BREAK CROPS AND ROTATIONS REGIONAL CROPPING …€¦ · committed by the following growers for this case study booklet; Ben Strickland, Paul Trenorden, Brendan Geraghty, ... At their

CASE STUDIES OF GROWERS IN WA’S NORTHERN AND EASTERN WHEATBELTAN INITIATIVE OF THE KWINANA EAST AND GERALDTON REGIONAL CROPPING SOLUTIONS NETWORKS

REGIONAL CROPPINGSOLUTIONS NETWORK

grdc.com.au

BREAK CROPS AND ROTATIONS OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA WESTERN REGION


Break Crops and Rotations of Western Australia2

AcknowledgementsGrateful acknowledgment is made for the information and time committed by the following growers for this case study booklet; Ben Strickland, Paul Trenorden, Brendan Geraghty, Owen Hayes-Thompson, Stephen Dolton, Pep Alvaro, Dane Farina, John Hobbs, Clint Della-Bosca, Stuart McAlpine, Rob Nankivell, Andrew Sandison, Ben McTaggart, Jeremy Wasley, Steve Rowe, Daniel Koric, Jason Stokes, Brett Warr and Karl Suckling.

Break Crops and Rotations of Western Australia Case studies of growers in WA’s northern and eastern wheatbelt

Cover Photo: CussonsMedia

GRDC Project Code: CMP00001-A

ISBN: 978-1-921779-38-1

Published February 2017

©Grains Research Development Corporation. This publication is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the GRDC.

Disclaimer:Any recommendations, suggestions or opinions contained in this publication do not necessarily represent the policy or views of the Grains Research and Development Corporation. No person should act on the basis of the contents of this publication without first obtaining specific, independent professional advice.

The Grains Research and Development Corporation will not be liable for any loss, damage, cost or expense incurred or arising by reason of any person using or relying on the information in this publication.


3

Table of ContentsIntroduction ______________________________________________________________4

Kwinana East Port Zone ____________________________________________________5

Ameliorating soils provides rotational flexibility _______________________________6

Ready for opportunity with early breaks in Nembudding _________________________9

Double break provides clear benefits ______________________________________ 12

Livestock on non-arable country improves land-use efficiency at Bruce Rock ________ 16

Canola more than a break crop at Bruce Rock _______________________________ 19

Varieties provide flexibility at Merredin _____________________________________22

Flexibility is key at Warralakin ____________________________________________25

Pulses are a valuable proposition at Bonnie Rock _____________________________28

Canola still worth keeping in the mix in the Yilgarn ____________________________ 31

Geraldton Port Zone ______________________________________________________34

Getting the soil biology right is critical for efficiency at Buntine ___________________35

Legumes make the system work at East Maya and Wubin ______________________38

Lupins are the star at Arrowsmith _________________________________________ 41

Peaola has a great fit on heavy soils at Mingenew ____________________________44

Medic pastures a double-edged sword north-east of Mingenew __________________ 47

Chickpeas to replace albus lupins at Wongoondy? ____________________________49

GM canola key to weed management on Mid-West gravels _____________________53

Enterprise diversity has multiple benefits in the Chapman Valley _________________56

Lupins and canola are more than just at break crop at Nolba ____________________60

Matching the soil type to rotation is key at Northampton _______________________63

Summary _______________________________________________________________67



IntroductionGRDC invested in the Regional Cropping Solutions Network (RCSN) in 2011 with the primary aim to identify local research, development and extension priorities. There are five RCSNs across the Western Region, which have been divided on a port zone basis:

• Albany port zone RCSN• Esperance port zone RCSN• Kwinana West port zone RCSN• Kwinana East port zone RCSN• Geraldton port zone RCSN

The RCSN consists of a mix of 60 growers and industry professionals who meet formally twice per year to discuss research, development and extension priorities that will improve profitability for grain growers in Western Australia.

GRDC has had a significant investment in break crops and rotations throughout WA; however WA growers are still asking what the best break crop or rotation is for their property. This is particularly relevant given many port zones have identified that canola is not performing as well as it should or providing the disease break it once did.

At their August 2015 meeting, both the Geraldton and Kwinana East port zone RCSNs ranked profitable rotations and break crops/pastures as their 5th highest ranking issue affecting profitability in their regions.

To address the issue, Geraldton port zone RCSN members wanted to review the cost benefit analysis of each of the relevant break crop options including fallow vs pasture vs lupins vs canola and other appropriate options. They identified that they wanted to see case studies of growers in their port zone, documenting real farmer data and experiences.

Similarly, Kwinana East port zone RCSN members wanted an analysis, financial and risk, of all rotations including fallow over a period of time from growers in the eastern wheatbelt.

This project revolved around finding a range of rotations that growers are using successfully in their farming operation and presenting these as case studies in a publication available to western region growers, with a particular emphasis on the Kwinana East and Geraldton port zones.

19 growers have been interviewed and their experiences in growing break crops and pastures are included in this booklet. We would like to acknowledge the support of these growers in sharing this knowledge, as farmer-to-farmer sharing is invaluable and is often the best way to adoption of new practices for other growers.

“Break Crops and Rotations of Western Australia” outlines some of the rotation options that Western Australian growers from the Kwinana East and Geraldton port zones have adopted to maintain profitability and diversity in their farming system. CussonsMedia have captured some of the tips and tricks that growers have adopted to make the decision on what, if any, break crop or pasture works for them.

The gross margins in this booklet are based on data obtained from the growers and are on a farm rather than paddock scale.

We hope that this booklet can provide growers in the Western Region with the knowledge to assess the risk and rewards and have the confidence to try different break crops/rotations on their own properties. We congratulate CussonsMedia on this publication and encourage growers to share this booklet with others.

For further information or for copies of this booklet, please feel free to contact the following:Julianne Hill Western Region RCSN Coordinator [email protected] 0447 261 607

Bonnie Rock

Moorine Rock

Bullfinch

Kalannie

Fremantle

Bencubbin

Wyalkatchem

Northam

Bruce Rock

Merredin

Strickland

Geraghty

Trenorden Farina

Alvaro

Dolton

Hayes-Thompson

Hobbs

Della-Bosca

WESTERNAUSTRALIA

KWINANAEAST ZONE

GERALDTONZONE

Perth

Geraldton

Kwinana East Port

Zone

6 Break Crops and Rotations of Western Australia


After a decision by the Strickland family to improve the productivity of their existing land rather than expand, they have embarked on an extensive soil amelioration program.

Prior to the soil health push, their crop rotation normally consisted of cereal rye, triticale and then a fallow on lighter, acidic soils. The cereal rye is included as a long season, dry start option whereas the triticale is a very quick growing, short season option. In both instances the aim is for very good ground cover to avoid wind or water erosion problems, with profit a secondary concern.

“We do harvest and sell the crop but we understand that those varieties are never going to be a big gross margin crop - they are really a tool to help our long term strategy to fix the soils,” Ben Strickland says.

AMELORIATION PROGRAMWith a large variation of soil types within paddocks, the Stricklands have focused on ameliorating smaller problem zones. In the last seven years they have been targeting lighter soils with pH and aluminium toxicity issues through applications of lime, dolomite and potash.

“Those lighter soils would have received an average

of 5t/ha of lime, 1t/ha of dolomite and 150kg/ha of potash,” Ben explains.

The actual amount applied depends on the soil characteristics, with lighter wodjil sands receiving between 2.5t/ha and 10t/ha of lime (applied as a trial strip), while the variation in dolomite was 0.5–2.5t/ha and potash was 50–240kg/ha.

“We pick a little zone, hit it really hard and see how much reactivity we can get,” he says.

“In a 100-hectare paddock, we would be treating 20-30 hectares, so they are not big areas.”

FALLOW-CANOLA-WHEAT-WHEAT-BARLEYHaving reached a point where they have a greater proportion of more productive soils, the Stricklands have unlocked greater flexibility in their cropping choices. Part of that new flexibility is an ability to commit between 15 and 20 per cent of their program each year to either fallow or canola.

“We have an over-arching of plan of what we would like to do but we are also very willing to be adaptable when we pull into the paddock with the airseeder,” explains Ben.

SNAPSHOTGROWERS: Ben, Kirsten and Robert StricklandLOCATION: East PitharaFARM SIZE: 4000ha owned 1000ha leasedENTERPRISES: 100 per cent croppingGROWING SEASON RAINFALL: 175mmSOIL TYPES: Wodjil sands, red loams, heavy loams, gravels, good yellow sands, fly away sands, morrell country, rock country, conglomerate and grey clays2016 CROP PROGRAM: 2500ha wheat, 450ha canola, 1700ha barley and 300ha fallowTYPICAL ROTATION: Fallow-canola-wheat-wheat-barley

The Stricklands grow Telfer TT canola and find that it is by far the fastest growing and highest yielding variety in low rainfall, difficult situations. PHOTO: CussonsMedia

Ameliorating soils provides rotational flexibility

Kwinana East Port Zone 7


“Having seen what the rainfall has been, what the latest conditions are and what we think the latest prices and prospects are, we are quite happy to throw the rotation in the bin and make the decision on the day.”

That overarching rotation is fallow-canola-wheat-wheat-barley, a system Ben believes probably only works on half of the program because they adapt it to suit the situation at the time.

“There might be new herbicides coming in that can control a particular problem weed, or a really early break to the season with a really good germination allowing for a double knock to get rid of those weeds, or the markets might tell us that canola is going to be bad this year or there is excess barley so it is looking like it is going to be a bullish market,” he says.

“We just keep changing our minds based on that season and what we see the opportunities or threats to that particular paddock are.”

In terms of the benefit from the fallow and canola to the wheat phase, Ben estimates that the first wheat following the canola has a 15 per cent higher yield than standard, while the second wheat has a 10 per cent higher yield.

CANOLAThe Stricklands grow Telfer TT canola and find that it is by far the fastest growing and highest yielding

variety in low rainfall difficult situations.

“Although we know we are missing out on upside yield potential in a year like this as there are definitely better varieties when it is raining, but in tougher years on tougher soils it is the fastest growing and best at handling difficult situations, so we stick with it,” says Ben.

Having alleviated the challenge of even seed distribution with a small seed box, Ben nominates subsoil moisture as a key challenge with canola.

“We get far more enthusiastic about putting in more paddocks of canola if we know there is moisture underneath it at seeding,” Ben explains.

“We try and keep all our summer weeds at a minimum – we could do three or four passes over summer to keep our weeds at an absolute minimum and keep as much of our moisture and fertility there

Table 1: Data is based on averages and variable costs include operations, grain levies, CBH fees, fertiliser, chemicals and grain and fertiliser freight.

A common rotation for the Strickland’s less productive soils before amelioration

Cereal RyeYear 1

TriticaleYear 2

FallowYear 3 Total

Yield (t/ha) 1 1.2 -

Price ($) FIS 310 220 -

Variable Cost ($/ha) 259 236 50

Gross Margin ($/ha) 51 28 -50 29

A common rotation for the Strickland’s more productive soils following amelioration

FallowYear 1

CanolaYear 2

WheatYear 3

WheatYear 4

BarleyYear 5 Total

Yield (t/ha) - 0.82 1.70 1.65 1.75

Price ($) FIS - 525 275 275 225

Variable Cost ($/ha) 50 290 290 290 295

Gross Margin ($/ha) -50 140 178 164 99 531

Table 2: Data is based on averages and variable costs include operations, grain levies, CBH fees, fertiliser, chemicals and grain and fertiliser freight.



for the winter crop”.

“All the research you ever read shows one of the best bangs for the buck we can do as farmers in the low rainfall zone is to control summer weeds,” he comments.

As they are in the early stages of introducing the new rotation in which canola follows fallow, Ben is hoping to achieve excellent results with the double break.

“I love the look of it, it is certainly performing better so far but the harvester is going to tell us the story at the end of this year,” Ben says.

Ben estimates that growing canola or wheat following a fallow will result in a 10 per cent jump in yield.

LITMUSA BARLEYPrior to amelioration, the Strickland’s acidic wodjil sands were barely an option for a wheat, let alone barley. With LitmusA barley specifically bred to handle aluminium toxic soils, the Stricklands have found that it has an excellent fit in their rotation.

“We have been surprised on a number of occasions when even on what we would consider to be quite good barley country, if there is any subsoil constraint

there, LitmusA is outstandingly better in yield,” Ben says.

“If you are putting it on a very poor wodjil soil that you haven’t tried to fix, then it is not very successful but if you have made an attempt and have given it something to establish on, it seems to be able to push its roots into those poor soils and collect the nutrients that virtually no other plant has before it.

“It has performed far better for us than the variety trials say that it should be able to – in fact we have got so enthusiastic about LitmusA that we would use it on any light soil rather than another malting variety

or other variety at all.”

The key to managing LitmusA barley, according to Ben, is to put it in early, giving it as much of the growing season as possible. Even though it is a reasonably short season variety, especially

on more challenging soils, Ben believes the more time it is given, the better it will perform.

The Stricklands have also found that, especially on challenging soil types, liquid nitrogen top-ups tend to be better than granular applications, with the first being applied at three leaf stage followed by one at jointing stage.

MORE INFORMATIONBen Strickland [email protected] 0412 211 252

IN SUMMARY• Amelioration allows for improved productivity

• 15-20 per cent of program is canola and fallow

• Telfer canola handles low rainfall conditions

• LitmusA barley handles subsoil constraints

• Wheat yields improve after fallow and canola by 10-15 per cent

• Canola yields improve after fallow by 10 per cent

All the research you ever read shows one of the best bangs for the buck we can do as farmers in the low rainfall zone is to control summer weeds.Ben Strickland, East Pithara.



When 100 millimetres of rain fell at Easter in 2016, Paul and Claire Trenorden were able to capitalise on the opportunity and sow canola immediately after. It was a simple philosophy, but one that has been honed from the last couple of years of experience on his Nembudding property - be ready for those early rains.

“All the data that I’ve seen says early sown canola in our area wins – it is less risky to sow early than late,” Paul explains.

“Two years ago I wasn’t ready when we had an early rain and I missed the opportunity.

“My neighbours used a hybrid canola early, took advantage of the sowing opportunity and the wet

profile and yielded one tonne plus more than me.”

Paul likes to have flexibility in his system so if an early sowing opportunity arises he can plant ground into a break crop in those years. The change in philosophy is apparent when you consider that in 2009 the Trenordens grew 100 per cent wheat and seven years later they are less than 50 per cent wheat. The wheat area has been replaced with barley, canola and, for the first time in 2016, 200 hectares of oats.

In addition to broadening the cropping rotation over the last few years, the Trenordens have also moved away from livestock, having not run sheep for the past three years. As a result, Paul is trying to work out how to get weed management right without having the pasture phase.

SNAPSHOTGROWERS: Paul & Claire TrenordenLOCATION: NembuddingFARM SIZE: 2300haENTERPRISES: 100 per cent croppingGROWING SEASON RAINFALL: 160mmSOIL TYPES: Range from deep sand, mainly to a loam based soil, into clay with some gravel ridges2016 CROP PROGRAM: 1000ha wheat, 600ha barley, 325ha canola and 200ha oatsTYPICAL ROTATION: Barley-barley-barley-barley, wheat-wheat-canola-wheat and wheat-wheat-canola-oats Paul Trenorden decided to try the longer season GT-50 canola in 2016

and it is looking very promising. PHOTO: CussonsMedia

Ready for opportunity with early breaks in Nembudding

A common rotation for the Trenordens including ScopeA barley

BarleyYear 1

BarleyYear 2

BarleyYear 3

BarleyYear 4 Total

Yield (t/ha) 2.3 2.3 2.3 2.3

Price ($) FIS 220 220 220 220

Variable Cost ($/ha) 380 390 380 390

Gross Margin ($/ha) 126 116 126 116 484

Table 3: Variable costs include operations, grain levies, CBH fees, fertiliser, chemicals, crop insurance and grain and fertiliser freight.



“We have traditionally gone into a barley, out to a pasture and then back into a wheat rotation, whereas now I would mainly be three cereals and then a canola,” says Paul.

“The barley has been barley on barley using the imidazolinone (IMI) chemistry.”

CANOLAWith the wet start to 2016, not only did Paul double his area sown to canola compared to the previous year, he also decided to grow a longer season ‘5-series’ canola, GT-50, on the better soil types with the GT-41 variety on his poorer country.

“I had seen higher potential yield of the ‘5-series’ in trials and thought I wouldn’t grow it in a normal season, if there is a normal season anymore, but this year the opportunity was there to grow it and see what it was like,” Paul explains.

“The canola yields have been variable but this year I think the canola could go 2t/ha which, when you do your figures, is a winner.”

While the yield potential looked promising in 2016,

Paul says that he is always mindful that canola can fail and so he won’t have too much of his cropping program at risk.

BARLEYThe Trenorden’s grow ScopeA because it is a good, competitive, early variety that can be sown prior to ANZAC Day.

“It stacks up really well – it can yield very well and, with the weed management, you have it in really early so the wheat can be planted in what I consider to be its prime time,” says Paul.

Paul currently grows a lot of barley on barley and, although it is working well, he would like to drop it

Paul Trenorden has learnt to be ready to take the opportunity early rain presents. PHOTO: CussonsMedia

All the data that I’ve seen says early sown canola in our area wins – it is less risk to sow early than late.Paul Trenorden, Nembudding

A common rotation for the Trenordens including GM canola

WheatYear 1

WheatYear 2

CanolaYear 3

WheatYear 4 Total

Yield (t/ha) 1.7 1.7 1.2 1.8

Price ($) FIS 290 280 500 290

Variable Cost ($/ha) 367 363 409 426

Gross Margin ($/ha) 126 113 218 178 635

Table 4: Costs include operations, grain levies and CBH fees, fertiliser, chemicals, crop insurance and grain and fertiliser freight. The second wheat is MagentaA while the other two are MaceA and the canola is RR GT-41. An oil bonus of $22.50/t is included in the gross income.



into a break crop before returning it back to barley.

“I was going to use canola in 2016 but, given the early rains, I switched back to barley as I was worried about the IMI carryover,” he explains.

“There has been some really bad results with carryover from some of the early IMI’s that we have used.”

Paul is also considering dropping the barley out into a fallow.

OATSThe opportunity to capitalise on a high oat price has led the Trenordens to grow oats on 200 hectares of canola stubble. The risk, Paul notes, is the oats will be under weight, possibly making them difficult to market. Generally, the oats are grown on the more acidic soils as Paul believes they yield better than wheat in that situation.

MORE INFORMATIONPaul Trenorden 0428 825 065 [email protected]

IN SUMMARY• Be ready for early sowing opportunities

• GT-50 may perform very well given the excellent early rainfall

• ScopeA allows sowing to continue without risking wheat to frost

• Underweight grain and subsequent marketing difficulties is a risk of growing oats

While canola looks promising in 2016, Paul Trenorden is always mindful of the risks. PHOTO: CussonsMedia

A common rotation for the Trenordens including BannisterA oats

WheatYear 1

WheatYear 2

CanolaYear 3

OatsYear 4 Total

Yield (t/ha) 1.8 1.7 1.2 3

Price ($) FIS 290 280 500 250

Variable Cost ($/ha) 383 363 393 377

Gross Margin ($/ha) 139 113 234 373 859

Table 5: The data is based on the 2016 budget and the variable costs include operations, grain levies, CBH fees, fertiliser, chemicals, crop insurance and grain and fertiliser freight. The first wheat is MagentaA while the second is MaceA and the canola is RR GT-41. An oil bonus of $22.50/t is included in the gross income.



Double break provides clear benefits

As you drive past the front gate of the Geraghty family’s Karloning farm, you will notice an old 1950’s water tank painted as a Rubik’s cube.

What you might not realise is how the cube represents the soil types, rotations and different rainfall patterns on the Geraghty farms – a bit of a puzzle.

“We have a range of soil pHs, soil textures and elevation spread out over the three locations all with individual soil types on each property when, combined with variable rainfall and market forces it is a puzzle to put together but I’d like to think we are slowly getting it,” Brendan says.

It is not surprising then that Brendan describes his rotation as ‘complicated’, with factors including weed burden, seasonal break, soil pH, frost risk and water holding capacity all influencing paddock rotation. Brendan says while the growing season rainfall has declined, annual rainfall hasn’t, indicating how

important summer rainfall has become to them.

“Summer weed control is paramount out here - it is not a luxury but a necessity,” explains Brendan.

“However, we have seen increased nitrogen availability through summer spraying, meaning less money spent on nutrition, as well as more preserved moisture.”

The main aims of the Geraghty's rotations are to keep some diversity in the crops and chemicals used while reducing the weed bank and avoiding any weed blowouts. They look for early sowing opportunities, including planting a large percentage dry if needed, and to maximise plant water use efficiency. Importantly, this all has to happen without losing money should there be a succession of droughts.

Probably 80 per cent of the program is predetermined but there always has to be that bit of flexibility to cater for the problems or opportunities

SNAPSHOTGROWERS: Brendan & Jaclyn, Chris & Sue and Neil Geraghty LOCATION: Bencubbin, Karloning and WialkiFARM SIZE: 6411ha arable with 300ha leasedENTERPRISES: Cropping and 2000-2500 sheepGROWING SEASON RAINFALL: 188mmSOIL TYPES: Range from heavy clays to wodjils2016 CROP PROGRAM: 2750ha wheat, 1330ha barley, 250ha canola, 300ha oats and 1400ha pastureTYPICAL ROTATIONS: Wheat-barley-wheat-barley-fallow/pasture and wheat-wheat-barley-barley-fallow (heavy soils)Wheat-wheat-barley-fallow-canola or wheat-wheat-canola-wheat or wheat-wheat-barley-pasture-canola (medium to better heavy types)Wheat-oats-pasture or wheat-wheat-oats-fallow-canola (lighter soils) Different soil types, rotations and rainfall patterns make a bit of a puzzle

for Brendan Geraghty. PHOTO: CussonsMedia



that inevitably arise from one season to the next.

CANOLAFor the last five years, the Geraghty’s have embraced a double break strategy, cropping a portion of their canola after a pasture or fallow to give near a 100 per cent weed control including the late germinating ryegrass and barley grass favoured by dry sowing. Brendan believes this strategy results in better canola yields while reducing weed seed banks and the short-term risk of growing the crop.

“The canola on fallow has been a winner - in 2012 I had half the canola program on stubble which yielded around 0.5t/ha and the other half was on fallow which yielded a tonne,” says Brendan.

“They talk that a wheat on fallow can yield an extra 400kg/ha and I believe that canola is the same so,

with the price of canola you are miles ahead.”

In addition, the benefit of better weed control is really important to the Geraghtys.

“A perfect example was in 2010,” says Brendan.

“Canola on a wheat stubble yielded a very disappointing 0.12t/ha but the double-edged sword was the following year’s dry sown wheat crop was filthy due to not enough rainfall in the growing season to germinate the ryegrass in 2010.

“This has led us to believe that in these growing conditions, a one-year break does not achieve a desirable result for long term weed control.”

The Geraghtys have also had good results ameliorating some of their poorer soils with lime and gypsum in the pasture or fallow phase before the canola.

“It just seems to happen a bit better in a fallow then canola rotation - possibly the roots from the canola are breaking up the soil a bit and everything filters down a bit better,” Brendan comments.

“Also, you have got that stored moisture after the fallow and canola with its tap root has that ability to extract what the cereal just can’t find.

“It is hoped that the extra profit from growing canola

Table 7: The data is from the 2015 season and the variable costs include operations, grain levies and CBH fees, fertiliser, chemicals and grain and fertiliser freight. 5 year average yields for wheat are 1.48t/ha, barley 1.78t/ha, canola after wheat 0.79t/ha, canola after fallow 1.15t/ha, oats 1.2t/ha and profit from sheep $40/WGHa.

A common rotation for the Geraghty’s lighter soils

WheatYear 1

OatsYear 2

PastureYear 3 Total

Yield (t/ha) 2.6 1.89

Price ($) FIS 295 365

Variable Cost ($/ha) 339 200

Gross Margin ($/ha) 428 489 40 957

A common rotation for the Geraghty’s heavier soils

WheatYear 1

BarleyYear 2

WheatYear 3

BarleyYear 4

FallowYear 5 Total

Yield (t/ha) 3 2.8 2.3 2.8

Price ($) FIS 295 250 295 250

Variable Cost ($/ha) 363 264 251 264 100

Gross Margin ($/ha) 522 436 428 436 -100 1,286

Table 6: The data is from the 2015 season and variable costs include operations, grain levies, CBH fees, fertiliser, chemicals and grain and fertiliser freight. Fallow costs include chemical, amelioration and operational costs. 5 year average yields for wheat are 1.48t/ha, barley 1.78t/ha, canola after wheat 0.79t/ha, canola after fallow 1.15t/ha, oats 1.2t/ha and sheep profit is $40/WGHa.



on fallow will pay for the amelioration costs.”

The canola grown across their farms has mostly been farmer-retained triazine tolerant (TT) varieties, along with a small area of Roundup Ready®. Brendan says this keeps the seed cost down and so far he hasn’t seen any yield difference between the two.

“The TT has provided far better weed control with the atrazine still providing good results with the residual,” Brendan explains.

“Triazine Tolerant Roundup Ready® resistant canola will definitely be the next one to try but it is all about cost.

“We don’t have any known resistance at this stage although we are quite often faced with tough climatic conditions and at times those chemicals can struggle to work in the frost and dry.”

Financially Brendan believes canola can be a very profitable part of the rotation because in a good year, in comparison with wheat, it has much lower freight costs, resulting in a good gross margin.

“When you have a really good year and your wheat goes around the 2t/ha you have a lot of freight charges, whereas with your canola, if the price stacks up, all that halves,” Brendan says.

“As the canola is not in a tight rotation, we don’t have major problems with fungicides so at this stage canola can be a fairly cheap part of the rotation with a good result.”

BARLEYFor the last five years, the Geraghtys have generally grown ScopeA barley, with Intervix® providing excellent control on barley grass, wild oats and brome. LitmusA barley has been grown on the wodjil soils in 2016 and looks really promising, while Brendan also has high hopes for an improved yield with the new variety SpartacusA.

“Out here I think we have proven that barley is a very important part of the rotation as it actually cleans paddocks up with weeds and seems to have some affect on the

soil as you leave a lot of soil cover after a barley crop, so we probably prefer to finish a rotation with barley because of that,” explains Brendan.

Even in a dry year, Brendan has found barley produces reasonable stubble cover and, while their sheep do graze the stubbles pretty hard, Brendan tries to leave some stubble cover. This helps in the following year as there isn’t as much chemical damage when dry sowing.

The Geraghtys also have 300 hectares which have

A one-year break does not achieve a desirable result for long term weed control.Brendan Geraghty, Bencubbin

A common rotation for the Geraghty’s medium soils

WheatYear 1

WheatYear 2

BarleyYear 3

FallowYear 4

CanolaYear 5 Total

Yield (t/ha) 2.6 2 2.8 1.4

Price ($) FIS 295 295 250 555

Variable Cost ($/ha) 270 276 264 100 403

Gross Margin ($/ha) 497 314 436 -100 374

Table 8: The data is from the 2015 season and variable costs include operations, grain levies, CBH fees, fertiliser, chemicals and grain and fertiliser freight. 5 year average yields for wheat are 1.48t/ha, barley 1.78t/ha, canola after wheat 0.79t/ha, canola after fallow 1.15t/ha, oats 1.2t/ha and sheep profit is $40/WGHa.



been in continuous barley for over 10 years due to salinity and sodicity, a strategy Brendan has found to be extremely effective.

“It goes in dry or early every year and yields in 2015 far exceeded 3t/ha,” Brendan explains.

“That block has become really clean of weeds and the only factor is really spot type net blotch but so far cheap fungicides have been able to control that quite well.”

OATSOats have traditionally played a small role in the rotation for the Geraghtys, mainly on poorer soils, with better soil reserved for wheat and barley.

“The old timers used to talk about oats as a break crop and, from what we have seen, they certainly

are if we can get good dollars per tonne and a good yield per hectare,” he says.

With oat prices like those seen in 2015, Brendan would like to sow oats on the better parts of the farm but is concerned about weed control.

“The yield on the poorer soil types doesn’t necessarily stack up that great, but the oats will certainly grow quite well on the better areas of the farm – however it is quite easy to have a weed blowout,” Brendan explains.

SHEEPWhile their sheep numbers have declined over the years, they remain an integral part of the Geraghty’s rotation due to their role in managing chemical resistance.

“The sheep are just that little bit of extra insurance and a way to make a tidy return without the risk and continually pumping the same things into the ground,” Brendan says.

MORE INFORMATIONBrendan Geraghty [email protected] 0429 484 021

IN SUMMARY• Rotation is constantly evolving dependent on

current situation

• Double break provides both excellent weed control and soil moisture benefits

• IMI tolerant barleys have a great fit for brome, barley grass and wild oats control

• Sheep help manage risk of cropping program

Most of the canola grown across the Geraghty’s farms have been triazine tolerant varieties. PHOTO: CussonsMedia



Pastures are an integral part of the Hayes-Thompson family’s farming system because their Bruce Rock farm contains a significant amount of ‘broken’ non-arable country. Running livestock on these paddocks offers much better land-use efficiency than cropping the same country.

“We have quite a bit of land that is non-arable and we can generate a lot of money from livestock because we can use that non-arable area,” Owen Hayes-Thompson explains.

“In a 100-hectare paddock fence to fence, you may have 75 hectares arable and 25 hectares that is bush and rocks so, if you work out gross margins on lupins or canola as the break crop, you can only crop 75 hectares.

“However we have the ability to run sheep on all of those 100 hectares, which affects stocking rate and in turn affects profit, or gross margin, out of the paddock.”

It is not a surprise then that rotations on their

property are relatively short and on the medium country are either in a year-in year-out rotation or a double crop before returning back to pasture.

In addition to the country lending itself to pasture, the Hayes-Thompson family also like to have a good percentage into a break crop because they always see a benefit in the cereal following the break. Importantly, it is not only weeds that they are trying to break from, it is disease and nutrition as well.

“One of the reasons we have dropped canola is because we are not breaking the nutrition side of the equation,” Owen says.

“That is why we have stuck with pasture and lupins, because they are going to put a bit more back into the soil so that we can reduce our inputs the following year.”

While the Hayes-Thompson’s system is constantly under review, with a return to canola not ruled out, the free nitrogen from pasture and lupins is attractive.

SNAPSHOTGROWERS: Owen & Kate and Bryce & Jenny Hayes-ThompsonLOCATION: Bruce RockFARM SIZE: 4200haENTERPRISES: Cropping and 1500 sheep (mated ewes)GROWING SEASON RAINFALL: 200-225mmSOIL TYPES: 85 per cent medium soils and 15 per cent light soils 2016 CROP PROGRAM: 1400ha wheat, 700ha barley, 260ha oaten hay, 260ha lupins and 120ha oatsTYPICAL ROTATIONS: Wheat-pasture and wheat-barley-pasture (medium soils) lupin-wheat-barley (lighter soils) Livestock allow the Hayes-Thompson family to utilise non-arable areas

on their farm. PHOTO: CussonsMedia

Livestock on non-arable country improves land-use efficiency at Bruce Rock

We have quite a lot of land that is non-arable and we can generate a lot of money from livestock because we can use that non-arable area.Owen Hayes-Thompson, Bruce Rock



PASTUREOut of the 1200 hectares of pasture, approximately 200 hectares is renovated each year with the aim of reducing grass and increasing the broadleaf component of the pasture.

“We have got all different types of pasture, including a full 100 per cent legume pasture, a 20 per cent legume pasture and a high grass component pasture,” Owen explains.

“In a year-in year-out pasture-cereal rotation the legume component is often quite good, but if it is a double-crop-pasture rotation, then it is more of a grassy pasture.

“It just depends on the paddock that we have got.”

Irrespective of where they are in the rotation, all pastures are sprayed to reduce the grass content.

“Grassier pastures get spray-topped at a certain time for weed seed set, whereas clover-based pastures or capeweed-based pastures are normally manipulated,” Owen adds.

OATS FOR HAY AND GRAINMilling oats are primarily produced for sheep feed with the surplus able to be stored relatively easily

and sold throughout the year. Owen says the oats fit on his salmon gum country where lupins don’t perform as well. While hay is grown every year, it is more on an as required basis due to it being an excellent weed control tool.

“If you have got a weedy, grassy paddock, particularly ryegrass, it will still make really good hay without having to use chemicals so you can still use the mechanical form to control weeds,” Owen says.

However, not all paddocks will grow good hay and its nutritional cost is also a factor which influences their rotation.

“The hay takes a lot of nutrition out of the soil, so I wouldn’t like to have hay in a close rotation but it works in a longer rotation such as hay-wheat-barley-lupins-wheat-barley,” Owen explains.

“Probably an alternative rotation that we are not doing at the moment would be canola instead of lupins, just because of the soil type – it is not going to be super lupin country that you can grow hay on.”

For those considering hay as an option on their farm, Owen believes it is not the price that is the biggest challenge. It is the logistics of getting the jobs done at the right time.

“Growing it is easy – you plant it, it grows, you fertilise it, it grows a bit more, but the cutting and the

Table 9: Data is based on averages and the variable cropping costs include seed, fertiliser, chemicals, crop insurance, repairs to plant and machinery, fuel, oil and cropping labour. For the pasture rotation, the average income is $180/ha comprised of wool income and livestock sold and the variable costs include shearing, wool and animal health requisites, contract work, feed, fertiliser, fuel, repairs and maintenance and labour.

A common rotation for the Hayes-Thompson’s medium soils

WheatYear 1

PastureYear 2 Total

Yield (t/ha) 1.75

Price ($) FIS 280

Variable Cost ($/ha) 204

Gross Margin ($/ha) 286 110 396

Table 10: Variable costs include seed, fertiliser, chemicals, crop insurance, repairs to plant and machinery, fuel, oil and cropping labour.

The Hayes-Thompson’s estimated gross margins for oats and oaten hay for the 2016 season

Oaten HayYear 1

OatsYear 2

Yield (t/ha) 3 1.85

Price ($) FIS 210 240


Gross Margin ($/ha) 274 250



baling are crucial to getting it right and that is for both weed control and quality,” says Owen.

“If you are happy to take the risk then hay is really good – it is a high gross margin crop but it comes with more risk.

“Time of cutting, what happens once you lay it on the ground, if it gets wet or if it gets baled at the right time, price – are all risks.

“However things like fallow, you know it is going to cost you a certain amount of money but they are very low risk because you know exactly what they cost and exactly the result you are going to get out of it,” Owen concludes.

Owen believes those considering a new break crop should not only consider their ability to manage that break crop in a timely manner, but also consider their attitude to risk.

LUPINSPBA GunyidiA lupins have a fit on the Hayes-Thompson’s lighter tamma country in a wheat-barley-lupin rotation. Owen says the barley provides soil cover and good stubble for the lupins to be planted into, which helps in managing disease as there is no splash onto the leaves of the lupins.

“We try not to grow them on the medium jam country because of it being so broken – a tree line will take a lot out of a lupin crop,” Owen says.

“In the more open light country, you don’t lose as much and historically that lighter soil has a bit lower pH and the lupins can handle that.”

While ryegrass is primarily the number one weed the Hayes-Thompson family deals with, growing PBA GunyidiA metribuzin-tolerant lupins helps with radish control.

FUTURE PLANS In addition to considering a double-break before a cereal, Owen is also looking at replacing wheat with canola in the traditional wheat-pasture rotation on their main pasture country.

“We could achieve a higher yielding canola and take the risk out by putting it after pasture and then in the following year we could have a better pasture because there aren’t as many residual chemicals,” Owen explains.

“I can’t emphasis enough that every rotation we have got is under review - it is all about making sure you are generating a profit each year.”

MORE INFORMATIONOwen Hayes-Thompson [email protected] 0429 458 267

IN SUMMARY• Livestock offer potential on non-arable land

• Canola is currently not in rotation as it doesn’t provide a nutritional benefit

• Oaten hay can have a high gross margin but is risky

• Stubble cover from barley benefits lupins

Table 11: Data is based on averages and the variable costs include seed, fertiliser, chemicals, crop insurance, repairs to plant and machinery, fuel, oil and cropping labour.

A common rotation for the Hayes-Thompson’s lighter soils

LupinYear 1

WheatYear 2

BarleyYear 3 Total

Yield (t/ha) 1.1 1.8 1.84

Price ($) FIS 330 280 248





Canola, lupins and fallow are all integral to the sustainability of the Dolton cropping enterprise in the north-east of the Bruce Rock shire. Simply put, Stephen Dolton believes that growing the most profitable crop, in his case wheat, continuously, will result in agronomic issues, being weeds and disease.

In general, the Dolton rotation starts with a fallow, then canola and then two to three years of wheat. Then depending on soil types, they will sow lupins before returning to a couple of years of wheat.

“This system is all dependent on weed banks - once we run into weed problems, generally brome grass, barley grass or ryegrass, we put it into fallow and start that rotation again,” Stephen says.

In addition to weeds being a keen driver of the timing of the break crops, Stephen also considers disease to be an important factor.

“There are a lot of unknown or hidden diseases that we probably don’t know about under the ground, so I feel that we can’t really continue a wheat for more than three years,” says Stephen.

As a result, when the Doltons make their cropping plan, they like to only sow 30 per cent wheat on wheat and 50 per cent of their wheat following a break crop or fallow.

CANOLAWhen Stephen returned to the farm 10 years ago, canola was a very small part of the family’s cropping program and was grown really only as a break crop to reduce the weed bank for the following wheat crops. Now Stephen says that it makes up more than 20 per cent of their cropping program because in terms of the gross margin, it is not that far off wheat. Although canola gross margins can be very variable, Stephen believes that on average over the last 20 years, canola is only $10-15/ha less than a barley or wheat crop.

While many growers in the eastern wheatbelt have been reluctant to grow Roundup Ready® canola, commonly 40 per cent of the Dolton family’s canola program is Roundup Ready®.

“Hybrid Roundup Ready® varieties are definitely giving us a yield advantage and, even with the

SNAPSHOTGROWERS: Stephen & Felicity and Ian & Anne DoltonLOCATION: Bruce RockFARM SIZE: 5314ha owned and 1174ha leasedENTERPRISES: Cropping and 1000 breeding ewesGROWING SEASON RAINFALL: 234mmSOIL TYPES: Predominantly sandy loam duplex over gravel or clay, yellow sands, red loams and greyish clays2016 CROP PROGRAM: 3200ha wheat, 850ha barley, 295ha lupins, 220ha fallow, 400ha pasture, 1300ha canola and 200ha oatsTYPICAL ROTATION: Fallow-canola-wheat-wheat-lupins-wheat-wheat, barley and oats-pasture Stephen Dolton in a canola crop which now makes up 20 per cent of

their cropping program. PHOTO: CussonsMedia

Canola more than a break crop at Bruce Rock



discount in price, are probably equal to or slightly better than our triazine tolerant (TT) gross margins,” Stephen says.

“The Roundup Ready® varieties normally follow our fallow situations, as the higher percentage of stored water on those soils means we are not relying so much on winter rainfall, which lowers the risk.

“It is expensive out in the eastern wheatbelt to grow Roundup Ready® crops with the price of seed, so it is a big risk for us to take.”

The decision on whether to grow Roundup Ready® or TT varieties is dependent on the herbicide history of the paddock, with the overall aim of rotating the chemistry.

“If the paddock selected for canola has had a long history of Select® use, or atrazine use, we are switching to Roundup Ready® to cover ourselves,” Stephen explains.

“Whether in applying the best herbicide that we have

got known to us on these crops, being glyphosate, we are shooting ourselves in the foot – I am not too sure.”

Stephen says they manage this potential issue by dropping glyphosate out for paraquat or another alternative where possible in other parts of the rotation.

BARLEYContinuously growing barley has proven to be one of the Dolton’s better income generating rotations as they can push it out so many years without having too many agronomic issues. They are currently growing ScopeA, which has given them the ability to control brome and barley grass which they had found to be an Achilles heel of growing too much barley on barley.

If the paddock selected for canola has had a long history of Select® use, or atrazine use, we are switching to Roundup Ready® to cover ourselves.Stephen Dolton, Bruce Rock

Table 13: The gross income for the pasture is $150/ha and variable costs are $76/ha. Both the pasture and wheat variable costs include seed, operations, fertiliser and chemicals.

A common rotation for the Doltons including clover pastures

PastureYear 1

WheatYear 2 Total

Yield (t/ha) 1.8

Price ($) FIS 290

Variable Cost ($/ha) 280


A common rotation for the Doltons including canola and lupins

FallowYear 1

CanolaYear 2

WheatYear 3

WheatYear 4

LupinsYear 5

WheatYear 6

WheatYear 7 Total

Yield (t/ha) 0.85 1.8 1.8 1 1.9 1.8

Price ($) FIS 580 290 290 380 290 290

Variable Cost ($/ha) 150 295 280 280 248 260 280

Gross Margin ($/ha) 74 172 188 188 102 234 188 1146

Table 12: Variable costs include seed, operations, fertiliser and chemicals and the yields are based on 25 year averages while the price is based on a 5 year average.



“We have been pretty happy with ScopeA and we are bulking up SpartacusA so hopefully that will get accredited as a malt variety because we don’t really have a fit for growing feed barley,” Stephen explains.

LUPINSWhile Stephen believes lupins aren’t a very profitable proposition when considered on their own, they are grown purely as a break crop which sometimes results in a yield increase in the following cereal crop.

MAKING THE MOST OF FALLOW GROUNDFor fallow paddocks, the Doltons generally plant a cereal, often dry, at the start of the season just to get some early feed and also to stimulate a weed germination.

“If our pastures can’t keep up with our stock, that will supply us with some early sheep feed and then we look at spraying that paddock out by July or August for 100 per cent weed control,” Stephen explains.

The Dolton family runs 1000 breeding ewes mated to

a British breed to produce crossbred lambs.

“We see the sheep as a form of income in those fallow situations where we are pulling it out for a certain weed species,” explains Stephen.

“We try and grow something on those fallow paddocks and see that as free food for the sheep.

“We are still happy running them and we see a fit for them.

“They are just not a huge part of our farm as they represent only 10 per cent of our income.”

OATSDriven by positivity in the oats market, in 2016 the Dolton family have sown 200 hectares of oats and are looking forward to seeing the results at harvest time.

“We are unsure how they are going to yield or what the quality will be but I think they should yield better than wheat on most soil types,” says Stephen.

“If that oat price holds then I do think they will become a bigger part of our rotation.”

Forty per cent of the Dolton family’s canola program is Roundup Ready® canola. PHOTO: CussonsMedia

MORE INFORMATIONStephen Dolton 0428 623 010 [email protected]

IN SUMMARY• Weeds and disease determines when a break

crop is introduced

• Roundup Ready® canola is grown to rotate herbicides

• Sheep offer a form of income in the fallow phase



Having plenty of silos full of differing cereal varieties is really important to Pep and Jules Alvaro, as this allows flexibility in their system. Pep estimates they would be at least 90 per cent cereal in most years, however this year they have dropped back to 80 per cent so they can use fallow to manage those weedier paddocks.

“We grow YitpiA as our earliest variety purely because of that frost risk – it mitigates that a bit – and it tends to do well on the heavier country,” Pep explains.

“We have MaceA which has been solid over a long period of time and CobraA, which we don’t have a lot of but we just take the opportunity if there is a wetter year as it tends to yield very well, so we have a little bit of that just to get a little cream.

“We grow WyalkatchemA which will hopefully be replaced by Impress CL PlusA which is basically an IMI (Imidazolinone) tolerant WyalkatchemA.

“We also have Emu RockA, which is the commercially quickest growing wheat that we have in WA and then we have MagentaA because it has the best aluminium tolerance available and we have some of that country.”

The full range of varieties don’t get used every season but the Alvaros like to have that little bit of flexibility because it allows them to adapt to varying seasonal conditions.

In addition to varying the varieties they plant to manage risk, at the beginning of the season they evaluate the potential of the season and adjust their fertiliser and seeding rates accordingly.

“If we have some moisture and a nice early start, we can fertilise to its full potential,” Pep says.

“However, with a later the start we might bring the fertiliser rate back by 10kg/ha and the seeding rate back by 5kg/ha.”

LUPINSManaging risk and thus profitability is key according Pep and so that means their rotation contains a significant proportion of cereal on cereal, sometimes for up to 10 or 11 years before it is dropped into a fallow to manage the weed burden. While lupins are also used as a break crop, Pep does not place much significance on their nitrogen benefits.

“The lupins will give you some nitrogen but I don’t think that nitrogen is a big issue out here,” says Pep.

SNAPSHOTGROWERS: Pep & Jules AlvaroLOCATION: MerredinFARM SIZE: 5600ha arableENTERPRISES: 90 per cent cropping and sheep (opportunistic trading)GROWING SEASON RAINFALL: 190mmSOIL TYPES: Predominantly heavy clay, morrell with some loam and wodjil2016 CROP PROGRAM: 3550ha wheat, 680ha barley, 600ha pasture and 370ha lupinsTYPICAL ROTATION: Wheat-wheat-wheat-wheat (heavy country) and wheat-wheat-wheat-lupins/barley (lighter country) Pep Alvaro grows six different wheat varieties to provide flexibility on his

farm at Merredin. PHOTO: CussonsMedia

Varieties provide flexibility at Merredin



“I think moisture is, so if you are going to be low on moisture, you need to be low risk and that is what we do.”

A few years ago Pep travelled to Victoria for a controlled traffic tour and noticed that, even in the higher rainfall zones, growers were using double row spacing for their lupins and were getting good results – a practice they now use to sow their PBA GunyidiA lupins.

“So, if you have got double row, you can actually get herbicide onto those little ryegrasses in between and generally the lupins will just fill out and pod up,” Pep adds.

FALLOW SAFER THAN CANOLAIn the couple of years the the Alvaros did try canola, the start of the seasons weren’t ideal but it did grow alright until the heat hit in September.

“It was flowering and the flowers weren’t producing anything, so essentially it just vegetated and we just grew a big floppy plant with nothing on top of it really,” Pep explains.

So rather than focusing on the opportunities of wetter years, Pep’s focus is on managing risk in the more common drier years to maintain profitability.

“In those dry years everything has to be kept really tight and I know from when we were growing canola,

Pep Alvaro adjusts his inputs depending on the seasonal outlook. PHOTO: CussonsMedia

A common rotation for the Alvaro’s lighter soils

WheatYear 1

WheatYear 2

WheatYear 3

LupinsYear 4 Total

Yield (t/ha) 1.3 1.3 1.3 0.8

Price ($) FIS 280 280 280 280

Variable Cost ($/ha) 236 236 236 207

Gross Margin ($/ha) 128 128 128 17 401

Table 14: The data is based on averages and the variable costs include operations, grain levies, CBH fees, fertiliser, chemicals, crop insurance and grain and fertiliser freight. On the lighter soils, barley sometimes replaces the lupins in the rotation. The average yield for barley is 1.4t/ha, average price is $250/t and variable costs are $220/ha resulting in a gross margin of $130/ha.



when it needs to be sprayed it needs to be sprayed, so you are continually spending money,” Pep says.

“That is why we do a bit of fallow as well – purely because in the end it turns out sometimes cheaper.”

SHEEPWith full dams in 2015 and reasonable prices, the Alvaros traded some sheep into their system and they have been a valuable addition from a weed control and profitability point of view.

“Sheep just tend to even things up, so you can get the chemical to hit the target plant,” says Pep.

“This year there was a lot of ryegrass underneath the broadleaves and, without the sheep, I don’t reckon I would have got any chemical onto it which would have made an absolute mess.

“In some paddocks the sheep have levelled the weeds up beautifully, so I got a really good kill with a double knock and so I would be quite confident in

seeding on the first break next year.”

ALUMINIUM SOILSA challenge in front of the Alvaros is how to manage one of their blocks that has high aluminium levels in the most cost effective way. Pep notes that it is this lighter soil, with the aluminium issue, that they rely on in a dry year because the heavier country generally doesn’t get wet enough to produce a reasonable crop.

“Until we get lime through the profile, aluminium tolerance is a big thing so we will grow exclusively MagentaA up there,” Pep explains.

“Fingers crossed – if the seasons are kind and we can go pretty hard at it, I’d say that by three or four years time, we’d have certain paddocks solved and be able to grow whatever we like.”

MORE INFORMATIONPep Alvaro 08 9044 1063 [email protected]

IN SUMMARY• A large choice of wheat varieties allows

flexibility

• Inputs are adjusted according to each season’s potential

• Fallow is safer than canola

• Opportunistic trading of sheep can improve weed control

While lupins are often used as a break crop, Pep Alvaro does not place much significance on their nitrogen benefits. PHOTO: CussonsMedia

The lupins will give you some nitrogen but I don’t think that nitrogen is a big issue out here. I think moisture is, so if you are going to be low on moisture, you need to be low risk and that is what we do.Pep Alvaro, Merredin



Since beginning farming 10 years ago, Dane Farina has watched his growing season rainfall steadily decline to the point where it is now his number one challenge. Since record keeping started 30 years ago their growing season average rainfall has been 185mm, although the last 10 years has been around 160mm and the last five years it has dropped to around 140mm. It is no surprise then that the Farinas need their program to be flexible to match the seasonal conditions.

FLEXIBILITY“We like to keep our options open and we need to be like that because our rainfall can vary so much now,” Dane explains.

“An early rain changes the season completely, compared to a May starting rain which means we may not put any break crops in at all.”

While the Farina family has 7000 hectares dedicated cropping, they are also willing to drop that area, so in a leaner year they may only plant 4-5000 hectares, applying a late heavy spray-top for weed control. Conversely, on a wetter year like 2016 they are keen to sow as much land as possible.

The Farinas don’t have a set rotation but like to analyse their previous successes and failures at the start of each year.

“We grow canola, wheat, lupins and barley – it is more targeting things that are going to work in certain situations but at the same time trying not to grow much wheat on wheat on wheat,” Dane says.

“Our overall strategy takes into account soil types, rain and certainly economics.”

Of their average 6000-hectare program, the Farinas generally grow 1000 hectares as a break crop. If it rains in early April they will seed continuously and plant break crops such as lupins and canola as a way of seeding more country without putting undue risk on their cereals with frost.

“We certainly increased our lupin hectares in 2016 for that reason – because it rained early,” Dane explains.

“We were staring down at starting wheat and barley probably too early, or increasing our lupins and canola, so we chose the latter, which allowed us to keep seeding right through April to our usual start

Flexibility is key at Warralakin

SNAPSHOTGROWERS: Dane, Abi and Ziggy Farina, and brother Ben FarinaLOCATION: WarralakinFARM SIZE: 13500ha arable (12500ha owned and 1000ha leased)ENTERPRISES: Cropping and 6000 sheep (3800 mating ewes)GROWING SEASON RAINFALL: 160mmSOIL TYPES: Sandy loams through to heavy country2016 CROP PROGRAM: 5000ha wheat, 900ha barley, 350ha canola, 500ha lupins and 70ha oats EXAMPLE SEQUENCES: Wheat-canola-wheat-pasture and lupins-wheat-wheat-canola-wheat Dane Farina does not have a set rotation but likes to be flexible to react

to seasonal conditions. PHOTO: CussonsMedia



date, which is around the 25th April.”

Grass weeds, especially ryegrass, are the Farina’s biggest weed issue and using canola and lupins works well to target those grasses. Dane attributes having the livestock and break crops in the mix with their alternative chemistry as the main reasons why they haven’t had any real trouble with chemical resistance.

FROSTAfter having a few disastrous seasons, the Farinas have been quite conservative with frost, managing it by planting appropriate varieties in the right sowing window.

“We still grew five varieties of wheat this year on top of the lupins, canola and barley - the biggest thing is that if you can seed early, that you have something you can seed,” Dane explains.

“It might not be as lucrative as it is for wheat but if you put in a wheat on the 15th of April and you get 100 per cent frost, which has happened to us once before, you can harvest a lot of straw.”

CANOLAThe Farina family grows Cobbler TT, which gives them the use of atrazine as another chemical group to target the broadleaves. As they run a lot of pastures, they use a lot of glyphosate and so are

not completely convinced on the fit of the Roundup Ready® system in their system.

In addition to weed control benefits, Dane believes the tap root of both canola and lupins helps break up the clay layer in their country that is sand over clay.

While growing wheat is the main game, Dane says a successful canola crop can compete against wheat on a gross margin basis.

“Certainly in 2015, despite our canola having a dry finish, it certainly outstripped our wheat in terms of gross revenue and net profit,” Dane says.

The benefits of canola can also extend to the following year’s program, with the Farina’s growing their best wheat on canola stubbles in 2013 and 2014.

SHEEPWhile many growers have their cropping and livestock enterprises entwined, the Farinas have elected to run each on separate country. The sheep are run on 6500 hectares of pastures, while 7000 hectares is allocated to cropping.

“We run sheep on the stubbles in summer but other than that the cropping is always cropping and the pasture is always pasture,” Dane explains.

Last year where our canola had a dry finish it certainly outstripped our wheat in terms of gross revenue and net profit.Dane Farina, Warralakin

An example crop sequence for the Farinas including lupins and canola

LupinsYear 1

WheatYear 2

WheatYear 3

CanolaYear 4

WheatYear 5 Total

Gross Income 344 398 398 531 398

Variable Cost ($/ha) 104 123 123 114 123

Gross Margin ($/ha) 240 275 275 418 275 1,483

Table 15: The data is based on 2015 results and the variable costs include fertiliser, chemicals and seed. For the last 3 years, the average wheat yield is 1.3t/ha with an average price of $300/ha FIS, average canola yield is 0.6t/ha with an average price of $550/ha FIS and for lupins the average yield is 0.6t/ha with an average price of $350/ha FIS.



“Since we got into holistic grazing, we were just finding that the more we were fighting weeds on one side and trying to grow pasture on the other, we were constantly stabbing ourselves in the back.

“Now we look at improving pastures and planting pastures on one side as well as growing constant cropping on the other.”

However, if required to manage a particular weed issue, they will run a pasture phase through the cropping country.

BARLEYBarley also plays an important role in the Farina’s rotation, often used on their saltier soils in particular for groundcover. This is achieved through a quicker rotation such as wheat-barley-wheat-barley.

Dane adds that the difference between a variety making malt or feed has a huge influence on their barley gross margin.

“Our yield was great in 2015, and that sort of helped the fact that most of it went feed - the gross margin does vary a bit depending on how the season finishes,” says Dane.

“In the last three years, our barley has averaged 1.5t/ha with an average price of $255/tonne.”

FUTURE PLANSDane is always looking to regularly try new things on a small scale. He is considering growing lucerne as a two-year break crop and then green manuring it. However, as they are in a drier area, when trying something new, Dane believes choosing the right soil type is of paramount importance.

“Especially in years that are going to be leaner, if you are trying something in the wrong country in a drier year, it is certainly going to make you pay for it,” adds Dane.

MORE INFORMATIONDane Farina [email protected] 0429 449 056

IN SUMMARY• Flexibility is the key

• Adjust crop types and areas sown depending on current seasonal conditions

• Use break crops to allow seeding to continue without putting cereals in the frost risk window

• Sheep and cropping land is kept separate

Aside from grazing stubbles, Dane Farina runs his sheep completely separate to the cropping country. Photo: CussonsMedia

An example crop sequence for the Farinas including pasture and barley

PastureYear 1

BarleyYear 2

WheatYear 3

WheatYear 4 Total

Gross Income 71 512 398 398

Variable Cost ($/ha) 43 106 123 123

Gross Margin ($/ha) 28 406 275 275 984

Table 16: The data is based on averages and the variable costs include fertiliser, chemicals and seed. For the last 3 years, the average barley yield is 1.5t/ha with an average price of $255/ha FIS and the average wheat yield is 1.3t/ha with an average price of $300/ha FIS.



A move into no-till farming in 1982 paid dividends for the Hobbs family with an increase in wheat yields. However, in time the yields not only stopped improving, they actually dropped off despite an increase in inputs. This was the push the Hobbs family needed to start adding pulses into their system by growing field peas and chickpeas. Lupins were not considered as John Hobbs believes their soil types are too heavy.

Ideally John would like a three-year rotation with a maximum of three cereal crops before introducing a pulse, chemical fallow or canola crop. Approximately 800 hectares is planted to a break crop in any given year, a significant area when compared to their wheat program.

PULSESWith a growing season rainfall of around 200mm, the increase in summer rainfall over the last ten years is viewed as a bonus by John Hobbs. This is due to their heavy country giving them an ability to store a lot of moisture provided they get on top of summer weeds.

Those heavy soil types also lend themselves to growing pulses, meaning the Hobbs are opportunistic

growers of both field peas and chickpeas.

“We try to have a rotation of pulses but seasons don’t always lend themselves to that,” John explains.

John believes there is a three-way benefit from growing pulses.

“Not only is there money to be made in growing chickpeas and field peas, at the same time they are fixing nitrogen and, in that phase, they are also cleaning up the grasses,” he comments.

While John views the pulses as clean-up crops for grasses, he acknowledges it is difficult to control broadleaf weeds in that phase.

“This year we are trying Terbyne® which is meant to be more effective on radish,” says John.

“However, in the lead up to growing a pulse crop, we try to eliminate as much of that radish as possible.”

Aside from more difficult broadleaf control, John says it is also key to avoid the sulfonylureas (SUs) for at least two years prior to growing pulses. He says this is especially important on soils with high pHs,

SNAPSHOTGROWERS: John & Joan and Derron HobbsLOCATION: Bonnie RockFARM SIZE: 7400haENTERPRISES: 100 per cent croppingGROWING SEASON RAINFALL: 200mmSOIL TYPES: Mostly red salmon gum, jam country with some mallee country2016 CROP PROGRAM: 4200ha wheat, 2400ha barley, 200ha canola, 270ha chickpeas, 150ha field peas and some chemical fallowTYPICAL ROTATION: Wheat-wheat-wheat-field pea/chickpea, wheat-wheat-wheat-canola (non-valley floors) and barley-barley-barley-barley (valley floors)

John Hobbs has found that, by planting his TwilightA field peas thick, he is able to direct head them quite easily. PHOTO: CussonsMedia

Pulses are a valuable proposition at Bonnie Rock



meaning there is a need for accurate record keeping.

Harvesting field peas is often perceived as a difficult process but John believes that isn’t the case.

“With the TwilightsA, if you plant them thick, they will just stand up and you can direct head them quite easily,” he explains.

“They are not a vine type which grow to a certain height and then collapse on the ground, requiring crop lifters to harvest them.”

To also make harvesting easier, they roll both the field peas and chickpeas before they emerge.

“You can actually roll them after they emerge just as long as they aren’t above the top of the furrow,” John explains.

There is also a strong economic case for growing chickpeas and field peas in the Hobbs farming system. They trialled the low rainfall kabuli alongside the Genesis™ 836 desi chickpeas and, while the kabuli out yielded the desi by 100kg/ha, there was greater harvest loss in the desi chickpeas because its pods grow close to the ground. However, it isn’t yield that makes the Hobbs family grow kabuli over desi chickpeas, it is the pricing.

“At the moment kabuli chickpeas would be worth

about $1000/t as opposed to desi chickpeas, which would only be about $800/t,” John says.

“If you have a handful of desi chickpeas you have a handful of dark, rough looking seed while the kabuli chickpeas are larger and a light creamy shade and they pay on a size scale, with the large seeds being worth more.”

In terms of benefits from the pulses for the subsequent wheat crops, John is gaining improved protein in wheat of up to two per cent - especially in wheat following field peas. They are also seeing yield increases of 0.4t/ha in wheat following pulses and they are saving money on fertiliser inputs too, as they very rarely come back with the 30-40L/ha of UAN that is commonly applied to the wheat on wheat paddocks.

John Hobbs believes that, not only is there money to be made from growing chickpeas and field peas, they fix nitrogen and clean up grass weeds. PHOTO: CussonsMedia

Table 17: Variable costs include seed, inoculant, fertiliser and chemicals.

The Hobbs’ estimated chickpea and field pea gross margin for the 2016 season

ChickpeasYear 1

Field PeasYear 2

Yield (t/ha) 1 2

Price ($) FIS 900 400





BARLEY ON BARLEYThe Hobbs family consistently crops about 2400 hectares of barley every year, mostly concentrated in the lower valley floor of their property to help mitigate against frost. A number of years of frost through the valley floor pushed the Hobbs to try export oaten hay. However, the transport cost to York was just too prohibitive, so they tried barley.

“We have barley on barley for five or six years in a row and it doesn’t affect the yield – it can produce from 1.8t/ha through to 3-3.5t/ha depending on the season,” John notes.

CANOLAA successful canola crop relies on summer rain as John says it is a ‘very thirsty’ crop. In 2017 the Hobbs are considering planting canola on chemical fallow country as a double-break to use up moisture and set the paddock up for wheat. They are currently growing YETNAA canola because it is both a triazine tolerant and Group B herbicide tolerant variety. However that may change as they move away from using SUs.

Not only is there money to be made in growing chickpeas and field peas, at the same time, they are fixing nitrogen and in that phase they are cleaning up the grasses.John Hobbs, Bonnie Rock

MORE INFORMATIONJohn Hobbs [email protected] 0428 470 050

IN SUMMARY• Heavy soils are a good fit for field peas and

chickpeas

• SUs are avoided for two years prior to pulses

• Barley on barley is a good fit on the valley floors

• Benefits of the pulses in the wheat phase include higher proteins, higher yields and reduced nitrogen inputs

John Hobbs has had excellent results growing barley on barley on his valley floors. PHOTO: CussonsMedia



While Clint Della Bosca’s grandfather may have planted his first wheat crop on the Yilgarn district property in the early 1930’s, the challenges faced by the modern day farming operation perhaps are just as significant.

VARIABLE ROTATIONThe Della Bosca rotation consists of canola, wheat, barley, oats and pasture, with Clint admitting they drive the system ‘pretty hard’ because of economics. The exact sequence of crops is determined by a range of factors including soil type and paddock history in the context of the seasonal conditions.

“Wheat and barley drive our business because that is where our profit margins are, so we need to be conscious of how many hectares or what percentage those two crops are in our system,” Clint explains.

“We need to keep them fairly high to make sure we are making money.

“We try not to grow too many wheats in a row, so we will go a couple of wheats, then a barley and

then either a pasture or a canola on the farms with soil types that will support that in view of rotating chemistry and showing the weeds something new every year if we can.”

Approximately 15 per cent of the program is a seeded break crop and another 10 to 15 per cent is a chemical fallow as a rotational tool. With the early start in 2016, the Della Boscas increased their usual canola hectares by another five per cent. With a later start Clint would probably reduce the canola planting by the same amount. Despite the seasonal variability, the Della Boscas try to maintain their canola area otherwise it throws the rotation out the following year.

Market forecasts also influence the crops grown on the Della Boscas properties, a perfect example being with oats.

“Oats has come on the radar in a big way in the last 12 months, obviously with the price and the increasing international markets, so we have been able to increase the hectares of that.

Canola still worth keeping in the mix in the Yilgarn

SNAPSHOTGROWERS: Clint & Jessica and Wayne & Diane Della BoscaLOCATION: YilgarnFARM SIZE: 9500ha total, 7800ha arableENTERPRISES: Cropping and 1500 breeding ewes GROWING SEASON RAINFALL: 133mm north of Southern Cross, 200mm south of Southern CrossSOIL TYPES: Range from heavy Goldfields clays to acid wodjils2016 CROP PROGRAM: 3450ha wheat, 700ha canola, 700ha barley and 500ha oatsTYPICAL ROTATIONS: Wheat-wheat-wheat-pasture (heavy soils), oats-wheat-pasture (lighter soils), canola-wheat-wheat-pasture (stronger, lighter soils) and wheat-wheat-barley-canola (stronger, heavier country)

While wheat and barley drive their business, Clint Della Bosca believes growing Sturt TT canola provides rotational benefits. PHOTO: CussonsMedia



“This has enabled us to look at oats as a profitable cash crop and not just as a feed source and a biomass source,” he says.

CANOLAWith many growers in the eastern wheatbelt moving away from canola, the Della Boscas are one of the few growers in the Yilgarn that still grow the crop.

“It’s not always profitable for us, but we believe its rotational benefits outweigh the economics in that sense, as long as we don’t push the hectares too high,” explains Clint.

They grow Sturt TT canola which Clint says allows a certain number of hectares each year to be clean from weeds meaning, if there is a dry seeding opportunity the following season, they can plant with confidence knowing they won’t have a weed blowout.

“With the atrazine working quite well it just gives us that extra ability to be able to control the radish,” Clint adds.

“Down the track, once the GM varieties improve, we can go that way as well.”

SHEEPFrom a risk management point of view, the Della Boscas have previously placed a high value on their grazing enterprise. They shifted away from a straight merino to a higher lambing percentage composite Finn-SAMM merino cross breed, which has improved their gross margin. The Della Bosca’s 10-year average sheep income is $92/WGha, with a gross margin of $42/WGha. Like others trying to run both a cropping and a sheep enterprise, finding the balance is difficult.

“Unfortunately with a significant cropping program, weed control can be complicated especially on a

year like 2016 with such an early start, trying to balance the numbers versus the feed on hand and getting our DSE right is a hard thing,” Clint explains.

“On a dry year we have run too many and on a

year like this year we don’t have enough - it is a hard part of our business to run and it is not a huge part of our cash flow when you look at the business as a whole.”

So with that in mind, the Della Boscas are re-evaluating livestock in their system.

“We are going to have to make some decisions on

Canola is not always a profitable crop for us but we believe its rotational benefits outweigh the economic in that sense, as long as we don’t push the hectares too high.Clint Della Bosca, Yilgarn

A common rotation for the Della Bosca’s stronger, lighter soils

CanolaYear 1

WheatYear 2

WheatYear 3

PastureYear 4 Total

Yield (t/ha) 0.58 1.25 1.09

Price ($) FIS 540 299 299


Gross Margin ($/ha) 63 141 59 42 305

Table 18: The data is based on 5 year averages and the variable costs include operations, grain levies, CBH fees, fertiliser, chemicals, crop insurance and grain freight.



whether we increase our sheep numbers or whether we decrease to make the cropping easier,” Clint says.

BARLEYFinding a barley variety that fits their system, has a decent market and a local receival site has been a challenge. They have previously grown Gairdner before it fell out of favour and they have tried LitmusA.

“LitmusA went very well but the lack of a market and receival sites pushed LitmusA out and so we are all HindmarshA this year,” Clint explains.

LUPINSAt one stage lupins probably made up 25 per cent of their rotation but as the seasons became drier, the Della Boscas found they couldn’t control their main problem weed of radish and it was starting to become a serious issue.

“Without the chemical options to control radish in-crop, once you miss the Brodal® window, crop-

topping wasn’t always an option for us and there wasn’t a lot of work done in our area regarding spraying too early or spraying too late, so it wasn’t something we did readily,” says Clint.

“As a result we parted ways with lupins in our rotation just to make sure we weren’t creating a nursery crop for our radish.”

However, Clint doesn’t rule out the return of lupins, commenting that if a newer variety with a better herbicide tolerance was developed for the low rainfall zone he would definitely consider getting back into lupins.

FUTURE PLANSAssuming some kind seasons, Clint is keen to look at growing more break crops and adding either some pulses, lupins, beans or peas into the rotation.

“I believe that if we can improve our soil with some deep ripping, control our weeds better and get better and more proactive with our early breaks and use of moisture, I think we can increase and widen our rotation, scope and varieties of plants that we grow,” explains Clint.

MORE INFORMATIONClint Della Bosca 0427 957 306 [email protected]

IN SUMMARY• Cereals are the key drivers of the business

• Canola offers key rotational benefits

• Focus is on the marketable varieties that perform on their farm

• A legume developed for the eastern wheatbelt would have a great fit

A common rotation for the Della Bosca’s stronger, heavier soils

WheatYear 1

WheatYear 2

BarleyYear 3

PastureYear 4 Total

Yield (t/ha) 0.8 0.8 1.35

Price ($) FIS 299 299 236


Gross Margin ($/ha) 41 31 65 42 179

Table 19: The data is based on 5 year averages and the variable costs include operations, grain levies, CBH fees, fertiliser, chemicals, crop insurance and grain freight.

Geraldton

Mullewa

Mingenew

Eneabba

Buntine

Canna

YunaGregory

Morawa

Kalbarri

Suckling

McAlpine

Nankivell

Koric

Stokes

Warr

Rowe

Wasley

McTaggart

Sandison

WESTERNAUSTRALIA

KWINANAEAST ZONE

GERALDTONZONE

Perth

GeraldtonGeraldton Port Zone

Geraldton Port Zone 35


Geraldton

Mullewa

Mingenew

Eneabba

Buntine

Canna

YunaGregory

Morawa

Kalbarri

Suckling

McAlpine

Nankivell

Koric

Stokes

Warr

Rowe

Wasley

McTaggart

Sandison

WESTERNAUSTRALIA

KWINANAEAST ZONE

GERALDTONZONE

Perth

Geraldton

After many years’ involvement in trials with the Liebe Group and seeing his own cropping inputs continuing to increase without corresponding gross margin increases, big picture thinker Stuart McAlpine felt there must be a different way. This has led him to focus on improving the soil biology of his farm, meaning healthier soils and a more resilient and efficient system.

“If we can start building the organic carbon and improve the soil health then nature will be able to pull off some pretty remarkable stuff on those high potential yield years,” says Stuart.

“On the low potential yield years, it can deliver at least break even returns and certainly systems that are not going to send us broke in those dry seasons.

“I think we are moving into periods of greater extremes in climate and we can’t afford to take risk when we are at the lower end of production globally in our agricultural systems.

“There is no question that poor soil health is making us very inefficient farmers as we are probably only recovering at most 10-30 per cent of phosphorous and maybe up to 50 per cent of nitrogen applied, so we have been spending a lot of money on fertilisers

with little return in the year of investment.”

On his acid soils, Stuart believes by focusing on increasing his pH in the furrow, nutrient recovery is significantly improved.

“If I increase that furrow pH from low 4’s to mid 5’s in CaCl2, my nitrogen and potassium efficiency is up around 80 per cent, so we have more than doubled our efficiency, and the phosphorus recovery will be up around 48 to 50 per cent,” says Stuart.

As growers see more efficiencies and make more money, Stuart says they can apply some of those profits to fixing a bigger area in the landscape. On his own farm, he is now using up to 90 per cent less fertiliser than he once used.

“In 2016, I applied one unit of phosphorus and one point seven units of potassium per hectare, so a total of three and five point five in the last three years and last year I averaged 10 units of nitrogen,” says Stuart.

“When I do my soil testing, the levels are maintaining really well.

“The results are also very good when we do tissue testing and if we are doing sap testing and

SNAPSHOTGROWERS: Stuart & Leanne McAlpineLOCATION: BuntineFARM SIZE: 3944ha arable, owned and leasedENTERPRISES: 100 per cent croppingGROWING SEASON RAINFALL: 238mmSOIL TYPES: 60 per cent lighter soils, 20 per cent gravel and 20 per cent heavy soils2016 CROP PROGRAM: 2014ha wheat, 840ha canola, 450ha lupins, 490ha barley and 150ha field peasTYPICAL ROTATION: Canola-wheat/barley-lupin-wheat-wheat (lighter soils), canola-wheat-wheat-barley (heavier and gravelly soils) Stuart McAlpine is passionate about improving the soil health of farming

systems. Photo: CussonsMedia

Getting the soil biology right is critical for efficiency at Buntine



comparing it to guys that are using a lot higher rates, my plant saps are higher, yet I use less fertiliser.”

Stuart attributes these results to a function of a better pH and having phenomenal roots, which he says play an important role in the cycling of nutrients for subsequent crops. Part of this root growth, Stuart says, comes from applying bio stimulants which ‘kick start’ and increase beneficial biology in the soil.

For anyone considering making the changes he has, Stuart believes for those in the medium to higher rainfall areas, it will initially cost the same as their normal inputs before becoming cheaper than a more conventional system.

“Straight away you can reduce your traditional inputs by about 30 per cent which will normally pay for what you need to do to change, so there will be no extra cost and your margins should be the same and then they should start increasing,” says Stuart.

For lower rainfall growers, where their input costs and fertiliser rates can already be low, it is not necessarily that simple, Stuart says. Bio-stimulants need moisture to work effectively so, if it is a dry season, rather than using a two pass bio-stimulant, he will only make one application.

Particularly on his lighter soils, Stuart’s focus on soil health resulted in an increase in soil carbon levels with his A horizon increased from 100mm by

about 25mm per year down to 200 to 300mm. This extra rooting depth means his crops stay greener for longer, resulting in lower screenings. He also attributes the healthier soil to healthier plants and while he is not averse to spraying insecticides and fungicides, he doesn’t have to often.

“We very rarely spray for aphids or budworm but I do it when I have to and I haven’t used a bare earth or seed treatment for the control of red legged earth mite and lucerne flea in the last 10 years and I have not once had to spray early germinating crops as result,” Stuart adds.

CURRENT ROTATIONOn the soils that are capable of growing lupins, Stuart’s rotation is canola-wheat/barley-lupin-cereal-cereal and paddocks are only pulled out if weeds become problematic. While on the heavier and gravellier country which are not suited to growing lupins or pulse crops, Stuart’s four-year rotation is canola-wheat-wheat-wheat/barley.

Stuart says that while canola is a very good break crop, it can be challenging to grow.

“In 2014 we only averaged 0.33t/ha while in 2015 we grew 280 hectares that went 1.4t/ha and averaged 49.3 per cent oil in a low input system,” says Stuart.

“I would hope canola is a profitable crop on its own as, along with lupins, they provide some agronomic

A common rotation for the McAlpine’s lighter soils

CanolaYear 1

WheatYear 2

LupinYear 3

WheatYear 4

WheatYear Total

Yield (t/ha) 0.82 1.73 1.48 1.73 1.73

Price ($) FIS 558 300 301 300 300

Variable Cost ($/ha) 264 170 180 170 170

Gross Margin ($/ha) 194 349 265 349 349 1,506

Table 20: The yields and prices are based on 5 year averages and the variable costs are based on 2015 results. Between 2012-2014, the average growing season rainfall was only 150mm, 90mm less than their average which has lowered the McAlpine’s five-year average yield. Variable costs include seed, operations, fertiliser, chemicals, crop insurance, CBH charges, fertiliser and grain freight.



and rotational advantages for the cereals which tend to be a little bit more forgiving in our climate.”

However, in dry seasons, that is not always possible but, with his lower input system, Stuart comments they don’t tend to lose a lot of money in those poor seasons and in fact he aims to break even on the really poor seasons. It is for that reason, he hasn’t considered growing Genetically Modified (GM) canola because growers have to invest more upfront in an already risky environment.

As Stuart finds barley tends to contaminate wheat, if he does add barley into the rotation, it is followed by a pulse or canola crop.

“We also have to cart our barley a fair way and it tends to be hard to shift so we tend to find the harvester is only working for half a day which isn’t very efficient,” says Stuart.

LOOKING FORWARDIn the longer term, Stuart says his farm could look very different to the cereal dominant system he has now.

“We need to look at reassessing our farm landscape and look at breaking it into natural, economic and combined zones,” he explains.

“I think it will be 50 per cent grazing along with continued cropping.

“We will see some intensive agriculture on the farm, maybe some horticulture, maybe some intensive free range animals as well, providing another source of organic carbon to the soil.”

In addition to changing his farm, Stuart wants to improve the social aspect of farming communities.

“With current management practices farms will continue to expand and communities will continue to diminish.”

“New models will need to look at a regenerative investment model for change with returns over a 20-year cycle that includes not only financial return but social and environmental returns that provide hope and inspiration to rural areas and the customers we provide for.”

MORE INFORMATIONStuart McAlpine 0427 642 082 [email protected]

IN SUMMARY• Improving soil health has multiple benefits

• Aims to break even on poor years

• Insecticides very rarely applied

A common rotation for the McAlpine’s heavy and gravel soils

CanolaYear 1

WheatYear 2

WheatYear 3

BarleyYear 4 Total

Yield (t/ha) 0.82 1.73 1.73 2.24

Price ($) FIS 558 300 300 240

Variable Cost ($/ha) 264 170 170 181

Gross Margin ($/ha) 194 349 349 357 1,249

Table 21: The yields and prices are based on 5 year averages and the variable costs are based on 2015 results. Between 2012-2014, the average growing season rainfall was only 150mm, 90mm less than their average which has lowered the McAlpine’s five-year average yield. Variable costs include seed, operations, fertiliser, chemicals, crop insurance, CBH charges, fertiliser and grain freight. Often the barley in this example is replaced with wheat.



The Nankivell family are considered to be greater than average adopters of legumes on their East Maya and Wubin properties and it’s not surprising given how important they are to their system.

Rob Nankivell says they get an ongoing benefit from growing legumes, particularly in year one.

“We get about 40 per cent of the benefit out of them the first year, then 30, 20 and 10 per cent over four years,” explains Rob.

“And if you can keep them in there every three to four years, it just seems to be making paddocks better and better.”

Rob believes that it isn’t just nitrogen providing all the benefit in subsequent years but also the disease break. In addition to his wheat crops generally yielding more after a legume, he often finds the wheat protein is one per cent higher in comparison to wheat on wheat.

In addition to wheat, the Nankivells grow lupins,

field peas and chickpeas, as well as oats and barley, which are primarily planted for feed but, if the seasonal conditions are right, some will be taken through to harvest.

2016 is an example where more oats and barley than planned will be harvested rather than grazed.

“We set up for a poor year of sheep feed and, if things come really good, the sheep get into less and less of the paddocks and, if you can do it really

early, you can clean up those paddocks and they can become really quite profitable,” explains Rob.

“For example, we have a 40-hectare Moby barley paddock which was sown for sheep feed.

“The sheep only grazed 10 hectares for less than two months and it could easily yield three or four tonnes.”

OATSThe Nankivells grow YallaraA, a dual purpose hay and milling oat, to both supply their feedlot at west

SNAPSHOTGROWERS: Rob, Don and John & Helen NankivellLOCATION: East Maya & WubinFARM SIZE: 7760ha including 1600ha leasedENTERPRISES: Cropping, sheep and cattleGROWING SEASON RAINFALL: 250mmSOIL TYPES: Medium - heavy soils with some wodjils (East Maya), good red clays and york gum (Wubin)2016 CROP PROGRAM: 2602ha wheat, 1007ha oats, 788ha barley, 698ha lupins, 398ha field peas and 64ha chickpeasTYPICAL ROTATION: Field pea/lupin-wheat-wheat-oats, pea-wheat-wheat-wheat-lupin-wheat-wheat Rob Nankivell grows lupins, chickpeas and field peas and believes they

provide ongoing benefit to the cereal crops. PHOTO: CussonsMedia

Legumes make the system work at East Maya and Wubin

We seem to get a continuing benefit out of growing legumes, I reckon we get about 40 per cent of the benefit out of them the first year, then 30, 20 and 10 per cent over four years.Rob Nankivell, East Maya



Wubin and provide a significant amount of oats on hand as an emergency feed supply.

While many in the wheatbelt struggle to produce oats that make weight, particularly in dry years, the Nankivells have not yet had this problem.

“The first crop of YallaraA we grew had a weight of about 62kg/hectolitre which was the highest ever seen in oats locally,” Rob explains.

“Since then we have sown them reasonably early and often dry, but so far they haven’t fallen out the bottom of the 51kg/hectolitre requirement.

“I think early sowing, with a relatively low sowing rate of 50kg/ha, has helped but YallaraA is a much rounder oat and doesn’t seem to slip through the screen.

“Every grain seems to have a grout inside, so every oat is a grower whereas some of the other oats are

pretty long and skinny and often don’t have any weight.”

Additionally, Rob says they have also had good experience in hay-freezing their oats for standing sheep feed which has also resulted in clean cereal paddocks in following years. As they use diuron and metolachlor on the oats, which aren’t used in other parts of the rotation, Rob believes this rotation of chemicals is also valuable.

FIELD PEAS Like oats, the Nankivells also sow field peas early, rather than at the end of the program, to minimise heat stress during flowering and maximise yield.

“If conditions are dry while they are flowering, which is a critical time for moisture, they can really get smashed in their yield if they run out of water in the end, so you can have a good looking crop but with reduced yield,” Rob explains.

Soil type isn’t as critical as Rob originally thought and he is confident growing peas within a paddock that ranges from wodjil to salmon gums soils, particularly now as his wodjil soils have had at least three tonnes per hectare of lime applied.

“If you get a poor year they will do terribly in the wodjil but in a reasonable year they just seem to be able to use that surface moisture before it gets too acidic underneath,” says Rob.

An example rotation for the Nankivells including oats and peas

PeaYear 1

WheatYear 2

WheatYear 3

OatsYear 4 Total

Yield (t/ha) 1.2 2.2 2 1.9

Price ($) FIS 350 280 280 200

Variable Cost ($/ha) 241 201 201 204

Gross Margin ($/ha) 179 415 359 176 1,129

Table 22: The costs are based on the Nankivells 2016 budget while the yields and prices are averages. The variable costs include seed, operations, fertiliser, chemicals and fertiliser freight. The Nankivell’s pea yields have varied from not worth harvesting through to 2.2t/ha. In this example the oats is harvested however often it is hay-frozen as standing feed.

Not only do the Nankivells find the wheat yields improve after their PBA TwilightA peas but the protein is also often one per cent higher than wheat on wheat. PHOTO: CussonsMedia



CHICKPEASUnlike field peas, chickpeas are only grown on heavy york gum to salmon gum soils but, Rob believes in a year like 2016 they would perform on some of their more medium soils.

“Heavy soil and summer rainfall on soil that can hold water really sets chickpeas up but, if you get a year like this, they will pretty much grow down to, but not into wodjil and will still do alright,” says Rob.

As chickpeas have a poor tolerance of sulfonylurea (SU) herbicides, Rob avoids sowing them in paddocks that have had SUs applied in the two to three years prior. The microbial breakdown of the SUs will be slow because many of his soils are at pH 8 or 9.

Rob also adds that it is essential to apply Balance® in the chickpea phase to control radish.

LUPINSThe main issue the Nankivells have had growing lupins is how to control radish in the lupin phase, which is their biggest weed issue. However, Rob says a mix of metribuzin and simazine immediately before sowing and applying Brodal® later has allowed them to get back on top of radish in lupins.

“I think the metribuzin has stopped lupins being a nursery for radish, especially in a season like 2016 where you have had a couple of knockdowns before you even get the lupins in, so much of the radish has already germinated and you are really only looking to control those germinating at seeding or later,” Rob explains.

FUTURE PLANSWhile Rob says the legumes are integral to their system, it can make spraying logistics difficult when they are spread over their five blocks. Rob expects they will have to rationalise where they plant their chickpeas, field peas and lupins in the future.

He is also considering introducing Roundup Ready Triazine Tolerant® canola as a tool in paddocks where he has ryegrass and brome grass difficulties.

MORE INFORMATIONRob Nankivell 0427 010 550 [email protected]

IN SUMMARY• Legumes provide yield and protein

improvements in wheat

• Oats and barley are sown as sheep feed and then if not required, harvested

• YallaraA oats are making weight

• Sow field peas early to minimise moisture stress at flowering

• Avoid SU herbicides prior to planting chick peas, field peas and lupins

An example longer rotation for the Nankivells including lupins and peas

PeaYear 1

WheatYear 2

WheatYear 3

WheatYear 4

LupinsYear 5

WheatYear 6

WheatYear 7 Total

Yield (t/ha) 1.2 2.2 2 1.7 1.2 2.2 1.9

Price ($) FIS 350 280 280 280 300 280 280

Variable Cost ($/ha) 241 201 201 201 193 201 201

Gross Margin ($/ha) 179 415 359 275 167 415 331 2,141

Table 23: The costs are based on their 2016 budget while the yields and prices are averages. The variable costs include seed, operations, fertiliser, chemicals and fertiliser freight. The Nankivell’s lupin yields have varied from 0.2t/ha through to 2t/ha. Although not included in this example rotation, the Nankivell’s chickpea average yield is 0.9t/ha, varying from not worth harvesting to 2.2t/ha with an average price of $600/t and variable costs of $225/ha, to give an average gross margin of $315/ha.



When Andrew and Tammy Sandison began farming their property at Arrowsmith in 2010, Andrew envisaged establishing serradella on some of their country and then cropping it year-in year-out. However, as lupins emerged as their highest gross margin crop, the plan changed, with some paddocks becoming permanent pasture which are rotationally grazed.

“Lupins are the real star of our program and, as lupin costs are lower than wheat costs, they really shine as a gross margin,” says Andrew.

The better country is in a wheat-lupin rotation and the poorer country is in a barley-lupin rotation.

“There is no point in trying to stretch our rotation out to a lupin, wheat, canola, wheat or something, because the money is in lupins for us until something goes wrong,” Andrew explains.

“We kind of have the best of both worlds, with high stocking rates on pasture country through winter, which is profitable, and then our stubbles keep the sheep going through summer.

“This means you don’t get wind erosion on the pastures, or have high feed costs through summer and autumn because there is plenty of stubble for the sheep.”

LUPINSAlthough the Sandison’s purchased a farm that hadn’t been cropped for about 20 years, Andrew is keen to ensure he doesn’t allow ryegrass and radish populations to blow out.

“We try and get a knock down in every paddock every year and we have been really lucky with good rains in April - early May so most paddocks get one or two knockdowns,” Andrew explains.

The lupin paddocks are sprayed with diflufenican early and, even though they have very little radish on the farm, every paddock is sprayed like it does have radish in it with any escapees hand weeded. The ryegrass may be more of a challenge to manage but, by using high chemical rates, rotating chemistry and using good application techniques, Andrew is hoping they can stay on top of it.

In addition to being their best gross margin, Andrew believes lupins offer a number of advantages over canola as a break crop, however the slow release nitrogen is key.

“Even if you throw lots of nitrogen at a canola stubble, you will still never match what you can do with a lupin stubble on this country,” says Andrew.

“As it is a wet environment and it is pretty sandy, we

SNAPSHOTGROWERS: Andrew & Tammy SandisonLOCATION: ArrowsmithFARM SIZE: 1214haENTERPRISES: Cropping and sheepGROWING SEASON RAINFALL: 400mmSOIL TYPES: Loamy sand over clay (river flats), banksia yellow sand and deep white sand2016 CROP PROGRAM: 270ha wheat, 240ha lupins and 190ha barley TYPICAL ROTATION: Wheat-lupin and barley-lupin Lupins provide the best gross margin for Andrew Sandison at $417/ha.

PHOTO: CussonsMedia

Lupins are the star at Arrowsmith



get a lot of leaching, so the lupin stubble meters out the nutrition to the wheat crop better than applying fertiliser on your canola stubbles.

“Also, there are probably more bacteria, fungi and earthworms growing in your lupin stubbles and it is also a break from Root Lesion Nematode (RLN).

“Your broadleaf crops will give you a break from any of your cereal leaf diseases but, from a root disease point of view, lupins are a really good break from RLN while canola is not.”

However, the threat of disease, in particular sclerotinia, could mean they have to change their rotation and reduce the frequency of lupins, which would have huge implications for their business. This is the primary reason why they won’t be growing canola again as Andrew believes it puts the lupin program at risk.

BARLEYOne of the reasons Andrew started growing barley two years ago was because he believes it is much more competitive than wheat and is a good tool for suppressing weeds.

However, that’s not the only role barley plays,

with the crop also providing a valuable role in management of soil health on the property.

Andrew believes non-wetting soils are their number one constraint to cropping and pastures and when paddocks blow, the non-wetting gets worse.

“I think it is really, really important to keep the paddocks well covered and to prevent wind erosion and the more biomass you can get on the paddocks, the better they become and that is where the barley

helps again,” says Andrew.

So on their farm, the barley is grown on the poorer, lighter soils however Andrew notes that generally speaking barley is 10–15 per cent

higher yielding than wheat if treated the same.

In 2016, the Sandisons commenced a mould boarding program to manage non-wetting and subsoil acidity as well as to bury weed seed. They mould boarded 55 hectares and have plans for more in following years.

SERRADELLA Establishing serradella has been a learning curve according to Andrew and, at a cost of $200/ha to establish, it is important to get right.

Serradella is extremely uncompetitive as a small plant, so you have got to give it a chance early and I think that is where most people go wrong.Andrew Sandison, Arrowsmith

Table 24: The yield and price of the lupins is an average of the last four years, while the barley is an average of the last two seasons. The variable costs are based on the 2016 budget and include seed, operations, fertiliser and chemicals.

A common rotation for the Sandison’s lighter soils

BarleyYear 1

LupinsYear 2 Total

Yield (t/ha) 2.44 2.05

Price ($) FIS 240 340



Table 25: The yields and prices are an average of the last four years and the variable costs are based on the 2016 budget and include seed, operations, fertiliser and chemicals.

A common rotation for the Sandison’s river flat soils

WheatYear 1

LupinsYear 2 Total

Yield (t/ha) 2.28 2.05

Price ($) FIS 283 340





“Serradella is extremely uncompetitive as a small plant, so you have got to give it a chance early and I think that is where most people go wrong,” says Andrew.

He says it is critical to treat it exactly the same as you would a crop in the year of establishment, meaning you should kill all weeds prior to sowing, sow with fertiliser and use a post emergent spray to clean up any weeds in order to maximise seed set. Being a yellow serradella, it is very hard seeded meaning germination in the second year is limited, so Andrew advises cropping that piece again or running the paddock as a pasture. He says in the third year it is very important to look after the serradella after the opening rains.

“You can’t let the capeweed smother it – that is the trick and we have found the best way to treat the capeweed is not with spray but to smash it with sheep,” explains Andrew.

For the Sandisons, this is where their small paddock sizes come in handy as they can crash graze the capeweed, allowing the serradella to establish. The serradella is then grazed until September when the sheep are removed from the serradella pastures to let it flower and set seed for the subsequent year’s production.

SHEEPBefore recently starting a breeding program, the Sandisons have been sheep trading with good results, buying in store wether lambs at harvest.

“We would normally buy in about 600, at between $40-$50/head, sell them from April to July the following year and they will probably average out at $95/head,” Andrew explains.

“The costs are pretty minimal, it is just freight, commission on the sale price and a 50c/head drench when they arrive, so we are probably looking at a $40/head clear margin.”

Andrew believes that, in his area, stock and crop go hand in hand and is amazed that people will run a lot of stock with no crop and vice versa. He sees stubble as an opportunity to make good money with little work, however he acknowledges that everyone’s system is different.

“We are a very small farm so we can be very hands on with our stock management but I think when you have a really big farm, it becomes very hard to manage both,” Andrew says.

MORE INFORMATIONAndrew Sandison 0427 239 997 [email protected]

IN SUMMARY• Lupins are the best gross margin crop and

offer many benefits

• Barley provides important cover on poorer soils

• Treat serradella like a crop to get it established

Serradella has been established as a permanent pasture, providing excellent winter feed. PHOTO: CussonsMedia



Before Ben and his brother Jamie McTaggart returned to Mingenew, the McTaggart family ran more pasture than crop but now, seven years later, 80 per cent of their business is the cropping enterprise and 20 per cent is from grazing cattle.

“We have got quite a lot of un-arable country on this place, but because it is strong country it is good grazing country - almost 20 per cent of the farm is valuable grazing country but not croppable,” Ben explains.

Following weaning, calves and any sale cattle are brought from Dandaragan to Mingenew where the heifers are mated and grow out before going back to Dandaragan to calve as rising two year olds. So most of the year, Ben says there are 100-150 yearling to adult cattle and a few sale cattle which predominantly run in creek lines and some of the fallow country. Ben believes running cattle is much less damaging on his country than running sheep.

While Ben believes he is still trying to get their rotation right, they have fundamentally split the farm

into three zones. The southern end of the farm is a red clay loam which is more forgiving country and at this stage is going into a wheat-wheat-wheat-canola rotation. The middle section, the brown crumbly clays which Ben describes as “a bit friendlier country”, is in a wheat-wheat-wheat-field pea rotation. The northern third of the farm is drier and has grey clays which are less forgiving, is in a wheat-wheat-wheat-fallow rotation but, as they get more experienced in growing field peas, Ben expects some of this zone will grow field peas too.

PEAS AND PEAOLAHistorically their crumbly brown clays have grown good chickpeas but in the drier years the McTaggarts have found they were not yielding well and the weed control wasn’t good.

“Chickpeas are a high input crop in low input country whereas the peas are a bit more set and forget and, even if they don’t produce a huge yield, the weed control benefits are better, management is easier and they seem to like growing,” says Ben.

SNAPSHOTGROWERS: Ben & Hellene, Jamie & Carine and Robert & Sally McTaggartLOCATION: Mingenew & DandaraganFARM SIZE: 5000ha owned and 1200ha leased (Mingenew) 1350ha owned (Dandaragan)ENTERPRISES: Cropping and 270 breeders and 120 heifers GROWING SEASON RAINFALL: 280mm SOIL TYPES: Heavy soils grading from red clay loams to brown/grey heavy clays (Mingenew)Yellow sand to light sands (Dandaragan)2016 CROP PROGRAM: 3300ha wheat, 370ha barley, 340ha field peas, 200ha canola and 400ha fallowTYPICAL ROTATION: Wheat-wheat-wheat-canola (red clay loam), wheat-wheat-wheat-field pea (brown crumbly clays), wheat-wheat-wheat-fallow (grey clays) Ben McTaggart is having good results using canola as a trellis in his pea

crops to improve harvestability. PHOTO: CussonsMedia

Peaola has a great fit on heavy soils at Mingenew



While the McTaggarts don’t traditionally apply much nitrogen to that country, in a big production year the additional nitrogen provided by the peas can offer a significant benefit.

“In a normal year the seeding fertiliser, maybe 20-25 units of N, is enough to grow a 1.5-2t/ha crop while in 2011, which was a massive production year, 50kg/ha DAP grew 4t/ha crops,” Ben explains.

“The country that was in peas last year will hopefully grow us a 3t/ha crop, maybe slightly better, and it has had 60kg/ha of DAP.”

The McTaggarts are still trying to work out whether they should sow peas at the start or the end of the program.

“I have got a couple of neighbours that grow a few peas, not many, but if black spot becomes an issue it will affect our sowing time although at this stage it doesn’t seem to be a major problem,” says Ben.

As the McTaggarts have some undulating country with crab holes, in a bid to improve their harvest heights in 2015, they trialled 180 hectares of peaola where the canola was mixed with the peas to provide a trellis. It worked pretty well and so in 2016 they have grown 240 hectares of peaola.

“We are growing a pea crop with a trellis effectively, so we seed at 100kg/ha of peas and and 1kg/ha of canola with the aim of establishing one to two canola

plants per metre square,” Ben explains.

The McTaggarts are considering increasing the canola component slightly and applying some early nitrogen to improve the canola as it is getting out competed by the peas. However, Ben notes that if they do apply some early nitrogen for the canola, they need to make sure they don’t stop nodulation in the peas – a tricky balance to get right.

Growers of peaola also need to be aware of the differences in herbicide tolerances of peas and canola.

“If you want peas then you can’t use atrazine but we can use Brodal Options® and metribuzin and that seems to be fine,” says Ben.

While many growers find harvesting peas a frustrating process, by using crop lifters and some more erect varieties in conjunction with using canola as a trellis, the McTaggarts are finding that harvesting peas is no longer as slow or difficult as it once was.

An added bonus of the canola in the pea stubble is that it is helping to hold the stubble together after harvest and even following grazing, Ben says that it is not blowing away.

As peas become a larger part of their program and they are consistently growing 5-600 tonnes per year, Ben expects they will need to invest in on farm storage for the peas, a path they haven’t gone down

A common rotation for the McTaggart’s brown crumbly clay soils

WheatYear 1

WheatYear 2

WheatYear 3

PeasYear 4 Total

Yield (t/ha) 2 1.7 1.7 0.9

Price ($) FIS 290 290 290 400

Variable Cost ($/ha) 247 280 280 243

Gross Margin ($/ha) 333 213 213 117 876

Table 26: The costs are based on their 2016 budget while the yields and prices are averages. The variable costs include seed, operations, fertiliser, chemicals and grain freight. The peas and peaola essentially have the same gross margin.



already because they are only 12km from Mingenew. In the meantime, they will use temporary bunkers and there is a local seed works that has some capacity to handle peas.

CANOLAThe McTaggarts find they generally grow their best wheat after canola without significantly higher nitrogen requirements and Ben isn’t sure why.

“Maybe it is just because the crops are healthier, greener and leafier,” Ben muses.

In the last few years they have grown Roundup Ready® canola rather than triazine tolerant canola because they are concerned about potential residual carryover of atrazine on some of their alkaline clays.

FALLOWWhile the McTaggarts use fallow in the rotation on their grey clays, if their success with peas continues, they may replace more of the fallow with peas.

“If we can get peas to work and get the same chemical break and disease break, we don’t have to get many peas back to pay for itself,” says Ben.

“The biggest issue with the fallow is making sure the country is in good nick to get the crop out of the ground, as it is of no value if the crop struggles to germinate.”

Ben has found that with fallow the soil closes up, structurally getting tight and therefore it can be difficult for crops to germinate.

“If we have wet years, fallow is probably ok because we can store enough moisture but in the dry years, I don’t think we are storing enough moisture to justify it,” says Ben.

The decision on when to spray fallows out is also a challenge for Ben as bare earth fallows don’t seem particularly good for the country but are better for weed control and moisture conservation.

“That is probably one of our biggest internal conundrums at the moment – how we manage fallows, grazing them or not and how late we leave them,” says Ben.

MORE INFORMATIONBen McTaggart 0429 881 119 [email protected]

IN SUMMARY• Adding canola to peas effectively provides a

trellis and improves harvest heights

• Triazine tolerant canola is avoided because of their alkaline soils

• Fallows can result in poor germination particularly in dry seasons

A common rotation for the McTaggart’s grey clay soils

WheatYear 1

WheatYear 2

WheatYear 3

FallowYear 4 Total

Yield (t/ha) 1.7 1.4 1.4

Price ($) FIS 290 290 290

Variable Cost ($/ha) 230 280 280 33

Gross Margin ($/ha) 263 126 126 -33 482

Table 27: The costs are based on their 2016 budget while the yields and prices are averages. The variable costs include seed, operations, fertiliser, chemicals and grain freight.



In the 18 years since Jeremy Wasley returned home to the farm, their farming system has become a lot more simplified and, for Jeremy, that is a good thing. Initially they didn’t have sheep in the system and instead grew chickpeas, albus and narrow-leaf lupins, canola, barley and their staple, wheat.

After working at the Centre for Legumes in Mediterranean Agriculture (CLIMA), Jeremy used this knowledge to introduce clover and medic pastures and began building their predominantly merino ewe flock with some dorpers. However, droughts in 2006 and 2007 saw half their 3000 head flock sold and it was then Jeremy noticed that the dorper lambs were handling the drought conditions much better than the merinos.

“That was the catalyst for turning everything on its head - basically it took a long time, up until two or three years ago, to get the numbers back up to a purebred dorper flock of 2000 ewes,” Jeremy explains.

Their rotation was also overhauled to manage the risk of dry seasons, with canola and barley dropped out of the rotation and the lupin program reduced in favour of growing more wheat.

“Wheat is the hardiest plant we have and generally

when the moisture stress comes on, the canola suffers, lupins and barley start to fall over,” Jeremy explains.

As a result, Jeremy now operates a wheat-wheat-pasture rotation with oats and lupins grown purely to fill the silos for sheep feed.

“We are right on the border between reliable and not so reliable rain, so keeping it simple keeps things working,” says Jeremy.

“It is mainly the risk management side of things because wheat is so hardy that it survives the dry a whole lot better than any of the other alternatives.”

Jeremy notes wheat on wheat stubbles often establish better than wheat on pasture, particularly if it isn’t a good opening break. The benefit of the wheat on pasture paddocks are that they are a bit cleaner for disease, which may result in extra yield depending on the season.

“It covers your bets, if you have got a bit that you can sow onto wheat stubble, you have got that moisture conserved so you can get the crop out of the ground that bit easier compared to if all the wheat was sown into pasture,” says Jeremy.

“If it is a wet year like 2016, you won’t probably see any difference at all with the wheat on wheat versus

SNAPSHOTGROWERS: Jeremy and Derek & Pam WasleyLOCATION: North-east MingenewFARM SIZE: 10000ha total, 8500ha arableENTERPRISES: Cropping and 2000 dorper ewes, 500 merino ewes and 220 merino ewe hoggetsGROWING SEASON RAINFALL: 250mmSOIL TYPES: Red loams, gravelly loams, shallower gravel and sand2016 CROP PROGRAM: 5200ha wheat, 125ha lupins and 225ha oatsTYPICAL ROTATION: Wheat-wheat-pasture

Jeremy Wasley finds spraytopping his pastures can produce an extra 200kg/ha in wheat yield. PHOTO: CussonsMedia

Medic pastures a double-edged sword north-east of Mingenew



wheat on pasture but in a dry year you definitely do.”

MEDIC PASTURESDepending on the season, the Wasleys graze sheep on about 2,800 hectares of pasture, often utilising paddocks not ideally suited to cropping year-in year-out. While they do have the capacity to run up to 700 more ewes, which would increase their stocking rate and improve the sheep gross margin, Jeremy says they choose not to because of the risk of dry seasons.

Aside from volunteer pasture, Jeremy also has about 600 hectares of good medic pasture which he established when he first returned home to the farm. While he believes the sheep perform better on medic pastures and in an average year he doesn’t need to apply additional nitrogen to the following wheat crop, it is the risk of a dry season that has seen him not maintain all of his originally established medic.

“After a good medic pasture, there is basically enough nitrogen in the soil for a 3t/ha crop at 11 per cent protein,” Jeremy explains.

“So if you only get a year where you might get a tonne and a half, the screenings just kill you as you just can’t control that nitrogen input in those years and you just get burnt big time.”

MOISTURE CONSERVATIONWith summer rain generally occurring in one in three years, Jeremy conserves this moisture by summer spraying the cropping country and then grazing it hard. While this strategy is predominantly about saving moisture, it also conserves the extra nitrogen

mineralised after summer rain.

“In our environment you try to conserve every bit of moisture you can so, when you get a summer rain, it gives you a little bit of confidence for the growing season to get you through those dry spells which happen every year, particularly since 2000,” says Jeremy.

Jeremy also spray tops his pastures from the end of August into early September to control grasses and radish. He says this practice produces an extra 200kg/ha of grain in the subsequent wheat crop.

LIMING PROGRAMOver 10 years ago the Wasleys started a liming program, spreading about 1500 tonnes at 1t/ha. After seeing the benefits, they have spread 7-8000 tonne per year at 2t/ha since 2010. After the planned 2017 application of 7000 tonnes, they will go back to maintenance rates, applying 2t/ha every eight years. Jeremy believes that by improving the soil acidity he has had better results in controlling radish and ryegrass.

IN SUMMARY• Managing the risk of dry seasons is key

• A simple system helps manage that risk

• Medic pastures are valuable for crops in a good season but not dry seasons

MORE INFORMATIONJeremy Wasley 0488 728 001 [email protected]

Table 28: This includes an average of both the medic and volunteer pasture. The yield and price data is an average of the last 5 years and the crop variable costs are based on the 2015 budget and include seed, operations, fertiliser and chemicals chemicals. The pasture gross income is $94/WGha based on the wool income and profit from livestock trading and the variable costs contain all variable costs directly attributable to the stock enterprise.

The Wasley’s standard rotation

WheatYear 1

WheatYear 2

PastureYear 3 Total

Yield (t/ha) 2.1 1.9

Price ($) FIS 270 270


Gross Margin ($/ha) 359 275 53 687



The Rowe family always had a simple reason for growing canola and lupins – to produce a better wheat crop the following year. However, since the advent of Genetically Modified (GM) canola hybrids and the family getting into the albus market when the prices were strong, the break crop has bloomed into a standalone profit maker.

“We used to consider the break crop almost like a fallow, it didn’t make you much but you sort of hoped to get away with it,” Steve Rowe says.

“Especially three or four years ago, albus was making quite good profits – you would get 1-1.8t/ha at $5-600/t, so towards $1000/ha gross income with about a $150-$200/ha cost.

“Canola is a bit different, you obviously have to feed it so your per hectare costs are up there but, as long as the canola price is at the $5-600/t mark and you can get 1t/ha plus, you are not doing too badly and an extra $70-100/ha on fertiliser might not seem too bad.”

In fact, their highest ever yielding wheat crop followed canola although Steve is unsure why this is.

“We seem to grow quite good crops after canola,”

says Steve.

“Whether our canola is not utilising the fertiliser it gets or whether it is the disease break, I am not sure.”

The Rowe family generally grow three cereals, most commonly wheat, before dropping into canola, albus lupins, narrow-leaf lupins or a fallow, all depending on the individual characteristics and situation of a paddock. While weeds are a key factor, summer rainfall has only limited influence on the rotation because Steve has found that significantly changing their cropping plan at seeding time can create problems in the future.

“Disease doesn’t form a part of the rotation decision making process because we aren’t growing anything in a tight rotation, although sclerotinia is getting to be a bit of a worry in wet years,” Steve explains.

LUPINSOne of the things Steve likes about pulse crops is, aside from seed costs, they are very cheap to grow compared to canola, wheat and barley, mainly because of reduced fertiliser and chemical costs.

The Rowe family grows both narrow-leaf and albus lupins primarily because of the mix of their soil types,

SNAPSHOTGROWERS: Steve & Janelle and John & Val RoweLOCATION: WongoondyFARM SIZE: 4500ha arableENTERPRISES: 100 per cent croppingGROWING SEASON RAINFALL: 220-270mmSOIL TYPES: Predominantly light sandplain, loamy sands and clay loams2016 CROP PROGRAM: 2800ha wheat, 700ha narrow leaf lupins, 300ha albus lupins and 650ha canola TYPICAL ROTATION: Wheat-wheat-wheat-canola/albus lupins/narrow-leaf lupins/fallow

Steve Rowe used to receive excellent returns with his albus lupins but now with a declining market he is considering a return to chickpeas. PHOTO: CussonsMedia

Chickpeas to replace albus lupins at Wongoondy?



with narrow-leaf lupins being the better option on weaker sands. The two lupins work well with each other because the chemical regime is roughly the same and albus isn’t a complicated crop to grow.

“We first started growing albus in 2011 and we found they grow very well on a middle soil type - nothing too heavy unless you get a lot of rain,” Steve explains.

“While narrow-leaf lupins would grow well there too, up until this year, albus were worth a lot more than narrow-leaf so where we could grow albus we did.”

Agronomically, Steve says it is best to sow albus into clean paddocks because you basically have the same chemical options as narrow leaf lupins but without metribuzin and limited crop-topping. Steve also sows them as early as possible because they are a long season proposition and at a lighter seeding rate of 80kg/ha because he prefers to allow the plants to bush out and fill in the gaps. He also notes that because they are a large seed, albus needs good moisture to germinate and won’t emerge on a shower or on diminishing subsoil moisture.

“We made the decision to go with albus first rather than canola because we had a half decent rain in the middle of April 2016,” he says.

“We went hard, got them in and we have probably had our best establishment and the best looking albus crop we have ever grown.”

Steve says with the albus price dropping and the breeding program at a standstill, he would like an alternative pulse option to replace them.

CHICKPEASFor Steve, a return to growing chickpeas might be the answer. However, this strategy is not without its challenges. The Rowe family grew chickpeas very successfully in the

late nineties but ascochyta blight put an end to its place in the rotation. To consider the variety again, ideally Steve would like chickpeas to have improved cold tolerance.

“Chickpeas can be a huge big bulky crop and set flowers but no pods until it warms up and quite often when it does warm up we run out of moisture, so we have a huge crop with no seed,” Steve explains.

Controlling radish in chickpeas can be difficult, which is a concern for the Rowes as it is their major weed. Also challenging is the requirement to store chickpeas on farm at harvest because they can’t be delivered to a local receival point.

“At the moment the chickpea market seems quite

At the moment the chickpea market seems quite robust and I think there are a lot more people in the world that want chickpeas as opposed to albus lupins.Steve Rowe, Wongoondy

A common rotation for the Rowes including GM canola

WheatYear 1

WheatYear 2

WheatYear 3

CanolaYear 4 Total

Yield (t/ha) 1.8 1.6 1.6 1

Price ($) FIS 235 235 235 500

Variable Cost ($/ha) 245 245 245 283

Gross Margin ($/ha) 178 131 131 217 657

Table 29: The yields and costs are based on averages and the prices and the variable costs include seed, operations, fertiliser and chemicals. In comparison, the TT canola average yield is 0.7t/ha, price is $540/t, variable costs are $243/ha, resulting in a gross margin of $135/ha.



robust and I think there are a lot more people in the world that want chickpeas as opposed to albus lupins,” says Steve.

In 2017 the Rowe family will start bulking up one of the newer chickpea varieties, and if the chickpeas perform well both agronomically and economically, they will look to eventually replace the albus lupins.

CANOLAThe Rowe family began growing Genetically Modified (GM) canola in 2015 and, based on the yield benefits in that year and expected differences in 2016 between the Roundup Ready® and triazine tolerant (TT) canola, it’s likely they will grow all GM in 2017.

While Steve would prefer an End Point Royalty rather than the technology fee to reduce the upfront costs, he has found the GM canola performs, particularly in a tighter year.

“The yield differences seem to be enough to counteract the upfront cost and the lower price you get for it, so the gross margin stacks up,” Steve explains.

Steve has also found that, while GM canola does provide another option to control weeds, obtaining excellent weed control can still be difficult.

“Our spraying window could close for Roundup Ready® canola at the end of May or even before, giving us from June to September with no chemical

Albus lupins have been sown first in the Rowe’s cropping program into their middle soil type. PHOTO: CussonsMedia

A common rotation for the Rowes including albus lupins

WheatYear 1

WheatYear 2

WheatYear 3

LupinsYear 4 Total

Yield (t/ha) 1.7 1.6 1.6 0.8

Price ($) FIS 235 235 235 450

Variable Cost ($/ha) 236 245 245 360

Gross Margin ($/ha) 164 131 131 146 572

Table 30: The yields and costs are based on averages and the prices and the variable costs include seed, operations, fertiliser and chemicals. In comparison, the narrow-leaf lupin average yield is 1t/ha, price is $280/t, variable costs are $195/ha, resulting in a gross margin of $85/ha.



in there at all, no residual, so weed control through winter is a bit of a challenge,” says Steve.

Low seeding rates and dry starts have resulted in variable crop establishment, with Steve having chased moisture with canola with differing success rates.

“The last couple of years I have put the GM hybrids down to 40-50mm deep on varying soil types and some of the crops were pretty thin at the start, although you wouldn’t know it now,” says Steve.

“I think I am going to have to reassess that and stop going quite so deep because, unlike the albus, it doesn’t take quite so much moisture to get the canola plant growing.”

HARVEST WEED SEED MANAGEMENTHarvest weed seed management is vital to the Rowe’s current farming system to control radish in break crops, specifically pulses. While the Rowes currently burn windrows where possible, Steve acknowledges it has been shown to be reasonably expensive nutrient wise.

“I love listening to economists saying that the Harrington Seed Destructor at $14/ha is cheaper than windrow burning at $19/ha but it just doesn’t feel like it because it is easy to drop rows out of the header and you are not knowingly writing out a cheque for that windrow burning program,” he concludes.

MORE INFORMATIONSteve Rowe 0429 002 616 [email protected]

IN SUMMARY• Albus lupins were an excellent fit on their

medium soils

• Chickpeas may replace albus because of their diminishing market

• GM canola is performing well

• Harvest weed seed management is critical

In 2016, across 500 hectares, Steve Rowe applied 2t/ha of lime in front of his deep ripper which ripped down to 450mm. He is hoping to continue his ripping program each year. PHOTO: CussonsMedia



A fire a number of years ago was the catalyst for the Koric family to change their rotation on their Allanooka and Casuarinas properties. Originally their rotation consisted of pasture-lupins-wheat on a three-year rotation with each property split into three equal sized blocks to make accessibility simpler.

As a result of the fire, they sowed more wheat to provide cover on the burnt country but, with pastures and lupin stubbles getting too bare, the rotation had a limited future.

“The pastures weren’t lasting the summer – by the time harvest finished they were too bare to hold sheep and the lupin stubbles weren’t fairing much better having been planted into already bare pastures, so the country was just getting worse and worse,” Daniel Koric explains.

So the Koric family changed their rotation, leaving pastures out indefinitely and instead using a wheat-lupins or wheat-canola rotation.

“Lupins don’t grow very well on our good gravel country which allows the ryegrass to take over, but the canola loves that type of dirt, so in the lupin phase we will break up certain paddocks and go into canola – as long it doesn’t get like a jigsaw and

painful to work,” Daniel explains.

GENETICALLY MODIFIED CANOLARyegrass, and to a lesser extent, radish grow very well on the Koric family’s gravel soils so they grow Genetically Modified (GM) canola as a weed control tool rather than triazine tolerant canola or persisting with lupins.

Daniel grows the short season Roundup Ready® variety Pioneer 43Y23 for its good early vigour to get a head start on the weeds before they are sprayed out.

“Unless you are in higher rainfall zones, you are not going to make a lot of money off canola unless it is a good year,” says Daniel.

“We don’t necessarily use canola to put cash in the bank - we are using it where we can’t grow lupins and where we know we are going to run into weed trouble, so it is part of a bigger picture.”

As their canola is grown purely as a weed control tool on their gravel soil types, early rains don’t alter the planting program.

The Koric family has not seen sclerotinia in their PBA

SNAPSHOTGROWERS: Daniel, Simon and John & Shawn KoricLOCATION: Allanooka & CasuarinasFARM SIZE: 7200haENTERPRISES: Cropping and 1500 breeding merino ewesGROWING SEASON RAINFALL: 248mm (2015)SOIL TYPES: Sand, sand over gravel, Eradu sandplain, clay and loamy gravels2016 CROP PROGRAM: 2500ha lupins, 430ha GM canola, 2150ha wheat and 200ha barleyTYPICAL ROTATION: Wheat-lupins (sand) and wheat-canola (gravels) Daniel Koric typically runs a wheat-lupin rotation on his sands or a

wheat-canola rotation on his gravels. PHOTO: CussonsMedia

GM canola key to weed management on Mid-West gravels



GunyidiA or MandelupA lupins, but have seen it in their canola, so they apply a preventative fungicide regardless. However, Daniel notes that in years like 2016, with dense crops, it is difficult to get the contact fungicide down into the canopy making control of the disease more difficult.

“In 2014 our agronomist advised us not to spray a second time for sclerotinia because the density of the canopy meant the fungicide was not going to penetrate through and contact the affected parts of the plant,” Daniel explains.

“You could really notice the difference at harvest time where the disease had knocked plants out.”

INTEGRATED WEED MANAGEMENTIn the last five years the Koric family has purchased farms with difficult-to-kill ryegrass, radish and doublegees. Daniel believes their crop rotation, coupled with rotating herbicides and using a chaff cart at harvest, has all helped to reduce their weed populations.

However, if the Koric family think they are losing the battle with weeds, then the paddock will be pulled out and ideally returned to a clover-based pasture. Where needed, clover has been sown and this year they embarked on a manipulation program using selective herbicides to reduce the grass component of the pasture. Also, the Koric family will use their paddock mulcher to cut radish down to allow the clover more time to flower before they have to spray-top the whole paddock. Not only will the clean clover-based pasture benefit sheep, it is also ready to return to the cropping phase when another block is

Daniel Koric applies a preventative fungicide to manage the risk of sclerotinia in canola. PHOTO: CussonsMedia

We don’t necessarily use canola to put cash in the bank - we are using it where we can’t grow lupins and where we know we are going to run into weed trouble, so it is part of a bigger picture.Daniel Koric, Casuarinas

Table 31: The yields are based on 5 year averages and the prices and variable costs are based on 2015 results. Variable costs include seed, operations, fertiliser and chemicals.

The most common rotation for the Koric’s sandy soils

WheatYear 1

LupinsYear 2 Total

Yield (t/ha) 2.96 2.14

Price ($) FIS 303 330


Gross Margin ($/ha) 616 444 1,060

Table 32: The yields are based on 5 year averages and the prices and variable costs are based on 2015 results. Variable costs include seed, operations, fertiliser and chemicals.

The most common rotation for the Koric’s gravel soils

WheatYear 1

CanolaYear 2 Total

Yield (t/ha) 2.96 1.78

Price ($) FIS 303 521


Gross Margin ($/ha) 616 488 1,104



struggling with weed issues and needs to be pulled out.

DEEP RIPPINGPrior to the wheat phase, the Koric family have been using a deep ripper on a proportion of the program, being careful to not start too early and risk soil erosion on their sands. Previously they have ripped to 300-325mm but now, with a machine that is better equipped to rip deeper, they are going down to 500mm at a speed of 4.5-5ha/hour.

“You are ripping deep but, the way it is set up, you are turning the dirt underneath and then mixing a bit on the top,” Daniel says.

Daniel says they are getting a double benefit from this new machine – breaking up the hardpan to allow better root growth and bringing better soil closer to the surface.

“Non-wetting soil, aside from radish and ryegrass, is probably our most restrictive problem here,” Daniel says.

“Ripping doesn’t do anything with the weeds, it doesn’t eliminate the non-wetting, but the idea is to try and get some wettable soil on top to help alleviate the non-wetting, improve our crop establishment and get some better competition against the weeds.”

MORE INFORMATIONDaniel Koric 0427 929 864 [email protected]

IN SUMMARY• GM canola is a weed management tool on

gravels

• Problem paddocks are returned indefinitely to a clover-based pasture

• Paddock mulcher can mow down radish in the pasture phase

• Deep ripping has improved root growth and brought more wettable soil to the surface

To manage non-wetting soils, the Koric family have started a program to deep rip down to 500mm on some of their country prior to the wheat phase. PHOTO: CussonsMedia



Not only does the Stokes family run a significant cropping program, they manage a sizeable sheep flock, grow a range of pasture species, produce quality oaten hay for their local market and grow seed oats. Jason Stokes of CJ Stokes and Son says the driving force behind this diversity comes from multiple angles.

“It helps to have multiple sources of income - if you go into a drought, you are forced to sell off stock which gives you a cash flow in a year where you probably aren’t going to have a lot of grain production,” says Jason.

“It also helps us from a labour perspective – we can justify having full time labour units rather than relying on a casual work force which makes our life a lot easier.

“There is a fair bit of buy in by full time staff that you don’t get with casual staff and a lot more accountability.”

The Stokes family also have a lot of country that is not efficient to crop so they predominantly run livestock on it. That land is cropped every four to five years, often with oats or barley, because anything

that isn’t harvested or blows out the back of the header provides seed for feed for the following year.

SELF REGENERATING PASTURESThe over-arching aim of the Stokes’ rotation is to plant wheat onto non-cereal stubbles, meaning wheat will either follow canola, lupins or a legume pasture. As a result, Jason and his family have invested heavily in trying a range of new pasture species to find those that will self regenerate and cover any feed gaps. In 2016 they established 120 hectares of pastures and had 300 hectares of regenerating biserrula out of land cropped in 2015.

“We have got biserrulas, seradellas, Bartolo bladder clover and we are trying some seed crops of Sothis eastern star clover at the moment, hoping to build up seed and reintroduce it into the system,” Jason says.

“What we are trying to do with our legume pastures is create a system that is fixing nitrogen for the following years’ crop, allowing us to control both our grass and broadleaf weeds and also provide a high quality feed for the livestock operation.”

Different pasture species have different growth habits, so Jason says they are trying to get a balance

SNAPSHOTGROWERS: Jason & Renaye and Barry & Marg StokesLOCATION: Chapman ValleyFARM SIZE: 3500ha and manage an additional 1700haENTERPRISES: Cropping, 6500 ewes and contractingGROWING SEASON RAINFALL: 350mmSOIL TYPES: Red sandy loams2016 CROP PROGRAM: 1700ha wheat, 500ha oats and barley, 300ha canola and 600ha lupinsTYPICAL ROTATION: Biserrula-wheat-canola-wheat, wheat-canola-wheat-lupins and wheat-wheat-lupins Jason Stokes aims to to plant wheat onto non-cereal stubbles such as

this biserrula pasture. PHOTO: CussonsMedia

Enterprise diversity has multiple benefits in the Chapman Valley



that gives them feed for various times throughout the season so that they can meet their feed gap demands.

“Biserrula gives us a lot of early feed, however once it starts to flower, stock can have issues with photosensitivity so we have to remove them,” Jason explains.

“At that point we are controlling any grass weeds present and it spends the bulk of the winter producing biomass and fixing nitrogen.

“As it starts to wilt it becomes available as a feed source once again, which is normally around mid September.

“The seradellas produce a lot of late winter and spring feed but we are really trying to find something that produces some early autumn feed - I think the Bartolo will fit that gap as long as we can get it established early.”

Jason has found serradellas aren’t as suited to their heavier soil types so they have moved away from them.

BISERRULAOnce their biserrula country is established, it will come out of that pasture species into a wheat- canola-wheat rotation before regenerating to biserrula. The other pasture species are in a wheat-

Once biserrula starts to flower, stock can have issues with photosensitvity so they are removed from the pasture. PHOTO: CussonsMedia

Table 34: The data is based on 2015 results which was a decile 3 rainfall year although their returns were close to average. The variable costs include seed, operations, grain levies, CBH fees, fertiliser, chemicals, crop insurance and grain and fertiliser freight.

An example rotation the Stokes’ are moving away from

WheatYear 1

WheatYear 2

LupinsYear 3 Total

Yield (t/ha) 3 3 2

Price ($) FIS 300 300 320


Gross Margin ($/ha) 431 431 114 976

A common rotation for the Stokes’ which includes biserrula

BiserrulaYear 1

WheatYear 2

CanolaYear 3

WheatYear 4 Total

Yield (t/ha) 3 1.2 3

Price ($) FIS 300 550 300

Variable Cost ($/ha) 261 423 462 484

Gross Margin ($/ha) 157 477 198 416 1,248

Table 33: The data is based on 2015 results which was a decile 3 rainfall year although their returns were close to average. The crop variable costs include seed, operations, grain levies, CBH fees, fertiliser, chemicals, crop insurance and grain and fertiliser freight. The biserrula gross income is $418/WGha based on the wool income and profit from livestock trading and the variable costs contain all variable costs directly attributable to the stock enterprise. The canola is a TT variety.



pasture rotation, however Jason hopes that once they establish a larger seed bank they will also stretch those out to three cropping years and then back to the regenerating pasture without re-seeding.

Currently Jason is working with Dr Angelo Loi from the WA Department of Agriculture and Food to better understand the nitrogen fixation on their biserrula pastures and the availability of that nitrogen for subsequent crops.

“This year we have some plot trials on cropped country that’s having its first wheat crop, on a second wheat crop after biserrula and on a third year wheat crop after biserrula,” says Jason.

“We are looking at whether we are getting a response from adding bagged nitrogen, how much that response is and whether it is economically viable to add bagged nitrogen into this system.”

Currently with the wheat grown on their first year biserrula stubbles, 20 units of starter N is applied with the balance of the nitrogen requirements being met from the organic nitrogen pool.

“We are generally setting crops up here for 3.5t/ha

potential and you are normally chasing 60 units of N to achieve that, meaning we would be putting that on a wheat stubble if it was a cereal on cereal, or if it was a canola stubble,” Jason explains.

GRAZING CEREALSGrazing cereals allows the pasture country to grow and establish density without grazing pressure for a three week period. Jason says this allows them

to increase their winter stocking rate, allowing their gross margins to be more comparable with cropping.

“All the forage cereals are harvested with no yield penalty if grazed early and right - as long as you don’t graze past Z30 (stem elongation), you

generally don’t have an issue,” says Jason.

“In 2015, grazed crops that only had 20mm of rain afterwards, did suffer a bit of a yield penalty but then in other years, grazed paddocks have out-yielded the ungrazed because they have had reduced leaf biomass in times of heat stress.”

Clearfield® barley is commonly sown after wheat at the end of a wheat-canola rotation as it allows Jason to stretch the rotation in paddocks they want to get

What we are trying to do with our legume pastures is create a system that is fixing nitrogen for the following years crop allowing us to control both our grass and broadleaf weeds and also provide a high quality feed for the livestock operation.Jason Stokes, Chapman Valley

A common rotation for the Stokes’ which includes canola and lupins

WheatYear 1

CanolaYear 2

WheatYear 3

LupinsYear 4 Total

Yield (t/ha) 3 1.5 3 2

Price ($) FIS 300 500 300 320

Variable Cost ($/ha) 469 526 484 526

Gross Margin ($/ha) 431 224 416 114 1,185

Table 34: The data is based on 2015 results which was a decile 3 rainfall year although their returns were close to average. The variable costs include seed, operations, grain levies, CBH fees, fertiliser, chemicals, crop insurance and grain and fertiliser freight. The canola in this example is a Roundup Ready® variety.



out of cropping but still have some value.

CANOLAWith radish and ryegrass as their major weed problems, both the Roundup Ready® (RR) and triazine tolerant (TT) canola varieties provide another way to chemically attack these weeds and drive the population down. With a varying price spread between non Genetically Modified (GM) and GM canola and a variable performance in yield benefit, one system has not consistently outperformed the other.

“In 2015 we received no discount for GM canola and it had a yield benefit of 0.3t/ha while in 2014 GM canola was priced -$40/t and we had no yield benefit,” Jason explains.

“In 2016 it looks as though there will be a 0.2t/ha yield benefit and a $30-$50 discount for GM canola

so my current inclination is to go towards all GM with some Triazine Tolerant Roundup Ready® in the mix to utilize atrazine in our system.”

While hay is in the Stokes’ system primarily because it is profitable with a strong local market, Jason says it is also an excellent tool to manage ryegrass. They have had really good results driving ryegrass populations down by using a lupin-hay-RR canola rotation.

LIVESTOCK OPPORTUNITIESFor those that are considering bringing more livestock into their system, Jason warns that a lack of infrastructure on many properties, such as fences, water supply, sheep yards or cattle yards, makes it a pretty big step. However, he says there may be the opportunity to look for partnerships.

“For example, I know the Mingenew Irwin Group group is working on a Northern Beef Alliance where they are bringing cattle down so you don’t have the capital outlay of the animals to have stock in the system, but can still get some value out of them,” says Jason.

MORE INFORMATIONJason Stokes 0407 388 511 [email protected]

IN SUMMARY• Multiple forms of income provide security and

flexibility

• Biserrula is regenerating after a three-year cropping phase

• Grazing cereals provides early feed

• Partnerships may allow opportunity to run livestock with less cost

Jason Stokes targets his lambs to the domestic market at 45kg liveweight. PHOTO: CussonsMedia



With predominantly yellow sandplain soils, it is no surprise that lupins are a big part of the Warr family’s cropping program at Nolba, north west of Yuna. In fact, MandelupA lupins perform so well in the system they quite often out yield wheat.

“You can get away with a bit of wheat on wheat for probably three years but our soils are not that nutritious so you have got to have a lupin in there at some point just to get that nitrogen fix,” Brett Warr explains.

“If you just keep pushing wheat on wheat you are going to run into all sorts of dramas, plus the lupins provide a non-leaching nitrogen as well.”

Not only do the lupins supply a non-leaching form of nitrogen, Brett believes that nitrogen also provides up to two years benefit.

“We definitely put less nitrogen on our lupin stubbles compared to wheat-on-canola or wheat-on-wheat – probably 20-25 units less,” Brett says.

“A lot of our country is in a wheat-lupin-wheat-canola

rotation so the wheat on the lupins won’t be fertilised as much as the wheat on the canola.

CANOLA NOW COMPETITIVEOriginally, canola was introduced to offer alternate chemistry in the control of their main weeds of radish and ryegrass and also as a disease break primarily for yellow leaf spot and septoria. In the last five years, Brett believes not only have the varieties improved, so too has their management and coupled with good prices, canola is now very competitive on a gross margin basis.

The Warrs grow all non-genetically modified (GM) BonitoA canola as Brett believes they are still getting adequate weed control from their triazine tolerant (TT) system and, with good yields and

better prices, their gross margins seem to be better than with the GM system. However, Brett expects that with more research focused on GM varieties that is the direction they will go in the future.

Brett tries to manage the affect of a dry spring on his canola by conserving moisture through summer spraying and by sowing early where possible.

SNAPSHOTGROWERS: Brett & Kirrilee WarrLOCATION: NolbaFARM SIZE: 7500haENTERPRISES: Cropping and 1800 merino ewes (self replacing)GROWING SEASON RAINFALL: 280mmSOIL TYPES: Predominantly yellow sandplain2016 CROP PROGRAM: 3872ha wheat, 1943ha lupins, 806ha canola and 394ha barleyTYPICAL ROTATION: Wheat-wheat-canola (heavier soils) and wheat-lupin-wheat-canola (sands)

On his lighter soils, Brett Warr finds the non-leaching nitrogen provided by the lupins can provide up to two years benefit to following crops. PHOTO: CussonsMedia

Lupins and canola are more than just at break crop at Nolba

In 2010 we were getting $450-$480/t and that year our Calingiri out-yielded everything else - it wasn’t a good year for us up here that year but it kept us in the game.Brett Warr, Nolba



“If there is a late break and there has been no summer rain, we will pull some canola out,” Brett explains.

“In 2016 we didn’t get our break until the 17th of May so there was a little bit of canola that came off and more lupins went in.”

The markets also influence the rotations grown by the Warr family, however, most of their rotation is set because they believe that growing wheat on wheat is not sustainable long term.

In terms of disease, Brett has seen sclerotinia in both his lupins and canola, although not at damaging levels. The Warrs now spray their canola when it reaches 30 per cent flower as insurance, because of how damaging sclerotinia can be in the crop.

WHEATThe Warr family grows three varieties of wheat, being

MaceA, MagentaA and Calingiri, which allows them to capitalise on a range of conditions.

“MaceA is a good hard wheat so it does well on our lupin stubbles and MagentaA is a longer season wheat with a very good disease package, ideal if you want to grow wheat on wheat,” says Brett.

“MagentaA has a really long coleoptile so, if we get summer rains we can go chasing summer moisture with it.

“Calingiri is a good noodle wheat so it is good on our canola stubbles and, while quite an old variety, it still does very well for us.”

Most years Calingiri is the highest yielding variety and, with the better prices, it is often a standout.

“In 2010 we were getting $450-$480/t and that year our Calingiri out-yielded everything else - it wasn’t a

Lupins can quite often out yield wheat on the Warr’s farm. Photo: CussonsMedia

A common rotation for the Warr’s sandy soils

WheatYear 1

LupinYear 2

WheatYear 3

CanolaYear 4 Total

Yield (t/ha) 2.4 2 2.4 1.2

Price ($) FIS 240 300 240 550

Variable Cost ($/ha) 288 295 268 298

Gross Margin ($/ha) 288 305 308 305 1,206

Table 35: The data is based on the 2016 budget and the variable costs include seed, fertiliser, operations and chemicals.



good year for us here but that variety kept us in the game,” Brett adds.

BARLEYAlthough their lowest gross margin crop at $241/ha, the Clearfield® barley variety ScopeA can be sown earlier than wheat in the Warr’s program, has different chemistry and doesn’t have the same disease issues as wheat. Brett also adds that it requires less nitrogen to grow a tonne of barley than a tonne of wheat.

For the last few years, barley has been grown to put some cover on sandhills which were bare from consecutive dry years. It was rotated with wheat and Brett believes the additional stubble from the barley has paid dividends.

While growing barley does have an agronomic fit on their farm, marketing the barley in the Geraldton port zone can be challenging with limited receival sites and marketability of smaller tonnages.

CORIANDER, CHICKPEAS & ALBUS LUPINSMore than ten years ago, Brett grew coriander, chickpeas and albus lupins but they didn’t succeed due to limited options for chemical control of weeds.

“We couldn’t keep them clean, so while we could make good money out of them that one year, we ended up spending it all back to clean the paddock up over the next 10-15 years,” says Brett.

In addition, freight to Perth was expensive and they generally had to be stored on farm until there was a delivery window, which could be a risky proposition. The experience has taught Brett that if you are going to try something new it needs to be on a small scale.

“If it is a little portion of your farm you can dabble at different things and you might find something that works but you can’t just say that you are going to put 30 per cent of the farm to this and hope it works – no one can afford to do that because if it doesn’t work, we will all be looking for a job,” Brett concludes.

MORE INFORMATIONBrett Warr 0438 211 442 [email protected]

IN SUMMARY• Lighter soils benefit from lupins

• Canola is competitive on a gross margin basis

• Barley has a fit as an early sowing option and to provide cover

• Barley marketing can be difficult in the Geraldton port zone

In the past Brett Warr grew coriander, chickpeas and albus lupins but now finds canola and narrow leaf lupins are a better proposition. PHOTO: CussonsMedia

Table 36: The data is based on the 2016 budget and the variable costs include seed, fertiliser, operations and chemicals.

A common rotation for the Warr’s heavier soils

WheatYear 1

WheatYear 2

CanolaYear 3 Total

Yield (t/ha) 2.4 2.4 1.2

Price ($) FIS 240 240 550


Gross Margin ($/ha) 288 288 305 881



Matching soil type to rotation and ensuring you are not growing uncompetitive crops in any part of the rotation are critical to the Suckling family’s cropping system.

Farming three properties in the medium to high rainfall zone north and west of Northampton WA, approximately 40 per cent of their program is allocated to break crops every year, although in 2016 a late break pushed them to replace some canola with wheat.

“Break crops have been performing well in the past 10 years and are now often more profitable than our more typically reliable wheat crops,” Karl Suckling explains.

“We use break crops to clean up paddocks and we put a high value on rotating herbicide modes of action and minimising weed seed set and without break crops we are limited in this space.

“Some of our weaker sands need a legume every second year to be profitable and therefore lupins are very important on these soils.”

RED LOAMSFor the past nine years, the red loams have been in a canola-wheat-wheat rotation and Karl believes hybrid canola, especially Genetically Modified (GM) hybrids, has allowed them to produce a profitable and reliable break crop. Before hybrids, the Sucklings grew both lupins and open-pollinated (OP) triazine tolerant (TT) canola. However, the downside was their variability - for example, Karl explains that in lupins the variability could be could yield from an unprofitable 0.5t/ha through to a profitable 2.5t/ha.

“Since growing GM canola six years ago, we have only had one season where canola has not been our highest gross margin crop on these soil types, showing it can handle adverse seasons and still deliver exceptional weed control,” Karl explains.

The strong characteristics of the red loam soils means Karl believes bagged nitrogen can replace the nitrogen produced by legumes.

CLAY AND CLAY LOAMSIn most instances, the Suckling’s rotation on their clay and clay loams consists of canola-wheat, however it

SNAPSHOTGROWERS: Karl & Gemma and Craig & Trin SucklingLOCATION: NorthamptonFARM SIZE: 6700haENTERPRISES: 100 per cent croppingGROWING SEASON RAINFALL: 300mm (Annual Rainfall)SOIL TYPES: Red loam 40 per cent, heavy clay, clay loams 30 per cent, good yellow sand over clay 15 per cent and deeper pale sand 15 per cent2016 CROP PROGRAM: 4280ha wheat, 1450ha canola and 990ha lupinsTYPICAL ROTATION: Canola-wheat-wheat (red loams), canola-wheat (clay, clay loams), lupins-wheat-canola-wheat (good yellow sands) and lupins-wheat (deeper pale sand) Karl Suckling has had excellent results with lupins and canola and they

are often more profitable than their more typically reliable wheat crops. PHOTO: CussonsMedia

Matching the soil type to rotation is key at Northampton



can be pushed out to canola-wheat-wheat, as it was in 2016. Karl says, as is the case on their red loams, hybrid canola varieties, especially GM hybrids, have helped them produce profitable and reliable break crops on their clay and clay loams. Before the hybrids were introduced, field peas, faba beans and OP TT canola were grown and were highly variable in profitability.

Marketing the pulses was also a massive problem for the Suckling family.

“We used to grow field peas and faba beans – we grew them really successfully but probably our biggest thing holding us back there is our markets,” Karl explains.

“We are 550km from Perth and marketing the pulse crops is just really difficult so that is the number one thing that holds us back from growing more pulses.”

Karl notes that ryegrass can be a problem on these soils and so herbicide rotations are extremely important to keep the seed bank at bay.

GOOD YELLOW SAND OVER CLAYTheir yellow sand over clay soils are the Suckling's most forgiving soil type, allowing a reliable performance in each phase of the lupin-wheat-canola-wheat rotation.

“We believe the lupins are very important for legume nitrogen as these soils are not as strong as our red

loams, however, by extending out the rotation and adding canola in, we have a high gross margin crop in place of lupins every four years,” says Karl.

DEEPER PALE SANDY SOILSThese poorer soils are in a lupin-wheat rotation and typically produce a lower gross margin than their other soil types. The Sucklings have kept with the traditional rotation on these soils because lupins often have a higher gross margin than wheat, while canola can be hit and miss.

FORWARD MANAGEMENTAs the Suckling family like to plan their system well beyond the current year, they try to keep their rotations very consistent and are reluctant to change most of the time.

“We have a very organised herbicide rotation planned for future years, therefore weed control

Table 38: The canola is GM and the technology fee is included in the variable costs. The data is based on averages and the variable costs include operations, seed, grain levies, CBH fees, fertiliser, chemicals, crop insurance and grain and fertiliser freight.

The rotation for the Suckling's red loams

CanolaYear 1

WheatYear 2

WheatYear 3 Total

Yield (t/ha) 1.3 2.4 2.4

Price ($) FIS 500 280 280


Gross Margin ($/ha) 353 338 338 1029

The rotation for the Suckling's good yellow sands

WheatYear 1

CanolaYear 2

WheatYear 3

LupinsYear 4 Total

Yield (t/ha) 2.3 1.25 2.3 1.6

Price ($) FIS 280 500 280 300

Variable Cost ($/ha) 349 313 349 289

Gross Margin ($/ha) 295 312 295 191 1093




almost never changes our crop rotation,” says Karl.

“Nutrition and crop disease are also managed past the season in hand and almost never impact crop rotation with the exception of cereal root diseases.

“We haven’t seen a lot of this yet, however we do expect that if we continue with such a strict rotation we will run into something that throws a spanner in the works in the future.”

The Sucklings try to manage the variable seasonal conditions with genetic diversity within each of the crops rather than by making big changes to their rotation.

“We generally find that we will experience at least one of a short spring, high spring temperatures or late starts every year if not a multiple of those, so we try to manage them as best we can,” Karl explains.

For Karl, using the correct crop genetics for your environment is essential.

“Don’t put all your eggs in one basket with one variety unless it has proven to handle everything you can throw at it in your environment” he comments.

Currently they grow between three and five wheat varieties and while they only plant one canola variety, they have grown up to five in the past. However, the current variety has proven itself by performing in all seasons across varying conditions.

If the Sucklings were to make a small adjustment to their rotation due to a poor start to a season, it would be on their clay soils which are typically sown last.

“With a late break we will leave some canola out of these paddocks and replace it with wheat, however we still sow some canola late to control weedy paddocks, or after June we could leave these paddocks as fallow,” says Karl.

FUTURE PLANS AND CHALLENGESIn five years the Sucklings expect to be using a very similar rotation on all four soil types with a number of slight variations. These tweaks could include

GM hybrids have helped the Sucklings produce profitable and reliable break crops on their clay and clay loam soils. PHOTO: CussonsMedia


The rotation for the Suckling's clay and clay loams

CanolaYear 1

WheatYear 2 Total

Yield (t/ha) 1.15 2.2

Price ($) FIS 500 280



Table 40: The data is based on averages and the variable costs include operations, seed, grain levies, CBH fees, fertiliser, chemicals, crop insurance and grain and fertiliser freight.

The rotation for the Suckling's pale sands

LupinsYear 1

WheatYear 2 Total

Yield (t/ha) 1.3 1.6

Price ($) FIS 300 280





bringing in some Clearfield® canola hybrids to mix up the herbicide regime as all of their paddocks have now had Roundup Ready® canola twice. On the lighter sands Karl believes they may need a fallow in years to come to reduce reliance on lupin herbicides. However with weed seed management at the moment he believes they are keeping in front of the game.

One of the biggest issues they are likely to face is sclerotinia in canola on their red loams as each year its incidence is increasing.

“Six years ago sclerotinia was in relatively small patches, in paddocks here and there and now it is pretty wide spread across the whole farm,” Karl explains.

“We can still grow a profitable canola crop even with $40-50/ha worth of fungicide in some situations but it will be the next thing that chews into our bottom line.

“If it is in canola, it will be in lupins – it is as simple as that – it is something that we have really got to watch.”

MORE INFORMATIONKarl Suckling 0427 839 274 [email protected]

IN SUMMARY• Match soil types to the rotation and avoid

uncompetitive crops

• Weed seed set is kept low in all rotations

• Varieties are selected to deal with seasonal variability

Sclerotinia in both canola and lupins could be a major challenge for Karl Suckling to manage in the future. PHOTO: CussonsMedia

Since growing GM canola six years ago we have only had one season where canola has not been our highest gross margin crop on these soil types, showing it can handle adverse seasons and still deliver exceptional weed control.Karl Suckling, Northampton

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SummaryWith wheat being described by case study participants as the ‘hardiest crop’ they have, it is no surprise it is the key driver of farm businesses in the northern and eastern wheatbelt of Western Australia. The Grain Industry Association of WA (GIWA) crop production figures show that in the Kwinana zone over the last five years, on average, there is nearly four times more wheat produced than any other crop (refer to Table 41) and in the Geraldton zone in the same period, there is nearly seven times more wheat produced than any other crop (refer to Table 42).

BREAK CROPS ARE FOR WEED CONTROL, DISEASE MANAGEMENT AND FREE NITROGENIn most instances, the key reason for introducing a break crop or pasture into the rotation is to offer an alternative crop for weed control. While some growers have a regular rotation where a break crop is grown every three to four years, those in marginal and thus riskier areas, often only grow a break crop when a particular weed becomes difficult to manage. Ryegrass and radish were predominantly identified as the key weeds but brome grass and barley grass are rising in significance.

The benefit of a disease break is also important for some growers, however it pales in comparison to the importance of weed management. Those in

drier areas commented they don’t have the pressure for disease to be a major factor in their rotational decisions.

For some growers, being able to reduce nitrogen inputs following wheat or other cereal crops is a key reason to grow legume break crops rather than canola which doesn’t provide any nitrogen. However, a number of growers commented that they have grown their best ever wheat crops following canola rather than a legume, although they were not sure why.

Farm landscape also factors into rotation, with a number of growers reporting some of their country is not suited to year-in year-out cropping and, in those instances, growing pastures is an important part of their enterprises. Pastures varied from volunteer pastures, clover and medic-based pastures right through to biserrula and serradella pastures. The pasture phase is used to control weeds through in-crop spraying and grazing for the newly sown pasture species and then through pasture manipulation, spray-topping and grazing for the established species.

All growers agreed it was important that break crops cover growing costs at a minimum and ideally were a profitable proposition. For some growers, with

Tonnes of grain produced in the Kwinana Port Zone

Wheat Barley Canola Oats Lupins Field Peas

2011 5,496,000 1,056,000 380,000 219,000 238,000 14,000

2012 2,844,000 704,000 405,000 199,000 75,000 10,000

2013 5,102,000 1,495,000 639,000 294,000 120,000 13,000

2014 4,141,000 1,293,000 524,000 277,000 134,000 6,200

2015 4,084,000 967,000 488,000 252,000 140,000 7,000

2016* 4,376,000 883,000 692,000 435,000 204,000 11,000

Table 41: The tonnes of grain grain produced over the last five years and the November estimate for the 2016 season in the Kwinana port zone, based on GIWA crop estimate reports. Source: GIWA



improvements in management and varietal choices, their break crops/pastures are often very competitive with wheat gross margins. Many growers felt fallow was very expensive and they didn’t have to get much back from a break crop to be financially in front of fallow. However, for some growers it is a less risky proposition and is an important part of their program.

The benefit of break crops on the subsequent crops, predominantly wheat, was generally a yield increase, although this was seasonally dependant. This yield increase, together with a reduction in variable costs particularly following legumes, meant the gross margin of the following wheat was higher than in a wheat following wheat crop. Two growers also reported one to two per cent higher wheat protein following a pea rather than a wheat crop.

The gross margins in each of the case studies were calculated from the information provided by each grower. Comparison between case studies is not possible because the composition of the gross margin varied between each grower but rather it allows comparison between rotations on each farm.

CHOICE OF BREAK CROP IS DEPENDENT ON SOIL TYPEOnce the decision is made to grow a break crop, growers explained that soil type is the most important

factor in determining crop selection. Chickpeas have the greatest niche being really only suited to very heavy country, field peas can be grown on the more medium to heavy country, albus lupins prefer heavier soils than the light soils that narrow-leaf lupins prefer and canola is suited to most soil types.

While the jury was out on whether growing Roundup Ready® (RR) provided a better gross margin than triazine tolerant (TT) canola, some growers introduced RR purely as an alternative system to control weeds. For others, the upfront technology fee was a major disincentive and, as they felt they didn’t need the chemistry yet and fellow growers weren’t consistently receiving better returns with RR, they will continue for the time being using the TT system.

Some growers also considered oats and barley to be break crops, predominantly as they present other herbicide options for tackling weeds. In particular, the imidazolinone tolerant barley Scope A is particularly popular in the Kwinana East zone as it offers different chemistry to control brome and barley grass. Growers also identified the heavier barley stubble as valuable for providing more cover on their lighter soils than a wheat stubble. The increase in price of oats in 2015 also encouraged some growers to either increase their standard oat areas or return to growing oats in 2016.

Tonnes of grain produced in the Geraldton Port Zone

Wheat Barley Canola Oats Lupins Field Peas

2011 3,006,000 96,000 182,000 21,000 419,000 600

2012 1,400,000 58,000 347,000 6,000 181,000 700

2013 1,866,000 66,000 198,000 6,000 302,000 2000

2014 1,538,000 52,000 147,000 6,000 160,000 1,700

2015 2,015,000 86,000 218,000 12,000 240,000 1,000

2016* 2,279,000 153,000 245,000 12,000 442,000 1,000

Table 42: The tonnes of grain produced over the last five years and the November estimate for the 2016 season in the Geraldton port zone, based on GIWA crop estimate reports. Source: GIWA

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BARRIERS TO FURTHER ADOPTION OF BREAK CROPS/PASTURESRiskManaging risk is essential to maintaining the sustainability of all businesses in this publication. Many also added that, as wheat is their hardiest and lowest risk proposition, it will continue to be the main driver of their businesses and, as such, many commented they would only grow up to 20 per cent of their program to break crops. This is because the break crops are not as hardy as wheat and so if the season is poor, the risk of crop failure and poor financial returns are increased.

While some changed their planned cropping program depending on seasonal conditions, for example growing more canola if there had been summer rain, a number commented that if they did make changes, generally it was only to a small proportion of their program.

A number of growers commented that while their growing season rainfall is declining, they are receiving more summer rain and so are very focused on conserving this moisture through summer spraying. This is all part of helping to manage their risk of a dry season. As a grower commented, it is not about getting the best numbers in the best season, it is about the numbers in the poorer seasons because they are having more of them.

Markets and logisticsFor some break crops, such as field peas and chickpeas, there are typically very few local delivery options leaving markets in Perth as the only option. For growers, this means they need to have adequate storage on farm to facilitate delivery to Perth when practical or required. This also means growers have a larger risk associated with storing grain on farm compared to delivering to their local receival point.

Even though barley is more commonly grown than chickpeas and field peas in both zones, some growers commented a lack of local receival points

has deterred them from growing barley. Also, particularly in the Geraldton zone, if malt barley is produced it can sometimes be difficult to be marketed as malt barley because of not only a lack of delivery options but also marketing options, due to the low overall total volume grown within the zone.

Weed control in cropSome growers commented that it can be difficult to control weeds, particularly broad leaf weeds in lupins, chickpeas and field peas as there are generally fewer options available than in cereals and the herbicides can be quite expensive.

Varietal suitabilityA number of growers felt some of the break crop varieties on offer don’t fit some of the environments in the Kwinana East and Geraldton port zones. For example, Steve Rowe of Wongoondy would like to see improved cold tolerance in chickpeas so they can set more pods before the hot spring weather hits. The harvestability of field peas was also raised with growers who had rocky areas and were wary of having to harvest them along the ground. The ability for lower rainfall growers to capitalise on the improved oat prices in 2015 was also raised, so the release of DurackA, the earliest maturing multi-purpose variety bred for the medium to low rainfall zones, is timely.

THANK YOU!Thank you to each of the nineteen

growers who not only shared what and why they do what they do but also their financial results for the broader good of

the WA grain growing community.



USEFUL RESOURCES - Websites• GRDC GrowNotes

www.grdc.com.au/Resources/GrowNotes

• GRDC Fact Sheets www.grdc.com.au/Resources/Factsheets

• GRDC Crop Variety Guides www.grdc.com.au/BarleyVarietyGuide www.grdc.com.au/WACanolaVarietyGuide2016 www.grdc.com.au/WAWheatVarietyGuide

• DAFWA – WA Crop Sequence Calculator Tool www.agric.wa.gov.au/sowing/wa-crop-sequence-calculator

• CSIRO - ‘Break-crop benefits to wheat in Western Australia – insights from over three decades of research’ www.publish.csiro.au/cp/CP11320

• Grain Industry Association of WA www.giwa.org.au

• Pulse Australia www.pulseaus.com.au

USEFUL RESOURCES - Apps• GRDC Ute Guides

• GRDC GrowNotes

• Weed ID: The Ute Guide App

• Insect ID: The Ute Guide App

• Field Peas: The Ute Guide App

• MyCrop Wheat

• MyCrop Barley

• MyCrop Canola

• MyCrop Oats

• MyCrop Pulses

NOTES



grdc.com.au


Documents

BREAK CROPS AND ROTATIONS REGIONAL CROPPING …€¦ · committed by the following growers for this case study booklet; Ben Strickland, Paul Trenorden, Brendan Geraghty, ... At their