REMEMBER Perrett's Patch? In Farm Weekly's July 28 edition, we told the story of Dalwallinu District High School teacher Sarah Perrett (right) who adopted an acre from local grower Ben Strickland as a way of increasing her farming knowledge.
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Farm Weekly returned to Perrett's Patch last week to see how Ms Perrett's little slice of farm was faring.
"I'm really happy with how the season has gone, it's a shame about the frost but we are excited to see how it turns out when it is harvested," she said.
Mr Strickland (left) manages the day-to-day operations of Perrett's Patch as part of the 4000 hectare property he farms with wife Kirsten (second from right), son Josh and father Rob.
He said he "wasn't confident" about its potential.
"The crop looks fantastic but it had a very low seeding rate of 18 kilograms per hectare and sadly it's in the bottom of the valley which so far has proven to be the worst of our frost-affected crops," he said.
"I really don't know at this stage, the head counts are showing it hasn't taken too much but until the harvester pulls in, in the next couple of weeks, I won't get too confident."
For the rest of Mr Strickland's farm, the "nervous start" prior to harvesting is leading to a pleasant surprise as he and workers Ray Schenk and Tristan Wasmann are a quarter into the program.
"The canola has yielded 1.5 tonnes per hectare and barley 2.5t/ha, which is a record for the canola while the barley is above average," he said.
"We haven't started the wheat yet but I am hoping it is still a good result."
The pressure is on for Mr Strickland to have harvest wrapped up soon as Kirsten is due to deliver their second child in early December.
