Comparison of oat varieties including imidazolinone (IMI) tolerant variety - Trial results 2020 - Summary and findings

Sep 17, 2026

A two-season Hart field trial evaluated the IMI-tolerant oat variety Kingbale against commonly grown oats Mulgara, Wintaroo, and Yallara, using a randomized complete block design with three replicates and three varieties. The study assessed hay yields and grain yields, plus hay quality indicators including ADF, NDF, CP, and WSC. Results showed Kingbale produced similar hay and grain performance to Wintaroo, with lower hay biomass in 2020, while grain yields matched or exceeded Wintaroo across 2019–2020. Kingbale’s IMI tolerance offers rotation flexibility where IMI residues are a concern.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages3

Reading Time8 min

AccessFree to download

Why do the trial?

How was it done?

Trial design and management

2019 setup

2020 setup

Results

Hay yields

Grain yields

Hay quality

Summary

Acknowledgements

References

| Comparison of oat varieties including imidazolinone (IMI) tolerant variety | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Brianna Guidera and Sarah Noack; Hart Field-Site Group | | | | | Key findings
• Kingbale produced similar or slightly lower hay yields compared to Wintaroo at Hart across two seasons.
• Kingbale grain yields matched or exceeded Wintaroo at Hart in 2019 and 2020. | | | | | Why do the trial?
The first imidazolinone (IMI) tolerant oat variety Kingbale was released by InterGrain in 2019. Kingbale offers hay growers flexibility in their rotation and can be used where IMI residues are of concern from previous crops. A Sentry® (imazapic and imazapyr) registration has been submitted to APVMA for pre-emergent use only, with earliest potential registration for use in oaten hay production in March 2021. Preliminary data suggests Kingbale has similar agronomic and disease characteristics to Wintaroo. The trial aim was to assess the performance of Kingbale against the commonly grown oat varieties Mulgara and Wintaroo in the Mid-North.
How was it done? | | | | | 2019 | | | | | Plot size Seeding date Location
Harvest date | 1.75 m x 10.0 m May 30, 2019 Hart, SA November 27 , 2019 | Fertiliser | Seeding: DAP (18:20) @ 75 kg/ha
July 10: Easy N (42:5:0) @ 55 L/ha | | 2020 | | | | | Plot size Seeding date Location
Harvest date | 1.75 m x 10.0 m May 6 , 2020
Hart, SA
November 14, 2020 | Fertiliser | Seeding: DAP (18:20) + Impact @ 80 kg/ha
June 18: Easy N (42:5:0) @ 80 L/ha
August 5: Easy N (42:5:0) @ 50 L/ha | The trial was a randomised complete block design with three replicates and three varieties. The trial was managed with the application of pesticides to ensure a weed, insect and disease-free canopy. Biomass cuts were taken at watery-ripe stage (GS71) by cutting 4 x 1 m sections of row at 15 cm (‘coke can’) height per plot and hay yields (t/ha) were determined. Feed test values from the same trial in 2019 were provided by Balco. Quality parameters including acid detergent fibre (ADF), neutral detergent fibre (NDF), crude protein (CP), water soluble carbohydrates (WSC) were measured. Grain yields were recorded at harvest. 38 6 Hart Trial Results 2020 Results Hay yields Mulgara and Wintaroo had the highest hay yields at 3.21 and 3.09 t/ha respectively this season. Kingbale produced lower biomass at 2.63 t /ha (Table 1). Throughout the season Kingbale was visually shorter than Mulgara and Wintaroo. Data from 2019 also showed in a low-rainfall year (189 mm annual) Kingbale produced less dry matter than the commonly grown variety Yallara, and yielded the same as Wintaroo (Table 1) . Similar trials conducted in the medium rainfall zones of Western Australia have also found Kingbale either matched or was slightly lower yielding compared to Wintaroo (Agrifutures 2020) . These results demonstrate Kingbale is capable of matching Wintaroo yields and also provides the additional benefit of IMI tolerance , therefore giving greater rotation flexibility. This was expected as Kingbale is a close derivative of Wintaroo. Grain yields Grain yield for Kingbale was the same or higher than other commercially available oat varieties trialed at Hart in 2019 and 2020. In 2019 , Kingbale grain yields were the same as Wintaroo and lower than Yallara , however, yields were low ranging from 0.5-0.9 t/ha (Table 1) . In 2020 , Kingbale had the highest grain yield of 2.23 t/ha followed by Wintaroo at 2.08 t/ha and Mulgara 1.98 t/ha. Hay quality The 2019 hay quality results again showed Kingbale performed similarly to Wintaroo. Across the various feed quality parameters; acid detergent fibre (ADF) , crude protein (CP) , water soluble carbohydrates (WSC) and neutral detergent fibre (NDF), results were the same for both varieties (Table 1) . In all cases except CP, Yallara performed differently. Yallara had a high WSC % compared to Kingbale and Wintaroo. WSC % is an important parameter for the e

FAQs

What was the purpose of the Hart oat trial in 2019–2020?

The trial assessed Kingbale’s performance against Mulgara and Wintaroo in the Mid-North, specifically to determine agronomic fit and support for rotations where IMI residues are a concern.

How did Kingbale perform for hay yields compared with Wintaroo and Mulgara?

Kingbale produced similar or slightly lower hay yields than Wintaroo at Hart across two seasons, while Mulgara and Wintaroo recorded the highest hay yields in the 2020 season data presented.

How did Kingbale compare on grain yield and hay quality?

Kingbale grain yield matched or exceeded Wintaroo in 2019 and 2020, including the highest grain yield in 2020. For hay quality parameters (ADF, NDF, CP, WSC), Kingbale performed similarly to Wintaroo, while Yallara differed, particularly with higher WSC values.

Sep 17, 2026

Uploaded by Caleb Sterling