Main image: A golden field of canola near Harden-Murrumburrah on the south-west slopes of New South Wales. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian
Sat 24 Sep 2022 16.00 EDT Last modified on Sat 24 Sep 2022 17.42 EDT
Canola crops are coming into full bloom in southern New South Wales but the prolonged wet season could ruin farmers’ chances to harvest their crops as some paddocks become waterlogged. Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
NSW Farmers grains committee chairman Justin Everett is based near Harden in the southern Riverina region of NSW and said an extra 20mm or 30mm of rain can make all the difference for farmers hoping to get their crops off the ground for harvest. Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
‘Sometimes it’s the luck of the gods,’ Everett said. ‘It can be a matter of neighbouring farmers, one might get a storm on his place and the other misses out. There are going to be areas where the floodwaters have just inundated the crops and, unfortunately, when canola is flowering, it’s at a very critical stage and anything like flooding and waterlogging is going to stop it from producing grain, which is going to be devastating for some farmers.’ Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
Delta agronomist Tim Condon said there was a very high global demand for canola in particular and, although the Australian price is lagging behind the world by 15-20%, he expects it to rise again as canola tends to follow the soybean cycle. ‘If you have a high yield and a high price, it’s going to be a highly profitable season for us,’ he said. Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
Condon predicted it would be ‘a very challenging harvest’ as Australia enters its third consecutive year of La Niña with above average rain forecast between September and November. It could ‘be the end of some farmers’. Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
Chris Groves, who farms land between Cowra and Canowindra in central western NSW, said his canola crops ‘are looking brilliant’ but are ‘a little waterlogged’ from all the rain. Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
‘We have been impacted by rain,’ Groves said. ‘It’s cost us a lot in the fact that we’ve had to apply extra fertiliser and chemicals via plane rather than drive over the paddocks ourselves because the country is too soft.’ Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
‘But I guess we are very lucky that we actually got them in the ground. A large proportion of western NSW didn’t even get a crop in the ground because it got too wet too quickly.’ Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
It’s not just the ‘challenging harvest’ causing concern for farmers. Blooming canola fields are attracting waves of tourists eager to capture the perfect shot among the sea of yellow flowers. Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
Groves said it’s ‘vitally important’ people stay out of the paddocks as farmers are facing ongoing biosecurity risks such as foot and mouth disease and lumpy skin disease. Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
‘If you go jumping fences into people’s paddocks, you are breaking the law,’ Groves said. ‘The consequences of that are you may finish up being charged with trespass and unlawful entry.’ Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
