AgLife - January 25, 2023 Edition

Picture: PAUL CARRACHER

Harvest reaching its end, at long last

BY ABBY WALTER

Harvest is coming to an end across the Wimmera and it was a roller-coaster of a season.

A late start due to high spring rain, high yields, stable prices, bogged machinery and record deliveries set the scene for the 2022-23 harvest.

National Farmers Federation vice-president David Jochinke, of Murra Warra, said he had a ‘fairly solid’ year.

“It’s been a year where we have had to take everything through the header and cut everything fairly low because it was either lodged or had fallen over,” he said.

“It is a good thing in one sense, because it means there was weight in the heads.

“In my career, we have harvested late before, but never like this — we would usually be well and truly wrapped up by the first week of the new year and we were still working the third week of January this year.

“We did see that we lost a bit of

potential because it took so long to get around some of the paddocks.”

Wimmera receival sites are recording high deliveries, with GrainCorp’s January 16 report indicating receival records were broken at Natimuk and Nhill; while Victorian GrainCorp sites have received 3.8 million tonnes of grain this season, with a national tally of more than 10.8 million tonnes.

Viterra sites in the South Australian-based company’s eastern catchment, which includes the Wimmera, have received 1.7 million tonnes, with a national tally of 8.4 million tonnes.

These totals are off the back of a record 2021-22 food and fibre export high from Victoria.

Agriculture Victoria released its report, ‘Victoria’s 2021-22 Food and

Fibre Export Performance’ which said the state’s food and fibre exports were valued at $17.9 billion — a 29 percent increase on the previous year.

A Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action, DEECA, spokesperson said the results were a ‘testament’ to the resilience and agility of producers, manufacturers and exporters, and highlighted the strong global demand for produce.

“Our state remains on track to meet, or exceed, the Victorian government’s target of increasing the state’s food and fibre exports to $20 billion by 2030,” the spokesperson said.

“We can see strong export growth across a range of industries and markets, with 10 out of 12 commodity groups registering impressive growth in export value.”

Grain accounts for 25 percent of Victoria’s food and fibre exports and was up 73 percent to $4.4 billion on the previous year. It is the state’s largest food and fibre export commodity.

Mr Jochinke said prices were historically good, however, they were not

at the high level seen in mid-2022. He said costs to market grain were impacting how much cash flowed back to farms and there were challenges with how fast grain could be transported to market.

“We’re not seeing some of the international values flow straight through to farming,” he said.

“I don’t know how far behind we are in terms of shipping, but there was some indication early in the season that there is anywhere from $80 to $150 on the table if we can execute our logistics better.”

Mr Jochinke said he was in the same position as most farmers and had a reasonable ‘bogged tally’.

“When we harvested in some of the northern parts of the farm, we just parked the big tractor in the paddock ready to go to when we got bogged. We got pretty good at getting machines out,” he said.

“The season included getting bogged, blocking headers, not being able to work late at night or on super warm days, which meant machines

were taking a lot more power to run. We had a couple of days when we hit seven kilometres an hour and thought that was fast, but in a normal year that is our slowest.

“Most days it felt like we were fuelling up the header just to run on the spot. We think we have burnt at least another 60 to 80 percent of diesel than we normally would to cover the same amount of ground.”

Mr Jochinke said a delayed harvest also turned into a long one with crops not ripening properly and temperatures not always high enough.

“A lot of farmers were talking about extra harvest capacity, such as a second or third header, just to try to keep operations ticking over because we can’t afford to have another slow harvest like we did this year,” he said.

“We’re all exhausted. Lots of people are just going on holiday now when normally they would be coming home from holidays.

“But there wouldn’t be too many in our area that wouldn’t be happy with the end result.”

‘Shopping’ for seeds

A new online seed catalogue by the Australian Grains Genebank in Horsham is making the seeds that underpin the development of new crop varieties more accessible than ever.

Agriculture Victoria researcher Dr Sally Norton, the Genebank’s leader, said the facility was dedicated to preserving and making available plant genetic resources of grain crops that were valuable to Australia’s research and breeding industries.

“The catalogue gives people online shopping cart functionality, allowing them to search seed lines and request samples with a few simple mouse clicks,” she said.

Dr Norton said the catalogue was a Germplasm Resources Information Network, GRIN, database system — a common software system used to manage information about seeds and plant tissue globally.

“Through our partnership with the Grains Research and Development Corporation, GRDC, our ultimate goal is to unlock the genetic potential of plant genetic resources for cereal, oilseed and pulse crops to underpin the development of high-yielding, climate

resilient crops that will benefit Australian grain growers,” she said.

“Australian Grains Genebank currently stores more than 200,000 types of seed covering 1250 species across 162 genera.

“The new online catalogue will allow interested parties to look up information about our seed stock and request them for research, breeding and training and educational purposes.

“Our collection includes both temperate and tropical cereals, legumes, oilseeds and other crop types. We also maintain historical information on the seed lines.”

The catalogue is available online via www.agriculture.vic.gov.au/cropsand-horticulture/the-australian-grains genebank

People can click on, ‘Search our online seed catalogue’ — which will redirect them to the GRIN-Global database. They will need to register via a simple sign-up process to use the database.

The genebank is a partnership between the Grains Research and Development Corporation and Agriculture Victoria.

ONLINE CATALOGUE: Australian Grains Genebank leader Dr Sally Norton is helping to make new crop varieties more accessible than ever for farmers and educators.

Picture: PAUL CARRACHER

“We think we have burnt at least another 60 to 80 percent of diesel than we normally would to cover the same amount of ground”

– David Jochinke

Longy interest continues to grow

BY ABBY WALTER

Longerenong College is gearing up to welcome a new cohort of students, with enrolments filling fast.

General manager Avril Hogan said after introducing early acceptance to the college’s enrolment processes, half of its availabile student places were full before Christmas.

“We opened early enrolments for the first time, which meant students knew if they had a place before the middle of January, since we didn’t have to wait for their ATAR scores,” she said.

“What we’re trying to do now is encourage anyone who is thinking about coming onboard to enrol — because the worry is that you decide to come to Longerenong College and we don’t have enough spots.

“We will continue to offer early enrolments in future years because if we are ‘plan-A’ for a student, we don’t want them to have to worry about coming up with a ‘plan-B’ or ‘plan-C’ just because they haven’t heard from us.”

Ms Hogan said she encouraged people wanting to study agriculture to apply to Longerenong College – no matter

their background. “The 2022 year was the first year we had more women than men come through the college, with 57 percent of enrolment inquiry coming from women,” she said.

“It’s looking similar or higher than that again for 2023, so we’ll wait and see if more men come through or if it will be

a 60 to 40 percent split as it looks now.”

Family connections

Angus Hawkins of Minimay is one of more than 15 members of his family to seek further education at Longerenong College and is also one of many incoming 2023 students. He will study an Advanced

Diploma of Agriculture and Agribusiness Management.

“It’s going to be good. It’s going to be worthwhile to get some experience before eventually looking to head back to my family farm,” he said.

“I knew I needed to do some

Mr Hawkins said agriculture was his passion.

“I looked at a lot of universities and agriculture colleges,” he said.

“It’s good here at Longy because it’s close to home and focuses on the skills you need to go forward and it’s where I can start to go on and keep improving in this field.

“If you can’t do it yourself, or know how the system works, it’s hard to run a farm.”

Mr Hawkins said he could not pinpoint what he looked forward to most about studying in 2023.

“I’m open-minded towards everything we will do and study. It’s going to all be pretty good and I’m looking forward to being a part of it,” he said.

“Our family hasn’t only been to Longerenong College. My family members have been to different universities and agriculture colleges over the time, but I think it shows we have the same passions.”

Housing growth

Ms Hogan said a new accommodation project was helping to ensure there would be

houses will be available next year, so we will have extra spots for students to live and study,” she said.

“One of our limitations is not having enough spaces for students to live here.

“The accommodation project includes three seven-bedroom houses and three four-bedroom houses, with all of them to be ready by the end of this year.”

Ms Hogan said the year ahead appeared positive.

“Agriculture is so hot right now and people can’t get enough workers across the industry, regardless of the qualifications or experience that’s needed,” she said.

“It’s such an exciting time for students to get trained and go and work in agriculture — we’ve never seen it better than this.

“We have an operating farm, so students are learning in the classroom and applying that on the farm. They get to do handson skills so that helps lock in their knowledge.

“We’re pumped that students are still considering Longerenong as it is one of the oldest agriculture training in-

WELCOME: Longerenong College welcomed prospective students to check out the campus last month ahead of the next academic year. Picture: ABBY WALTER

Consider purpose

I’vealways felt this is a good time of year for reflection.

Christmas and New Year celebrations are behind us, for most of the croppers the harvest is done, and many people have had, or are having, that precious beach time.

You naturally think about the season that was.

What did you do well? Where can you improve?

You’re thinking about the year ahead. Fine-tuning the cropping plan. Ordering fertiliser. Getting seed requirements lined up. All the operational stuff.

But what do you see when you look further out?

Where are you taking your farm business, your family, yourself? We’re all so busy with the day-to-day operations, it takes deliberate effort to lift the eyes to the horizon.

I have great respect for a man called Rob Hunt.

He was managing director of Bendigo Bank and took that business from a small Victorian-based building society to a national ASX 100 company.

He was the architect of the Community Bank model, which is now probably the

From left field

most influential, and impactful, social enterprise in Australia.

At one point, Rob had pens made for staff with the inscription: ‘What Are We Trying To Achieve?’

He wanted them to think about the higher impact of their efforts; to not get so caught in the demands of the day-to-day they lost sight of their primary purpose.

Often, the primary purpose is not immediately obvious.

For Rob’s business, shareholder return was a necessary outcome. But his real focus was building customer wealth.

His view was that successful customers would create successful communities and in turn, lead to the success of the bank.

If we apply that thought process to our farms, where does it take us? We might say our aim is to grow high-yielding crops, but is that simply a tool we use to achieve an objective of making money?

If our primary objective is to

make money, who are we doing that for? Are we using money as the scoreboard to show we’re winners? Is it to prove to ourselves and others we’re good at our craft?

Perhaps the real objective is to create a large, successful, family businesses. Understanding this opens our minds to other areas of business that could help us achieve this outcome.

Or perhaps you’re motivated by a more altruistic desire.

It might be a focus on improving soil microbe activity. But is this just a step in building a sustainable farming system? Something that will leave your farm in a healthier state than when you began — and by doing so, contributing to a healthier planet.

There’s no right or wrong answer, but it is important to not just drift along.

Being able to recognise your ‘light on the hill’ helps guide your decision making.

You’re more likely to have a sense of satisfaction, of happiness, if your day-to-day actions take you in the direction of your true objective.

Right, enough of the dreaming. Must be time to cut some more bindii.

with David Matthews

Locust hatchings to occur soon

Landholders are urged to keep their eyes open for evidence of Australian plague locusts following an increase in sightings across western Victoria.

Australian plague locusts are native insects and if left unmanaged, can pose a serious threat to pastures, crops and horticulture.

Agriculture Victoria manager plant, pests and disease, Chris Pittock said there was no prediction of a locust plague but encouraged people to take appropriate action to minimise risk of damage to their property.

“Based on current surveillance and modelling, we envisage moderate to high locust populations in northwest Victoria this summer,” he said.

“Landholders and community members are encouraged to look for signs of egg laying, locust hatching, banding or swarming and report sightings to Agriculture Victoria.”

Dr Pittock said locust eggs would hatch in coming weeks.

When young locust nymphs are a couple of weeks old, they are wingless and start to aggregate into bands and this is the recommended time to manage the insect.

Dr Pittock said ground control using a chemical insecticide is the most successful method to manage locusts.

Locust management insecticides include biological insecticides, organophosphate and carbamate insecticides, phenylpyrazole insecticides and synthetic pyrethroid insecticides.

Dr Pittock said landholders could seek expert advice from their chemical reseller or agronomist about which

insecticide best suited their situation.

There are also non-chemical options to use around homes and gardens.

More information is available via www.agriculture.vic. gov.au/locusts

The Victorian Plague Locust Commissioner and a team of eight regionally-based ‘locust champions’ can also advise farmers and landholders on proactive steps to manage locusts.

Farmer campaign grows war aid

Organisers of an initiative to share grain harvest profits with Ukrainian farmers impacted by their nation’s conflict with Russia have reminded Wimmera farmers of the benefits of their campaign support.

The ongoing Grain4Ukraine campaign, organised by Grain Producers Australia at the onset of the Russian invasion of Ukraine last year, asked farmers to donate proceeds from their summer harvest to Ukrainian farmers managing business and humanitarian impacts of the conflict.

Grain4Ukraine committee member Andrew Weidemann, of Rupanyup, had implored Wimmera farmers to consider their ‘innate’ connection with their Ukrainian grain-farming counterparts to support the campaign.

GPA chief executive Colin Bettles said the Grain4Ukraine campaign would continue for as long as the European conflict continued.

“The purpose in which we set-up this campaign remains — there is still a war going on in Ukraine. We want to continue to provide support for rural Ukrainian farmers facing devastating consequences of military conflict on their land,” he said.

Wimmera farmers who have made donations have used the National Grower Register card number registered to Grain Producers Australia to donate a portion of their harvest to the money-raising drive, as per the campaign’s request.

Mr Bettles said if every Australian grower could spare one tonne of grain, the proceeds would make an enormous difference to the campaign’s selected charities.

Money goes to the United Nations Crisis Relief’s Ukraine Humanitarian Fund and World Vision Ukraine Appeal as well as The World to Rebuild Rural Ukraine, which will specifically target Ukraine’s rural communities.

Ukraine’s Australian ambas-

sador to Australia, Vasyl Myroshnychenko, met with the campaign sub-committee to thank them for ‘supporting his people’.

He said rebuilding rural communities remained a ‘strategic priority’, and Australian farmers had provided ‘invaluable’ help.

“We sincerely thank Australia’s grain producers for this selfless initiative, getting behind our country’s efforts to recover from the devastation that’s been caused by Russia’s invasion,” he said.

“This support will help with rebuilding ports and other infrastructure connected to our agricultural communities, and basic necessities of our people such as roads, schools, homes and hospitals.

“On behalf of people in the Ukraine, I’d like to thank every grower who is donating some of their crop this harvest.”

People can donate to the campaign by using the GPA’s National Grower Register card number, 1500 4442.

EYES OPEN: Agriculture Victoria is encouraging landholders to watch for and report locust sightings this summer.

Prices steady as harvest concludes

Harvest is coming to an end across the Wimmera and Mallee and grain prices have fluctuated slightly since December.

While most export prices are slightly down compared to previous weeks, local prices remain steady, or slightly increased, for most grains.

The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry reported that Australian export prices, as of January 18, remained ‘relatively steady’

although they had dropped since harvest began.

Grain prices have risen between five and 30 percent compared to the same time last year.

Milling wheat exported at $516 a tonne, feed wheat sold for $467 a tonne and feed barley exported at $420 a tonne. Canola exported at $1058 a tonne.

In the Wimmera, AWB recorded bid prices for APW1 wheat last week

were about $346; barley at $282; and canola at $679 to $677 a tonne.

GrainCorp recorded bid prices of about $344 for APW1 wheat, from $346 to $359.50 for barley and between $671 and $676 a tonne for canola on Friday.

In the livestock industry, lamb numbers at Horsham Regional Livestock Exchange are increasing into January.

On January 11, 3550 lambs and 2200 sheep were yarded while 6000

lambs and 1200 sheep were yarded on January 18.

Graham Pymer’s market report on Wednesday last week showed quality was good over shorn heavy lambs and most of the regular buying group attended, operating within a solid market.

Medium and heavy-shorn tradeweight lambs sold from $142 to $215, while heavier weights sold from $215 to $245 a head.

Light trade-weight shorn lambs sold from $136 to $170 a head.

Mr Pymer reported that most unshorn lambs showed dryness and lacked weight, selling from $140 to $214 a head. An extra-heavy weight pen sold for up to $238 a head.

Medium-weight sheep mostly sold from $79 to $110 a head, merino ewes sold for up to $130 and heavy crossbred ewes sold for up to $150 a head. Rams sold for up to $60 a head.

Tech will test solutions

A new digital project in Ararat will allow farmers and industry leaders to solve challenges using a range of sensor technologies.

The Ararat Digital Twin Spotlight Project will work with farmers and planners to leverage powerful data visualisation and sharing capabilities of the Digital Twin Victoria platform.

Ararat Rural City Council will host two Digital Farm Tech Field Days — at Willaura on February 14 and Tatyoon on February 15.

Digital Twins use two-dimensional, threedimensional and live sensor data to build a virtual model of a place, including town infrastructure, rural roads, buildings, machinery and farmland.

The council will establish the Ararat Digital Twin to create a link between virtual and digital worlds, enabling real-world simulations.

Chief executive Dr Tim Harrison said the council was committed to becoming Australia’s rural innovation capital, establishing collaborative partnerships to drive advanced research and development in agriculture and bioenergy.

“We’re using this project at a local level to understand the technology’s ability to assist asset management planning and prioritisation of infrastructure repairs and developments, including roads, with a risk mitigation and productivity-boosting view for the municipality,” Dr Harrison said.

“By hosting the Digital Farm Tech Field Days, we’re bringing the local agricultural community together to explore how sensor technology can be used to improve on-farm decisions and increase productivity.

“It’s a great opportunity for farmers to hear more on the region’s plans for improved connectivity and the local grants available for installing farm weather stations.”

The project is a collaborative partnership with the Digital Twin Victoria program and Federation University.

People wanting more information, or to register for the field days, can visit www.ararat.gov.

au/digitaltwin

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PEER’s Research and Development Center utilises mud slurry testing to thoroughly study new bearing and seal concepts. Mud slurry testing involves immersing bearings in an abrasive liquid and counting the number of hours before they fail under a consistent load. Most bearings within the agricultural environment break down because the seals deteriorate, which allows contaminants to enter the bearing and dry the lubricants, rather than bearings failing directly.

PEER’s Research and Development Center utilises mud slurry testing to thoroughly study new bearing and seal concepts. Mud slurry testing involves immersing bearings in an abrasive liquid and counting the number of hours before they fail under a consistent load. Most bearings within the agricultural environment break down because the seals deteriorate, which allows contaminants to enter the bearing and dry the lubricants, rather than bearings failing directly.

PEER’s Research and Development Center utilises mud slurry testing to thoroughly study new bearing and seal concepts. Mud slurry testing involves immersing bearings in an abrasive liquid and counting the number of hours before they fail under a consistent load. Most bearings within the agricultural environment break down because the seals deteriorate, which allows contaminants to enter the bearing and dry the lubricants, rather than bearings failing directly.

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Mud slurry tests are performed to compare the life of different brands of bearings within the same environment. The bar chart below compares the life of three different brands of 5203 bearing at 500 rpm in the mud slurry tank. The one on the right is the PEER SEEDXTREME, which lasted more than three times longer than one major 5203 bearing manufacturer and over 7 times longer than a 2nd major 5203 bearing manufacturer.

Mud slurry tests are performed to compare the life of different brands of bearings within the same environment. The bar chart below compares the life of three different brands of 5203 bearing at 500 rpm in the mud slurry tank. The one on the right is the PEER SEEDXTREME, which lasted more than three times longer than one major 5203 bearing manufacturer and over 7 times longer than a 2nd major 5203 bearing manufacturer.

Mud slurry tests are performed to compare the life of different brands of bearings within the same environment. The bar chart below compares the life of three different brands of 5203 bearing at 500 rpm in the mud slurry tank. The one on the right is the PEER SEEDXTREME, which lasted more than three times longer than one major 5203 bearing manufacturer and over 7 times longer than a 2nd major 5203 bearing manufacturer.

Mud slurry tests are performed to compare the life of different brands of bearings within the same environment. The bar chart below compares the life of three different brands of 5203 bearing at 500 rpm in the mud slurry tank. The one on the right is the PEER SEEDXTREME, which lasted more than three times longer than one major 5203 bearing manufacturer and over 7 times longer than a 2nd major 5203 bearing manufacturer.

COLLABORATION: Dr Tim Harrison and Ararat Rural City Council will host two field days next month to discuss the Ararat Digital Twin Spotlight Project.

ongoing

During early January when Country Today takes a Christmas break, I take advantage of not being on air and hit the road to collect interviews for the program.

In previous years, I’ve attended the annual weaner cattle sales and it’s been a glorious ride in the past five years with the eastern state’s drought breaking and beef cattle prices nearly doubling.

This year, though, there was a more important job.

I felt compelled to re-visit those I interviewed during the October and November floods.

The first stop was Rochester. Three months on, and the roads are still in desperate disrepair. The grey, rotting remnants of crops lie testament to the metre-high deluge that broke levy banks, swirled around town to higher ground and then inundated areas residents assumed were safe.

Gone were the mouldy sheets of plasterboard walls, trashed whitegoods, sodden carpets and furniture in front of stinking, muddy houses.

Most of the shops had reopened and the bustling Rochester Café was as busy as ever.

I had arranged to meet Rochester Business Network’s

Glenda Nichol over a cuppa. Our conversation was constantly interrupted by phone calls from people wanting help with everything from insurance claims, finding tradies and seeking mental health services.

Glenda was keen to sell the message that Rochester was back in business.

“They said the Bendigo Bank was going to be closed possibly up to Easter … because it needed a refurb. We said, ‘Why not use the old ANZ bank as a pop-up bank?’ — so we have the Bendigo pop-up bank and they’re doing a total refurb and update and fit-out in the process,” she said.

“Home is a totally different thing. It all depends on your insurance and how you’ve navigating that. Some people have gotten lost on the bottom of a pile.

“The builder doing our job is booked out until the end of 2024. Does he want 800 people ringing him to get quotes? No.”

It was then on to Echuca and Deniliquin.

I had visited the property of

Louise and Andrew Burge, Prairie Home, five years ago.

The talk then from Louise were claims of mismanagement of the release of water from the Hume Dam, which resulted in the flooding of the Edward River in 2016.

But that was nothing compared with the three floods over nine weeks, with the worst saved until last, in November.

“My husband never wants to get in a boat again,” she said, with tinnies the only mode of transport to try to save stranded sheep.

Losses to the initial floods were low, but as the waters dispersed, the only feed was noxious weeds.

The waters were infested with worms and weakened sheep soon began to die of from the high worm burden and the curse of flystrike.

Try as they might, even with the help the State Emergency Service choppering in hay, of planes dropping faba beans for food, of neighbours and stock agents lending a hand when they could, it wasn’t possible to save the weakest sheep.

“The damage is enormous. There is just no sheep feed at all. It’s like we’ve been through the worst, catastrophic drought,” Louise said.

Global findings in focus

Disease management is a focus of Birchip Cropping Group’s Trials Review Day.

Stripe rust, chocolate spot and grey mould has caused heavy yield losses across large areas of the Wimmera, Mallee and North Central regions.

While the wet weather provided conducive conditions for stripe rust in wheat, chocolate spot in beans and grey mould in lentils, it also made disease management difficult, with many growers unable to access paddocks to spray or getting bogged in the process.

BCG senior manager of extension and communications, Kelly Angel, said with high rainfall and full soil profiles creating a green bridge, spores were likely to carry over to season 2023.

“BCG’s trials review day will deliver strategies for growers to support 2023 disease management decisions to optimise production and ultimately, profitability,” she said.

“Nutrition, varieties, industry trends and farmer experience will also feature, with the latest research delivered to arm farmers with the science required to inform 2023 decisions.”

The European Food Safety Authority will decide whether to continue with the registration of glyphosate in July.

Researcher and agronomist Harm van Rees will present findings of his international farming-without-glyphosate study tour and possible implications for Australian agriculture.

“Without glyphosate, there is no existing answer to how we are going to feed the eight billion and growing world population,” he said.

“Conserving water, retaining stubble, reducing wind and water erosion all improve soil health and are achievable using glyphosate. Glyphosate also allows farmers to sow at the optimum time.

“Combined, these benefits radically improve yields. In our current systems, farming without glyphosate leaves our capacity to feed the billions vulnerable.”

Mr van Rees, with fellow researcher Anne Jackman, travelled through Europe, Canada and

“Public awareness and concerns relating to farm pesticide use is increasing and we can’t ignore the possibility of it happening here,” Mr van Rees said.

“For example, in Argentina, some country towns are banning the use of all agri-chemicals including fertiliser for a 1000 metre zone around the towns’ perimeter. Farmers do not receive any compensation for the loss in the production.”

BCG will launch its ‘2022 Season Research Manual’ — a deep dive into research — at the event.

The trials review day is on February 24 at Birchip Leisure Centre and is a members’ only event.

Registration is available via www.bcg.org.au/ events; people can register to become a member via www.bcg.org.au/memberships

Argentina meeting with farmers, agronomists and researchers last year.

DISCUSSION: Harm van Rees will present research findings at the trials review day.

with Libby Price

Harvest in the Wimmera

Harvest across the Wimmera and Mallee is finally coming to an end — well behind traditional schedule. Soaked paddocks after big rains in late 2022 made it difficult for farmers and contractors to complete the job. Eventually, however, for many, both yield and prices have been a pleasing outcome.

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UNLOADING: Trucks steadily process through the GrainCorp site at Nhill to deliver canola.

Picture: PAUL GERDTZ PANORAMIC: Bunkers are filling up at the GrainCorp site at Murtoa. Picture: JASON KEEL

AUGER: Grain is delivered to the GrainCorp site at Lillimur. Picture: PAUL GERDTZ

CATCH UP: The Weidemann family take a quick dinner break during the 2022-23 harvest season.