The early winter harvest has finished for most growers in the Narrabri region and although yields are down, many farmers expected worse.
It was a thirsty season from start to end, and Monday’s rain did little to moisten the dusty paddocks.
Quality has been mixed across the district and across crops, yet results have been slightly better than expected.
Farmers are yet to finish at Boggabri and further south in the Liverpool Plains, but the majority in the Narrabri area completed harvesting either this week or last week.
Penagcon agronomist Drew Penberthy said quality and yield varied depending on pre-flowering stress, moisture and frost.
“The blokes that got frosted had nothing, they were really quite poor,” he said.
The frost hit in August.
Drew said wheat averaged two to four tonnes per hectare.
“It’s pretty similar to last year, but it’s not too bad for a dry season,” he said, adding, “But it’s down historically.”
Many farmers have stored their grains on farm to take advantage of better premiums offered by the container trade.
“And a lot hasn’t been sold yet because there’s mixed results coming out of southern NSW and Victoria due to the frost, and yields in South Australia apparently have been below expectations,” Drew said.
Prices for chick peas are low, prompting growers to store them until the market improves.
It was a good year for the chick pea crop at John Duncombe’s property “Fairview”, near Bellata, where the 280-hectare crop averaged 2.5 tonnes to the hectare, and 3.5 tonnes to the hectare in the best spots.
It was the best yield sharefarmer Martin Dunlop has seen in chick peas and he attributed the success to the dry year and crop rotation.
Martin’s own wheat crop at his property “Glencairn” on Mellburra Road averaged 2.5 tonnes to the hectare, but offered up to five tonnes in a few places.
He used a new wheat variety produced by Australian Grain Technologies (AGT), Suntop.
“It was fairly good, considering the year we had we were really pleased,” Martin said.
Meanwhile, most faba beans have been sold and attracted good prices.
Canola has also sold but quality and yield ranged.
Some canola crops were severely frost damaged and had low oil content.
“It was a pretty mixed bag this year basically for trade,” Drew added.
“A lot of it comes back to moisture, pre-sowing moisture, because we didn’t get any in-crop rain effectively.”
Overall, it’s been a disappointing year, but it’s what most expected as the hot, dry weather continued.
Farmers are praying for rain to boost the chance of a successful summer crop.
Cracks in the soil reach up to 1.5 metres deep in some parts of the region.
While some summer crops have been sown, dryland cotton farmers haven’t planted yet.
“A fair percentage of sorghum has been planted, but is in dire need of a drink,” Drew added.
“We’re just waiting for a big deluge of rain.”