THE jury is still out on what Merredin grower Joseph ‘Pep’
Alvaro has planned for the 2017 season.
“If you go chasing rainbows, you can end up with thunderstorms,” he said.
“Canola has been fantastic this year and there have been good
reports so we might try a bit next year, but this year has had
an exceptionally kind finish.
“In 2015 our canola got belted with heat frost so we left it
out this year and have gone to a rotation where if there’s a weed
burner we leave it out and tidy it up.”
Pep is 25 per cent through the 4500 hectare cropping program
he runs with wife Jules.
“The lupins were higher up on the landscape and we’re very
happy with how they’ve gone,” he said.
“The barley was a little mixed with a few quality issues and we
expect to see some quality issues with wheat with frosted grains.”
Pep estimated this year had been $100 per hectare more
expensive due to additional nitrogen, fungicide and weed
control.
“Like everyone we’ll be pretty cautious about next year and
because of the grain price it will have to be a low-cost year,” he
said.
