HIGH barley prices are expected to have an influence on this year’s WA crop, as growers from across the State get stuck into their 2018 seeding programs.
According to the Grain Industry Association of Western Australia’s (GIWA) first crop estimates for 2018, a projected 8.4 million hectares will be planted across the State this year, up from the predicted 7.8m/ha sown during last year’s dry autumn.
Of that, more than 1.4m/ha is expected to be sown to barley, with growers across all port zones choosing to substitute portions of their wheat plantings, after feed barley prices pushed past $270 a tonne last week.
The total wheat crop is expected to reach close to 4.8m/ha, with the area planted to pasture also expected to replace some wheat.
Intended canola plantings are tipped to remain similar to those of 2017 at 1.4m/ha, along with the lupin crop which is expected to sit at 400,000ha, however rain over the next few weeks will play a major role in determining final areas sown.
Another trend predicted by GIWA is the re-sowing of pastures to legumes across the State, along with the sowing of cereals intended for grazing by stock.
The report found a small amount of canola already planted had gone in dry, although recent thunderstorms in the eastern and southern regions of the Wheatbelt had allowed some growers to sow into moisture.
In the Geraldton Zone growers have just begun dry sowing crops, with topsoil very dry and subsoil moisture down deep in most areas away from the coast.
The area of barley is projected to be up at the expense of wheat area, while the trend towards increased Noodle wheat variety plantings is expected to continue.
Canola and lupin plantings are predicted to be higher than last year, while the area planted to pasture is also expected to increase.
Further south, growers in the Wongan Hills and Latham areas have chipped into their seeding programs with small areas of canola going in on moisture.
Dry sowing of canola is expected to ramp up across the rest of the southern Geraldton and north west Kwinana Zones this week.
According to the GIWA report, Noodle wheat is expected to be steady or decrease in the region in response to projected increases in other parts of the State.
The canola area is tipped to be down slightly due to the lack of hybrid seed available for planting.
The Kwinana West Zone has also seen some growers roll their seeding gear into paddocks, with some canola planted into moisture following recent thunderstorms.
Dry sowing of canola will get underway over the next week with projections of slightly less canola planted this year unless there are good opening rains in April.
There is likely to be an increase in lupin plantings of between 10 and 15 per cent due to the current price and newer varieties being more reliable in yield.
In the eastern part of the Kwinana Zone, patchy summer rain has left individual growers with up to 80 millimetres of soil-available moisture.
Some wheat has been planted in the areas around Southern Cross, Bullfinch and Marvel Loch and small areas of canola have gone in around Mukinbudin, Nungarin, Burracoppin and south to Muntadgin.
Those that have missed out on the recent storms are planning to start sowing dry in the next week and most will be going by Anzac Day.
Subsoil moisture is also good for most growers along the Albany south coast following substantial summer rains and carryover from last year, although moisture is too deep in most areas.
Most seeding activity has been the dry sowing of pastures and fodder crops for stock feed.
In western and southern parts of the Albany Zone there has been less summer rain, with most subsoil moisture too deep to sow into.
Pasture for livestock is expected to replace a larger portion of the area normally planted to wheat, with many growers dry sowing pasture legume species to improve stocking rates.
In the Lakes region summer rains of up to 80mm have led to growers spraying paddocks up to three times following widespread weed germination.
A small area of canola has been sown into moisture from recent storms although most will go in dry over the next few weeks if it does not rain.
Meanwhile in the Esperance Zone, there has been small plantings of canola on moisture.
It’s tipped there will be an increase in pasture legumes being sown in the region following low grain proteins in the zone last season, as growers work to improve the quality of pasture feed and provide nitrogen for following crops.
The crop enterprise mix in the Esperance Zone is unlikely to change significantly this year, after a successful 2017 harvest.
IN the Kwinana Zone, Bruce Rock grower Leigh Strange is among those who has kick-started his 2018 season.
Mr Strange was sowing Bonito canola on Monday in dry and dusty conditions after starting seeding early last week.
The Bruce Rock grower has cut back his canola plantings to about 25 per cent of his program this year, after boosting his canola crop in 2017.
Wheat will make up about 45pc of his crop, while 10pc will be planted to lupins and the remainder sown to oats and barley.
“It’s fairly similar to last year’s program, we had a fair bit of canola in last year so canola is back a bit to more of a normal level but everything else is pretty much fairly similar,” Mr Strange said.
“We’re running Scepter a bit more this year to replace some of our Mace and bulking up Planet barley.
“We’re just easing into it at the moment and doing daylight hours.”
The Strange’s property has received varying amounts of rain so far this year, with farmland near Quairading benefitting from close to 120 millimetres over January and February, while the eastern end of the farm received just 15mm over the same time period.
“There’s a bit of subsoil moisture at Quairading, it’s not too far down, but in Bruce Rock there’s no subsoil to speak of, everything is going in going in very dry,” Mr Strange said.
“It would be nice if we could jag five to 10mm in Quairading because it would be enough to get things going down there with the moisture.
“It’s probably looking like more of an average break, we’ve probably been a bit spoiled the last couple of years with the early breaks and having a heap of subsoil moisture.
“Our traditional break is a long way away, the average break in Bruce Rock is around May 18, but it would certainly be nice to see something on the horizon to get things moving.”