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EstimatingCropYieldsABriefGuide
NoteNumber:AG1420
Published:November2010
Updated:June2013

Asimplemethodtoestimatetheyieldofarangeoffieldcropsforusebyfarmersandagribusinessisoutlined.

Introduction
Accurate,earlyestimationofgrainyieldisanimportantskill.Farmersrequireaccurateyieldestimatesforanumber
ofreasons:

Cropinsurancepurposes
Deliveryestimates
Planningharvestandstoragerequirements
Cashflowbudgeting

Extensivepersonalexperienceisessentialforestimatingyieldatearlystagesofgrowth.Ascropsnearmaturity,it
becomeseasiertoestimateyieldwithgreateraccuracy.

Estimationmethods
Therearemanymethodsavailableforfarmersandotherstoestimateyieldofvariouscrops.Someare
straightforwardwhereasothersaremorecomplicated.Themethodpresentedinthisarticleisonethatcanbe
undertakenrelativelyquicklyandeasilyStepsareasfollows:

1.Selectanareathatisrepresentativeofthepaddock.Usingsometypeofmeasuringrod/tape,measureoutan
area1metersquareandcountthenumberofheads/pods.
2.Dothis5timestogetanaverageofthecrop.
3.Countthenumberofgrainsinatleast20heads/podsandaverage.
4.UsingTable1belowdeterminethegrainweightforthecropconcernedandfollowthroughthecalculation
outlinedbelow

Accuracyofyieldestimatesdependsuponanadequatenumberofcountsbeingtakensoastogetarepresentative
averageofthepaddock.Theyieldestimatedeterminedwillonlybeaguideandassumptionsmadefromthe
estimatescontainadegreeofuncertainty.
Thistypeofyieldestimationisoneoftheeasiestandquickesttocompleteandshouldbeabletobeusedina
numberofsituationsonagraingrowingproperty.Grainlossesbothbeforeandduringharvestcanbesignificantand
anallowancefor510percentlossshouldbeincludedinyourfinalcalculations.

Table1:Grainweightsexpressedasweightper100grains.

Croptype Weightof100grains(ingrams)
Canola 0.4
Wheat 3.4
Lentils 3.05.0
Safflower 3.8
Oats&triticale 4
Barley 4.2
Lupin(narrowleaf) 16
Chickpea(desi) 18
Fieldpea 20
Lupin(broadleaf) 30
Chickpea(kabuli) 40
Fababean 50
Methodologyforestimatingwheatyield

Numberofheads/podspersquaremeter (A) Example 220

Averagenumberofgrainsperhead/pod (B) Example 24
Numberofgrainspersquaremetre=AxB (C) Example =220x24=5280
Yieldpersquaremeter=C/100x3.4gms (D) Example =5280/100x3.4=179.52gms
Yieldint/ha=D/100 Example =179.52/100=1.79t/ha
ThesamemethodcanbeusedforanyothergraincropaslongasyouchoosethecorrectseedweightfromTable1.

Thebasisbehindthismethodforestimatingyieldsisthecountingofheadsorpodspersquaremeter.

Acknowledgements
DevelopedbyFarmServicesVictoriafromanarticlepublishedintheMalleeFarmerNewsletter

ISSN13298062

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