Cash crop sown in as seeding ramps up in SA

Estimates from industry professionals suggest the state's lentil crop could grow by more than double in some regions with many croppers kicking their programs off early to make room for the pulse.

According to agronomists, some croppers in the west have already started their 2024 program as have some in the Mid North, while others will start in the next week.

Koongawa farmer Ash May will sow his first lentil crop this year, with his seeding program expected to kick off on Monday.

Mr May plans to grow about 480ha of lentils this year as a tool to assess the farm's future operations.

"We've had peas before but this is the first year for lentils just to see how to make the most money of the land we're on," he said.

"We've heard they're similar to grow and they suit the climate and dirt we have.

"We don't make much money from sheep, so we're giving lentils a crack now and if it goes well we might get rid of our sheep and just crop everything."

Although the region has had minimal rain since January, Mr May said he would start seeding dry as he plans his seeding program on dates rather than rainfall.

"We get more dry years here than we do wet and we normally start dry," he said.

"We also had a pretty wet December, so we've conserved that moisture keeping the paddocks bare.

"It would be better if it was wet, but we would normally have our peas, vetch and barley in in April and then start wheat on May 1.

"That's what we're doing again this year, but we're starting about a week earlier to fit the lentils in."

Nutrien Kimba agronomist Charlie Bensen said the area of lentils sown in the upper Eyre Peninsula this year was ramping up.

"Myself coming from the Yorke Peninsula, I'm certainly not discouraging that," he said.

"It's great to see farmers taking up something new and adding to their rotations."

Although, an exact sown lentil area has not been confirmed, Stock Journal has heard anecdotal reports of up to 1000,000ha of lentils sown on Eyre Peninsula.

It is a similar story in the Mid North according to Elders Jamestown agronomist Darren Pech, who said barley and pasture seeding would be scaled back to make way for bigger lentil crops in the region.

"Lentils will increase by more than double what they were 12 months ago," he said.

"Barley and pasture will come back because of that.

"Sheep numbers are generally going to be back as well, so that means pastures will be back and there'll be space for extra lentils."

In the Murraylands, Platinum Ag agronomist Simon Nott said rotations were mostly business as usual in the region.

"Lentils may have increased an area by about 5 percent, so it hasn't been a great deal," he said.

"Our canola area will be up about 10pc, but as far as the other crops they're all fairly similar.

"The Clearfield varieties like Thunder lentils and some wheat varieties will be tested this year, but there isn't much of a difference in the region from my perspective."

Meanwhile, Yorke Peninsula remains a lentil powerhouse, with the region's sown area not expected to increase dramatically due to its already large area of lentil crops according to Grower Supplies agronomist Jake Rademacher.

"We're still highly lentil dominated on Yorke Peninsula," he said.

"But our biggest swing is actual in the cereals side.

"Growers are looking to more disease resistant varieties to take the pressure off fungicide usage, but with lentils we're business as usual."

Viterra operations general manger Gavin Cavanagh said based on grower feedback, the company was expecting increased planting of lentils for the 2024/25 harvest across the state particularly in the Western and Central regions which is likely to see greater bulk exports from the Viterra system.

"In response to this, we will provide more lentil segregations across our network to ensure growers have options for delivery," he said.

"We are currently in conversations with our customers to understand the best sites to provide the new segregations to ensure efficient deliveries across all commodities.

"We will release our preliminary segregation plan soon and encourage growers to provide feedback so we can work to match their needs.

"Viterra has seen strong demand for lentils delivered into our network during the 2023-24 harvest and we have loaded 12 vessels from Wallaroo, Port Giles and Inner Harbour ports and have upcoming vessels booked from Port Lincoln."

Grain Producers SA CEO Brad Perry said he had been told there would be a huge increase in lentils this season.

"Particularly on the Eyre Peninsula, Mallee and the Murray Plains," he said.

"It appears many grain producers are planting lentils at the expense of beans, peas and canola.

"On the Yorke Peninsula, there are a lot grain producers putting in a 50/50 rotation of wheat and lentils."

The latest PIRSA Crop and Pasture report said last season a significant increase in lentil sowings were observed in areas of the Upper Eyre Peninsula and Murraylands.

"The area of lentils is expected to further increase in the 2024-25 season taking pasture area from an expected reduction in sheep numbers," it said.

"The area of field peas is likely to reduce due to proposed rationalisation of receival sites by a key bulk handler."

A PIRSA spokesperson said about 240,000ha of lentils were sown last year, which was roughly 30 per cent above the five-year average.

"The 2023-24 EP lentil harvest came from an estimated 50,000ha, a substantial increase from 13,000ha the year before," they said.

"While we do not have definitive estimates yet, we expect to see more lentils again this season on the EP.

"Early indications are that this may not come as direct replacement of other crops, but that some producers are looking to substitute lentils for livestock production."

Grain prices in this week's edition of Stock Journal show lentils valued as high as $955 per tonne at Dublin and as low as about $828/t at Wudinna, while H1 wheat is valued at $375/t, canola $660 and field peas $530/t at their highest.