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WARRACKNABEAL farmer Shannon Byron believes barley yields are the best his family have experienced in three generations.
He said he started harvest on Monday last week.
“The good yields are combining with a logistical problem of getting everything harvested, but it’s a good problem to have,” he said.
“We are about to start harvesting vetch too.”
Mr Byron said the rest of his crops were looking good.
“We have to wait to do some protein samples in wheat,” he said.
Murtoa farmer Leo Delahunty is harvesting canola and barley.
He said it was the best canola he had seen in years.
“Harvest is going well, we’re still waiting for a few crops to ripen but we’ve been into the canola and one paddock of barley,” he said.
“We are really happy with the yields.”
Mr Delahunty said barley had some black tip but was generally looking good.
“Canola yields are excellent and so is the quality,” he said.
Rupanyup farmer Peter Teasdale is still waiting to get started.
He said prices were bitterly disappointing his year.
“It’s going to be an awful lot of work to end up with hopefully an average year,” he said.
“So much effort will go into stripping and carting and shifting this year.
“With the price of malt barley at the moment, I looks like everyone has switched to drinking rum.”
Mr Teasdale said his crops looked excellent and he was anxiously waiting to see how they would go.
“We have a bit of regrowth in barley and it was sown later than others in the district,” he said.
“It’s frustrating to watch all our neighbours get stuck into it.” Mr Teasdale said they had a few millimetres of rain on Sunday and he hoped once the paddocks dried up, they would start stripping this week.
“Besides some washed out lentils and chickpeas, everything else should be solid,” he said.
Joel Joel farmer Phil Hall said he was still bailing hay.
“It’s been a fantastic season but the lighter country got very wet in September and October and there is a lot of grass in the crops because we couldn’t get on the paddocks to spray it,” he said.
“Crops on the heavier ground are looking great, but overall crops are average because of the wet.”