STORMS last month signalled the start of seeding for a few farmers in the Mukinbudin area who began by putting in Roundup Ready canola from Easter Monday.
This was on the back of 50-150 millimetres of rain falling over summer.
Three farmers who put in the canola also have some of it out of the ground.
Landmark Mukinbudin agronomist Darren Marquis said with last year being a very dry April, May and June, the farmers decided to get the plant established and hope it could hold on through the dryer times.
“We had 15mm here on Easter Sunday and because we have had a good amount of summer rain, the farmer called and asked me whether he should pull the trigger,” Mr Marquis said.
“It’s Roundup Ready canola so I said get into it, don’t miss an opportunity to get it in the ground.”
Once the canola was in, the growers stopped seeding but Mr Marquis predicted it would be all go this week.
Last week people in the area started scratching in barley and are expected to move into lupins.
“We don’t recommend planting TT canola at that time of the year because it can run up a bit and try to grow, but the hybrid is steady, grows nicely and doesn’t rush,” Mr Marquis said.
“It’s well established and we have put some insecticides down to cover ourselves because there are a few locusts around.”
Last year some farmers in the marginal area didn’t put crops in due to the uncertainty of the season.
This year with good summer rain, Beacon, in particular has had up to 150mm over summer, farmers weren’t too happy about having to spray but Mr Marquis said they realised they had moisture in the soil.
“Obviously it was a disaster last year, with the worst year on record,” he said.
“Everyone is pretty resilient.
“They turn over the calendar and start again.”
This year they are hoping for a good year, especially coming off last year’s dry season.
Mr Marquis said most farmers grew wheat because it was a stable grain for the area.
This year they are also seeding a bit of canola, barley, lupins and oats – but wheat still had the biggest share.
Mr Marquis said most programs in the area had also sprayed summer weeds at least once or twice in recent months.
“Whilst it’s a pain in the backside to be spraying, it’s a good sign,” he said.
“Particularly with that canola.
“If we didn’t have summer rain there would be no way in the world he would put the canola in.”
