Mixed bag of grain harvest under way

Hunters Rural commodity trader Cameron Fullager said last week the canola harvest in the north and centre of the valley was close to completion and any rain over the past weekend may determine farmers’ timing for the rest of the season. (As of 9am on Monday, 24mm had been recorded in Shepparton.)

Mr Fullager said barley in the Shepparton area had ripened earlier than usual due to the dry weather.

“Normally you finish harvesting canola and then you can have a week’s break to do a bit of maintenance or whatever, and then you start on the barley and then wheat,” he said.

“But barley has already started in the northern GV and is about halfway through; it came in a lot quicker than we anticipated.

“Farmers have been pleasantly surprised with its quality and yield; it ripened a lot faster and that surprised us.”

Doubt over the coming week’s weather has wheat farmers choosing to harvest either side of possible rain.

“We may start wheat next week, depending on the outcome of the forecast, but regardless of that, you’d be a pretty safe bet to say we’ll be in full swing with wheat by early December.”

Mr Fullager said harvests were better than expected after the many small frosts and relatively dry weather during the growing season.

“A few weeks ago I was nervous about the quality of grain were were going to get.

“The quality of canola seems to be good, the oil is good and the yield is reasonable.”

Corop farmer Cherie Freeman said her family’s canola yields were “disappointing” at one to 1.8 tonnes/ha.

“The oils were also pretty low but other yields in the area have been between 0.6 to one tonne per hectare — so it has been quite variable,” Mrs Freeman said.

The Freemans began harvesting their Scepter wheat on Friday, November 22, and were reaping around three to 3.5 tonne/ha by the weekend.

“But it is very high in protein, which surprised me. The quality is mainly H1 to H2 with low screenings,” Mrs Freeman said.

Molka farmer and contractor Richard Stecher said the season was “surprisingly” good and was hoping to have his two-day oat harvest completed by midnight last Thursday, November 21.

“We have definitely had two pretty tough years with floods which has affected all our properties, but this year we were quite quiet about the season and have been nicely rewarded with all our strategic inputs,” Mr Stecher said.

Mr Stecher is known for his ‘thinking’ approach to farming and stopping to change tactics when necessary.

“We are fortunate to be able to pivot if something is not quite right or if it needs to go in the bale,” he said.

“We made beautiful wheaten hay off the back of some frosted wheat; it was destined for grain but now it’s beautiful hay.”

The paddock nearest the family’s farm proved to contain a threefold crop, with sections cut to order for both chaff and oaten hay.

“And the crop is so nice, we have kept some for seed.”

Mr Stecher was also watching the weather and the ground for planning his next step.

“If it rains, we are confident the wheat won’t get damaged but oats turn black.

“And I have been seeing the ants go mental.”