HARVEST 2019 has just started at Moorine Rock where WA No-Till Farmers Association (WANTFA) president Clint Della Bosca is working his way through his barley crops.
When Farm Weekly visited the property recently Mr Della Bosca was servicing his Case IH harvester in preparation for the season.
Mr Della Bosca said his property spans three blocks totalling 8000 hectares where he crops 5000ha, with a mixture of wheat (60 per cent), barley (20pc), with oats, lupins and canola making up about 20pc.
He also includes vetch and mustard in the rotations.
Mr Della Bosca said he had always dry seeded the crops but the past three seasons saw the break come late.
The farm is in a 300 millimetre annual rainfall area but so far this year they have only received 200mm.
"We are expecting a below-average rainfall year," Mr Della Bosca said.
"We were fortunate to have had March rain, a portion of the farm got a drop of that."
Mr Della Bosca said despite the dry late start "we have fully capitalised on that rain".
"Most seeds were in the ground four weeks before the rain came," he said
Mr Della Bosca said they received nearly a "record rainfall for the month of June" with 90mm falling.
"On the back of that we go into harvest," he said.
"We have got no idea what the results will be but we are anticipating a below-average year."
Mr Della Bosca said last year his canola crop was good but this year he felt that they planted too much and it will cost them.
He said one of the challenges with the late start to the season was that they would spray for weeds and it would be six weeks before the rains came and when they came the weeds would come up.
"We have issues with weed resistance, radish and ryegrass and the chemical cost that are associated with controlling them," Mr Della Bosca said.
They also have minor issues with saline areas which he is working to improve.
Mr Della Bosca said some of his paddocks had areas of low pH levels.
After hearing about the farming of lime deposits beneath the soil in some areas, he had his farm evaluated and discovered an 8ha area that he has been harvesting for use on the most unproductive soils with improved results.
"We found a lime deposit on the farm (about 1m in depth) and with that we are able to treat more hectares and reduce our input costs," he said.
"We can treat more country for the same amount of money."
Mr Della Bosca's farm has a range of soil types but mainly sandy loam areas with 15pc clay soil.
He said 10pc of the farm was extremely sandy and he would be undertaking some deep ripping there next year to help moisture get into the soil.
"The gains are too big to ignore," Mr Della Bosca said.
"Anyone with sandy loam soils has got to look at it.
"It's costing us a lot to do it but it is important because with sandy country rainfall compacts the environment making it hard to grow crops."
The Della Boscas also run a 1400 head ewe flock on the more marginal land as a form of risk management.
With lambing having been completed in June he still has 1600 lambs at foot having achieved a 130pc lambing percentage.
"Half are self replacing (composite/Prime SAMM-Merino flock) and the other half are for Poll Dorset prime lamb production," Mr Della Bosca said.
"We don't mules, don't run wethers and everything is sold as a lamb.
"We are more focused on cropping so the sheep flock mainly fits around our cropping program.
"We keep it low cost, and as low labor impact as we can."
Mr Della Bosca said because they have bred more for prime lamb production, the wool quality has not been as good, but the prices for meat and wool have been a good addition to the system.
"You have got to be passionate about sheep to run them," he said.
"We do as a form of risk management."
The Della Bosca family is well-known in the Moorine Rock area, which is not surprising since the family moved there in the early 1900s and has played its part in the agriculture sector since then.
Mr Della Bosca said that over the years there has been difficulties in attracting people to the area for work and also encouraging children to come back to the family farm after being away in boarding schools.
"They go away at the age of 11 now and that is a critical time in a child's life when they start to be involved in the family more and learn how to do things on the farm," he said.
"Having them away so early makes it more difficult to teach them the skills of living on and operating a farm.
"It does happen, but it just makes it harder.
"The family farm will suffer as children spend more time away from it."
Mr Della Bosca said he joined WANTFA in the mid 1990s and has been the president for the past four to five years.
He said the membership had dropped since the 1990s in line with the number of farmers in the State and now has about 400 members, from Geraldton to Esperance.
WANTFA is focused on extension work, trials and on farm demonstrations.
He said there was still some misunderstanding about the position of the association on farming practices, which he hoped to rectify.
"Conservation ag is where it all fits together," Mr Della Bosca said.
"We are not averse to deep ripping to apply lime and regenerative ag is part of good conservation ag."
