Farmers across the Lower Eyre Peninsula have suffered significant yield losses as a result of extreme wind conditions in the region late last month.
On November 20, northerly winds of up to 94 kilometres an hour were recorded at the Cleve aerodrome, with gusts of 87km/hr recorded at Cummins.
Landmark Tumby Bay agronomist Chris Pearce said conditions turned windy at about 10am, and remained relentless for the rest of the day.
"This is probably the worst wind damage to crops for as long as some people can remember, just because of the length of time it was windy for," he said.
He said the extent of damage depended on the location of the crop - in terms of exposure to gusts - as well as crop potential.
You haven't got the crop until you have it in the bin - you think you've got it then a day like that comes along, luckily they don't happen very often.
- KINGSLEY MACDONALD
"In the reasonably thick crops, a lot of the heads kept hitting each other, and eventually the grain basically shook out onto the ground." he said.
"The majority of properties probably had anywhere from 2.5t/ha to 4t/ha potential, which probably dropped back by 1-1.5t/ha.
"An average farmer would have lost hundreds of thousand of dollars."
The latest PIRSA Crop and Pasture Report, released this week, reported the Lower Eyre Peninsula to have above average yields this harvest, including 510,500t of wheat, 275,500t of barley and 147,500t of canola, but with the report's information current as of November 7, actual yields may be significantly lower due to the strong winds.
Koppio farmer Kingsley MacDonald said damaging wind events had occurred in the area before, but usually not during harvest.
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Mr MacDonald, who crops about 2000 hectares of wheat, canola, barley, and peas, was about a third of the way through harvest by November 20, and described the day as "horrifically hot and windy".
"You haven't got the crop until you have it in the bin - you think you've got it then a day like that comes along, luckily they don't happen very often," he said.
He said wheat sown on top of hills was particularly affected by the wind, and initial yield predictions of 4t/ha had been cut to 2t/ha as a result of the gusty day.
His barley crops fared slightly better.
"We had some windrowed barley that went quite well, but the standing barley was probably a third down from our initial yield estimates, yields were probably 1t/ha off of that," he said.
"It's disappointing to have the losses we've had, but we're still grateful we're able to reap something."
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