Eight down, four to go …… or is it five down, two to go? I am talking months in the calendar year and in the growing season (April to October).
I think the optimist in me prefers to take a ‘five down, two to go’ view of the world.
We had no rain before the season started and therefore I think we can only refer to growing season months.
During the growing season, the rain fell, but at bare minimum levels to keep the crops hunting along. Things look far better than they should with the rain that has fallen, particularly in the Southern Mallee. The northern area is doing it tougher and the Wimmera is mixed, with the west and south doing okay.
At this stage, everyone is looking for that one, 20mm rainfall event to take the pressure off. It seems unlikely, so we will keep taking what falls from the sky and hope we don’t get extreme temperatures. We really can’t do anything about it so it’s a matter of making the best decisions with what we know.
A few observations of mine include:
- Sowing early was a far a better choice than sowing late
- Canola needed good soil moisture contact to achieve an even germination and
- The seven-day forecast offers more hope than substance.
This last factor is particularly true when rain is forecast on days six and seven. The 10mm plus rainfall event is always six days away. This reflects these tough years in general where rainfall events tend to head south and struggle to push through into the Mallee.
The BCG Main Field Day is coming up on Wednesday 12 September at Narraport and like a lot of crops in the district, the site looks magnificent considering the decile 1 and 2 growing season rainfall. It is a credit to the BCG team.
The program is jam-packed with great speakers and pertinent topics which can be applied going into the 2019 season.
Here’s hoping for a wet September.
Whilst Gangajang’s ‘Sounds of then (This is Australia)’ is a song about the Queensland cane fields and that regularity of rainfall, I feel this year in the Southern Mallee has the feel of a season that has been experienced many times before.
One that has been both disappointing for what could have been, but equally full of optimism that things look so good and reflect the management of all those involved to get their crops in the condition they are in.
