“WE get lots of dry years but we also have great seasons and with our high quality soils we can grow crops equal to the best in the nation, and more than just occasionally. The scale of operation and our ability to grow high quality grain is also an important consideration.”
These thoughts captured the positive attitude of Walgett agricultural consultant Greg Rummery when accepting the prestigious Brownhill cup at Gunnedah’s AgQuip field day.
An agronomist, consultant and farmer at Walgett for more than 28 years (including initially as Department of Primary Industries district agronomist), Mr Rummery does not shy away from the hardships farmers in areas like his experience, especially acknowledging the recent three years of consecutive drought.
But he does bristle at the common derogatory defining of areas like Walgett as “marginal”. His reading of Walgett is a “variable” environment with his focus on how to best deal with that on a long term basis as far as profitability and sustainability is concerned.
In reasonable to good years Walgett can produce wheat crops of five to six tonne a hectare, and chickpeas of two to three t/ha, and on a massive scale with relatively low growing costs compared with much of the nation’s farming areas.
Mr Rummery’s focus is how to most profitably manage cropping through good and bad years with major improvements occurring over the last couple of decades. Having access to the most reliable information for example is essential for maximising profits in good years and minimising costs in drought or very dry years.
Mr Rummery reports farmers have a better appreciation of the amount of stored soil water in the soil at any given time, especially leading up to winter or summer crop sowing time. This knowledge combined with a sound understanding of the probability of receiving a given amount of rain over the coming crop-growing period (using historic rainfall figures) plus as climate forecasts (acknowledging these can sometimes be inaccurate) helps greatly in decision making.
For example in the drought years sub soil moisture was commonly almost zero and modeling based on rainfall probability indicated payable crops, if minimal sowing rains occurred, was only a marginal likely outcome. In contrast this year most farmers had accumulated better sub soil moisture levels, forecasts from all sources indicated a likely wet winter and the probability of growing payable crops was high.
Agronomically Mr Rummery has played a major role in widespread adoption of practices in large-scale farming in environments such as Walgett that improve crop water-use efficiency. For example zero till has been universally accepted. Rotations involving chickpeas, faba beans and even to a degree canola are integral in most of Walgett farmer’s rotations, not just restricted to more eastern higher rainfall areas.
Summer cropping, especially grain sorghum in past years but more so now dryland cotton given the recent developments in the bollguard three production system, is an option increasingly being used in the Walgett environment should the right conditions stack up.
Soil fertility is a key aspect, Mr Rummery notes. While soils are commonly naturally high in fertility, cropping will drain them unless appropriate fertiliser rates are used. Weeds are also a similar issue to higher rainfall environments, with rotations and various integrated control strategies required.
He acknowledges there remains many challenges for the future and he is keen to see further upgrades in knowledge. Improved understanding of climate forecasting will help greatly in future decision making.
Next week: A top Boggabri pasture property.
- Bob Freebairn is an agricultural consultant based at Coonabarabran. Email robert.freebairn@bigpond.com or contact (0428) 752 149.
