Gippsland a niche opportunity in cropping

Fast forward to 2010 and those boom-time assessments have been scaled back, but there is still confidence the region could increase its production tonnage significantly.

Darriman, south of Sale, farmer Trent Anderson said he thought there could be a strong niche cropping industry supplying grain to local end users, but said a lack of suitable arable ground would mean the region was unlikely to ever satisfy its own grain requirements.

“There’s room for cropping to be bigger, but it’s not going to be another Western District, there’s just not the acreage.

“You’ve only got three real cropping areas, my local area to the south of Sale, where the rain is blocked somewhat by the Strzelecki Ranges, the Redgum Plains out towards Bairnsdale and north of Traralgon, through Cowwarr and Toongabbie.

“I think we will look to help fill Gippsland’s grain demands, rather than come through as a grain hub in our own right,” he said.

Southern Farming Systems Gippsland branch chairman Trevor Caithness said momentum in Gippsland cropping had stalled somewhat due to a combination of poor finishes and the poor grain prices on offer.

“Last year we had a lot of yields that were only around 60-70pc of their potential, just when it looked like we were getting out of jail, following a dryish winter, it went dry through the critical grain fill period,” said Mr Caithness, who farms at Bairnsdale.

Mr Caithness said while annual rainfall figures looked good on paper, there was an issue with distribution.

“We’ve probably been around 500mm annually over the past decade, but it has fallen in big heaps through strong rainbands coming from the east, you might get close to 250mm and then hit another dry patch.”

Mr Anderson agreed, saying the rain was split quite closely between summer and winter, compared to the winter-dominant west of the state.

“The rainfall is not a good rainfall, its pretty evenly spread through the year, and our soils here, with sand over clay, have poor water holding capacity.”

However, there are positives for cropping in the area.

Mr Anderson said that while the soils on his property did not appear to suit cereals particularly well, they had seen good results with canola.

He said cereal yields were significantly lower than what could be expected in a locale with a similar rainfall in the Western District, canola yields were up near the top expectations for Victoria.

“Perhaps the canola likes the drainage of the sandier soils better, we certainly seem to be able to grow it fairly well.”

Canola is the only crop that is marketed outside the area, Mr Anderson otherwise preferring feed lines to sell into the Gippsland market.

It is the opportunity provided by the freight advantage into these Gippsland markets that both men see giving them a competitive advantage.

“We are generally targeting yield and producing feed grain,” Mr Caithness said.

“Gippsland uses about 800,000t of grain, and our estimates are that there is only about 50,000 to 100,000 tonnes being produced here.”

He said that the high prices had seen many farmers look seriously into cropping.

“There’s really an interest among people as a diversification from other farming enterprises, but it will depend on the prices as to whether there will be more acres through the area in the future.”

“People now have the gear to put a crop in, but this year won’t be an expansion in terms of the size of the plant due to the market conditions.”

Mr Anderson said the benefits of cropping on soil had been noticeable.

He said cropping had evolved from a means of renovating old pasture paddocks.

“The plan was to have our paddocks out of grazing for four or five years, but the way it is going, it might be anywhere out to ten years.

“The paddocks just seem to keep improving with cropping, you’ve got the no-till system building carbon and improving the soil structure, whereas the pastures were looking pretty clapped out, with big bare areas, so cropping helps us manage our soil better.”