It’s hard to believe we have seen the end of 2018 and when I look back at the year on the farm, we have had a reasonable finish to what has been a pretty tough year.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The 35mm of rain we received in early October gave the crops enough momentum to deliver a pretty fair result.
Barley would be the standout, with excellent quality across the board and reasonable yields. Given the season, it was a fair result, with wheat and pulses going about what we had hoped. Rising current prices, coupled with the low amount of grain available, has been very helpful.
Beans, in particular, with its current price has seen a near normal return in an average season, even with a low yield.
Like a number of farmers, we also cut a reasonable amount of crop for Hay and this has mostly now been sold. This has provided a good opportunity to clean up some paddocks and at the same time get ready for next year. The recent 90mm of rain prior to Christmas has seen a large germination of crop residue and weeds, controlling these to conserve moisture for the 2019 crop will keep us busy over the coming weeks. The extra growth in some paddocks will also allow us extra sheep feed which will help to fatten up some of the lambs we have kept back to market later in the year.
The sheep market will be one to watch I feel, as the rains continue in the north, most people expect that the sheep market will lift in value, as people look to restock and given the price of wool and meat it’s a much lower risk option for farmers.
This week we are shearing lambs ready to put onto the stubbles and we have started cleaning seed for this season’s cropping program.
Off the farm working on Grain Producers Australia issues, the biggest concern at the moment is the potential for China to impose an import tariff on barley, as we work through their concerns of Australia dumping barley into their market. This has the potential to end in the same way as the current lentil tariff has with India in lowering prices considerably post the current seasonal drought-induced prices.
The imposition of tariffs on grain exports is an ongoing concern and something we hope will normalise soon, as the Indian tariff on lentils and chickpeas has considerably impacted prices but as we see dry conditions in India and their election this year finalised, we may see the tariffs reduced or hopefully removed altogether – that would be a great New Year’s story.
I hope 2019 is a bumper year for all farmers, as this will help to drive a much stronger rural economy. Till next time, cheers!
