YOUNG Charlie Eva looks as happy with wheat's recent price rise as his dad, Travis, pictured holding daughter Claire.
After locking some wheat in at $290 a tonne Mr Eva, who farms at Brookton, took advantage of the big shift in price over the past three weeks to lock in another 100 tonnes last Friday at $313.
Earlier in the season he had the magical figure of $300/t in mind as a target for locking wheat in and when it hit $290 he thought it was a good opportunity to get active in the market.
The price then broke the $300/t mark last week and Mr Eva waited until it hit $313 to lock more in.
He said his broker had now advised him to hold off a bit longer before locking any more in.
"We did a bit at $290 and when it hit $300 we were going to lock more in, but the broker suggested holding off a bit longer as he believed there was still some upside in the market," Mr Eva said.
"That was obviously the case and, apart from that 100 tonne, I will sit and wait and see what happens this week."
With 960 hectares planted, wheat is the biggest component of the Eva's 2960ha program this year. The remainder is made up of 900ha of barley, 640ha of canola, 120ha of lupins, 170ha of oats and 170ha of oats for export hay.
He has planted the Mace, Cobra and Clearfield Stiletto wheat varieties.
"Our wheat program is similar to last year and that was something I wanted to stick to this year," Mr Eva said.
"I thought with more canola being planted and wheat dropping out of programs this year, there could be a price rise at some stage.
"But, of course, I couldn't predict the weather events in the US that are now having such a big impact on its corn crop."
While Mr Eva was very happy with the way prices were heading, he was also not getting too far ahead of himself.
"I am still taking a cautious approach in terms of the volume I will lock in," he said.
"Things are still a bit dry here and it doesn't look like the rain coming this week will deliver too much.
"So that is at the back of the mind as well as the frost factor but if prices keep going up we will definitely look seriously at locking in more tonnes."
