LAMBROOK Pastoral Company took out top honours at the 2021 Premer Field Day on Wednesday.
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The operation claimed the coveted Premer Shield at the annual event for its crop of HS-114 variety sorghum planted in Mullaley in the state's North West, which is predicted to yield 10.9 tonnes per hectare.
NSW DPI district agronomist Loretta Serafin judged the competition, which covers seven districts including Coolah, Willow Tree and Spring Ridge, and said this year's entries were of the highest quality.
"All of the crops entered were phenomenal and honestly any one of them could have won," Ms Serafin said.
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"I think all of the crops entered will have a higher yield than they were fertilised for and I think in most cases may even be close to double what they were fertilised for.
"All of the entrant's weed control measures were exceptional, so if anyone lost points for that, it was because I was being really picky and while mice have been an issue for pretty much everyone, all of the entrants overcame those issues.
"As for the winner, after looking very closely at the sample I took, I predicted the crop will yield around the 10.9 t/ha mark and will have around 168,000 heads/ha."
Lambrook Pastoral Company manager James Vince said he was thrilled to have taken out this year's top prize.
"I think this award is a real credit to everyone at Lambrook because it was a complete team effort," Mr Vince said.
"This particular crop was grown on the Strang's property, which is at the northern end of our collaborative operation and it looked good from day one.
"It didn't stop raining on it and while the mice tried to get into it, they didn't have too much luck.
"This a wonderful result and I would just like to really thank the organisers and congratulate everyone who entered this year."
Wednesday's showcase was the first field day for the district since 2019, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, despite last year's field day cancellation, producers across the Liverpool Plains and beyond entered their crops in the 2020 competition and were honoured during this year's event.
"This event is about more than just awards and trophies," Premer Field Day co-ordinator Simon Thompson told The Land.
"It's a really fantastic educational tool for all of us to see what others are doing well and what we can do ourselves to improve our own results.
"As well as that, it is also a fantastic chance for our community to get together and support one another.
"While it was tough to miss out on last year's event, it has been really pleasing to see everyone this year and to acknowledge last year's winners as well."
Other winners on the day included LT Cameron and Sons, Premer, which took out the Rose Bowl Trophy for its 100ha crop of Aussie Gold 62 sunflowers, as well as Jim Mitchell and Simon Thompson who were joint winners of the Mick Gaynor Memorial Trophy for local farmer of the year.
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