Local research is at the forefront of a global initiative to develop perennial wheat with results from NSW Department of Primary Industries (NSW DPI) field trials lauded by scientists at a recent international workshop in the USA.

For the first time in the world, trials at Cowra and Woodstock found that USA-bred perennial wheat could survive and successfully yield grain for three consecutive years.

Now seed from the Cowra Agricultural Research and Advisory Station is destined for the USA, Canada, South Africa, Nepal and the United Kingdom as the quest to produce the first commercial perennial wheat intensifies.

NSW DPI scientist, Richard Hayes, said varieties which survived here were developed by the Land Institute, Kansas and Washington State University, but had survived no more than two years in the USA.

"We are now collaborating with plant breeders across the world to study the key environmental factors enabling perennial crops to survive and find out what has inhibited their survival.

"Perennial grain crops that don’t require annual sowing would minimise inputs and offer environmental outcomes which could benefit farming systems in many countries."

The NSW DPI perennial wheat trials were funded by the Future Farm Industries Cooperative Research Centre as part of a collaborative project with Charles Sturt University and CSIRO.

Mr Hayes said the project, which winds-up this year, has allowed Australian researchers to forge strong relationships with international research institutions and build on local research.

"Researchers from the University of Michigan are keen to use Australian agronomic data to underpin the economic models for perennial wheat - up until now they had no real agronomic data and we’re able to provide that," he said.

"Our trials also found that most of the successful lines were highly resistant to leaf rust, stripe rust, stem rust and wheat streak mosaic virus.

"That’s good news, not just for the productivity and survival of perennial wheat, but in ensuring that there are no negative disease impacts on conventional cereal crops."

Perennial crops offer farming options for variable landscapes and environments and could help address climate variability by putting extra flexibility into farming systems - depending on the season a perennial crop could be grazed or harvested for grain or both.

In lower rainfall areas, particularly in drought years, perennial cereals may allow farmers to vary their inputs, reduce costs and deliver environmental benefits.

Crops which are in the ground for several years can take advantage of every drop of rain which will help increase soil moisture use, reduce soil acidification and salinisation and have the potential to reduce erosion.