that is foliar applied,” he says.
“It gets applied onto the plant, is absorbed through the stomata on the leaves and begins to fix nitrogen from the atmosphere. Trials have shown that it potentially supplies up to 30 units of nitrogen.”
He says the product was particularly useful with the challenges Australian farmers face during the season.
“Sometimes it may be wet, and they can’t get back on the paddock.
“Other times there might be periods of dryness where there is not enough moisture in the soil to help take up soil nitrogen. Both those extremes are opportunities for Utrisha N.
“These specific bacteria are a little factory in the leaves. They fix the nitrogen and trickle feed it at times of waterlogging or drought stress. Peace of mind is offered to the grower.”
At the Halbury site, trials looked at the interaction between Utrisha N and nitrogen fertiliser rates to determine the nitrogen level at which Utrisha N provides the greatest agronomic benefit.
Utrisha N can be utilised on a range of different crop types including cereals, canola, pasture and oaten hay.
Juston also gave a brief overview of two new products being developed by Corteva.
Omsugo P is a product which helps plants utilise phosphorus unavailable in the soil.
Certain soil types in Australia can lock up phosphorus, and trials have been focused on these regions.
“ This is the first phosphorus biological product I have seen work, which I’m excited about,” Justin says.
“ Initial results have been extremely promising with early biomass increases showing improved early crop establishment and vigour”
Bio-Forge Advanced is the next generation of Bio-Forge which has been utilised in the horticultural industry as a stress mitigator and is being further evaluated in broadacre to address some of the challenges farmers can face each season.
Corteva customer agronomist, Rosario Graffigna, took participants through a range of trials and detailed the benefits of including Bio-Forge Advanced in the cropping program.
“There are applications for this product in broadacre with frosts and drought, but we’re also particularly interested in the potential stress that plants are under with the application of ag chemicals,” Rosario explains.
“Pre and post emergent chemical mixes can be damaging to crops in some situations,” she says.
“A product such as Bio-Forge Advanced could potentially assist if applied close to that stress situation. Initial trial work is showing a positive impact on plants where this product has helped reduce stress and also help recovery.”
The Halbury Field Day also showcased Colex-D herbicide which is a novel choline salt formulation of 2,4-D. It’s unique chemistry results in near-zero volatility and built in drift reduction technology.
Colex-D is registered for use in winter cereals, grass pastures and fallow for growers spraying alongside sensitive crops such as cotton, vines, canola and pulse legumes.
Through ongoing research and development, hands-on field days, and a commitment to innovative solutions, Corteva continues to empower agronomists with the tools and knowledge they need to drive crop performance and resilience across Australia.
