Bowler family takes out Duri Agricultural Bureau's 2022 sorghum competition

Facing stiff competition from more than 10 other producers from across the Tamworth, Duri and Winton areas, the Bowlers were given the nod by judges Ken Noel and Ken McKnight ahead of Winton grower Gareth Rodgers who claimed second place.

A long-time high achiever in the competition, this year's entry marked the first time the Bowlers have grown a crop of Pacific Seeds Resolute variety sorghum, which the judges estimate should yield from eight to 8.5 tonnes per hectare.

Family member and agronomist Alice Bowler, AMPS, Tamworth, said the unusually mild summer conditions coupled with regular rainfall were the major contributing factors to the crop's success.

"The season has certainly gone with us and I think there is a fair bit of luck involved," Ms Bowler told The Land.

"Realistically, we've had plenty of rain out there, so it is probably fair to say it is down more to luck than anything else."

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Having grown Pacific Seeds' Buster variety of sorghum for many years, Ms Bowler said she was eager to see how a different variety would go in the family's cropping rotation.

"We've always grown Pacific Seeds' Buster variety sorghum but this year I convinced them to try something different, mostly to adapt with the times," she said.

"Typically, we are still sowing our sorghum broadacre which most people might not understand, but our yields aren't too far behind everyone else.

"We don't really have the area to justify having a heap of different gear so we work with what we've got on hand and it seems to be going pretty well for us."

During their deliberations, both judges remarked that the Bowlers crop was among some of the best they had seen, not only in the Tamworth region, but in neighbouring regions as well.

"Personally, once a sorghum crop gets above the 6t/ha mark, it becomes fairly tough to really say what it will yield until you put a header into it," Ms Bowler said.

"It is possible the predicted mark of about 8t/ha from the judges might come back a bit, but in saying that, there has already been some cracking yields of more than 9t/ha in the Moree district, so it could also be surprising the other way too."

Ms Bowler said while the cooler early-autumn conditions had benefitted the crop, it had also delayed harvesting operations by several weeks.

"I'd say we're still a few weeks away from getting a header into it," she said.

"A bit of a hot spell of a week or so would certainly change that, but with how mild it is at the moment, I'd say it will still take a us a few weeks to get into it.

"The milder conditions actually could be a pretty interesting challenge for a lot of growers to get their crops ready for harvest just with the lack of hot weather and amount of rain we've been having."

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