Crops ‘bounce’ out of the ground as a ‘very good start’ to the growing season continues

WA farmers are on track to plant about nine million hectares of crop this year, just shy of last year’s total record area of all crops of 9.2 million hectares as commodity prices climb. Canola will be the crop of choice for the second year in a row, with more than half of the nation’s canola crop set to be planted in WA at a record 1.75 million hectares. Grain Industry Association of WA handed down its monthly crop report on Friday, revealing that nine million hectare prediction could increase in line with more early Autumn rain. The report noted the WA grainbelt was off to a “very good start” with most regions having good reserves of subsoil moisture and perfectly timed rainfall during the past fortnight. It comes as plentiful rains fall across the State, with totals of between 10mm and 50mm recorded at grain growing areas between Geraldton and Esperance. Some of the biggest rainfall totals this month have been in the South Coast - with West River notching up 54mm, Jerramungup 53mm – and the Great Southern with falls of more than 40mm in areas including Narrikup, Woodanilling, Nyabing, and Magenta, among others. About 70 per cent of WA’s grain crop is estimated to be in the ground already, with farmers still seeding in the eastern Wheatbelt and parts of the Esperance Port Zone. Most of WA’s grain crop is expected to be seeded and out of the ground by the end of May and early June, with strengthening crop prices coinciding with more rainfall in May. WA’s crop composition is expected to include more canola but similar plantings of wheat and barley compared to last season, while lupins, pulses and oat plantings are slightly down. While total hectares were estimated to be 8.9 million hectares when the report was released, that figure is expected to grow above 9 million hectares. It included 4.95m hectares of wheat, 1.75m hectares of canola, 1.62m hectares of barley, 310,000ha of oats, 240,000ha of lupins and 38,000ha of pulses. The report noted crops in the Geraldton Port Zone were in soils starting to dry out, with “dry and dusty” conditions but crops streaking ahead in maturity compared to elsewhere in the State. Early flowering canola and five to six leaf barley and five leaf wheat can be seen in some parts of the Geraldton Port Zone, although some areas north of the port city are looking dry with “poor emergence”. Areas north of Moora are looking promising, with west coast areas including Badgingarra, Dandaragan and Mingenew picking up big storms and robust crops. Farmers in the Kwinana North Midlands area are in the golden zone, with exceptional pasture growth, while those in the Kwinana South have had medium to light volumes of rainfall. Farms in the Kwinana North-East area have ramped up canola plantings and are accounting for the majority of the increase in total canola area for this year. GIWA crop report author Michael Lamond said while it was “too early for some growers”, many considered the early sowing opportunity “too good to miss out on” considering the price of canola. Growers in the west of the Albany Port zone have finished planting canola, with about a third of plants approaching the four leaf stage while another third is looking patchy, and the last is “on the way up”. Mr Lamond said farmers in the area had planted about 50 per cent of their programs to canola and appetite to plant more had been tempered by farmers’ crop rotations. Areas west of Williams and across to Darkan have had the most rain, but there is more moisture east of Kojonup than to the west. Those in the south of the Albany Port Zone have had one of their “best starts to remember”, Mr Lamond said, with some early sown canola up to the six to eight leaf stage. “Nearly all of the canola was in the ground by mid-May, in this region,” he said. “Most growers were likely to have put their seeders back in the shed by mid-May.” It has been a good start to the cropping season in the Lakes region, around Lake Grace and Newdegate, after record yields and tonnage last year. The volume of canola in the area has increased by up to 15 per cent with “useful” amounts of subsoil moisture in the ground – but farmers have been dry seeding during the past fortnight. Mr Lamond said it had been an “amazing start” to the Esperance Port Zone, with most regions having between 60 to 100mm for the year – bot some areas close to the coast recording more than 200mm during that same time period. While some areas required resowing after heavy rainfall in April, spirits are now high with some canola paddocks up to the five to six leaf stage. “The bulk of the total crop area will be in by the end of May and the recent rain will see the remainder go into moisture,” Mr Lamond said. Most climate models have neutral rainfall outlooks for June to August 2022 for the agricultural area of WA, with daytime temperatures expected to remain above average.