POOR germination is plaguing growers across the northern, eastern and central Wheatbelt as dry conditions and warmer days mean crops are failing to get going.
A rain front that was expected last weekend failed to provide any meaningful falls across the Wheatbelt, with the Bureau of Meteorology recording dismal falls across southern WA.
The lack of meaningful rain has meant many growers, who were still seeding, have made the decision to pull up and wait for rain.
Department of Agriculture and Food WA research officer David Ferris said there was concern for grain growers in at-risk areas, the season was looking good for many growers in the south central and south coastal regions, while others in the northern and north eastern agricultural region had already started to modify programs to match the dry conditions.
“Some have decided it’s too late to sow canola and moved to cereals, while others have started to drop marginal paddocks from their cropping program, leaving them as fallow or as pasture,” he said.
“Growers should be mindful of soil moisture levels as the season progresses and tailor inputs to water availability.
“For some this will mean additional fertiliser, for others this may mean pulling back if there isn’t the subsoil moisture to support plant growth during spring.”
Farmanco agronomist David Cameron said growers in the central Midlands and northern parts of the Eastern Wheatbelt had already dropped drier paddocks from their programs, particularly where there was little subsoil moisture.
“Growers around Wubin, Kalannie and Goodlands, who didn’t end up with any summer rain, have found it really hard but it has made it easier to make some decisions about pulling up and which soil types not to sow,” he said.
“In other areas of 100-150mm of summer rainfall, on average the moisture is sitting at about 250-300mm deep, so it is tantalisingly close and in parts where is a bit closer, there are people who have seeded and it has got the crop away, but on the whole it’s that little bit deep to do anything with.”
Mr Cameron said crop mixes had also changed as those with livestock had moved back towards cereals in order to grow dry matter to provide feed for sheep and cattle.
Farmers are also holding on to livestock for longer due to the better gross margins, he said.
“We have been really aggressive in dry seasons in the past to move stock on early whereas people are prepared to push a bit further and keep them longer,” he said.
“Around Moora there’s a bit less canola and a bit more cereal, particularly barley.
“Initially people were a bit cold on it because of pricing, but now they want to have barley in as it leaves behind a better residue for feeding animals.
“There’s also a few more oats coming back in even though the price for hay has softened as people realise they need feed on farms.”
As the State braces for a drier than average winter, Mr Cameron said growers were already actively managing their input costs and revising yield budgets, although initially this was because they had been preparing for a tight year, due to a lower prices.
“Growers in the eastern areas have been reducing their cost structure since the second week of May while growers closer to the coast are only now looking at lowering their input costs and this is includes things like relaxing some of their fungicide packages,” he said.
Latham grower Graeme Reid said he still had a third of his crop still to go in but has decided to wait and see if any more rain eventuated.
He started seeding just after Easter and said there was still no sign of the crops coming up.
“This is the first year in all my farming experience in 50 years that I have actually started seeding and proceeding seeding all the way through and at the end of that time the first lot still hasn’t come up,” he said.
“We got that earlier rain – about 130mm – at the end of January but we had nil in April and 4.5mm for May.
“I’m no Robinson Crusoe and there are a lot of people in the same position as we are.”
“If we don’t get much of a rain, maybe something perhaps this week, I don’t know what I will do, I really don’t.”