SEEDING 2019 has begun with several growers in the south of the State already into their programs.
And the general feeling across WA is that activity could start in earnest in many areas next week.
Already there has been quite a few hectares of oats planted and canola and lupins will kick off most programs in the coming days.
On the back of a wet March, where their properties received between 50mm-90mm, the Curwen family at South Stirling commenced seeding on March 23.
This year's program will see 8000 hectares of canola, barley and wheat planted.
Reece Curwen said conditions were perfect for seeding and it was an easy decision to start the 2019 program 10 days ago.
"We have started with GM canola and the beauty of that system is you can manage the weeds when the crop is in," Mr Curwen said.
"We are aiming to graze the canola that is going in now so it is good to put it in early and get it up out of the ground on the back of the moisture we have in the profile."
Mr Curwen said when the season was with them, they normally aimed to start their seeding program in late March.
In addition to their canola and cereal crops, the Curwens have also planted 1500ha of oats and clover for sheep feed.
"It is a massive change to last year where we didn't get rain until July and we were hammered by several wind events throughout the growing season," Mr Curwen said.
"The pressure was on last year in terms of the cropping program and the livestock side of the operation, so it is good to have an early start this year."
- To see who else has started seeding and what the outlook is, grab a copy of this week's Farm Weekly.
