Funded by the NSW DPI and the GRDC, the plots in Tamworth and Glen Innes have allowed agronomists to experiment with early-season crops and examine their flexibility for stock feed and harvesting.

The crops were sown between March 13 and April 22 and have been used to gauge the difference between early-sown crops and main-season cropping.

NSW DPI Tamworth research agronomist Rick Graham said the results had so far been pleasing.

"It's going really well, we had that nice early rain, which gave us the opportunity to sow early," Mr Graham said.

"We've really been looking at the dual-purpose crops, seeing what sort of grazing options we've got, as well as looking at how it recovers after grazing and if we can get some grain off it.

"On top of that, we've been looking at the option of just going straight to grain with longer varieties."

Mr Graham said the research was critical, especially given the region's ongoing drought conditions.

"I think what has really come through has been the benefits of feed value and the ground cover this early-season crops can offer," he said.

"Not having any ground cover has been a real issue right across the board because of how dry it has been the past couple of years.

"Having some early-season sowing options in your cropping program really helps as well because you're not having to put all your eggs in one basket and relying on main-season cropping."

This year's crops are the start of a two-year program which also aims to consult with farmers during the research stage.

"We're out at the Tamworth Agricultural Institute and we were hoping to hold some field days out there, but COVID-19 has made that a little bit tough, but we will hopefully hold some soon" Mr Graham said.

"This season has just been set up for this type of program with the late January and February rain we've gotten.

"It's been really good to see some blokes around Gunnedah way jump onto the early-sown stuff as well and it will be interesting to see what options it offers them going forward."