A GOOD start to the season has put Upper South East farmers Tim and Matt Eckert in a positive position with their 550 hectares of canola.
The brothers crop 4000ha in total, which also includes wheat, barley, lupins and beans, and run 120 Angus and 2500 Merino ewes at Malinong with their parents David and Gwenda and sister Alysha.
They are also trialling 33ha of lentils this season, looking for a legume that was more flexible for their quickly changing soil types.
Seeding began on April 29, following 55 millimeters of rain in late April.
They have had 233mm of rain for the growing season to-date, which is on par with 2016.
"We got off to a really good start with our canola with it going into the ground in really wet conditions," Tim said.
"It's not quite at full flower, there are still a lot of buds to come out, but in the next couple of weeks they should all appear. But if the spring dries up, it will have an impact on our later-sown barley and wheat.”
