by Bill Crabtree, Agronomist
Aquifer dry sowing performance is under the microscope this season, with Bill Crabtree sharing real-world results from the Quairading Ausplow-4Farmers R&D site where variable emergence has tested the limits of in-furrow moisture management.
Aquifer dry sowing performance: what Bill found at Quairading in a challenging season
At the Quairading Ausplow-4Farmers R&D site many of the trial plots have experienced variable emergence. Probably, just like many of your paddocks.
In early May, I was confident that with 500 mL/ha of Wetter1000 behind the press wheel and the usual 2 L/ha of Aquifer (majority humectant) with the seed, I would get reliable emergence of wheat and lupins.
My logic was that there was bound to be a >2 mm rain in May which would harvest water into the furrow, allowing a 2 mm event to become 10 mm worth of water in the furrow. This would likely wet down to 100 mm depth and hit the Aquifer, which would then hold the water near and around the seed. Then Bingo – great we’d have emergence. But sadly, we did not get 2 mm until 29th May.
This meant poor emergence in May except for where crop was sown in last year’s furrows – these germinated well, as the summer rains could wet up the old furrows. It is also possible the seed germinated well where the wheel of the machine pushed seed down deep. The photo (left) shows both issues of good emergence when the 2026 row got near the 2025 row and the crop row on the right-hand side of the photo is where it was put in deeper onto deeper moisture (even between the row).
The problem I was hoping to solve is common. Here is an example of a Williams forest gravel soil where a good rate of Aquifer was used, but despite this site getting 70 mm of rain post sowing, the oats have not emerged. It seems that on very non-wetting soils we may need to use Wetter1000 to deal with the non-wetting soil surface, before we can get a germination benefit from Aquifer.
Plant number counts start at Quairading this week, and hopefully we will begin to see some patterns emerge. We also plan to have an open field day in early July to show the trials, warts and all, so stay tuned.
Meanwhile, at Gnowangerup, on another Aquifer trial, we have found that crossing over last years rows is giving much better results. This makes sense as the water in the furrows can more easily find its way to the Aquifer stream which then likely helps to pull it along the new furrow and at depth. We will also share plant counts from this trial as they become available.
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