About 150 people attended the annual Southern Pulse Agronomy Wimmera Pulse Field Day on Thursday.

Agriculture Victoria senior research agronomist Jason Brand said the day offered a chance for growers to hear the latest information on pulses and also visit field trials.

He said a highlight of the day was the launch of a new field pea variety PBA Butler.

PBA Butler is a ‘Kaspa type’ field pea.

It has high yield potential and broad adaptation across southern Australia.

It performs best in environments yielding better than 1.3 tonne a hectare, particularly in regions prone to foliar diseases such as bacterial blight. 

“The day was mostly about bringing people together from across the value chain, from researchers to marketers,” Dr Brand said.

“It was a great chance to discuss things and see where the crops are at.

“Most people seemed to be in a good frame of mind.”

Dr Brand said the day was also an opportunity for growers to see new lines of beans and lentils.

“They can also see all the agronomy work we have been doing,” he said.

“To actually stand there and look at the crops is always great.”

Dr Brand said the pulse trial sites at Rupanyup were coming along nicely

“Everything looks fantastic,” he said.

“Parts of the region had some nice rain last week – we had about eight millimetres at Rupanyup, which will help.”

The day also included a Pulse Australia forum in the afternoon.

“Our speakers talked about lentil, chickpea, field pea and faba bean agronomy,” Dr Brand said.

The day was co-ordinated by Agriculture Victoria through the Southern Pulse Agronomy and Pulse Breeding Australia projects, which are supported by the Grains Research and Development Corporation.  

The event is also supported by Seednet and PB Seeds.

Speakers included Pulse Breeding Australia breeders, pulse pathologists, pulse industry specialists and grain marketers.