DESPITE a challenging autumn, local crop farmer Andrew Russell is still looking for a reasonable year and remains positive for a great spring.
Andrew, who is managing director and a shareholder of Lilliput AG, a sister company of family–owned farming and seed cleaning business Baker Seeds, said managing smart and thinking ahead is key to moving forward for a good yield.
“Our family farm runs over 2500 hectares just south of Rutherglen with crops of canola, wheat and faba beans this year,” he said.
“The autumn period was definitely tough for everyone, creating issues with a lack of moisture in the subsoil forcing farmers to dry seed in the hope rain would fall.
“We hedged our bets and applied generous amounts of fertiliser and other applications to get our crops started despite the nervous wait for rain.
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“Farmers were being conservative with inputs earlier this year not knowing what the future of the weather will bring and how it would govern the season moving forward.
“Fortunately, all our crops are germinated and growing and are at different growth stages three to four weeks apart.
“Our crops that germinated later were pounded by three weeks of frost which stunted plant growth, however, favourable conditions have still helped aid plant growth along.”
Andrew said being strategically smart, careful planning, maintenance and close monitoring will be key to how the wheat and canola crops will pan out.
“We need to be smart in all our applications and it will not be a straightforward process,” he said.
“Weed in our crops is always a problem as soil nutrients and moisture are drawn out of the soil, robbing the crops.
"Again, this is not a easy process and the canola and wheat need to be at a certain growth stage to apply herbicide without affecting crops.
“The challenges and situations are nothing we have not faced before and it's a matter of ticking all the boxes we can and hope the weather conditions can move our crops forward in the right direction.
“Our current situation all stems from how the autumn period has panned out and now our sights are set on spring and what the season will present to our final yield.”
Andrew believes spring conditions will not only hinge on the end result, but will be different from paddock to paddock.
“Moisture in each of our paddocks varies with our west paddocks holding more moisture than our east paddocks as a result of where rain has fallen,” he said.
“Different paddocks will vary in yield due to soil conditions.
“We will match the lesser paddocks by applying nitrogen to boost our crops to marry up with the crops that are more advanced and sitting in a better position.
“Right now we are hoping for a good spring to get an average to above average yield overall.
“Despite being three weeks behind schedule, favourable spring weather could bridge that gap based on daylight hours, solar radiation, no competition of weeds and soil nourishment.
“Mother nature is always our biggest challenge and something we have to deal with every year."
