The 'good oil': R.U.M. and canola

Alan Hardman (R.U.M. Distributor) and Peter Irwin (Beaulieu R.U.M.) examine the Jasper's R.U.M.-treated canola.

One of the big cropping stories of last season was the success of canola Australia-wide. And nowhere was R.U.M. Liquid Plant Food more active than near Cunderdin, 2 hours east of Perth. Here the Jasper family trialled R.U.M. on nearly 2000ha of wheat, barley, oats and canola. The canola was sown with 100kg/ha of compound fertiliser (N 17.5%, P 7.6, S 17.0, Zn 0.06) and a follow up of 4L/ha R.U.M. about 4 weeks after seeding.

John Jasper said, "This was an alternative to 50kg/ha urea. We wanted to avoid extra urea in case the oil content was affected. The 125 acres of canola responded very well. We didn't seed-dress because, being small seed, we wanted to get it out at the right rate of 6kg/ha. The subsequent yield of 1.03 t/ha reflects our lighter WA soil, and our rainfall through the growing period was down a bit. However, the oil content came in at 42%... right on the button, so at $360 per tonne it was a pleasing first-up effort for us."

According to son Perry, "Other crops in the area achieved a bit more yield but were penalised when their oil content was down around 37%."

R.U.M. canola and safflower... good partners

Unlike their northern cousins, not all farmers 'down south' have the climate for summer cropping. But safflower is one crop that has all sorts of benefits. Bernie Fay at Carranballac, 50km west of Ballarat, VIC, is one of the local 'thinkers' and now has 250 acres of R.U.M.-treated safflower that claims attention. In Bernie's opinion, safflower stubble makes a good bed for the following crop. In fact, his recent 'Pinnacle' canola was sown into a safflower stubble using a high sulphur fertiliser. Then 5L/ha R.U.M. Liquid Plant Food was applied with his post-emergent spray. The canola yielded 3.23 tonne/ha, 72% above the local average of 1.88 tonne/ha. But right now Bernie is preparing for the coming season.

The favoured technique for canola stubble is a length of railway line towed around the paddock to uproot the stubble, thus avoiding damage to the topsoil. After the next decent bit of rain, Bernie will spray 5L/ha of R.U.M. to start the bacterial breakdown of the stubble and to stimulate weed regrowth. That's when Bernie hits his broadleaf weeds with herbicide prior to direct-drilling his red wheat, which is popular in the district.

Annual rainfall of 22.5 inches had barely reached 18 inches in recent seasons.

"We're due for a good one", said Bernie.

Bernie Fay shows local R.U.M. distributor John Dawson the development of his R.U.M.-raised safflower