YORKE Peninsula cropper David Correll will increase his lentil plantings, encouraged by high prices and to maintain weed control.
Mr Correll, with son Tim, brother Paul and nephew Sam, crops 2900ha of wheat, canola, barley and lentils at Sunnyvale.
Lentils will make up 43 per cent of the rotation this season – up 7pc.
“We aim to reap our lentils within seven to 10 days to reduce exposure to bad weather, so there is a limit as to how much we can crop,” he said.
About 20pc is sown to the Jumbo 2 variety, with the rest sown to Hurricane nippers.
Mr Correll said they stored the lentils on-farm until harvest was finished, and spread sales into the new year.
Last year, Mr Correll said they received up to $1500/t for their Jumbos and up to $1300/t for Hurricanes, with the whole harvest averaging $1200/t.
“We would like to grow more Jumbos, but the Hurricane variety is more chemical tolerant and helps to keep our weeds down,” Mr Correll said.
He expects prices to stay firm, but said he would be watching how Canada’s harvest eventuated prior to Australia’s.
“They would be having the same price signals as us and would also be looking to plant maximum hectares, so if they have a good year, that will affect the world price for lentils,” he said.
Mr Correll said today’s forward prices of about $1000/t were appealing.
The Corrells have already forward sold 10pc of their lentil crop, with possibly more planned.
