Browns Well competition winner Clinton Scholz surprised with Mallee crop

Mr Scholz and his wife Karen farm across several properties in the Taplan area, about 20 kilometres apart.

He said they would normally get a season break before Anzac Day but this year had only falls of three millimetres to 4mm up until June.

“The season opened with 18mm on June 8,” he said.

But Mr Scholz said his efforts to retain moisture during the summer months gave him the confidence to sow at his usual time, leaving him in a good situation when rain did fall.

“I tend to stick with my normal plans and don’t change anything much, including sowing time,” he said.

“I start when I’m ready to start. Going into seeding season, the money is already spent, the last thing to do is to put it in the ground.”

All up, Mr Scholz estimates his crops received about 90mm of rain for the growing season but managed to make the most of the limited moisture available during this time.

He said there were indications the yields would fall this season, but not by as much as might have been expected.

“In a normal season I would expect to yield about 1.5 tonnes a hectare,” he said.

“This year I’m anticipating 1-1.2t/ha.”

He said there were few signs of pinched grain or quality issues, suggesting screenings should be low.

“We’ve had a relatively mild finish as far as heat is concerned,” he said.

“We’re very fortunate with how the season turned out.”

Mr Scholz said there had been quite a bit of wind this season.

The Scholz family took part in this year’s Browns Well crop competition – a long-running tradition of almost half a century – and won first place for a crop of Scepter wheat, sown into pea stubble.

The crop competition is unique with all crops – this year ranging from Alawoona, Paruna and Meribah to Nadda – judged using a set scoring system by all who attend the field day, including fellow farmers, bank, merchandise and machinery dealer representatives, grain marketers and more.

While estimated yield plays a part, scoring also reflects weed and disease presence, crop management and how well the crop has performed in relation to the seasonal conditions.

The Scholz family won with 82.6 points, with an estimated yield of 1.43t/ha.

“We grew a ripper crop, considering the season we’ve been having,” Mr Scholz said.

As well as the Scepter wheat, he also sowed Kord wheat, Scope and Compass barley, Twilight peas and vetch for livestock feed.

He began harvest on the peas in the second week of November.