I farm at Padthaway in the Southeast of South Australia with my wife Hannah, 8-month-old daughter Millie, and parents Roger and Jenny. We run a mixed farm operation of cropping, grazing, small seeds and a small patch of wine grapes. Our soils are black loam over limestone, and grey sands. Our cropping program consists of canola, lentils, faba beans, milling oats, bread wheat, barley and a strong focus on durum. Our whole cropping program is based around setting up for a durum crop, with management of crown rot and rye grass a key focus.
Last season got off to a slow start with a late break and next to no weed germination but as soon as August hit, the rains really ramped up with most crops in the district being average to well above and even some record-breaking crops with our durum crops experiencing dry land yields that we have never seen before. The season came with its challenges keeping disease out of lentils and getting high protein in durum, which was experienced all over the Southeast and Western Wimmera.
Going into this season we have had one of the earliest breaks Dad can ever remember with our average break usually coming in the third week of May. This season there is going to be a strong focus on replacement of nutrients after pulling off such big crops which has been helped with fertilizer prices coming back. Another challenge is snail control as there have been increased snails around after last reason, requiring a focus on rolling and baiting over the Summer and early Autumn. Hopefully, we can get some decent Spring rains and prices stay steady so we can have another great season. Happy seeding!