RUPANYUP farmer Peter Teasdale said gross margins from his chickpea crops last year were at once in a lifetime levels.
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Better than average yields for his kabuli type Genesis 090 chickpeas, combined with prices averaging $1400 a tonne mean it was a harvest to remember.
However, Mr Teasdale said he would avoid the temptation to up the ante and plant a higher percentage of chickpeas this year.
“We have grown chickpeas every year since the 1980s and we know there is volatility in the market,” he said.
“This year, with everyone looking to get in on the act you would imagine there would be downward pressure on prices.
“We’ll stick to our set agronomic rotations and hopefully the price will not come back too drastically, but it isn’t going to stay at these levels indefinitely.”
Mr Teasdale said he had been through low pricing cycles with chickpeas before.
“We have had times where we have stored them on-farm for three years before selling them as the price was so low, so we were happy to cash in last year when things were in our favour.”
Agronomically Mr Teasdale believed the crop may have lost top-end yield last year due to the cool spring.
“The cereals thrive on a cool finish, but there were fewer flowers on the chickpeas earlier in the spring and that may have capped yield slightly, although the season was still extremely good.”
He said the past two seasons demonstrated the variability of chickpea yields.
“In 2015 we only averaged around 280 kilograms a hectare and had just enough to get seed for the 2016 crop.
“Last year, yields were very close to being ten times that of the year before, so it changes.”
This year, Mr Teasdale said he planned to manage the predicted high burden of fungal disease through regular fungicides and canopy management.
“We grow our chickpeas on 60cm row spacings which allows more air through the canopy and lowers disease pressure.
“The wide row spacings also mean we can set the sprayer up to be spraying directly on the plants allowing us to use less fungicide overall.”
“We’re pretty confident we can manage the disease pressure, fungicide is not expensive, it just a matter of being disciplined and getting it on at the right time.
“Last year we put out five sprays on the chickpeas. This year, it will depend on the season, but if the conditions are good you’d expect at least that many again.”