ACROSS the country farmers are making critical decisions about the upcoming winter crop.
With an early break for many producers there is a full suite of management options available.
As we head into May ACM took a look at the state of play in each state.
QUEENSLAND:
AgForce grains section president Brendan Taylor said it was a frenetic period for croppers in the Sunshine State at present.
"You've got people harvesting late summer crop that is taking a while to get down to harvestable moisture due to ongoing moist easterly winds, you've got cotton about to be picked and you've got people looking at planting winter crop, so there's a bit going on," Mr Taylor said.
He said southern Queensland winter croppers were looking at planting cereals first and then coming back for chickpeas later.
In Central Queensland, he said falls of 40-80mm in recent weeks had reinvigorated enthusiasm for winter cropping after a largely drier than average summer.
Through the south he said there were generally very good levels of soil moisture.
"The good moisture combined with the high grain prices will mean a solid sized plant you would think."
NSW:
In the far north of the state Sam Heagney, Mungindi, said a lot of winter crop had already been planted and had emerged.
"Most of the wheat and barley is in or will go in soon then people will probably come back around the end of the month or early June for chickpeas," Mr Heagney said.
"There has been a lot of long season Sunmax wheat go in and it is up already.
"We've had excellent rain over the summer, the soil moisture profile is full so we're fairly upbeat about prospects."
In the south Riverina agronomist Greg Condon, Grassroots Agronomy, said there were also near ideal conditions.
"There is the odd patch where it is possibly a touch wet, particular as you head north towards the Central West, but in general things are as close to ideal as you can get."
He said in spite of high prices for crops such as cereals and canola most growers would be sticking firm with their fixed rotations.
"We've been around long enough to know not to chase rainbows and the research shows that a good diverse rotation pays off in the long run, we see an extra half a tonne to the hectare when canola follows a pulse so even though the prices may be better with other crops people will stick to their grain or hay pulse phase."
Mr Condon said the early break meant dual purpose cereal crops and canola were already well out the ground.
"We're at the stage where some people are looking to move onto their post-emergent spray program which is remarkable when we're just into May."
He said the early rain had also meant those who were concerned about problem weeds had the opportunity to get a solid knockdown.
"People are taking advantage of the chance to get a really good kill on autumn weeds."
VICTORIA:
In Victoria cropping conditions are also near ideal.
Unusually, it has been the lower rainfall zones in the Mallee and northern Wimmera that have received the bulk of the rainfall due to the summer dominant pattern still in place seeing most of the moisture coming down from the north.
It is still relatively dry through the southern Wimmera and the Western District, however farmers in those regions have nearly all received enough rain to germinate new crop.
Geoff Kendell, a former farmer in the Kerang district, said farmers in the south-east Mallee were optimistic about the season ahead.
"There has been between 30 and 60mm over much of the region, which sets us up really well for the season ahead, we will not need a lot of moisture to keep crops going over the winter from now on," Mr Kendell said.
In the northern Wimmera there have been slight delays in planting due to excessive moisture, especially for those using disc seeders or sowing into sparse pulse stubbles or cultivated paddocks, but a dry week since the last front means most have been able to resume planting.
Through the north-eastern cropping zone there has been heavier rain than in the west although the warm temperatures have meant the water is getting away and allowing farmers to plant reasonably quickly after rain events.
SOUTH AUSTRALIA:
Rainfall has not been so uniform in South Australia as other states, but much of the state is still in good condition.
In the eastern Mallee Bernie Lehmann, Peebinga, between Loxton and Pinnaroo, said there had been good opening rain.
"We've had bout 25mm for April, which is really good for us in a low rainfall zone," Mr Lehmann said.
"Last year most of the country had a great year but we actually had one of our lowest rainfall years on record so it is nice to get a good start."
He said while the rain had not been enough to spark off much in the way of stock feed crops were germinating.
"We're about half way through and crop is coming up nice and early which is good, we've also had the chance to get good knockdown control."
He said he would be keeping rotations simple this year.
"There are good cereal prices on offer and cereals are lower risk in this environment so there will be plenty of wheat and barley."
Further west Dion Woolford, Kimba, in the north of the Eyre Peninsula, said things were going well.
"We have had a lot of harvest rain and then the heavy storms through January so there is good subsoil moisture there which is great in our drier environment," Mr Woolford said.
"We've also had some handy opening rain so things are going very well for this time of the year."
Similar to in Victoria, he said it had been unusual in that the normally drier part of the northern EP had received more rain thus far than the south.
WESTERN AUSTRALIA:
WA Farmers grains committee president Mic Fels said WA croppers were upbeat with a generally good start.
"There were some very good falls around in late March and early April."
He said his own neck of the woods, around Esperance, had been one of the drier regions, but most places had received a good autumn break.
"Even here there has been just enough for most crop to germinate so the state is looking at an overall early start to the year, which gives crops the best chance."
He said rotation-wise farmers would stick to set rotations, but said there was optimism around the high grain prices, in particular the lift in barley values after the crop lagged behind wheat price-wise last season.
Similar to other regions it has been the historically drier regions that have received heavier rainfall this time, suggesting weather patterns have not switched from summer to winter type rainfall as yet.
In the north David Tropiano, Mullewa, east of Geraldton, said heavy rain at the end of March into early April had been followed by a series of light rain events recently to help keep germinated crops get properly established.
"We had 50-100mm in the big event and then most people have probably have 8-12mm in light events recently, which has been good as it has been pretty warm since the first rain," Mr Tropiano said.
"Canola and lupins were sown early, along with some wheat, we're seeing crops at anything from emergence to the four leaf stage for canola."
He said he was hopeful some of the moisture would be stored for use by the crop in the critical spring period.
Mr Tropiano said planting was progressing well.
"We're already half way through which is ahead of schedule for early May."
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