The mustard crop had beaten all the things thrown at it by the drought and was looking at a good earn until a hail storm moved through part of Andrew and Danielle’s farm, “Dilly”, near Gilgandra, last week.
Mr Fiddes is one of the growing number of farmers advocating mustard crops in NSW who are supplying to Australian Mustard Oil, based at Young, on fixed contracts of about $700 a tonne.
The 400ha of mustard, variety AM02, was looking good despite the big dry. The Fiddes had about 70mm of rain during the growing season - but the hail storm hit about half the crop, knocking the pods off like confetti.
Mr Fiddes had to take the natural event in his stride, but it won’t turn him off mustard, which he says is an ideal biofumigant, and great rotational crop for his wheat. The mustard acts by reducing nematodes and crown rot. Mr Fiddes has proved its success after putting in an award winning Gregory wheat crop on the back of a mustard crop, taking out the best ASC district wheat crop in 2016, going 6.4/tonne to the hectare. He eventually was third in the state. “Generally a wheat crop grown on it goes well.”
Generally a wheat crop grown on it goes well.
- Andrew Fiddes, mustard grower, Gilgandra
“We’ve tried three different types of mustard but certainly I’ve found one is better than the others. We planted at the start of May and didn’t get any rain until the 29th of June.” The mustard crop hung in there with about 70mm of rain during the growing season. But then last week the hail storm hit “Dilly”, dumping up to 70mm of rain on parts of “Dilly”, out on the Tooraweenah road. It took out about half of the mustard crop. He’ll still have a return though, and his other crops have been given a boost by the rain.
Paul Parker, agronomist with Australian Mustard Oil, said the mustard crop in NSW would be down by almost two-thirds this year due to the drought. Of the 3000 hectares planted, only about 1000 ha would be harvested.
Mr Parker said demand for mustard oil was growing around the world, due to its oil content, known as VOM, or Volatile Oil of Mustard, distilled from black mustard seeds. The European Union was banning synthetic VOMs, opening up new markets for the natural VOM product. VOM was a big ingredient in wasabi, and much of the Australian product went to Japan. There were plans to use VOM in toothpaste. The oil is in demand for antibacterial and antifungicidal properties. The US may even seek to use it in antibacterial handwashes as a safe alternative.
Mr Parker encouraged mustard growers to plant later, to reduce bulk in the crop, and increase seed content. AMO gave a $200 a tonne premium compared to canola prices in its contracts because mustard yielded less per hectare. AMO covered seed costs.