Seers family promote efficiencies with their mixed agribusiness

Rod, Jodie and Jake Seers, Clearview, simply get on with growing crops and breeding Merino sheep in the best, effective and responsible manner possible.

Its dividends are highly productive paddocks covering 1011 hectares where canola, faba beans, lucerne, wheat, barley, oats, ryegrass and clover pastures grow, and 2500 ewes graze.

There are also time savings, which is a serious advantage for Jake, a full-time agronomist who assists his parents on the farm.

"Efficiency is very important for us," Jake Seers said.

"I do quite a lot of the machinery operations like sowing, spreading and harvests and we've invested a lot of money over the last few years into a better header so we can get our crops off quicker before the weather turns on us and so I can get back to work.

"Having good machinery is a plus and sowing the crops accurately is important. It is also good to have access to Barenbrug products, especially ryegrass, clover and phalaris.

"Their knowledge and service is fantastic and their help with the best products for specific growers and climates is great."

Mr Seers said Clearview enjoyed annual rainfall of 350 to 400mm but the moisture meant pressure from slugs on some crops and clover.

"So we usually bait after sowing canola," he said. "We also have to watch out for red legs once the crop is established, also earwigs and those sort of things as well. Working out what we're dealing with is dependent on what moisture we've got and the breeding habits of these pests.

"We will spray a paddock if it needs pre-emergence and then sow the paddock the next day. It really is about the chemical we use and how well it needs to be incorporated before it gets too much sunlight."

Clearview rotates plantings between paddocks every four to five years and paddock plans are formulated soon after harvesting, which lasts a month from mid-November.

Sowing begins in March and concludes in May.