Roo gets share of hay as season worsens

COLUMNIST urges all farmers eligible for Government assistance to apply, no prizes for taking the high moral ground.

SNACKTIME: A roo has put himself on a diet of lucerne hay in a shed at Greymare. Picture: Gerard Walsh

THE last month is one of the worst I can recall from a weather perspective.

It is amazing how tough it has become and I am a part-time farmer with money coming in each week from a full-time job and not totally relying on the farm.

Great to see the Federal Government coming up with some extra assistance.

I encourage those entitled to support to apply. There have been suggestions many entitled to the support already provided have not applied.

I took a photo of a roo sitting on the haystack at Greymare having a feed the other day.

Next time I spot it, I need to make a little more noise or better still go with 1.2m netting.

Fine for the roos to drink at the trough but not eat the lucerne hay which came from the Yangan and Swanfels area.

For the future, I am already thinking of buying a lot more hay when the season is good and keeping for the dry.

We did have both round bales of sorghum hay and small lucerne bales but the shed was only a third full as we went into winter this year.

Hay gets dearer when the market tightens, the same as it does for all rural commodities.

I have been driving to Toowoomba each Saturday with a son to play for Warwick in Toowoomba 16/17 years football and you can just notice each week how much worse it is.

There was some irrigation going between the Nobby and Clifton turnoffs. At least there will be a few crops between now and Christmas. The green really stands out.

Not sure what the cost of irrigation is but it adds to the cost. A month ago, it looked like we were eyeing off a big winter crop but the rain has not come when needed. As a one-year grain grower from the mid 1970s, I am not an expert on grain crops but know that the optimum planting time is already gone.

If we get rain in the next week, I would expect some winter crop to go in. It will be a long wait for summer crops and hopefully the Federal Government support will help farmers hold out until the rain and next major income.

Originally published as Roo gets share of hay as season worsens