Grain growers are in the midst of a run of good seasons, and there are thriving processing and research sectors making the region a nationally renowned primary industries hub.

A large part of the Wimmera's success comes from the adoption of conservation techniques by farmers as a response to the droughts which shocked the region in the early 2000s.

Department of Primary Industries Horsham soil researcher Bernard Noonan said droughts in the 1980s created the first interest in creating a cropping system that minimised erosion.

"You had the famous dust storms of the 1980s where Melbourne was coated with dust - primarily top soil from the Mallee and Wimmera," he said.

READ MORE:

"Farmers realised the value of the nutrients lost in these dust storms and that stopping erosion was critical and that was where you saw organisations such as the Wimmera Conservation Farmers Association formed.

"The organisation had a strong focus on maintaining ground cover and stubble retention."

Mr Noonan was one of many farmers who shared their stories of extreme climate as part of the Wimmera Development Association's Climate Eyes project.

He said the interest in no-till continued steadily until another run of dry years in the late 1990s saw more Wimmera farmers willing to investigate cutting down on cultivation.

"We then saw the Vic No-Till Farmers Association formed and more farmers began to move aqua from the cultivated fallow systems that used to be commonplace in the Wimmera and towards techniques we see today," he said.

"Things like direct drilling, stubble conservation, even zero till with disc systems became more popular as the drought rolled on."

Mr Noonan said farmers could see the benefits of no-till in many aspects.

"Initially it was a focus on sail structure and minimising erosion over the summer, but we then started noting the improved performance in drier seasons and better moisture conservation," he said.

"Farmers saw that minimum or no-till, or whatever strategy they were using, was storing more moisture and then allowing the plants more access to that moisture as the soil structure was better."

MORE NEWS:

He said farmer transition from traditional practices to direct drilling was accelerated by the drought.

"With other changes we saw them implemented more gradually as farmers weighed up the decision during the drought," he said.

"We saw that conserving stubble was often the difference between a crop and no crop, so people saw what their neighbours were doing and moved a bit quicker than usual," he said.

"Low growing pulses in particular have benefitted from having cereal stubble to grow up on, there are bigger and stronger plants now and just as importantly farmers are able to capture more of the seed in the header rather than leaving it on the ground as they couldn't go low enough to get it."

Mr Noonan said the benefits of no-tilling continued into the modern-era, albeit in a manner best suited to local farming practices.

"At the start it was very strict and dogmatic. The message was that you have to commit totally to the system and this meant not having livestock, which did not fit well with the mixed farming systems in place through parts of the Wimmera," he said.

"Farmers who had livestock were keen to keep them as they had been a good risk management tool and a means of generating income in those drought years.

OTHER NEWS:

"Sheep do well grazing on stubbles, especially legume stubbles, so it is a good fit and one that they didn't want to give up.

"They keep the sheep off the paddocks at the wet times and the very dry times and try to avoid the worst of the compaction and the erosion that was the reason they were told to keep livestock off."

Mr Noonan said today's farmers had a host of new technology at their hands which he said helped them get to the core of successful farming.

"At its simplest, farming is about controlling the things you can and best managing the things you can't," he said.

"I think we've seen farmers get a lot better with that, the changes to systems that have improved soils and moisture retention now means farmers can grow grain off rainfall that previously would have meant a failed crop.

"Farming systems are an ever-changing beast. As times and conditions change farmers are more than capable of adapting and changing to manage."

Mr Noonan's reflections come as the call for observations and stories of surviving and adapting in tough climatic times continues.

Participants have a chance to share their thoughts in a survey which is open to all residents via https://wda.surveysparrow.com/s/living-and-learning-in-drought/tt-69d05e.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:

Did you know you can receive updates straight to your inbox? To make sure you're up-to-date with news from across the region, sign up here.