Waiting for the header in the Golden Triangle after dry finish
Ross Graham and kelpie Tay Tay in a field of Illabo wheat ready for harvest at the family farm Wandella, north of Cowra. Pictures by Vivienne Graham
After a wet winter and a dry finish, the cropping season is almost over for Lachlan Valley mixed farmer Ross Graham who is waiting patiently for the header to arrive.
"I imagine either over the weekend or early next week we'll get a start on that," he said.
"The canola has been windrowed, so it's all ready to go, and then the wheat won't be far behind that. Actually, it's come in quite quickly in comparison to some other years."
Mr Graham and his wife Rebecca farm 650 hectares at Wandella, north of Cowra, in the state's Central West region.
They grow dryland winter crops of canola and wheat, and run a flock of 2400 composite ewes joined to Poll Dorset rams which graze on improved pastures. The lambs are turned off at four to six months, averaging 24 kilograms dressed weight; 90 per cent of the autumn drop lambs went directly to Breakout River Meats.
The rotation is usually canola then wheat, alternating for four to six years before returning to a predominantly perennial pasture base which can last four to eight years, and occasionally as long as 10 years.
The pasture mix includes swards of chicory, lucerne and clover, as well as phalaris, lucerne and clover.
The Grahams' farm traverses numerous soil types in an area colloquially known by many as the Golden Triangle for its fertile soils and reliable rainfall patterns.
There's substantial variation even within paddocks, with soils mostly ranging from heavy clay to a loamy light clay and a few gravelly ridges.
A long-term liming program has boosted pH from as little as 3.8, when Mr Graham returned to the family farm in 1995, to 5-5.2 in recent soil tests. He aims to bring pH up to 6 and plans to continue applying 1-2 tonnes per hectare each year, guided by soil testing.
Average annual rainfall is 650mm, although they recorded only 365mm in 2019, followed by three years of well above average rain.
This year's crops were 110ha of Pioneer 45Y95 and Captain CL canola, and a similar area of Cesario and Illabo wheat.
Mr Graham said he chose the dual-purpose wheat varieties so they could be grazed in the earlier stages and the Cesario for its stronger rust tolerance and high yielding ability.
Preparation for the crops began with summer spraying to control grass and broadleaf weeds, such as hairy panic, black grass and cats heads, and retain soil moisture from more than 220mm of rain in January and February. Wheat stubble from last year was burned where it was too thick for the machinery to handle.
The wheat was sown from mid-March using a K-line CropCommander at a seeding rate of 60-70kg/ha on 230mm row spacings, with 90kg/ha of monoammonium phosphate.
The crop was top-dressed with urea at 100-150kg/ha once or twice during the season, depending on paddock history.
"If I know the paddock's been in crop for a few years, it'll be top-dressed pre-grazing, and then during the winter, I'll do some soil testing, just to confirm whether I need to follow up and go from there," he said.
Ewes and lambs were put in the wheat from mid-May to late July, and ewes scanned in lamb with twins grazed the Captain canola from May to July, before they started lambing in July and August.
Grazing is a juggling act and the sweet spot of when to take the sheep out varies from year to year.
"If I'm sowing early, I'm using a lot of soil moisture there earlier in the season, when it's warm," Mr Graham said.
"It wasn't so much of an issue this year because we had plenty of soil moisture. But in other years, if we get into spring there and soil moisture is limiting, well, that extra bit of grazing that I've got during the late autumn and early winter could probably just drain that soil profile a bit and affect yield."
A single in-crop herbicide spray targeted volunteer canola, thistles and shepherd's purse along with a precautionary rust spray at the time of herbicide application.
Growing season rainfall amounted to 375mm.
"At various stages, it was very wet and difficult to get on to do some weed spraying, but that set us up for spring," he said.
"We've had a drier than usual spring, but we've been able to push through because of the subsoil moisture that we had there during the winter."
Ross Graham in a field of Illabo wheat ready for harvest at the family farm Wandella, north of Cowra.
Mr Graham was reluctant to speculate on likely yields, but said he was hoping for about 5t/ha from the wheat.
"Anything above four will be good," he said.
And after speaking to neighbouring farmers, he thought the canola might yield 2-3t/ha and average 2.5t/ha.
In the meantime, he doesn't mind if the next few weeks bring rain or sunshine.
"I'd like to think, if we can get a storm, that'll help our pasture base," he said.
"But if it's dry, that'll help us get the canola harvested, and also get well and truly into the wheat."
