HARVEST has begun for Crystal Brook grower Malcolm Sargent, starting about two weeks ago on barley before switching to the “higher value” lentils.
“It always used to be by Melbourne Cup that if we weren’t on the header, we’d be under it (doing repairs), but in the past 10 years or so, with early sowing, we’ve started early,” he said.
Despite experiencing the “driest season in 20 years”, with only 150 millimetres of growing season rain, Mr Sargent said the results were a “pleasant surprise”.
He said the lentils had been getting average yields, while careful baiting of mice at seeding and again when wheat ran to head, seemed to have reduced that issue.
“To get the crops we’ve had is remarkable,” he said.
They had just about finished lentils when the weekend’s storm hit, with only small areas of the crop affected, but have lost about 25 per cent of Compass barley with wheat impacts unknown.
“We won’t know until we get a header into that,” he said.
Elizabeth Anderson
Editor of Stock Journal.
Editor of Stock Journal.
