Canola production is expected to be lower in SA this year due to the dry conditions.
Australian Oilseeds Federation estimated 260,000 hectares of canola was sown in SA this year, but the estimated area that would be harvested is 235,000ha, due to widespread dry conditions on the Eyre Peninsula and patchy rain events across the Mid North and Yorke Peninsula.
AOF chief executive officer Nick Goddard said 25,000ha might have been sprayed or abandoned this year because of the dry conditions. The overall SA production forecast is 306,000 tonnes, with an average yield of 1.3t/ha.
Last year PIRSA estimated 203,000ha were harvested with 372,000t produced, averaging 1.84t/ha.
Mr Goddard said the South East and southern Mallee regions had pretty good conditions for the sowing season, while the EP and YP were drier, but have since had some rain this month.
Mr Goddard said it was too late for canola to germinate.
“If it was sown dry, it would not have germinated well,” he said.
Canola seeds were short in supply this season because some of the seed production sites in NSW and Vic were washed out in September and October. But Mr Goddard said that did not affect SA’s sowing programs because many farmers retained seed from last year.
Mr Goddard said canola prices were holding up pretty well, with Archer Daniels Midland price indications of $530-$537/t delivered Port Adelaide. He was optimistic about demand for Australian product, particularly in Europe – Australia’s largest export market for that commodity – which was expecting a downturn in production this year.
Pioneer Seeds SA area sales manager Paul Jenke said canola crops across the state were varied.
“Heavy soils on the YP, particularly central YP, have been struggling with a lack of moisture, but areas with sandier soils have had more success with crops emerging from the ground,” Mr Jenke said.
“The EP is dry across the region. A lot of canola seed has been sitting in the ground for two or more months, waiting for rain.”
But recent rains on the YP and EP have helped crops in those region grow.
Honner Agribusiness agronomist Simon Honner, Blyth, said most canola crops in the Mid North started to flower in mid-July.
Mr Honner said croppers who received an opening rain on about April 19 sowed canola into good moisture later that month and crops established well, while those who missed the rain sowed into dry soil and the crops were far less advanced.
Mr Honner said most canola crops had few issues with diseases or insects, such as green peach aphids. Mr Jenke said blackleg and sclerotinia threats would be reduced this season, as both diseases have not had the right conditions to develop.
Mr Jenke encouraged croppers to continue applying nitrogen to their crops, as canola could bounce back quickly.
