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Plains Producer
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Wednesday November 10, 2010
STAR OF THE NORTH
Bank Bank SA SA Best Country Best Country Newspaper Newspaper 2007 2007
Our first rice crop
Bank Bank SA SA Best Country Best Country Newspaper Newspaper 2007 2007
Lest we forget Thursday, November 11, 2010
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old: Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn At the going down of the sun and in the morning We will remember them.
The Barber of Balaklava
... because moisture might be slightly high for wheat!
IS this the district’s first rice crop? It looks as though it could be – but to be truthful this is part of a wheat crop. September’s spring deluge left large lagoons in two of Geoff McKenzie’s wheat crops on the Owen to Hamley Bridge road. The soaking rain gave Hamley Bridge an 80mm drenching and the district’s usually dry river beds a well-overdue flushing ... and despite warm weather, water has remained in the McKenzie paddocks – but Geoff says with the season we’ve had, he’s not complaining. – PICTURE: Lisa Redpath.
Tense wait as headers primed
The district’s farmers are sitting on a knife’s edge, waiting to see if their bumper crops will make it to the silo unscathed. Above average rainfalls right across the district have led to the best grain-growing season in years. Farmers in the Balaklava district haven’t seen such booming crops in close to a decade, while at Hamley Bridge, canola crops 18 inches above
the fenceline, may be the best on record. Joe Tily, who has been farming in the Hamley Bridge district for more than 50 years said he had never seen crops look so good. Spending much of the growing season in hospital following heart surgery, Joe got a pleasant surprise on his return. “The wheat’s going gold, the
barley’s turning, everything looks magnificent,” he said. However with the looming threat of locusts and summer rain, teamed with falling grain prices, farmers aren’t getting their hopes up just yet. “Things are looking good, but everyone’s a bit worried about what could happen between now and the end of harvest,” local agronomist, Michael Brougham said.
“The crops have plenty of moisture now, we just need some warmer days, to finish them off.” Headers around Balaklava are expected to begin reaping barley and pulses in about a fortnight, while later areas could be well into December before harvest begins.
n HARVEST FEATURE – PAGES 14 & 15
He was the barber from Balaklava – a journeyman who won a Military Medal for his bravery in the battles of World War I. Private Leonard Ignatious Rzeszkowski took part in the Hindenburg offensive on April 11, 1917, in the small French village of Bullecourt, where thousands of Australians lost their lives. The heroics of Private Rzeszkowski and other Australian Diggers is the subject of a new book, ‘Bullecourt 1917: Breaching the Hindenburg Line’. o Read his story on Page 2.
Last word on our future James Maitland
With voting in local council elections ending at 5pm on Friday, Wakefield Regional Council’s two mayoral candidates today make their final appeal to voters. Wakefield Regional Council (WRC) is expected to defy the antivoting trend of local
Maitland and Pain outline their vision government elections across the State, with local issues impacting on residents, particularly in Balaklava’s Central ward, where five can-
didates battle for three council seats. And with Port Wakefield resident Richard Pain challenging incumbent mayor James Mait-
land, there is escalating interest on who could lead council. James Maitland, claims he has the experience, networking skills
and knowledge of local government to remain elected for another term. Meanwhile, Richard Pain has gone to lengths to win the vote of the ratepayer – showing locals he wants the top job as WRC mayor by doorknocking in smaller towns. n Go to Page 4
Richard Pain
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