AgShows NSW wheat competition winners.
Grenfell wheat growers Rob and Mandy Taylor, have been confirmed as state champions in a prestigious annual wheat competition, taking out the farming excellence award as well.
Run by AgShows NSW (the peak body for 192 shows), the Suncorp Bank Championship Dryland Field Wheat Competition is judged across four regions ahead of the state final.
To make the state finals, the top five crops in four regions are identified and then compared to determine the state winner.
“The central and southern regions were hard to beat in 2021 thanks to favourable seasonal conditions, and the skill of those producers to make the most of their conditions,” AgShows NSW president Tim Capp said.
The Taylors topped the central region with an enormous point score of 246 for their 8.7t/ha, ahead of the highly awarded Merrivale Partnership in Gunnedah (8.5t/ha 242pts) and Illinois Farms in Cowra (8.5t/ha 241pts). The central region covers Alectown, Binnaway, Canowindra, Carcoar, Coolah, Coonabarabran, Cowra, Cudal, Cumnock, Dubbo, Dunedoo, Eugowra, Forbes, Grenfell, Gulgong, Gunnedah, Manildra, Mendooran, Merriwa, Molong, Parkes, Premer, Quandialla, Quirindi, Spring Ridge, Tambar Springs, Tamworth, Wellington, Werris Creek, Wirrinya, Woodstock and Yeoval.
“While the wheat competition is typically a yield-based competition, if a grower has made the best of the local season, spraying and feeding the crop to grow an optimal plant base it should perform well in the competition,” Mr Capp said.