We only finished harvest a week or so ago. Much later than we usually do which meant this harvest more than ever, we needed a well-earned break—like everyone else!
It’s not that simple though. Farming and time off never are. While finished our ‘usual harvest’ we still had, and still have, 200 hectares to go (it’s every year as it’s a late maturing crop). We sow it late, after everything else, that’s a plus. On the flip, we need to harvest it late too, meaning it’s always a choice between continuing to harvest or taking a break.
While it may seem obvious to keep the wheels turning, we always choose to power down the engine and ourselves for a week—minimum!
Why? Why not just keep going?
We must listen to our intuition. We must remember we are not robots but people who have been through an extended harvest, a whirlwind season of high input costs, labour shortages, supply chain issues, high disease pressure, breakdowns and logistical issues which sent our decision making into overdrive. Our minds need a rest and so do our bodies.
It’s no secret that when we allow ourselves to rest, we actually perform better long term. It doesn’t take long for our minds to clear and for us to reflect on the season gone, the lessons learnt and the strategies we will employ going forward. Rest allows us to rise out of the haze of harvest so we can again see our mission again as farmers and set new goals for the future.
So while it can be hard to tear yourself away from the farm when your body and mind are pulling you like inertia to what you’ve been doing the last few months, or to the sheep work or jobs that you’ve put off ‘til after harvest’ you must take a break. Put a plan in place if you need to but a change in gear is essential to every farming operation.
Safflower
While it may seem that by leaving the safflower rather than continuing to harvest that I don’t value it, that’s not the case, I just value my break more. Back on the farm this week the safflower will be harvested and we will continue to keep it in our rotation. It’s definitely an oil seed worth trying. David (my son) said to me the other day: “That paddock would be good for safflower this year”. I agreed. It’s a great crop to cleanse a paddock and the paddock he was talking about had missed a spray due to the wet spring. Safflower is also a great crop for soil types that are a little on the clay or salty side or have crab holes, meaning it’s a great break crop for those areas. It helps to ameliorate the soil as it has a large tap root that can really reach down to the moisture, another reason it would be a great fit for this paddock.
Safflower also has some good market options with its super high oleic oil. GO Resources currently picks up on farm. This year we have four different safflower varieties as we are helping breeders to develop higher yielding varieties as yields currently have some catching up to do.
