WHEN you increase crop germinations by 50 per cent and yields by about two tonnes per hectare on your poorest soils, you are going to be pretty excited about the future and that has been the outcome for Stu Kelly, who farms south of Moora.

The Kelly family grows wheat, barley, canola and lupins, in addition to running sheep, over soil types that range from beautiful loams through to the "poorest white sand you have ever seen''.

Mr Kelly said this was the reason he trialled the SE14 moisture attraction and retention agent from SACOA, which revealed a serious non-wetting issue, before applying it with lupins and wheat over 1000ha last season.

"We needed to get our plants to germinate and with SE14, you would say the seeds are germinating 90 per cent,'' Mr Kelly said.

"On our non-wetting sand and gravels last season, the lupin germinations were so even - like we have not seen before on these soil types.

Sorce from: FARMWEEKLY. (April 7, 2022). Stu Kelly, Moora, gets good results from SACOA's moisture retention agent. FARMWEEKLY. https://www.farmweekly.com.au/story/7689508/increased-crop-gains-on-poor-moora-soils/?cs=5159