Kym Hines said the "writing was on wall" for another tough season at his Eudunda property, and said he predicted at seeding time that he would cut some of his crops for hay rather than grain this year.
Mr Hines crops about 1420 hectares of wheat, barley, oats, canola, beans and chickpeas across properties at Eudunda, Kapunda and Lameroo, and said his crops had suffered from moisture stress this season.
About 120 millimetres of rain has fallen on Mr Hines' Eudunda property this year, down on an average figure of 250mm to the end of September.
In preparation for hay cutting, Mr Hines stone-picked all of his crops at seeding time, and rolled about 200ha of ground for wheat and barley.
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"I wanted to make sure that if I had to cut for hay, the crops were ready for me to go in and cut without causing any damage," he said.
Mr Hines began cutting hay on Monday last week, starting with 75ha of wheat, and said the decision was financially viable.
"For wheat, I could get a grain price of $300 per tonne, and at about 0.8t/ha for that paddock, it would work out at about $200/ha, but I could yield 1.5t/ha at $250/t if I cut it for hay, meaning I would get $375/ha," he said.
He has since cut another 50ha of export oaten hay, with another 70ha intended to be cut tomorrow.
If I've been smoked with frost (in the Mallee) again this year, the hay cut could be 500ha to 600ha overall.
- KYM HINES
While his properties had not yet been hit with significant frost damage this year, the potential for severe frosts in the coming weeks meant there was a high chance of "having to chop the whole lot down".
"Last year when we got frost in the Mallee, I cut over a third of the farm for hay, so if I've been smoked with frost there again this year, the hay cut could be 500ha to 600ha overall," he said.
Mr Hines said he intended to sell most of his oaten hay, which he hoped would attract a good price, and keep a large portion of his wheat hay cut as sheep feed.
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