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Agronomist Paul Lavis from I K Caldwell predicts another solid year for growers in Corowa district, with nitrogen and disease hot topics this winter.
Growing up near Corowa and with more than 20 years’ agronomic experience under his belt, Paul Lavis has been providing advice on farm planning, in-crop nutrition and pest, disease and weed management to growers in the Corowa, Yarrawonga, Urana, Jerilderie and Berrigan areas and has seen it all when it come to growing seasons in these parts.
Right now, he’s seeing around 95% of farmers taking advantage of great conditions and sowing wheat and canola.
“The way canola prices are, there’s been some late switches with a bit more canola going in, but there’s very little legumes here at the moment. We’ve got a full profile of moisture, so the crops are being sown into moisture. It really couldn't be better."
“The guy I trust with weather forecasting, Peter Ridge, who started Warakirri Farms, is saying we’ll have a bit below average rainfall for the growing season. I'm not sure how this La Nina will affect things as it looks like it's going to hold on for a little while. But if we receive average rainfall this will be an unbelievable season.”
Paul says sentiment among his clients is good, with the prospect of another good year off the back of two bumper years buoying spirits.
“They’re pretty excited. Last year was massive, with better crops last year than the year before. They probably didn’t look like it, but the crops were better and the prices were better.
“Canola prices have gone up another 20 or 30 today, and while I think Australian farmers are getting ripped off on the world stage – we should be getting $1200 a tonne – there’s still plenty of optimism about the year to come.
“We just had a long summer with a late harvest and two or three summer sprays, and they’ve just gone straight into sowing. I think they are probably a lot of people not fully rested up and keen to get through to July and a winter holiday.”
Paul says fertilizer is top of mind for most growers right now.
“After the crops we’ve seen taken off, there’s not much nitrogen left in the ground. They’re going to need early nitrogen, so people are going to spend lots of money on fertilizer this year due to increases in price. I see it coming down overseas but whether that price drop gets to us in time to get the stuff on, I’m unsure.
“I think growers are just going to have to close their eyes and get on with it. They one thing they can do is to use good spreading gear and make sure that spread is as perfect as possible.”
Paul also advises farmers to keep an eye out for disease this winter.
Paul also advises farmers to keep an eye out for disease this winter.
“There might be some early stripe rust or Septoria blow up because of the wet conditions. People probably aren’t accustomed to dealing with Septoria even thought it’s probably the biggest wheat disease in the world as we had some resistant varieties. We’re growing predominantly susceptible varieties these days, so if people are unfamiliar, their agronomist should know what to do. It’s a matter of keeping an eye out and acting on it.”
Overall, Paul’s prediction is for an average year in the Corowa area, with yields of five tonnes for wheat and two-and-a-half tonnes for canola, compared to last year’s averages of six and three tonnes respectively last year.
“I think we’ll see an average year, but an average year will likely be profitable one thanks to strong commodity prices.”
If you need advice on how to get the most from your spreaders, give your local H&P branch a call
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