Vic farmers full of beans

After years of dry sowing and waiting for moisture, this year a rain event of 30mm in the middle of April has set the planting season up.

Mr Morcom said it had allowed him and his family also involved in the farm to get a good knockdown on weedy paddocks and get crops up while the soil temperatures are still mild.

When photographed, he was busy sowing faba beans, where he will experiment with both 30cm and 60cm row spacings.

Hay crops like vetch have been sown, while barley and canola will follow the beans.

Mr Morcom is not the only farmer with a spring in his step.

Falls in the Mallee in the latest rain event dwarfed those in the Wimmera and farmers are now sowing into soil with a virtually full moisture profile.

At Ultima, south-west of Swan Hill, Geoff Nalder said there had been falls of 65-85mm across his blocks

“It is the best break since 1983.”

He said the rain had been significant enough that some farmers were forced to wait before planting because of trafficability issues, but that was not a concern.

“Anzac Day is the traditional trigger point for sowing here.”

Some farmers have been sowing flat out since they could get on paddocks, while Mr Nalder said others have been working more steadily.

“Some guys are just looking to get a nice knockdown and a kill of weeds before getting going some time around Anzac Day.”

He said farmers were excited to have a good profile of moisture leading into the growing season.

“We haven’t got much autumn rain for a long time now.”

Matt Witney, agronomist with Dodgshun Medlin in Swan Hill said lupins, canola and chickpeas were being sown currently, with large scale cereal plantings to begin this week.

“There is already some canola poking up above the ground, it has come up quickly in around five to seven days because the soil is still so warm.”

Mr Witney said the knockdown opportunities presented were a major boon to growers.

“They get a chance to clean up dirty paddocks cheaply, and to run down the seed bank as there will be a lot of weeds emerging even in the cleaner paddocks because of the good conditions.”

He said his clients had generally received 40-80mm.

“The rain won’t last forever, especially for those who only got 40mm, as the soil was so dry beforehand, but it’s a great start.”

Mr Witney said growers with clean paddocks were toying with the idea of cutting sowing rates to reduce plant biomass which can cause problems in dry Mallee springs.

“You obviously need a heavier rate if weeds are a problem as you get the crop to compete against the weeds, but on clean paddocks it may be an option.”

The only bad news on the cropping front at present was news from the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) that the odds of an El Nino event, linked with dry weather in Australia, continue to firm.

There is now a 70pc chance of an El Nino developing this year according to the BOM.