You know its a hard season when the grasshoppers have to kneel down to eat your wheat. Not quite that bad, but we are humbled by the fact that most farmers across our region were too dry to get a start and have missed the winter cropping year.
Good March rains helped setup a general plant in May/June. With only 30mm of rain since, our wheat and chickpeas have finished well considering the tough conditions, surviving off good soil moisture deep in the profile.
The highlight has been the long fallow chickpeas off cotton in 2016. These desi chickpeas averaged 1.6t/ha, while short fallow were back at 1t/ha. The kabuli chickpeas also averaged 1t/ha short fallow. The best fields of wheat averaged 2t/ha short fallow.
The new Case 8240 never missed a beat and covered some big fields around the clock. A new Case 3162 flex front proved its worth in chickpeas shaving the ground to get under the short plants. Other new additions include a Westfield auger and Case Steiger 450 made the harvest flow smoothly.
Will Ricardo was home from uni for a weekend and took some video with his drone. It shows how patchy some of the crops were and how the ground cracks when its dry. Thanks Will, I can help you with the music next time, – Dad.
Once again, we would like to thank all that helped with harvest, Jungle, Rex, Frank, AgroPete, Russell, Oscar, Ripley, Vincent, Tim, Jade, and the crew from TBO, Andrew, Pete, Murray and Brett . We couldn’t have done it without you. We hope to see you all back next season.
Many thanks and best wishes for Christmas and the New Year, David and Peter Ricardo
Looks like you made the best of a pretty dry situation! Stunning work with the drone photography too! A truly professional effort!