Overcoming a Dry Start: How SE14® Helped the Fowler Family Deliver One of Their Best Germination Years

The Challenge

Mark Fowler and his wife Tish, together with his parents, Doug and Jenny, operate a large, mixed cropping and livestock business, growing barley, oaten hay, oats, and canola across 4,230 hectares, while also running 3,000 sheep. Their farming footprint stretches across several properties with soils ranging from white gum gravels and granite valleys at Williams to gravelly sands over clay and heavier loams at Harrismith.

Years of dry sowing, combined with hot, dry summers and soil stratification, had made non-wetting soils a growing challenge. Despite optimising their seeding system with deep placement, edge-row sowing, high seeding rates, and narrow row spacing, patchy germination continued to impact their program. This was especially true for their oaten hay, where uneven emergence delayed cutting and increased quality risks. 

“With our hay crops, evenness of germination is particularly important as it means we can cut our hay at the best possible growth stage to optimise quality, rather than delaying cutting because parts of the crop with a later germination date have not yet progressed past booting. This, in turn, leads to faster curing, which leads to better quality hay and reduced risk.” 

— Mark Fowler 

Complicating matters further, their seeding program stretches across farms up to 140 kilometres apart, starting in early April and running around the clock until mid-May. With such a broad operational footprint, waiting for the perfect rainfall wasn’t realistic. They needed to make the most of whatever moisture was available.

The Solution

In 2020, the Fowlers introduced SE14 as part of their effort to improve germination and crop establishment, particularly in their more challenging, non-wetting soils. 

Their seeding equipment was already liquid-ready, allowing them to easily integrate SE14 into their system. At Harrismith, they used a 19,000-litre Morris 9535 air cart with an 18-metre John Deere 1830 air hoe drill, pulled by a Case 550 tractor. At Williams, they operated a 12,000-litre Simplicity cart and 12-metre Morris 9000 bar, pulled by a New Holland TJ375. 

Both rigs featured double chute air kits and Stiletto paired-row seeding boots, delivering seed and compound fertiliser in paired rows, while placing urea 65mm to the side and at depth. SE14 along with trace elements and fungicide, was banded directly with the seed using a 6,000-litre FarmKing liquid cart. 

“We don’t focus on when we start seeding, but rather when we will finish.” 

— Mark Fowler 

SE14 was applied across canola, barley, oats, and hay crops, at rates ranging from 1.5 to 4.5L/ha, with 3L/ha as their preferred rate. It was applied with 60L/ha of water, though their local agronomy group had suggested that higher water rates up to 100L/ha could further improve coverage in their paired-row system. 

To validate performance, the family left untreated check strips in several paddocks, allowing them to compare establishment and yield outcomes across their diverse soil types and crops. 

The Results

SE14 delivered standout results across the program. Despite a dry start, with just 2-3.5mm of rain recorded in April, crops emerged strongly after seeding. Mark noted that hybrid TT canola, sown at 2.5kg/ha, emerged so evenly it appeared as if it had been sown at double the rate. 

“It was completely dry and dusty at sowing and we were not expecting any germination, but quite a lot of crop came up after the 3.5mm, which we put down to the effect of the SE14.” 

— Mark Fowler 

The benefits extended beyond canola. In some of the worst-performing gravel paddocks at Harrismith, barley performed better than oats—a surprising reversal of their usual experience. Mark described the contrast between treated and untreated areas as “stark.” 

Hay crops also responded well, with uniform establishment enabling the family to cut right on time, improving curing speed and reducing quality risks. 

Spray timing became much easier to manage thanks to the even crop development, and although Mark had initially been cautious about the potential for trifluralin damage, none was observed. 

Looking ahead, the Fowlers plan to expand SE14 use across their entire program and continue trialling application rates to refine their moisture management strategy. 

“SE14 is really just another tool and we will see how it translates to dollars, but it looks pretty compelling at this stage.” 

— Mark Fowler 

SE14® is a registered trademark of Agrion Crop Solutions Pty Ltd.