JUST their second time in the competition and already champions.
Neil and Kay Barwick and family were crowned as growers of the champion wheat crop of 2020 at the Agricultural Societies Council/Suncorp Bank Dryland Field Wheat competition dinner in Dubbo last Friday evening.
They were among a gathering of 60 finalists, sponsors and guests from throughout the state at Club Dubbo.
The Barwicks' Sunmax crop was estimated by zone finals judge and agronomist, Paul Parker, Young, of yielding an average 7.9 tonne per hectare at Yarrabah, Willow Tree, entered in the Quirindi Show Society competition and won the ASC Central zone final.
A surprised Neil Barwick said it had been an incredible and exciting experience for him and wife Kay and their son and family being only their second year.
"Last year we were falling down the cracks in the ground and this time we had our gumboots on in the mud," he said.
"I've been growing wheat for 64 years and have never seen any like the crop we had this year. It was Sunmax and a metre-plus high trying to fill five wide."
However 50 millimetres of rain and storming wind flattened the crop.
"I won't forget that harvest in a hurry, we were skimming along three inches above the ground at about two the three kilometres an hour taking about a metre of straw and trying to sort between six and eight tonnes a hectare of grain at the same time," he said.
"And that was one hell of an experience."
ASC president, Tim Capp, Gresford, said what a difference 12 months could make.
"In 2019 there were 25 local crop competitions, in 2020 there were 53 with an estimated 500-plus crops entered from throughout the state," he said.
What has become a feature of the competition is the Farming Excellence trophy which is awarded to the team who may have not won a crop award, but to the judge's investigation, are the most efficient in management of the crop, property and overall farming program.
This year Mr Parker selected Andrew and Nichola Baker of Greendale, Grenfell, who were placed fourth in the Central zone, just two points away from third placing.
Mr Parker said the Bakers' mixed farming enterprise had all members of the family contributing.
"They consistently grow high yielding crops based around an excellent rotation utilising lucerne-clover pastures, canola and wheat crops," he said. "TT canola varieties are grown to further assist in weed control and especially to assist in minimising the risk of herbicide resistant weeds developing.
"The physical appearance of the farm was very neat and tidy and all the paddocks we drove through were well maintained with very good overall weed management."
Other zone winners included Daryl and Karen Carrigan, Morella, Boomi, in the Northern zone and winner of the Moree-North Star competition. Their crop was Gregory variety estimated to average 7.1t/ha.
Koolpari Enterprises of Chris and Broden Holland, Miltara, Young, won the Western zone from the Young competition with a crop of Scepter yielding an estimated average of 7.3t/ha.
Southern zone winners were Leigh and Lucinda Eulenstein, Kobada, Yerong Creek, who had won the Henty competition with a crop of Trojan and an expected 7.8t/ha average yield.
Just three crops spread from Bellata in the north, to Spring Ridge and Quirindi on the Liverpool Plains competed in the dryland Durum section with the Bellata crop of Glenn and Rachel Fernance who grew a crop of Lillaroi on their Boomerang property which was estimated to yield 6.8t/ha to win the local Moree competition.
- See photo gallery on P47.
