The Rupanyup GAPP group crop walk toured local farmer paddocks last Wednesday afternoon. The bus trip co-ordinated by Ben Cordes from Tylers Hardware had a focus of growers sharing ways to combat ryegrass issues and visited oaten hay, RT and TT canola paddocks and systems. As one grower said it is ‘interesting how everyone had a ryegrass problem but there were three or four different ways people had gone about trying to tackle weeds.’
Inter-row lentils sown with a double disc seeder and a Vic No Till cover crop demonstration were other highlights. As was tweeted, ‘crops are looking good in general but most are still cautious about the season’.
In the evening, grains VFF representative Brett Hosking and Vice president David Jochinke, outlined the purpose and recent activities of VFF. Farmers helping farmers was a messaged delivered.
The informal GAPP discussion groups pose a great opportunity for growers to learn from other growers and network with industry. As David Jochinke mentioned, also member of the Wallup Farmer Group ‘today proved a point, whenever you do anything in the paddock you need to ask yourself why you are doing it and understand it. Think of the big picture. Do the best you can for the system you are working in. And importantly, the ‘greatest learning is not just doing everything right, but learning from your mistakes.’
Future GAPP group crop walks will be held in mid-late September.
