IF there was ever a season when it paid to value-add to grain, 2016 would be it, with prices for most commodities in the doldrums.
At the McMahon family’s McPiggery enterprise at Lameroo, all crops grown are used in the pig operation.
Cropping manager Sam Venning said while extra grain usually needed to be bought in for the pigs, this year’s outstanding season should not make it necessary.
“It was dry and dusty in April and May, but we just kept on seeding, as we sow to the calendar,” he said.
“But since then it’s been fantastic, with about 300 millimetres of rainfall – well above average. It’s probably our best year since 2010.”
Harvest usually starts at the end of October/early November, but Mr Venning said it would be mid-November at the earliest this year.