LAMEROO cropper Peter Maynard had about 130 millimetres of rain in September, which not only held up harvesting 600 hectares of hay, but encouraged prolific weed growth.
With father Fred, Mr Maynard reapt 2500ha of wheat, barley, lupins, vetch, triticale, lentils and hay. They finished just after Christmas and have had a further 75mm since.
Mr Maynard said they were spraying at higher rates as the weeds were larger.
“But the chemical has been effective,” he said.
“We will have to watch our residues though.”
At Pinnaroo, the Oster family has just finished its 2600ha harvest and will start spraying weeds next week.
“We were lucky not to have any big thunderstorms this harvest so the weeds aren’t out of hand,” Giles Oster said.
Mr Oster says the family operation, which includes parents Jeff and Brenda, wife Sarah, brother Adam and his wife Melinda, plans to go from 95 per cent Mace to 95pc Scepter this year after the impressive wheat variety yielded up to 5 tonnes/ha.