HEADERS are returning to sheds throughout the region as harvest wraps up for another year.
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Overall, farmers reported above average yields in a year that was plagued with challenges.
Horsham district farmer Peter Moore believes this season’s harvest could be described as involving the ‘good, bad and ugly’.
Mr Moore said he had just about finished stripping, with only one paddock left to go. “It’s been okay,” he said.
“Yields have been good, bad and ugly – some patches have been really great, but then we had frost in other parts.
“I think that is pretty standard of everyone’s crops this season.”
Murra Warra farmer and Victorian Farmers Federation president David Jochinke said considering the year, harvest in the region didn’t turn out too bad.
“If you had asked me in the middle of winter what I thought harvest would be like, I would have said we were just hoping to get something,” he said.
“In the end, it turned into a pretty reasonable harvest for us.
“It definitely didn’t hit its full potential, but to have a couple of good seasons in a row now is really good.”
Mr Jochinke said most farmers in the district were reporting an above average harvest. “People are happy that they are getting a reasonable volume,” he said.
“Yields, as a general rule, have been above average, but once you go into frosted crops, that drops off a lot.
“Quality has been a mixed bag overall.”
Mr Jochinke said it had been a challenging year.
“We had mice at cropping, followed by a dry winter, frost and rain,” he said.
“Weighing up all the difficulties from the season, overall we haven’t ended up with a bad result.”
Mr Jochinke said he was hoping to finish harvest in the next few days.
Nandaly farmer Terry Kiley said despite frosts and dry spells the season had been strong overall.
“The legumes were just average, a little bit of a frost and a little bit dry, but cereals were very solid.” Mr Kiley said wheat yields were better than last year.