AUSTRALIAN sorghum production is likely to be bolstered by a strong year in NSW, with farmers on the Liverpool Plains expected to have their best summer cropping season in more than a decade.
It comes as welcome relief from last season where Australia produced its lowest sorghum crop in 50 years.
Pete McKenzie, Agvance, Quirindi, said yield estimates were high following good late January / early February rainfall.
"It is a long way from being harvested but there would be paddocks with 7-8 tonne to the hectare potential," Mr McKenzie said.
In far northern NSW, Matthew Madden, NSW Farmers grains committee chairman and Moree farmer said early crops had been harvested and had respectable yields of around 2.5t/ha.
Later crops, however, are the stand-out, with yield estimates of 4-5t/ha.
"The early-sown stuff had to deal with heatwaves in November and it probably wasn't as wet whereas it has been a good year so far for late sown crops," Mr Madden said.
He said growers would look to harvest the late sown crops from late March, weather permitting, and may look to plant a later winter crop afterwards if the season looked favourable.
"It is a lot easier to double crop summer to winter crop than vice versa in this area," he said.
Further north, Queensland's prospects are mixed.
"It's a cliché but the Darling Downs are a real mixed bag," said Brendan Taylor, AgForce grains section president.
"The pattern of the storms has been really sporadic so crop condition is varying on a paddock by paddock basis," he said.
He said overall, however, most Queensland grain producers felt slightly disappointed with the much vaunted wetter than average pattern forecast for summer.
"The La Nina has not really delivered in this part of the world," said Mr Taylor, based at Warra, on the western Darling Downs said.
He said had also been relatively dry through Central Queensland over most of summer, although there has been some rain in recent weeks.
"We've see the rain go around us a little, other areas have had good falls but while we've had the odd storm here we haven't had the consistent soaking rain we're hoping for as a region."
Mr McKenzie said moisture levels were strong on the Liverpool Plains but added farmers were concerned about mouse numbers.
"The mice are building in numbers, there have been people baiting for the past three weeks or so and some may need to reapply bait to ensure their crop is protected.
"It is not as bad as in the Central West, we think maybe because it was a bit wetter in winter, but the numbers are still building."
He said with crops at the critical grain fill period, farmers were looking to protect yield potential.
Mr Taylor said there had been issues with mice and also isolated problems with locusts in southern Queensland.
"The mice are not everywhere but I'd encourage farmers to get out and have a look to check as there are plenty about."
In terms of locusts, he said there were reports of bands of locusts in the far south of the state from St George to Goondiwindi although he said he was unsure how much damage they had caused as yet.
Mr Madden said some farmers had baited and there had been isolated pockets of damage but so far the north of NSW had not been too bad.
"It is a matter of keeping everyone vigilant so numbers don't build up," he said.
Interestingly, Queensland will not have to rely solely on its traditional sorghum regions of the Darling Downs, the south-west and Central Queensland for all its production this year, with a fledgling industry in the Burdekin continuing to grow.
Kelly Lund, Lund Grain, said her family's business was producing sorghum in the Burdekin, near Home Hill, in traditional sugar cane producing country.
"We don't grow sugar cane, sorghum is our bread and butter, but others who do grow cane are also experimenting with sorghum with some success," Ms Lund said.
"The tropical climate you get up here means that the crop can be grown quite quickly, we can get a crop ready to harvest in just over three months."
She said the planting window was currently open in the Burdekin and with an early start to the wet season, there was good subsoil moisture for the crop.
Further south, Ms Lund said her brother had just completed planting at Clermont in central Queensland.
While it is generally on the dry side through CQ she said there had been a number of isolated storms which mean some farmers have reasonable moisture profiles for emerging crops.
Gregor Heard
Gregor Heard is ACM's national grains industry reporter, based in Horsham, Victoria. He has a wealth of knowledge surrounding the cropping sector through his 15 years in the role. Prior to that he was with the Fairfax network as a reporter with Stock & Land. Some of the major issues he has reported on during his time with the company include the deregulation of the export wheat market, the introduction of genetically modified crops and the fight to protect growers better from grain trader insolvencies. Still involved with the family farm he is passionate about rural Australia and its people and hopes to use his role to act as an advocate for those involved in the grain sector.
Gregor Heard is ACM's national grains industry reporter, based in Horsham, Victoria. He has a wealth of knowledge surrounding the cropping sector through his 15 years in the role. Prior to that he was with the Fairfax network as a reporter with Stock & Land. Some of the major issues he has reported on during his time with the company include the deregulation of the export wheat market, the introduction of genetically modified crops and the fight to protect growers better from grain trader insolvencies. Still involved with the family farm he is passionate about rural Australia and its people and hopes to use his role to act as an advocate for those involved in the grain sector.
