We gave our Farm in Focus contributors the final say on the 2018 season in this edition of Farm in Focus.
In a year which has had its ups and downs, “challenge” was the word used by Birchip’s, Andy Barber, Longerenong’s, Robyn Gulline, and St Arnaud’s, Simon Goode, to describe the season.
Drought conditions, due to only 100mm of rainfall for the year, was how Ultima’s Ben Merritt described it, which also resulted in Nyarrin’s, Terry Kiley being ready to move on and Corack’s, Andrew Slater being disappointed.
However, these conditions weren’t the case for everyone and Kaniva’s, Sam Eastwood, felt very fortunate for how the season in his district panned out.
With every season something new can be learnt, but for many it came back to “moisture is king”, as Mr Kiley put it.
“Without proper soil testing and lack of early rainfall it is very hard to make decisions on nitrogen management,” was Quantong’s, Kelvin Price’s summation on the year. He is now the proud owner of a share in a soil sampler.
Lah’s, Hugh Keam, described the year as remarkable considering the crops he was able to harvest with the rainfall received.
But as a reminder that ‘it’s not all about farming’, 2018 had some special and magical moments for our Farm in Focus contributors too including graduations, overseas holidays, honeymoons, engagements, weddings, football premierships and the birth of children.
Find out more about what the Farmers in Focus contributors thought of 2018 below.
In one word describe 2018.
“Challenging.” – Andrew Barber, Birchip
“Challenging, continuous re-alignment of farm management plans to deal with all that Mother Nature has to offer.” – Robyn Gulline, Longerenong
“Move-on, sooner it is over the better.” – Terry Kiley, Nyarrin
“Fortunate, we are having a pretty good year.” – Sam Eastwood, Kaniva
“Drought, 100mls for the year.” – Ben Merritt, Ultima
“Rollercoaster, our year to date with a few ups and downs. Lack of rain, high grain prices, frosted crops, high hay prices and looking at the weather forecast as much as your clock. Fair to say there is never two years the same.” – Kelvin Price, Quantong
“Remarkable, our new cropping techniques have turned nothing into something. When you think you understand something and something different happens. It is remarkable the crops we are harvesting this year from the rain that has fallen.” – Hugh Keam, Lah
“Challenging, this year seems to have thrown more curve balls at us than most. Very dry summer and autumn. We blew the sowing tractor engine in the last week of April. Dry sowing with no knockdown, patchy emergence, insect and frost pressure. Managing inputs throughout the winter, with a below average rainfall forecast and no stored moisture, but things look ok was tricky. Then very dry and frosty late winter and early spring cut the season short and forces extra hay area and limited grain yield. Now we are contending with persistent showers and thunderstorms during a very small hay and harvest period. We will get there though, and the prices are rewarding us for what we do produce.” – Simon Goode, St Arnaud
“Disappointing, after a dry start things were not looking too bad until the end of August when the season shutdown. Frost has also taken a toll on what was already going to be a small harvest. Grain quality has so far been exceeding expectations.” – Andrew Slater, Corack
What was the biggest thing you learnt in 2018?
“The difference in water use efficiency between soil types. Also, it has been interesting to see how previous crop selections (going back one to three years) affect the current crop.” – Andrew Barber, Birchip
“Confirmation that no two seasons are ever the same. The importance of early problem identification and careful and considered evaluation and analysis of options.” – Robyn Gulline, Longerenong
“Moisture is king.” – Terry Kiley, Nyarrin
“Hay markets can recover. Went from a season where I nearly couldn’t give away hay to not having any left.” – Sam Eastwood, Kaniva
“Canola is a fickle thing to grow and don’t let Brome Grass get away from you.” – Ben Merritt, Ultima
“Without proper soil testing and lack of early rainfall it is very hard to make decisions on nitrogen management. With crops looking OK mid-year on minimal rain, trying to make a decision seemed tricky made more difficult with a looming dry spring and increasing grain prices. In looking back, we took the conservative approach which was probably the right one but crops still hit a brick wall in September with only 6mm and frost after frost. Going forward we have gone in with a group of farmers to purchase a shared soil sampler which will be used wisely in 2019!” – Kelvin Price, Quantong
“French and Schultz were right: if you don’t get 100mm of rainfall in-crop, you are pretty much not going to get a crop. On the flip side though if you do get beyond this point, the water use efficiency can be amazing in our no till stubble retained systems.” – Hugh Keam, Lah
“I think the value of storing product, both hay and grain, to level out cash flow in low production years. Highlights the value and good shedding and grain storage systems for when volumes need to be carried for a length of time to avoid selling cheaply in high production years.” – Simon Goode, St Arnaud
“Hay can provide a salvage option. A weather forecast does not mean much when it is inaccurate. Applications of nitrogen are costly.” – Andrew Slater, Corack
What was the best moment in 2018, be that in the paddock or out?
“Attending the Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast.” – Andrew Barber, Birchip
“My eldest daughter finishing her Bachelor of Agricultural Science degree.” – Robyn Gulline, Longerenong
“Overseas study tour.” – Terry Kiley, Nyarrin
“Engagement.” – Sam Eastwood, Kaniva
“The birth of my son Alex.” – Ben Merritt, Ultima
“Still waiting for the best moment in the paddock, hopefully grain prices stay up! But out of the paddock my honeymoon to Europe where we visited my great-grandparents farming properties. They were only 30km apart in a small village called Llandyssil in Wales. Amazing country to look at and such different ways of farming and to see properties of 200-400 acres providing a good living to 2 or 3 families seems hard to understand.” – Kelvin Price, Quantong
“It is a toss-up between selling wool for $13/kg or getting rid of 1 000 bales of mice ridden wheaten hay from 2016 which I was sure we were going to have to burn.” – Hugh Keam, Lah
“My sister’s wedding on the farm in April. It was an event that we had been working towards for 18 months, tidying and cleaning up. It was a great weekend and now we have a much neater and more user-friendly work space for years to come.” – Simon Goode, St Arnaud
“The best thing for me in 2018 was seeing the joy on the boys faces winning the under 16 football Grand Final. Off-farm activities have provided a good diversion this year.” – Andrew Slater, Corack
