The SunRice Grower of the Year Award recognises outstanding growers who are dedicated to building a productive and sustainable future for Australian rice. The CY25 winners were Michael and Felicia Chalmers of Noorong, NSW.

Winners of the CY25 SunRice Grower of the Year Award, Michael and Felicia Chalmers are proactive about continuously improving their farming operations. This Case Study provides an overview of the practices they’ve implemented so far and others that they plan to incorporate in upcoming seasons.

Last season, a Yenda grower achieved the highest YRM70 yield at 13.3 t/ha with a water use efficiency of 1.4 t/ML and no lodging. There were a couple of key factors that contributed to this result which can be applied by other growers.

Throughout the C21 season, Rice Extension and the SunRice Grower Services team monitored 14 commercial V071 crops totalling 320 ha across the Murray and Murrumbidgee valleys.

In C21, many growers took a risk by planting outside the recommended Reiziq sowing window because of the large area of winter crop being harvested and limited Viand seed availability.

This is the second time Jim and Anthony Salvestro have planted Viand after a canola, but their first attempt at drill sowing. Jim says that after a crop yield of 11.5 t/ha, “We won’t be going back to dry broadcast. Drill sowing was just too easy.”

This case study looks at the impact of nitrogen striping over a two-year period, how it can be overcome, and the value of calibrating spreaders. After distinct striping in his C20 crop, Frank made sure his Amazone Z-AM Profis 1500 spreader was calibrated before the C21 season to give him a more uniform crop, which resulted in the highest Topaz yield for C21.

Ben Crump from Widgelli, decided to plant a vetch crop as a low-risk, low-input crop that offered flexibility to cut for hay if no water allocation was available, but still had the ability to brown manure and plant to rice if the water availability changed.

During the C20 rice season, unusual climatic conditions delayed maturity of many rice crops. Clint Badacco, of Widgelli, used Reglone to hasten crop dry down as he was conscious of timing the harvesting of his crop to maximise yield and whole grain yield.

Rice growers using groundwater on their crops need to plan to minimise the harmful effects of water salinity. Rice Extension has put together some key management techniques that can be used to mitigate the risk of salty water on rice production.

Brett and Louise Turner have grown two record drill sown Reiziq crops, averaging more than 15 t/ha in both the C19 and C20 seasons. They believe it’s all about making sure the little things are done right, and done on time.

Low surface allocations and high water prices at the beginning of the C20 season meant that many growers opted to use ground water to grow their rice. This case study looks DJ and CA Hardy’a management of groundwater to grow a record Viand yield in Coleambally.

Wanting to increase productivity and profitability, Darrell Fiddler, Operations Manager at De Bortoli Farming, looked at double cropping as one way to do it. Darrell grew three crops on a 32-ha paddock in a 20-month period. It was made possible by a good paddock layout, excellent attention to detail, and savvy business management.

Rice Growers utilised ground water in 2019-20 season to make rice profitable summer crop of choice. This case study focuses on key management steps undertaken in the Murray Valley to ensure a profitable outcome.

To reduce striping in his rice crops, Chris Morshead has halved both his spreading width and rate of urea for pre permanent water on his C19 drill sown crop. Crop uniformity and appraisals both increased in C19, which Chris attributes to his improvement in crop nutrition and placement of fertiliser.

Last season a Yenda drill sown crop used 1 ML/ha less than an adjacent dry broadcast crop and yielded 14.99t/ha which not only shows the potential water savings but demonstrates it doesn’t carry a yield penalty.

April and Robert Andreazza of Wilbriggie, C19 Doongara crop (41 ha) yielded 14.0t/ha (1.18t/ML) and is the highest Doongara crop on record. Robert drill sowed for the first time in his C19 crop to make the most of the small water allocation year with reduced hectares from his usual rice program.