Year that was

By BCG Staff and Contributors
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Coming into 2016, two things were very clear: after two very dry years most BCG farmers needed a good season; and the high price of lentils made growing them a very attractive prospect.

After no rain in December, growers around Hopetoun and Sea Lake received over an inch in a summer storm early in the new year which lifted spirits for the season ahead. Most of the Mallee and Wimmera had to wait until the last week of January for more widespread summer thunderstorms. These brought much needed rainfall, particularly around Charlton and Wycheproof where there was water lying in paddocks.

By the start of April most of the BCG region was on Decile 5 or a bit higher, but with the very dry end to 2015, conditions generally remained ‘drier than average’. Around Ouyen and Manangatang the first part of the year was dry with those areas sitting on Decile 4 and 3 respectively.

As sowing began, the Bureau of Meteorology offered some hope for the season predicting a good chance of a La Niña developing, but with no early break, much of this year’s crop was dry sown. Many growers paid heed to the markets with a lot putting in extra lentils with some adding it to their rotation for the first time. There was also a jump in the area sown to oats in response to market opportunities.

In the first weeks of May most areas received a good amount of rain and concerns about the potential for poor grain germination due to high screenings in last year’s seed proved unfounded. Thanks to warmer than average weather for the rest of May, crops appeared to jump out of the ground and grow rapidly.

Russian Wheat Aphid was detected for the first time in Australia. The pest was initially identified in wheat and barley crops in South Australia but soon after was confirmed in Victoria and classified as endemic. Thankfully it is not a great vector of viruses. It can be controlled with currently available insecticides and did not have a widespread or significant impact this year.

In mid-June the newly launched Yield Prophet® lite app was forecasting a higher than average chance of a wet season finish for Birchip, with an 88 per cent chance of a greater than Decile 4 season finish. By mid-August most of the Wimmera and Mallee was showing promise, but with little stored soil moisture the season could have easily gone either way.

The month of September was the standout for the year with widespread heavy, and in many cases record-breaking, rainfall. There was flooding along the Avoca, Wimmera and Glenelg rivers, Wimmera swamps filled and many creeks ran properly for the first time in close to two decades.

The BCG Main Field Day in Warmur was a sea of mud and gumboots but with the Pacific Ocean not showing the usual signs for a La Niña, this weather pattern was deemed a ‘Claytons’ La Niña based around conditions in the Indian Ocean.

As the heavy rain stopped after September the entire region looked a picture however, it was very wet across the Wimmera, with September and October reaching Decile 10, making timely urea, fungicide and herbicide applications a challenge.

Lodging in barley, particularly Compass was a big issue, and the Wimmera’s massive bean crops just got lower and lower. The Wimmera also experienced some frost in mid-October that spoilt what would have been a perfect spring for finishing wheat crops. The damage caused by this frost became more apparent as harvest progressed.

A breakdown of ascochyta resistance genes in chickpeas that was first discovered in 2015 was certainly apparent in 2016 with many farmers spraying five or more times to protect plants. Lentils were also affected by disease and waterlogging and black spot got the jump on many farmers with pea crops and proved almost impossible to control.

In cereal crops, spot form of net blotch and scald caused damage to barley later in the season and yellow leaf spot was a problem in some wheat varieties.

With such high disease pressure, fungicide products of choice were in short supply leading many to seek alternative chemical solutions.

The wet conditions also caused the growth of secondary tillers, particularly in barley, which made early harvest decisions difficult. With the bulk of the plant well and truly ripe and a lot of barley heads dropping, many elected to crop-top and some farmers made the decision to windrow their barley rather than lose more heads. Barley crop-topped with glyphosate was an issue for the silos early on.

Late in the season many paddocks looked dirtier than we would have liked because wet soils made it difficult to get on paddocks to spray weeds at the right time. Milk thistles were particularly evident in legume crops. In the Mallee it also became obvious that many of our windrow burns were not particularly successful, probably due to the low amount of chaff from the very poor yields in 2015 making it hard to get a hot enough burn.

Despite the challenges that came with the wet spring, overwhelmingly it was a wonderfully positive event.

The big yields and lodged crops, ensured that, for many in the Mallee, harvest continued until well after Christmas, while in the Wimmera headers were kept busy well into January. There were also more silo bags used, more mechanical breakdowns and header fires were numerous.

The most disappointing aspect of the harvest was undoubtedly the low cereal prices. Lots of great quality F1 barley was worth very little, as was lower protein wheat. Canola was a highlight for those who stuck with it, with good yields and better prices.

Pulse growers were the big winners however. Despite the lentils price dropping a little by harvest time, it was still good and the high yields made them very profitable. High chickpea prices, at times above $1300/tonne, made the numerous fungicide sprays well worth the cost and time.

A lot of the wheat, especially Kord, lost grains from the head meaning yields and quality couldn’t match the high levels of barley. With so much grain on the ground, many will be looking to purchase sheep to graze over summer but continued high prices may make it difficult for the opportunistic livestock farmer.

For those who already had livestock, it was a challenging start to the season with feeding out a constant task until the rains in May. Nevertheless, their efforts were rewarded with plenty of feed and very strong lamb prices throughout spring. The wool price also finishing strongly, providing an added bonus.

Rapid crop growth, especially in the early part of the season, provided many opportunities to graze cereal crops, although care had to be taken moving stock from their summer diet of grain to the lush green paddocks.

The season also produced record yields of hay—a well-deserved result for those who had to struggle with the headaches of continued rain events during hay time.

The announcement of an electronic identification (eID) system to become mandatory by January 2017 caused some uncertainty but with a strong year for both crop and livestock production, mixed farmers fared well in 2016.

With the long drawn-out season, and then a Christmas day fire at Woomelang preventing many in that area from taking a well-earned rest with their families, there are some very tired, but generally well satisfied, farmers around.

Season 2016 will be remembered as a busy, but very rewarding one.

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