HEADERS have started rolling into Wimmera paddocks as once again harvest starts weeks earlier than usual.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Warracknabeal farmer Shannon Byron said it was the first time in four generations his family had started harvest this early. He started stripping vetch on Sunday.
”We are trying to get back some seed plus a little bit more,” he said.
“We are getting about one to three bags an acre – we did a few yield tests with vetch and it was worth harvesting to get three bags.
“With prices the way they are, we didn’t want to be forking out big money for seed, and would rather keep our own.”
Mr Byron said wheat might be the winner out of his crops this year.
“Our wheat will be okay, it’s on rising country, so I think we will do alright,” he said.
”We were pretty lucky at Warracknabeal, everything hung on a bit longer - a thunderstorm earlier in the year, or an extra five millimetres of rain could have made all the difference.
“For a bad year, it’s astonishing how well crops held on and it is just pure luck.
“Some people might have got frost damage, but it’s just the luck of the draw.”
Rainbow farmer Don Fisher said his nephew starting stripping lentils on Thursday.
“It is better than what we thought and we are getting about two to three bags an acres,” he said.
“Up at Beulah I’ve heard they are getting about one to two bags.
“We are hoping to finish lentils before the rain this week, but we will see how we go.
“Barley isn’t right to go yet.”
Mr Fisher said harvest seemed to be getting earlier each year.
“I don’t know whether it was climate change or the way the yields are,” he said.
“I’ve been farming since 1966 and we usually start half way through November.”
Horsham farmer Tim Rethus has been bailing oaten hay at Noradjuha this week.
“The yield has been down, which we expected,” he said.
“But the quality has been good nutrient-wise.
“The the colour is not perfect because there is a few dead leaves in there.”
Rural Bank Horsham relationship manager Luke Riley said a new report, the 2015 National Crop Update, showed the season look promising throughout winter.
“However, very little rainfall in September combined with some warm weather, has resulted in crops drying out very quickly,” he said.
“Crops in the west Wimmera and south of Horsham look better than those to the east of Horsham and further north.
“Expectations range from average to poor.”