Maize Australia, Narrabri and Wee Waa producers excited by seasonal prospects

The industry's representative body Maize Australia is expecting production to double as farmers look to capitilise on predictions of a wetter than average summer.

"We are seeing irrigation allocations begin to improve in several areas across the country and that is opening up plenty of options for producers," Maize Australia executive officer Liz Mann said.

"Options in silage and storage are continuing to open up and I think people are really looking to take advantage.

"I think across the country, we are looking at twice the amount of crops being planted compared to last season."

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Improved water allocations in the Upper Namoi region have boosted the confidence of Narrabri corn producer and contract harvester Shaine Baker, who said she was expecting a promising season.

"My partner, Jack Maunder, and I have planted about 100 hectares of corn on his family property near Baan Baa," Ms Baker said.

"I think most of the crops around this region will be irrigated and given our allocations have gone up to eight per cent I think it will be a real option for a lot of farmers.

"Some parts of the region got as much as 100 millimetres of rain in the last rainfall event at the start of December, while we got 63mm in Baan Baa.

"The recent heatwave dried things out a bit so we're certainly hoping for more rain in the coming weeks.

"Like most people around this district, we planted ours at the back end of September and we're hoping to harvest around February."

Fresh off the back of harvesting more than 6879 hectares (17,000 acres) during the winter cropping season, Ms Baker, who is Namoi Water's executive officer, said she was preparing for a busy summer of contract harvesting.

"From what I understand, there is a bit more corn going in around our region this year and fortunately have our header front ready to go," she said.

"The COVID-19 pandemic has made the wait time for header fronts and things like that to be shipped from overseas to go from three months to more than six months.

"Unless people were prepared earlier in the year, they might not have their header fronts organised for this season, so we're hoping there might be a fair bit of work for us."

Wee Waa agronomist Dean Hamblin said while maize prices were currently lower than last year, he was confident producers would get value for their crops.

"To be fair, I think the price only looks a little bit disappointing in comparison to some of the really strong prices we saw last year," Mr Hamblin said.

"There was a bit less corn around last year, which meant that those who did have a good crop last year got a premium price for their product.

"However, I think there is still a lot of upside to planting corn crops in terms of soil health, the fact it uses a bit less water than cotton and the fact it gets harvested earlier.

"It can be a really good cash-flow option for farmers and I'm not too surprised to see a few people giving it a go."

The confidence in maize is being shared in the state's south despite Griffith agronomist Heath McWhriter saying prices had taken a hit.

"As there's so much grain around, there's not really the feed market there for people to grow corn on speculation to see where the price is at the end of the season," he said.

"So a lot more of the corn this year has been grown under a contract for an end use."

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