FARMERS in the west of the region have received positive results from barley and canola crops.

Nhill’s Andrew Colbert said the district was seeing yields that only came up once in 20 years. 

“There is barely a bad crop in the district,” he said.

“Most people are into harvest but about a quarter of farmers are still wrapped up in hay, which makes it difficult. 

“But work is work so you have to do what you have to do.”

Mr Colbert said it was disappointing that prices continued to decrease.

“Barley has gone down again,” he said.

“When your crops are twice as good as last year, you want the prices to be.

“They are predicting it’s going to stay low for another year yet.”  

Glenlee farmer Nathan Albrecht said had started harvesting canola.

He said was receiving some of the best yields he had ever seen. 

“We’ve had a lot of unsuccessful canola crops in the past,” he said.

“But we are two-thirds of the way through now and it’s excellent.”

Lawloit farmer John Bennett said he was also harvesting canola and the yields were exceptional. 

“There has been some frost in wheat though, but we are still having an above average year overall,” he said.

Further south, growers are still waiting for crops to ripen before they start stripping.

Gymbowen farmer Xavier Breen said he hadn’t started harvest yet, but he hoped to get going this week.

“Everything is looking pretty good at the moment,” he said.

“So we should be right, as long as we don’t find any nasty surprises in our crops.”

Minimay farmer Ron Hawkins said only a few people had started harvesting canola in the district.

“Crops are looking alright – there are no growls here,” he said.

“Wheat is looking particularly good, barley got a bit moist but peas are looking good. We should get huge yields in the hay as well.

“Overall it’s a pretty good report so far, but we still have to execute it to really know how things are going.”